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Respect the Classics: Flo's V8 Cafe

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  • Respect the Classics: Flo's V8 Cafe



    One of my favorite things from Cars was Radiator Springs... the buildings... the Cars... the simple life... Like many of you, I wanted to recreate Radiator Springs in my Cars room... to that end I bought the original 4 building playsets at Toys R US... my grandson enjoyed playing with them... The original 4 buildings were Flo's V8 Cafe, Lizzie's Radiator Springs Curio Shop, Luigi's Casa Della Tires, and Ramone's Body Art... We wanted more of the buildings to be released, but it didn't happen... My friend GotFrank made me a few fantastic custom buildings that helped add to the town - Sarge's Surplus Hut, the Radiator Springs Court House, Fillmore's Tent...

    Instead of new buildings, Mattel released the same buildings in other products lines such as GeoTrax and Lego sets... As my grandchildren enjoyed GeoTrax and I enjoyed Cars I bought the Cars GeoTrax items... I also bought a few of the Disney Store releases - Mater's Tow Yard and the Courthouse... but I yearned for more.

    And several months ago we learned that Mattel was going to make a Radiator Springs town - in a new series called the Precision Series... The first 2 buildings announced were Flo's V8 Cafe and Fillmore's Tent... Flo's V8 was released first - at a suggested retail price of $99.99... It was available for online retailers to order... it has been listed on shop.mattel.com and on Amazon.com... At first I said I wasn't going to buy the Precision Series Flo's V8 Cafe... however, after seeing pictures, I've changed my mind... after all, it is a Cars-a-holics perogative to change his or her mind... We've already seen some photos of Flo's V8 Cafe in a previously published PCD article entitled "Respect the Classics - A Look at Radiator Springs" at the following link: http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...diator-Springs

    In this installment of Respect the Classics, we'll take a look at Flo's V8 Cafe - thank you to PCD member Toyfountain for sharing photos of the Precision Series Flo's V8 Cafe and comparison photos of the various Flo's V8 Cafe play sets.


    Toys R US Flo's V8 Cafe:





    As I mentioned in my introduction, I bought Flo's V8 Cafe at Toys R US... I opened it and the other building play sets... but I don't think I took pictures of the box... I want to say that Flo's originally cost $24.99 plus tax - it was the most expensive of the 4 buildings... there were lights... Cars hung out at Flo's... It was re-released at Toys R US for either $29.99 or $34.99 which was too much money in my opinion... but when it went on clearance for $24.98 I bought another one to keep packaged.... Here's the re-release:





    Here's the back of the box:


    And here's the UPC:


    I wondered why the Flo's V8 Cafe did not include Flo... It's another example of Mattel logic... or not.


    GeoTrax V8 Cafe


    The GeoTrax version of Flo's V8 Cafe does not have nearly the detail that the TRU version had... but it did have good play value for young children who enjoyed playing with GeoTrax and Cars... Here's a picture from Toyfountain that shows the 3 V8 Cafe releases - the GeoTrax version is on the right:



    And here's an older picture showing our Cars GeoTrax setup before we got the Fillmore's Tent:



    Precision Series Flo's V8 Cafe


    (Photo by Toyfountain used by permission)

    The most recent release of Flo's V8 Cafe is the new Precision Series... Again, I felt that a cost of $99.99 was too high... it has been on sale on Amazon for $59.99... It's on my Christmas list but I don't know if I will get it as my family doesn't want to "enable" my Cars addiction... Thank you, Toyfountain, for sharing your great photos.

    Here's a sign:


    And look, Flo's V8 Cafe actually includes Flo!


    Comparison photos


    Here are photos comparing the Precision Series V8 Cafe with the TRU version.

    Note how the Precision Series actually shows Tulsa Tea on the gas pump:


    The gas pump on the TRU version is blank:


    The Precision Series sign shows more detail:


    Here's the sign of the TRU version:


    Here's the TRU version on top of the Precision Series version:


    Here's the TRU version lid:


    The lights on the TRU version do light up... slowly.


    Looking at the TRU version:


    Precision Series version:


    The Precision Series version lights up very nicely:


    In fact, to see a short video about the Precision Series Flo's V8 Cafe that Toyfountain posted on YouTube, check out the link below:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nQf9zQbPfY



    In conclusion


    Now that I've seen pictures of the Precision Series version of the Flo's V8 Cafe as well as pictures of the Precision Series Ramone Car, I'm more excited about the product line than I was when they were first announced... Hopefully I get Flo's for Christmas... and hopefully Mattel completes the product line... we've seen great pictures of the entire Precision Series Radiator Springs town thanks to PCD members such as Aaron Chandler:


    (Photo by Aaron Chandler used by permission)

    I'd love to display a complete Radiator Springs Precision Series town... Come on, Mattel... don't let us down.

    Thanks for reading... as always I appreciate your comments.


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

  • #2
    I am also really looking forward to these buildings getting released! According to the Disneyland YouTube page, these will be made from now through 2018 so at 3-4 a year, we could see all 13 RS Building Playsets!
    Check out my YouTube channel, COOLection TV! https://www.youtube.com/COOLectionTV

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    • #3
      Great article. I picked up the Mattel V8 Café second hand at a boot sale a few years back now. It was the last building of the 4 that I needed and still enjoy looking at it today. Lets hope the news is true about all 13 sets in the Precession series as they do look fantastic!

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      • #4
        Flo's was the first playset we got. I found an old supercharged version at TRU back in early 2010 a few months after we started collecting. It is still in decent shape and the lights still work. Got Luigi's and Ramone's shops too. Never got Lizzie's so I might pick up the ones we don't already have.

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

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        • #5
          Tulsa Tea!? Quasi-Precision series... In the film it reads "Texas Tea". But since Carsland and now this are Tulsa Tea. There must have been some legal reason for the change. 1:06:34 on the US DVD release for those who wanna check for themselves. As Sally in fueling McQ for their drive out to the Wheel Well.

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          • #6
            Great article Cac1959! This playset is very nice!
            Kenny, age 13

            Visit our diecast Pixar Cars and Planes priceguide and checklist:

            http://pixarcarspriceguide.com

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            • #7
              Here's a photo of the back of the Precision Series Flo's V8 Cafe if anyone is interested.




              And here's a good shot of Precision Series Flo I took. There are nice stock photos on Amazon but she looks stunning in person.

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              • #8
                Thank you for sharing your photos, Fillmore1234! May I please add them to the article? Thank you.


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

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                • #9
                  On Fillmore's package, Mattel called him Glow-in-the-Dark Fillmore.
                  Is there a specific name for Flo on her package not to call her Precision Series Flo?

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by David Vincent View Post
                    On Fillmore's package, Mattel called him Glow-in-the-Dark Fillmore.
                    Is there a specific name for Flo on her package not to call her Precision Series Flo?
                    It is called 'Light-Up Flo' on the box

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                    • #11
                      Thank you rossibutton!

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