Chick Hicks Mattel Car - going cheap on Ebay

Ok - I just want to let everyone know that I just say TWO Chick Hicks Mattel Cars being sold on ebay for $10.99 each - yes just this morning and that was the winning bid for each car - $10.99. So all of you who keep emailing me and telling me you can't find Chick Hicks - you need to be checking the www.hotdealspotter.com regularly. I watch this site to see what Disney Pixar Cars Auctions are ending last minute and I have used it to scoop up some great Disney Cars finds. So if you can't get a good deal on Chick Hicks then you aren't looking. I recommend going to the site at different times of the day - this morning those two chick hicks auctions ended at 9:30 am MT - 11:30 ET - so stop complaining and start watching the auctions. It is a known fact that the auctions launched in the evening have higher visibilty and therefore tend to be sold for more - why - because there are just a lot more people on ebay in the evening. So go check out the auctions ending in the moring and mid morning and see if you can score a Chick Hicks for just $10. I can imagine how happy the winners are of those two auctions - they might even turn around and sell those Chick Hicks back on ebay and make some money. Just check out www.hotdealspotter at different times of the day - it is going to automatically show you the auctions that are ending at that point in time.

Chick Hicks 86 Pit Stop Store

Check out this new site - compiled of great Disney Cars Toys, bedding, beds, clothing, merchandise of kind. The site has compiled some great Cars Themed Toys, Clothing, Bedding, Furniture, Collectibles and I am sure a number of other items that I have forgotten to mention. It is just nice finding a page with several resources for what I am searching on. I find that it saves me time from searching all over the internet. The great thing is that because it is an Amazon network - it also lists items that are used, so I picked up a "used" Chick Hicks car for the kids to play with. The one in the package will probably remain that way indefinitely if my husband has anything to say about it.

New Blog for Cars Movie Posters & Character Sheets

So I decided to start another blog that was focused on Cars Posters and advertising. The studios really ran a fantastic "countdown" launch for this movie in particular, I am sure that explains why it was so successful. I have tried to get images of the different posters, some of them have dates and others I am just not sure when they came out in the countdown process. Anyways, hope you find it fun and useful. Just like everything else I am sure that you can find some of these posters being auctioned off on ebay.

I have not seen countdown advertising this good since "Ghostbusters". Back in the 80's while I was living in New York City, I can remember seeing tons of these friendly, chubby, white ghosts with a red line drawn through it months before there were movie trailers. I remember how it was such a viral advertising campaign, everyone was talking about these posters, wondering what they were for - they did not have any names, just a date and left you wondering. They did the same things with the Movie Cars. I saw the posters and was left curious, wondering what this movie was about and if I was going to like it.

Mattel Cars Movie Moments - Luigi, Guido, Tractor

Mattel Cars Movie Moments - Luigi, Guido, Tractor

Mattel Cars Movie Moments - Boost and Snot Rod

Mattel Cars Movie Moments - Boost and Snot Rod
I have actually seen two different paint jobs on this set of characters. I am investigating to determine if there are two different sets out there.

Mattel Cars Movie Moments - Flo and Ramone

Mattel Cars Movie Moments - Flo and Ramone

Mattel Cars Movie Moments - Red and Stanley

Mattel Cars Movie Moments - Red and Stanley

Mattel Cars Movie Moments Collection

So far Mattel has released only 4 "Movie Moments" - these diecast packs have either 2 or 3 different characters from the movie. These characters have not been released in the Mattel Single Pack series as of yet.

Stanley & Red
Luigi, Guido and Tractor
Flo and Ramone
Boost and Snot Rod

Chick Hicks Toy Has Big Price Tag

Wondering just how high the price tag will go on these Cars Collectibles? Well check out this posting to the Chick Hicks Blog -a new Mattel Single Pack Chick Hicks has a pretty big price tag - but we have hunted down two other places where you can still buy them online with a cheaper price tag but you better act fast. The price is only going to climb as the DVD is released and the holidays are approaching.

Cars The King Trivia

* In a dedication to Richard Petty, the King is a 1970 Plymouth Superbird in the so-called "Petty blue" and bearing the same number.
* When John Lasseter asked Petty if he wanted to be in a movie he initially refused saying "I want to drive a race car." He said yes when told it was an animated film.[4]
* The engine in this particular type of car was outlawed by 1971 in NASCAR because it caused the car to go too fast, making it difficult to control.
* The King's wife, a blue 1972 Chrysler Town and Country (pre-1990) station wagon, is voiced by Richard Petty's wife Lynda.
* The wreck at the end of the movie mimicked a wreck experienced by Petty in his 1988 season, although Petty's wreck was not caused by malicious intent.
* The King has a thick Southern accent.
* Like The King, the real-life Richard Petty also crashed in his last race, although it was not as severe as the movie.
* In the Finnish dub, he is voiced by Mika Häkkinen, a famous Finnish racing driver
* In the German dub, he is voiced by Niki Lauda, a famous Austrian racing driver

6 Ways to Find the Rare Cars Collectibles

Here is a suggestion as to where you can find CARS collectibles - online and offline.

1) Big Lots & Odd Lots Discount Stores - I continue to find some CARS diecast toys at the local discount Big Lots - in some areas they are called Odd Lots. And the best part is that they are cheap. Now I have yet to find the complete set of the MATTEL CARS 1:64 model diecast toys, I have found a number of them and still very cheap. So it might be worth a visit or two to your local discount Big Lots - just to see what CARS Merchandise and toys they might still have in stock.

2) Yahoo Auctions - you know that there is another auction site out there besides ebay. There is much less competition on the yahoo auction site and fewer products. But it is worth checking out, I have seen several CARS auctions up there on a daily basis.

3) www.hotdealspotter.com - a website that is set to sift through all the ebay auctions and lists only those related to Disney Pixar Cars items. It also shows auction items ending right then an there. This gives you a great chance to grap last minute auctions with no bids on them. I have scored several McDonald's Happy Meal complete sets for a good price.

4) Ebay Australia - Another great place to locate and buy CARS Collectibles - whether it is the Mattel series or the McDonald's Happy Meal CARS Promotion- check out Ebay Australia -



There are a lot of great auctions for the McDonald's Happy Meal CARS Promotion. Many sellers will ship to the USA and as long as you are using paypal to pay for the purchase, the currency exchange is not a problem - Paypal will do that for you. And as long as you already have an ebay account, you can shop all the ebay country sites. And it can be worth it because you can find some pretty cool and unusual CARS merchandise from the different ebay country sites and it is so easy to shop at these other sites yet so few people do. Some pointers before you do visit the other ebay sites - make sure that the seller will ship to the US, that you have a paypal account and that you are aware of the currency exchange an Australian dollar is not the same as an American dollar. Again shopping these other sites can be well worth it.


5) Amazon.com
Another great place to find CARS merchandise, toys, diecast toys, bedding and even clothing is on Amazon - you will be amazed at how many items you can find new and used on this site. Again people forget that this site is out there - I search amazon regularly for some of the CARS merchandise and the nice thing is you don't have to wait for an auction to end. I was pleasantly surprised to find several of the Dinoco Blue Lightning McQueens and the Fast Talking Lightning McQueen for great prices. I provided an amazon.com search box - just type in pixar cars or disney pixar cars or even Lightning McQueen and you'll get a list of items for sale - again new and used.



6) Online store - Allaboardtoys.com
Allaboardtoys.com - has some unusual, high quality Cars merchandise & toys. I am not sure where they get their stuff, but they sell some great toys that I have not seen elsewhere. They only sell new stuff.

www.allaboardtoys.com -
. They sell alot of new toys that you just can't find anywhere else. They have a whole Disney Pixar CARS department. I have always been impressed the the quality of the toys that they carry. They also great shipping discounts as well. Well worth the visit to see what stuff they are offering for Halloween and even the holiday season.

The 13 Hottest Disney Pixar CARS Collectibles

Here is a list of some of the hardest and rarest Cars collectibles - die cast toys. These models are in high demand on ebay. Check out www.hotdealspotter.com - to find all the Cars merchandise being sold on ebay and locate the best deals.

Rare
Sarge
Chick Hicks
Lizzie - Disney/Mattel diecast model was shipped in lower numbers and coupled with the fact that she is a Model T - this model is in high demand among collectors. The Model T is a desirabel model car to begin with but then add the fact that she was shipped in lower numbers you have a rare collectible.

McDonald's Happy Meal - Mater
Blue Bowlin' Mater - this did not appear in the movie
Muddy McQueen (this was only released with "Mountain Challenge" racing pack - this is not the same model as the McDonald's Muddy McQueen)

Hard to Find
Single Pack Mattel Diecast Models
Fillmore
The King
Sheriff
Wingo
DJ
Red & Stanley
Boost & Snot Rod

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys - Doc Hudson

McDonald's Happy Meal Cars Toy Promotion - Doc Hudson. Is is jut me, are does this car really start to look like Paul Newman?

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys - Flo

McDonald's Happy Meal Toy - Flo. You can see why she was such a successful floor model at the car dealership.

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys - Fillmore

McDonald's Happy Meal Toy - Fillmore, the happy, hippy van. This model probably moves faster than he does in the movie. Another good reproduction from the Cars movie. I like the detail captured on the side of the van.

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys - Luigi

McDonald's Happy Meal Toy - Luigi, the spunky little Italian number. You can almost hear his cute little voice coming out of this model.

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys - Sally

McDonald's Happy Meal Cars Toys - Sally Carrera, recently named as one of the sexiest cars in several car magazines. They did a great job on this model, especially the color.

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys - Mater

The McDonald's Happy Meal Cars Toy Mater - the tow truck from Cars, is one of the hardest to find models. It consistently sells well on ebay, getting lots of bids, clearly high demand. I have also read that this particular model is a bit more fragile than the others - more accounts of pieces breaking off. I am not sure why this model is in higher demand than others - could be that it is a bit more fragile or maybe they just did not make as many of Mater as they did the other ones. So if you do find one of these, handle with care.

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys - Ramone

McDonald's Happy Meal Cars Promotion - Ramone comes in 3 paint versions: green, yellow and purple. Below is an image of all three versions available in the McDonald's Happy Meal lineup.

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys - Lightning McQueen

Here is an image of the McDonald's Happy Meal Cars Toys Lineup - Lightning McQueen comes in two versions - clean and muddy.

Clean Lightning McQueen
Muddy Lightning McQueen

I have seen complete sets of thes on ebay - if you do some searching around you can find sets with both versions being sold. It is well worth picking them up if you can find them. Check out www.hotdealspotter.com - it is set to locate all the disney pixar cars toys being sold on ebay at any given moment allowing you to pick up some great last minute bargains.

Disney/Mattel Cars Diecast - Wave 1

Disney/Mattel Cars Diecast Models - Wave 1 - Released April 2006. The lineup was released in 3 series - Single Packs, Movie Moments and Exclusives. Below is a listing of all three series - these results are based on my research. I have also noted how common and uncommon these models are. Research for this rating also including monitoring ebay activities for each of the models.

Single Packs
Lightning McQueen (common)
Mater (common)
Sally Carrera (common)
Doc Hudson (common)
Sarge (rare)
Fillmore (uncommon)
Chick Hicks (rare)
The King (uncommon)
Sheriff (uncommon)
Lizzie (rare)
Wingo (uncommon)
DJ (uncommon)



Movie Moments
Ramone (Purple Paint Job) & Flo (common)
Luigi, Guido, & Tractor (common)
Red & Stanley (uncommon)
Boost & Snot Rod (uncommon)


Exclusives
Blue Bowlin' Mater (rare - not seen in film)
Muddy McQueen (uncommon - only released with "Mountain Challenge" racing pack)

Disney/Mattel Cars Diecast Toy Lineup

Disney/Pixar's Cars Diecast Line is a colletor's toy line from Mattel and based on the Movie Cars. The Mattel diecast lineup are 1:64 scale models. Mattel and Disney have been releasing the lineup in waves. The first diecast wave was released in April 2006. The diecast models were an instant hit and starting selling out immediately in stores. Now the diecast lineup are hot sellers on ebay. In fact there are a number of character models that can only be found on ebay now, due to their popularity. According to Mattel press releases, they plan on releasing other models later in 2006 and also in 2007. The DVD release of the movie is scheduled for November 7th - and likely to be paired with the release of another wave of the diecast models. Expect additional model releases throughout the holiday season.

Sally Cerrera Trivia

* Sally's last name (Carrera) comes from her car model, a 2002 996 Porsche 911.
* The Porsche 911 Carrera has a tailfin that normally only rises at highway speeds, but at one point in the movie, Sally purposefully lifts her tailfin to show off a pinstriping tattoo beneath, which Lightning notices and points out.
* In the UK cars magazine Top Gear, Sally was included in the magazine's list of the 10 sexiest cars in the World.[1]
* Pixar originally wanted a classic model, but Porsche persuaded them to use a 2002 model.

Cars Sally Carrera Profile

Sally Carrera
Model: 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera
Gender: Female
Color: Light Blue
Actor Voice: Bonnie Hunt
Movie Role: Sally plays Lightning McQueen's love interest in the Cars Movie. She is also Radiator Springs' town attorney. She found her way to Radiator Springs by chance after leaving the big city life of Los Angeles and breaking down in the town. She runs the motel - Cozy Cone Motel in the movie.

Take a Virtual Tour of Radiator Springs

Here is a fun interactive tour of Radiator Springs. This site is set up so that you can submit your own photographs of your own Cars adventures and also post stories in the Road Journal about your own road trip. A fun feature.

Chick Hicks Fan Blog

Here is another blog started dedicated to Chick Hicks information, trailers, toys, etc.
Check it out. Recently I read an article in which the person felt that Chick Hicks was not as popular (in terms of toys, merchandise, etc) as some of the other Cars characters. They based this observation on the fact that McDonald's Happy Meal Cars Toys Promotion did not include a Chick Hicks model. However, Chick Hicks is one of the more popular searches done on ebay for sure. I think that perhaps this lack of Chick Hicks merchandise might actually result in it becoming more desirable. Perhaps people are interesting in collecting the Chick Hicks merchandise because there is less of it. I mean you can find just about anything and everything with Lightning McQueen - from bedding, to clothes, wallpaper, party favors, etc. But there is something fun about collecting an "underdog character" in the merchandising world. One thing for sure is that Chick Hicks merchandise is selling strong on ebay.

Chick Hicks #86 Cars Trivia

* Chick's number (86) refers to the year of release of Pixar's first short, Luxo Jr..
* According to Cars director John Lasseter, the number also refers to "86-ing" someone, as in throwing them out.[4]
* His primary sponsor is the "Hostile Takeover Bank".
* In a nightmare that Lightning had after his first encounter with Frank the Combine Harvester, Chick gets shredded by Frank, who wins the race.
* When he hears Chick's voice on the radio outside Lizzie's, Lightning has a nightmarish daydream in which a triumphant Chick wins the Piston Cup and Dinoco sponsorship.
* Chick's driving style is believed by some to be similar to that of the late Dale Earnhardt, however, it is closer to current NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, who is known for aggressive driving and a tendency to lose his temper on and off the track.
* Certain merchandising text (most notably that for the "Piston Cup Track Set" from Mattel) refers to Chick as "Chick Murphy". It is unclear whether this was the character's original name, or if it was simply a mistake.

Chick Hicks #86 Racecar Profile

Chick Hicks #86

Model: 1980's generic stock car, based on a Buick Regal

Color: Green

Gender: Male

Voice Actor: Michael Keaton

Movie Role: Antagonist to Lightning McQueen and The King - runner-up in the Piston Cup. Willing to do anything to win the Piston Cup once and for all.

Interesting Trivia fact that there is no Chick Hicks Toy included in the McDonald's Cars Happy Meal Toys Line up.

Lightning McQueen Fast Tracks Soundtrack

Another great companion to the CARS Soundtrack is the Lightning McQueen Fast Tracks album - this does not have all the heavy hitters like the movie's soundtrack. But it does have some great country artists and songs with some edgy twist.

Disney CARS Movie Soundtrack

If you haven't gotten the soundtrack to the movie yet - what are you waiting for? It is one of those rare albums that both the parents and the kids will enjoy. And you know how rare that is - there is nothing annoying on this soundtrack and the whole family can sing along to it. My favorite is the Cheryl Crow song - my kids love the Tractor Tipping song. You can listen to snippets of all the tracks on the album at Amazon.com

Here is a listing of the songs on the album

1. Real Gone - Sheryl Crow

2. Route 66 - Chuck Berry

3. Life Is A Highway - Rascal Flatts

4. Behind The Clouds - Brad Paisley

5. Our Town - James Taylor

6. Sh-Boom - The Chords

7. Route 66 - John Mayer

8. Find Yourself - Brad Paisley

9. Opening Race

10. McQueen's Lost

11. My Heart Would Know - Hank Williams

12. Bessie

13. Dirt Is Different

14. New Road

15. Tractor Tipping

16. McQueen And Sally

17. Goodbye

18. Pre-Race Pageantry

19. The Piston Cup

20. The Big Race

The Masked Movie Snobs Bullpen: CARS

The Masked Movie Snobs Bullpen: CARS

Found a great blog dedicated to movie reviews. Here is what the author had to say about CARS The movie - but we already know that it is a great movie.

A great online store for unique CARS toys

Another great online store to find unusual CARS toys, merchandise, etc is www.allaboardtoys.com -
. They sell alot of toys that you just can't find anywhere else. They have a whole Disney Pixar CARS department. I have always been impressed the the quality of the toys that they carry. They also great shipping discounts as well. Well worth the visit to see what stuff they are offering for Halloween and even the holiday season.

Amazon.com for CARS Merchandise, Toys & Collectibles

Another great place to find CARS merchandise, toys, diecast toys, bedding and even clothing is on Amazon - you will be amazed at how many items you can find new and used on this site. Again people forget that this site is out there - I search amazon regularly for some of the CARS merchandise and the nice thing is you don't have to wait for an auction to end. I was pleasantly surprised to find several of the Dinoco Blue Lightning McQueens and the Fast Talking Lightning McQueen for great prices. I provided an amazon.com search box - just type in pixar cars or disney pixar cars or even Lightning McQueen and you'll get a list of items for sale - again new and used.

for CARS Collectibles, Toys & Clothes

Another great place to locate and buy CARS Collectibles - whether it is the Mattel series or the McDonald's Happy Meal CARS Promotion- check out Ebay Australia -


There are a lot of great auctions for the McDonald's Happy Meal CARS Promotion. Many sellers will ship to the USA and as long as you are using paypal to pay for the purchase, the currency exchange is not a problem - Paypal will do that for you. And as long as you already have an ebay account, you can shop all the ebay country sites. And it can be worth it because you can find some pretty cool and unusual CARS merchandise from the different ebay country sites and it is so easy to shop at these other sites yet so few people do. Some pointers before you do visit the other ebay sites - make sure that the seller will ship to the US, that you have a paypal account and that you are aware of the currency exchange an Australian dollar is not the same as an American dollar. Again shopping these other sites can be well worth it.

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys CARS Promotion

I found some great images of the CARS Toys that were part of the McDonald's Happy Meal promotion from this summer. They were available at McDonald's Happy Meal or Mighty Kids Meal from Jun9 until July 6, 2006. There were 8 toys with action features and there were two versions of Lightning McQueen - a clean and a muddy verion. There were also slight variations in the eye position of the model cars. Worth noting is that the McDonald's Mater fetches the highest prices on ebay - suggesting that it is harder to find and in greater demand.


1. LIGHTNING McQUEEN - (2 versions, clean and muddy - action feature is a pull back, it races forward and does wheelies).

2. MATER - has working tow truck features such as a moveable towing hitch and tires that actually turn. You can really use it to tow other cars in the lineup.

3. SALLY - she also has the pull back action feature like Lightning McQueen, as she races forward so goes off into different directions - steering off to the right or the left.

4. DOC HUDSON - doc has a wind up action feature, you wind it up and let it zoom away.

5. RAMONE - comes in several different body color versions: purple, yellow, and green - Ramone does some hydraulic tricks, bouncing around.

6. FLO - owner of Flo's V-8 Café - is a classic pull back car.

7.LUIGI - one of the funniest McDonald's toy, the personality of this little Italian car number is matched by the fact that it gets moving only after you shoot if off from crank on the tire wrench.

8. FILLMORE - this classic hippy van is like Flo, another pull back that will race forward after being pulled back and released.



I have seen some of the complete sets available on ebay - so if you missed out on these collectibles - then my suggestion is visit ebay and do a search - check out http://www.hotdealspotter - as it is set up on default to locate the DIsney Pixar CARS items up for auction.

The Movie CARS Character Line Up

Lightning McQueen, #95 Race Car

Sally, 2002 Porsche 911

Doc Hudson, 1951 Hudson Hornet

Mater, 1955 Wrecker

Sarge, 1942 WWII Willy's Army Jeep

Fillmore, 1960 VW Bus

Ramone, 1959 Impala Lowrider

Flo, 1950s Motorama Show Car

The King, 1970 Plymouth Superbird

Chick Hicks, #86 Race Car

Where to find CARS Collectibles

Here is a suggestion as to where you can find CARS collectibles - online and offline.

1) Big Lots & Odd Lots Discount Stores - I continue to find some CARS diecast toys at the local discount Big Lots - in some areas they are called Odd Lots. And the best part is that they are cheap. Now I have yet to find the complete set of the MATTEL CARS 1:64 model diecast toys, I have found a number of them and still very cheap. So it might be worth a visit or two to your local discount Big Lots - just to see what CARS Merchandise and toys they might still have in stock.

2) Yahoo Auctions - you know that there is another auction site out there besides ebay. There is much less competition on the yahoo auction site and fewer products. But it is worth checking out, I have seen several CARS auctions up there on a daily basis.

Mattel Diecast Lightning McQueen Toys

Mattel has released 4 different versions Lightning McQueen die cast toys - these include:
-race versio
-Dinoco blue version
-modified race version (red/white pattern seen at the film's end)
-Willys Butte Version (A muddy race version) exclusive to Radiator Springs Mountain Challenge.

As I get good images of them I will post them. I am finding some good bargains now only on ebay but also on Amazon.com. You can still get news ones as well as opened ones. The demand for CARS Merchandise will start to pick up again around November 7th - that is when the DVD will be coming out. So that means by the time Christmas rolls around, kids are still going to want CARS toys, merchandise, clothes, you name it.