Cars 3: Mash'ems Collection Review

Here we have my first introduction into the world of Mash'ems with these super fun new Cars 3 characters! "Mash'ems" (by the company Tech 4 Kids) is a series of small, rubber, squishy, stylized figures that can be squashed, stretched, twisted and, well, mashed. With characters/properties ranging from Paw Patrol to SpongeBob to Super Heroes, to Pixar of course (just to name a few), there are many fun Mash'ems out there to find and collect. Most Mash'ems have been released in plastic "blind canisters" (like the ones I have here), so you don't know who it is inside until you open it. They're about 1.5" in size and retail for approximately $2.88 each (which is the Walmart price).

These Cars 3 Mash'ems are dubbed "series 1", but I'm not sure if these are actually continuing in the future (I really doubt it). Six characters are available in this particular lineup: Smokey (a new character), Luigi, Lightning McQueen, Jackson Storm (also new) and Cruz Ramirez (again, a new character).

Let's open them up shall we?

Lightning McQueen

Here's one example of how they look when you smush them, but there are so many other ways of mashing! They're a lot of fun to just sit there and squeeze away at (like a stress ball of sorts).

Mater

I hadn't noticed this right off the bat (I don't know how I missed it initially), but each Mash'em is actually filled with a little bit of water (see the water bubbles in the portion of Mater that I squeezed in the photo below). You can even hear the water swishing around when you squeeze them rapidly.

Luigi

Something I learned by going on the official Mash'ems website tonight is that each character has a different rarity to it (who knew?). Lightning McQueen, Luigi and Mater are "common", Jackson Storm and Cruz Ramirez are "rare" and Smokey is "extra rare." Honestly though, they're all about the same easiness to find.

Smokey

Jackson Storm

Cruz Ramirez

I actually enjoyed opening these up and checking them out much more than I thought I would. They're really quite cute and and I like their look/feel overall! Some of them did have some black specks on them upon unboxing (as well as some smudges), but I was able to easily pick those off. Plus, for toys like these, no one expects them to have extraordinary paint jobs. I also wanted to note that these figures are sticky (so they attract hair and fuzz), but they can easily be rinsed off with some water without ruining them.

I purchased my set at Walmart, but they can be found elsewhere as well (I've seen them at Target, Kohls, Toys R Us, etc.). Also— one last hint: there are little slits on the tops and bottoms of the canisters...just shine your flashlight into those and you can a least see some colors. The downside is that there are two yellow and two brown cars, so that makes it harder. Either way though, I had some good luck with that technique, so maybe that will work for you!



My favorites of the bunch are definitely Jackson Storm and Smokey (though Lightning is awesome too...man, it's hard to chose!). Who is your favorite? Have you collected these at all? If so, who did you get? Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below and check out my unboxing video from yesterday above.

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