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One of the most loveable Cars from the Cars series is Mack... Voiced by John Ratzenberger, who has had a part in many of the Pixar films, there's something about him that appeals to a lot of us... Like many, he's been treated badly by his boss, Lightning McQueen... Mack's intentions are good, but in the first film, he falls asleep while driving on the interstate and loses the famous Piston Cup Racer Lightning McQueen... It's never a good idea to lose your boss, but if Mack doesn't lose McQueen a lot of the first film doesn't happen... and all's well that ends well... Mack leads the search party back to Radiator Springs where they find McQueen, who has grown up quite a bit, takes him to California for the 3 Car race off for the Piston Cup and... just in case you haven't seen Cars, I'm not going to spoil the ending for you.
Mack was one of my grandson's favorite Cars characters... probably because in the various configurations you could do more with him than just drive him... He's been well played with, and still to this day may be played with... In fact, as I was looking for the various toys to take pictures for this article, some of them are missing in action... I may have to ask Austin where he put them.
Mack also appears in Cars2 although he has just a very small part... this is disappointing to a lot of people who have seen Cars2...
In this article, we'll take a look at Mack.
Mack Transporter
While this character did not appear in the film, it's been a popular character... The Mack Transporter has been released in many different series as part of Mattel's marketing plan to take more of our money...
Desert Back Mack Transport - came with Doc Hudson and Sally diecasts:
If you look at the cardback, you see the first 12 Desert Back singles in the lower right corner.
I never saw this Mack Transporter in a store... it had come and gone before I started collecting seriously... I got one from Rippers when they were being marked down in the UK... thank you, Paul...
World of Cars Mack Transporter with Snot Rod, DJ, and Wingo
This turned out to be a very popular release of the Mack Transporter... by the time this came out, the Cars product line was very well established and toy sales were doing quite well... The Tunerz were also very popular and for $19.99 plus tax at Walmart, you got Mack and 3 of the 4 Tunerz... Towards the end of the run, we saw this same set discounted to $10.00 and then $5.00... GOMATERGO and I bought 40 of these at our Walmart and donated them to what was the Cars Cares charity headed by indykjt and is now Nathan's Playroom... Many of these were sent as part of care packages to children in need or to support siblings of children in need... Several were used as part of a contest to raise funds for Cars Cares - participants in the contest were to create a custom Mack... I ended up winning 4 of the customs in auctions...
Great customs for a great cause...
Here's the cardback:
WOC Mack Transporter with Bumper Save, Nitroade, and Bob Cutlass
This Mack Transporter was a Walmart Black Friday special in November 2009, I believe... It was only $10 that day, 1/2 off the $19.99 retail price... I got a couple of them... it was the first release of Bumper Save with plastic tires outside the Speedway of the South set... by this time, people were beginning to realize you might not get all the Piston Cup Racers released as singles... It turned out that Bumper Save was later released as a Lightyear Launcher, as a Kmart 2 racer with rubber tires, as part of a Target team set with hauler and pitty... but I bought it to make sure I had a plastic tire Bumper Save racer for my display case... This was an early example of what became a pattern for Mattel... sell one new Car with several previously released Cars for more money than just the new Car...
Race O Rama Mack Transporter with Radiator Springs McQueen and Sally
I never saw this set in a store... rpag, one of my Cars friends from Pennsylvania, found it at a Ross store (Ross is an overstock retail chain that has no stores in my area)... What was new in this set is that Mack has a black trailer and you can see decals of many of the Piston Cup Racers on the trailer...I've not opened this set and probably won't... I'm running out of room to display Cars for both display and play.
I believe that one of the major US retailers canceled their order which is why this set went straight to an overstock retail chain.
Mack Bachelor Pad
The Mack Bachelor Pad looked more like the Mack Trailer from the movie... When you open it up, it had 3 areas that you could put Lightning McQueen in... It was available in the World of Cars, Race O Rama, and Night Skyline cardbacks... some of them included a Lightning McQueen... The retail price of this ranged from $17.99 to $22.99... I saw it at Meijer, Kmart, and Toys R Us.
Here's a picture in the Night Skyline package:
Here's what it looks like when opened up:
Here's the cardback:
I happened to find couple of these on clearance at Meijer for $9.99 as they were marking down their Cars and Toon inventory in anticipation of Cars2... I sent at least 1 to a friend in Canada, cvc1968 so each of his sons could have their own.
My grandson will still play with this on occasion, as when it's opened up, there's a lot that Lightning can do.
Talking Mack Transporter
On 2 occasions, Walmart released Mack Transporters that featured a talking Mack as well as another Car... These retailed for $24.99, but I never bought one, even when they were marked down to $11.00... If anyone has one and can share a picture, please let me know.
I find it hard to believe that I never bought one of the Talking Mack Transporters... I really like the Cars2 Lights and Sounds product line.
Mega Size (Deluxe Size) Mack
Mack was released as a semi cab in the Mega Size product line... his first release was on the World of Cars Cardback:
Mack was later released on Race O Rama cardback, and then again on the Night Skyline cardback:
Note that Mack is facing the opposite way in the Night Skyline series... I'm not sure I have Mack on ROR cardback anymore...
Mattel released way too many semis in too many cases in the Mega size series, which basically killed off the Mega/Deluxe size product line in the US... Mack was popular, but all the other semis (Gray, Chick, RPM, No Stall, Octane Gain) were not... we wanted non-semis such as Frank, Bessie, and a few that were never released in the US (Brian Parks Motors, Chuck Choke Cables, and Stu Bop)...
Mack Hauler
Mack was the first hauler released in the hauler series... I believe it was originally released on ROR cardback... It was later released on the Night Skyline cardback.
As you can see in the following photo, it was a little more difficult to play with the Mack Hauler due to how the trailer opened up:
At one time I had at least 2 of each hauler in my collection... 1 for display, and 1 to keep boxed... Mack was opened to play with as well... Since then, I had eliminated my boxed hauler collection... I've gotten a few more since then to help friends with trades, and if the trade fell through, added a few to my collection...
Mack is one of the most popular haulers because Mack is such a prominent character in Cars.
Other Mack Releases
Mack Mini Hauler:
Mack Mini Semi:
Mack Playset:
Mack was released in a huge playset that contained plastic versions of Bessie, Lightning McQueen, and Doc Hudson:
When you open it up, you actually had 3 distinctive parts... The bumpy road that Bessie paves:
The dirt track where Doc and Lightning race:
The road out of town:
Just to show you how large this playset is, here's a picture showing this Mack playset with a Mack Hauler, Mini Mack Hauler, and a Mini Mack Semi:
Another large Mack
boogity was kind enough to share photos of another Mack that's in his collection... it's another huge Mack... I'll add more details once I find out more... It's next to a Mack Hauler and another smaller Mack.
(Photo used by permission of boogity... Thank you, boogity)
(Photo used by permission of boogity... Thank you, boogity)
In Conclusion
Mack is an important part of Cars... because he has such a small part in Cars2 I have not bought any Cars2 Mack items and unless they go on a significant markdown, I probably won't... The Cars2 Mack Bachelor Pad looks a lot like the Cars Mack Bachelor Pad only it has a Cars2 Lightning McQueen in it.
At one time the Disney Store had a very sharp looking Metallic Paint Mack Hauler; I thought about it but never bought it... if anyone has one and will share a picture, I'd appreciate it.
When I find the Mack cab of the hauler and the Bachelor Pad, and the plastic Bessie, McQueen, and Doc from the large Mack Playset, I'll take pictures and add them to the article.
As always, thanks for reading... I appreciate your comments and your feedback... but don't talk smack about Mack.
Chris
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