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Respect the Classics: Sarge's Boot Camp

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  • Respect the Classics: Sarge's Boot Camp




    One of my favorite scenes in Cars was when Sarge was taking a group of SUVs and getting them ready to go through his obstacle course... Sarge's Boot Camp... "Man, now i got dirt in mah rims!" I still chuckle when I see that scene in the movie... and you may too.

    In 2010 we were eagerly looking forward to the TRU exclusive gift set Sarge's Boot Camp... 5 Cars... 4 of them would be considered Deluxe in size... 3 of them had never been released before... and Sarge had not been released with fixed eyes for quite a while after the lead paint recall of Supercharged Sarge... in this installment of Respect the Classics we'll take a look at Sarge's Boot Camp.


    Sarge's Boot Camp



    Prior to the release of the boxed set, Sarge had been released as a single and in a 2 pack with Fillmore... but one batch of the Supercharged Sarge singles had been found to contain lead paint so the single was recalled... and some retailers sent all Cars singles back due to lead paint concerns... panic, you might say... TJ had been released as a single as part of the Supercharged Walmart 8 exclusive series and had been released on a limited basis as a Deluxe single... retailers had gotten stuck with non-selling Deluxe Cars (Semi cabs) and quit ordering new cases of Deluxe singles... Photos of new SUVs on eBay got many of us excited... would we be able to find these at ToysRUS stores? I know I was a little concerned so I ordered several sets through the TRU website at $39.99... paid for shipping... and before long every ToysRUS had shelves filled with them... At $49.99 they didn't sell quickly, even though it had 3 brand new Deluxe Cars... years later they were marked down to $24.98 on clearance and still didn't sell quickly... eventually Mattel must have bought them back from TRU because I've not seen one in a store for a while.

    Here are more pictures of the box set:

    ToysRUS wanted us to know that it was their exclusive boxed set:


    Here's the bottom of the box showing the UPC... the date code on mine is 2890EAB... the UPC is 27084 78216 5.



    I kept the background from the set that I opened - I like to use it for taking pictures... although it is packed up in a box somewhere in my basement still from our move to our new home.

    I only have one unopened set remaining and don't imagine parting with it.


    TJ



    There's not much if any difference between this TJ and Deluxe TJ... somewhere I have pictures comparing the 2 with the Walmart 8 normal sized single... there's no license plate on this TJ... and the headlights may be a different color if I remember.


    Murphy


    Murphy is the orange SUV... Murphy isn't frowning as much as the other Cars...Also a 2 piece, Murphy is a new casting as well as a new character... I like Murphy - but then I like new Cars and new castings... I wish Mattel would include more of those in cases and in boxed sets... people wouldn't gripe as much about paying more money for Cars if we got new Cars!


    Charlie Cargo


    One of the new SUVs is Charlie Cargo... Charlie is a greenish-yellow color... similar to the color of Shiny Wax... Some of the Charlie Cargo sets may have had an upside down grill if I remember right... Charlie is frowning - not happy to be going on the obstacle course.


    Frank Pinkerton


    Frank Pinkerton was another new SUV... as you can tell from the above photo, Frank is a 2 piece construction Car and is pink... He's the easiest one of the 3 new ones from me to remember but if you were color-blind it would be hard... he's also probably the second largest Car of the 5 in the boxed set... My granddaughter used to ask me for a Frank Pinkerton because she likes pink toys... I never gave her one... she outgrew Cars fairly quickly.


    Sarge


    Sarge is the only regular size Car out of the 5 Cars in the boxed set... People who had been collecting for several years probably already had Sarge as a single or as part of the Movie Moment with Fillmore... but after the recall he'd not been available for a couple of years... I can't remember if I already had an opened Sarge on display, and if I do it's still in a box somewhere in my Cars room... Look for an article on Sarge and variants in a future installment of Respect the Classics.


    More pictures

    Here are a few more pictures of the Sarge's Boot Camp boxed set Cars:

    All 5 Cars - recreating a scene from the movie?


    Murphy, Charlie, and Frank:


    If you zoom in you might be able to read their license plates:


    In one of my Carney Plastics CP-21/24 display cases:


    They're in a different display case... but they are now on display in our new home... I'm getting ready to order 2 more Carney display cases and they may get moved again.



    In Conclusion


    Sarge's Boot Camp is one of my favorites boxed sets... The price wasn't bad considering 4 of 5 vehicles were Deluxe size and 3 out of 5 had not been released before... I wish I'd have bought a few at the $24.98 clearance price but I didn't... maybe a closeout store such as Big Lots will get them sometime.

    Which of the 5 Cars in the Sarge's Boot Camp set is your favorite?

    Many thanks for reading... as always, I appreciate your comments.

    Chris


    I am cac1959... I am a Cars-a-holic... and a proud supporter of Nathan's Playroom

  • #2
    Cool! Love Murphy. He's always been my favorite.




    http://carstoys.wikia.com <--My wiki

    http://flickr.com/carstoys/ <--My Flickr

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    • #3
      I like Charlie Cargo. Great job with this article, Chris!
      Kenny, age 13

      Visit our diecast Pixar Cars and Planes priceguide and checklist:

      http://pixarcarspriceguide.com

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      • #4
        Great article as usual Chris!!
        Very happy to have recently added this to our collection. Since we only have the small TJ this set was 4 new Cars for us!

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        • #5
          I got one of these for $25. End of 2011 I think. Great set.

          signature courtesy of BomBom77
          http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...ars-for-trades

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          • #6
            good stuff, however this is another item which didnt reach our shores thanks to those stronzos at mattel (I may stand corrected on this but I never saw it)

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            • #7
              Those guys are just awesome! Great write up Chris, thank you! It's nice to hear stories of how they were released.
              Check out my trades list, it's always up to date : http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...st-take-a-peek!

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              • #8
                I have that set! I love all those suvs
                "I'm a paderbuilt for dags sake!"

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                • #9
                  I have this set! Great article Chris!

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                  • #10
                    Great to read, thanks!

                    This is high on my wanted list!

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                    • #11
                      Great article. I like TJ!

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