Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Respect the Classics: Piston Cup Mini Adventures

Collapse
X
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Respect the Classics: Piston Cup Mini Adventures



    We love our Piston Cup racers from the movie Cars... most of us love our Piston Cup Haulers from Cars... to capitalize on that, Mattel introduced Piston Cup haulers and racers in the Cars Mini Adventures product line... plastic Cars that were miniature versions of the diecast products... they started with 2 packs that retailed for between $6 and $8... Many of the non-racer 2 packs contained Cars that had very funky paint schemes; the racers that were included in this product line tended to be in the proper paint colors and schemes... after several cases, Mattel included haulers which were the only item in the pack (evidently the cab and the trailer counted as 2 items)... and then Mattel released some Mini Adventure 6 packs.

    Like many Cars product lines, Mattel started but didn't finish the haulers and the racers... Case assortments and distribution have never been something Mattel has done well, and the Mini Adventures were no exception... I wasn't going to collect Minis, but then I changed my mind and bought ones that I liked - I'm sure that had something to do with not being able to find new Cars in the 1:55 diecast line... In this article, we'll take a look at the Cars Mini Adventure Piston Cup racers and haulers.


    Haulers

    Mack was the first Mini hauler released... it came out as a single in one of the cases that came with 12 2 packs per case.



    The Mack cab had been released in some 2 packs and in some strange colors in some of the themes.

    I believe the next hauler released was the Chick Hauler single:


    The next and last hauler to be released as a single was the Gray Hauler, the hauler in Dinooco team:


    I opened almost all my Cars Mini Adventure items... one of the few exceptions is the Gray Hauler:



    Here's the Gray Hauler cardback:


    If you look closely, you can see that Tank Coat and No Stall appear in the lower left corner - they appeared in the same 2 pack... if you look in the upper right corner, you can see a picture of the Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks 4x4 buddies (monster trucks)... you can also see what I mean about some strange looking items...


    Only 1 more hauler was released in the Mini Adventures product line... The Octane Gain Hauler was part of a 6 pack that also included the Octane Gain and N2O Cola racers, the Lightning McQueen racer and the Mack Cab.



    You can see the Octane Gain 6 pack and the Tank Coat/No Stall 2 pack in the following photo:


    At one time I had an extra of this Octane Gain 6 pack (4 Cars plus the Octane Gain hauler), but I no longer do... I'm not sure I have a photo of it carded... While there were other 6 packs released, this is the only one I bought - I really liked the Piston Cup racers and silly me, I thought it would be neat to have a Mini Speedway of the South set and a complete set of the Mini Haulers.

    The Mini haulers were also released in the same sequence that the full size haulers were released in... Mattel just stopped after the 4th hauler, Octane Gain.


    Piston Cup Racers

    Lightning McQueen (I believe this was in more than one 2 pack but was with a Mack):


    Dinoco Lightning McQueen (I believe this was in a 2 pack with The King):


    Nitroade (in a 2 pack with Leakless):


    Carded Nitroade/Leakless 2 pack:


    Cardback: Nitroade/Leakless 2 pack:


    The King (in a 2 pack with Dinoco Lightning McQueen):


    Octane Gain (part of the Octane Gain 6 pack):


    Leakless (in a 2 pack with Nitroade):


    Tank Coat (in a 2 pack with No Stall):


    RPM (in a 2 pack with Shiny Wax):




    N2O Cola: (part of the Octane Gain 6 pack):


    Shiny Wax (in a 2 pack with RPM):


    No Stall (in a 2 pack with Tank Coat):


    Dinoco Chick Hicks (in a 2 pack with Dinoco Lightning McQueen):

    (Photo used by permission of Bumper Save... Thank you, Spencer)...

    You'll notice that I don't have a Mini Chick Hicks Piston Cup Racer... it was only released with a trailer and in only a few countries... I believe that Rippers has one... by the time it was released, I'd realized I couldn't collect them all because Mattel wouldn't release them all... Sigh... Just like other Cars product lines.


    4x4 Buddies
    Mattel released one 2 pack in the 4x4 Buddies series... Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks:


    I bought 2 or 3 of these 2 packs - one was for my collection... one went to a good friend in Alaska - her grandson wanted McQueen and Chick Cars on his birthday cake for his 5th birthday... I'm glad I was able to help out... If I can find a photo of the cake I'll add it later... I'm pretty sure another one made the trip across the Atlantic to the UK... Rippers and I helped each other out with a lot of Cars for a couple of years... At one time I'd read somewhere on the Internet that Mattel was going to release the complete set of Piston Cup Racers in the 4x4 Buddies series... I'm pretty sure they stopped after releasing this 2 pack... I guess you can't believe everything you read on the Internet...


    Team sets

    Here are photos of my 4 Mini Adventure Team sets:

    Team Rusteze:


    Team HTB:


    Team Dinoco:


    Team Octane Gain:



    I'll see if I can add some information as to which Piston Cup Racers were released in which 2 packs... I'm not sure I have photos going back that far, and I'm not sure which ones are even still available on eBay or Amazon... I'll also try to add more pictures showing the Mini Piston Cup Racer with the corresponding diecast (1:55) racer, like this one showing No Stall:



    The Cars Mini Adventure product line was kind of brought back in Cars 2 in the Action Agents series... but the Action Agents line doesn't seem to be selling well.

    In addition to the Piston Cup Racers, I also liked the Tunerz and the Bob Cutlass/Darrel Cartrip 2 packs... these Mini Adventures were painted a lot like their 1:55 diecast versions... that's probably why I liked them more than some of the others... but that sounds like another article... I'm probably starting to sound like Mattel... starting a series of articles on a particular item/product line, and not finishing it before starting another one... Hmmm...

    Thanks for reading... as always, I appreciate your comments and your feedback... if you have photos of any of the carded 2 packs that you'd like to share, please feel free to post.

    Chris
    Last edited by cac1959; 03-08-2012, 04:48 AM.


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

  • #2
    Good timing. I was just today telling a friend that I might try to scoop up some (or all) of these. I wish I would have bought them when they were available in the store, but alas, one line was about all I could afford at the time. These are so much cooler than the lame Action Agents and (assumedly) Microdrifters. Thanks for another insightful article.

    Comment


    • #3
      Awesome reading as always Chris.
      I love these mini cars.
      I remember seeing Lmq, Chick and King Mini Launchers on ebay once but never again.

      Comment


      • #4
        Nice read Chris. I do like the Piston Cup Mini cars (and some of the others) but I tried (and succeeded) in only collecting the one line

        Comment


        • #5
          Never got into these. One line is enough for us at a time. Now if only we could get something new in the 1:55's.

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

          Comment


          • #6
            Again Chris a great read. I never got into these due to trying to find all of them was just too hard but I do know the 6 pack is in Toys R US UK stores (with Octane Hauler in) so if any one wants this let me know. I think it is Ł15.

            Comment


            • #7
              Thank you for your comments, friends... MarknotaMack - it's good to know that the Octane Gain 6 pack is at Toys R US UK stores - I'd only seen these at Target... come to think of it, TRU UK got in the Team Crew Sets that were also previously Target (US) exclusives... I wonder what other Target exclusives are now in the UK at TRU?

              I never saw the Mini launchers, pirelliboy... I wish I would have...

              I'm not sure I'd have bought Minis had I been able to find new Cars, but there's something about Piston Cup Racers, Haulers, and Tunerz - I've always had trouble leaving them on the shelves...

              I do have more loose Minis as well as a few carded... I'll take photos and post in an upcoming article.
              Last edited by cac1959; 03-07-2012, 02:30 AM.


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

              Comment


              • #8
                Can you post pics of your mini Tunerz? I don't think I've ever seen those.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Great as always. Dinoco McQueen was also released in a 2pack with Dinoco Chick Hicks. Chris, I have one of them and would send you a photo if I knew how to on this site. PM me your email if you want one.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by sodabear View Post
                    Can you post pics of your mini Tunerz? I don't think I've ever seen those.
                    Here you go, sodabear...

                    Coming...


                    and going...



                    You'll have to wait for a future article to see more pictures of the Mini Tunerz and other Minis... I've got to play around with my new worklight and cameras to take better pictures.
                    Last edited by cac1959; 03-07-2012, 03:10 AM. Reason: Added photos of Mini Tunerz


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

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Thank ya kindly, cac! Those are sweet. I'm going to have to pick those up one of these days. I'm glad they are not in some funky paint scheme.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Added a photo of Dinoco Chick Hicks... Thank you, Bumper Save...


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

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          great article as always. Chris, if you need any picture of minis, just let me know.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by sodabear View Post
                            Can you post pics of your mini Tunerz? I don't think I've ever seen those.
                            Chris, there are four mini Tunerz two pack.
                            1. Boost and Snot Rod*
                            2. Lightning McQueen and Mater*
                            3. Wingo and DJ
                            4. Ramone and Fillmore

                            and Ramone and Fillmore set is a hard to find one.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Thanks G. I remember that Ramone/Fillmore set was so rare, there was a debate at one time whether it even existed. Haha, but if it's out there you'll find it.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X