Ka-Chow!! Did you know that 9/5 (September 5th) is Lightning McQueen Day? Well it sure is! Get it? Because "95" is McQueen's racing number? This is legit, I swear I didn't make this up. Anyway, I'm here to celebrate everyone's favorite hotshot race car in style thanks to a generous gift from Mattel! I was sent the brand new Disney·Pixar Cars "Race Around Radiator Springs" motorized track set AND a new Piston Cup Race 5-Pack featuring a "First Look" Next-Gen Leak Less. I'm super pumped to give you all a detailed look!
I'm going to start with the Race Around Radiator Springs track set because this thing is simply epic. At 3' long and 26" wide, this is definitely one of the larger Cars track sets Mattel has produced. While there have been plenty of playsets that make up the iconic town of Radiator Springs over the last 13 years (Original 2006 collection, Story Sets, Precision Series and many more), this is the first time ever that the town has been released with a motorized booster feature. Super cool! I mean, look at the kid on the back of the package. He's having the best time of his life.
Last night I dumped the many pieces onto my kitchen table and got to work. Between adding the batteries (four D batteries and a screwdriver required, not included), attaching the decals/stickers (not my favorite part) and assembling the track set, it took me about 45 minutes. Be sure to plan on assembly taking at least that long. It was pretty fun putting it all together though and made me feel like a kid again. The instructions were pretty easy to follow and I only felt a little lost once or twice.
This morning when I woke up, I was in the Lightning McQueen Day spirit—like a little boy on Christmas morning—so I got right back to work taking some photos and videos of the entire set assembled and in all its glory. Got it all done before I had to leave for my "real job."
Here it is! Let's check out some of my favorite details...
First off, gotta appreciate that classic figure 8 style track.
I love how the motorized booster/battery compartment is cleverly disguised as the Cozy Cone Motel. Very nicely thought out.
On the on/off switch, you'll notice there are two speeds: fast and faster! Unless I'm sending the cars to the outside lane, I prefer using the "fast" (or regular) speed to avoid cars from flying off the track. And yes, you can add multiple cars on at once (comfortably up to four)—otherwise it wouldn't be a race, right?
This road stemming off from the main track can be attached to other compatible Cars track sets from Mattel.
It's not Radiator Springs without Flo's! Gotta fuel up for the big race.
The red "Luigi's Tires" device below is used to make the cars switch lanes (from the inside to the outside lane or vice versa). If you've ever had any previously released Cars track sets, you know this is a pretty standard feature that adds a little more excitement to play.
Speaking of Luigi's Casa Della Tires, glad to see the shop represented here as part of the set. Of course there are many RS shops that aren't included here (like Ramone's House of Body Art, Sarge's Hut, Fillmore's Taste-In, Doc's Clinic, Mater's Junkyard, the Courthouse, etc.), but the three buildings Mattel chose to include as part of this particular set (Sally's Cozy Cone, Flo's V8 Cafe and Luigi's Casa Della Tires) are nicely incorporated and well designed.
Including the leaning tower of tires was a good touch!
And here's the Lightning McQueen vehicle that's included with this set (which is plastic, not diecast metal). He's ready and waiting on the auto lift to get some new tires!
Below is one of my favorite details; a nice little nod to the abandoned town buildings that you never see get any love! "LubeORama" (a cars version of a cocktail bar) and "The Oil Pan" are the two featured here.
Well that's pretty much it! I think I covered it all. Again, this set is super fun and I'm sure kids will have a blast playing with it for hours on end. You can find it currently at your local Target (online HERE) OR on Amazon using the direct link below for just $39.99. The perfect Christmas gift perhaps?
To see this track set in action, you can view Disney·Pixar's official unboxing video HERE (on the new Pixar Cars YouTube Channel) or my brief demonstration video I threw together this morning on my YouTube channel below. You can even check out the brand new Pixar Cars diecast
And lastly, here's the super sweet Piston Cup Race 5-Pack featuring "First Look" Next-Gen Leak Less #52 (George New-Win)—never before released! Also included in this pack is Danny Swervez, Rust-Eze Lightning McQueen, Jackson Storm and Chase Racelott. This can also be currently found at Target if you're looking to add this to your collection.
Let me know all your thoughts down below! Happy #95LMQDAY.
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