Cars 3: Wind-Up Assortment (by Thinkway Toys)

While I enjoy seeing new technology implemented into the latest toys these days, there's just nothing like keeping it simple sometimes. To quote The Incredibles, "there's no school like the old school." I love wind-up toys and find them fascinating; did you know that mechanical wind-up toys were the first automated toys designed (along with air and steam pressure) and that their origins can be traced all the way back to Greece in 400 BC? Yah, that's pretty neat. To this day, many toy companies are still using wind-up technology, finding new and creative ways to have fun with it. With that said, you know I had to pick up this Cars 3 wind-up assortment by Thinkway Toys!

I grabbed these last spring at Toys R Us (in fact, they're still available there on the shelf to this day—unfortunately it seems this line didn't do too well), so this post has been a long time coming. I'm excited to finally share my thoughts!

There are four characters included in this lineup: Dinoco Cruz Ramirez, Lightning McQueen, Jackson Storm and Mater. As seen on the back of the package below (and in THIS official Thinkway Toys product summery), there was suppose to be six, but it appears two have been cancelled or delayed: Smokey and Miss Fritter. What a shame! I kept waiting for them to come out, but at this point I've lost hope.

Lightning McQueen, Jackson Storm and Mater can all be purchased individually. Cruz was suppose to be available as a single (seen HERE), but that never happened. So, as of right now, the best way to go about collecting these (if you want them all) is to get this "Wind-Up Buddy Pack" (which includes Cruz, Lightning and Jackson) and then Mater as a single.

The Buddy 3-Pack retails for $24.99 and the singles can be purchased for $9.99 each.

These are pretty small (each car is about 3" in size), but they pack a lot of cute. I love the way they are stylized! The best part is that each character has movements/action specific to their personality.

Here are some loose shots and a description of each character's unique movements....

Dinoco Cruz Ramirez 

While Cruz doesn't move fast when wound up, her feature is pretty cool. Place her on top of a table or any flat surface and she will sense the edges and not fall off! I tested this out and it works perfectly.

Lightning McQueen 

When Lightning McQueen is wound up, he moves forward pretty fast, pops a side wheelie, turns and zooms forward again—all while his eyes move up and down! 

Jackson Storm

Jackson Storm is the fastest of the bunch (which makes sense). When wound, he races forward, then takes a sharp 90 degree spin and continues straight again.

Mater

Mater's feature is pretty unique since he moves forward by essentially "walking" instead of driving!  Picture his front left and right tires moving up and down like feet, while is back tires move him slowly forward. It's too cute!

You can see all these in action (as well as the cancelled Miss Fritter and Smokey cars), in THIS OFFICIAL Thinkway Toys YouTube video! I've tested them all out and their actions all work flawlessly. My only real complaint is the price; these things should NOT be $10 each (they're more like a $4.99 range toy). Luckily I got these as a gift, or else I would have been hesitant to even pick them up. I believe they're on sale though currently at Toys R Us, so now might be a good time to snag them if you haven't already. They can purchased in stores or on the Toys R Us website HERE.

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!