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.