Cars: Dexter Hoover with Checkered Flag

 If you're a follower of me here on the blog, Instagram or Twitter, you might know that today's my 24th birthday (in fact, you might even be sick of me talking about it)! I can't help it though... I love birthdays, holidays and all festivities, so I'm pretty pumped for the fun that will go down tonight  at my "The Blue Umbrella" themed party that my wife is throwing me. More on that (with pics) tomorrow! 

Today's post is Dexter Hoover with checkered flag (as seen in Cars during the opening and closing race scenes). This Dexter has been released a couple of times over the years including last year's 2013 line (seen below) and the "Final Lap" collection from a few years back.

 

As usual, Dexter is a 1:55 scale diecast from Mattel.

You can pick him up on Amazon or on eBay using the link below:

 Cars: Dexter Hoover with Checkered Flag

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone! I hope you all have a fun, festive and safe holiday.

Cars & Cars 2: Sarge & Race Team Sarge

It may be a stretch, but I thought that Sarge from Cars and Cars 2 would make a festive post today, given that it's Memorial Day and he is a patriotic army car.

(Below) On the left we have the original Sarge single released back in 2006 (the "Desert" series) and on the right is "Race Team" Sarge which was released in the 2011 initial Cars 2 series. Both cars are 1:55 scale diecast vehicles from Mattel.

Both are very similar of course, but the Cars 2 version added Mcqueen's "95" logo and different mouth and eye expressions.

The original Sarge has been re-released many times over the years, but Race Team Sarge was only released in 2011. However, Race Team Sarge with a Pit Crew Headset, was released recently (see here) as well as a lights and sounds version.

You can find all versions of Sarge by searching eBay or Amazon. Good luck with the hunt and may your Cars collection be ever expanding.

Cars: Pit Crew Member Fabulous Hudson Hornet

Here we have Pit Crew Member Doc Hudson! At the end of the original Cars, Doc shows up at Lightning's big race with his retro "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" paint job from when he was a famous race car.

Mattel has released this 1:55 scale diecast Doc as the Hudson Hornet on numerous occasions, but only this one from the "lenticular eyes" line and the "World of Cars" line include his crew chief headset.

I also have the Fabulous Hudson Hornet without his headset as well, seen HERE.

You can pick up his car on Amazon or support this blog by picking him up on eBay using the link below:

Cars: Pit Crew Member Fabulous Hudson Hornet

And can I just say that I'm SO pumped for my birthday this coming Tuesday? Two more days! 

Cars: DJ, Boost, Wingo and Snot Rod

In Cars, these four trouble making tuners play a brief but pivotal role in the film. As you probably remember, they are ultimately the ones responsible for getting Mcqueen lost.

From left to right we have: DJ, Boost, Wingo and Snot Rod. These have been released numerous times, but the ones I have here are from the original 2006 "Desert Series" line. They have also been released with added accessories, such as "with flames" (which can be found at stores now) and "with boots"(known as the "impound" versions).

 

 These characters were also released as electronic 1:43 scale diecasts at the Disney Store with neon lights! I never actually got those, but you can view the two sets here and here.

You can pick these characters up online if you haven't already. I like to use eBay and Amazon. As usual, good luck on the hunt and your expanding collections!

Cars: Mack Semi

Mack, Lightning McQueen's personal semi-truck driver in Cars and Cars 2, has seen his fair share of releases over the years. From playsets, to carrying cases (whether by Mattel or Disney Store), Mack has proven to be a favorite character collectible since the film debuted in 2006.

This is a Mattel 1:55 scale "Deluxe" (or "Mega") size diecast car based on his appearance in the film when he has his trailer detached (screen shot above).

This Mack diecast has been available a few times in the various lines Mattel has released. This one shown here from my collection was just released this year in the 2014 "World of Cars" line and is available now in stores. If you missed the initial release and previous re-releases, now is your chance to snag it before it's gone again.

FUN FACTS: 

• Mack is voiced by John Ratzenberger, who has voice a character in every single Pixar film to date (PT Flea, Hamm, Abominable Snowman and the Underminer to name a few). He is referred to as Pixar's "lucky charm."
• In Cars 2, John Ratzenburger has the least amount of lines out of all 14 Pixar films (only 2 lines).

You can currently pick this diecast up at a store near you, buy him on Amazon or get him off eBay using the link below:

Cars: Mack Semi

Cars: Dinoco Helicopter

The Dinoco helicopter makes several appearances in the original Cars. You may remember the character best for being the helicopter that Mater rides in during the last scene of the film, but it also is seen earlier on as well (screen shot above from after the big opening race scene).

This is a 1:55 scale diecast vehicle from Mattel, however it is very off scale from the actual size in the film. This is the smaller version, which was the original release and is the size of the regularly sized cars singles. I'll also note that although the entire body of the chopper is diecast metal, the propellers are plastic.

There was also a deluxe size version which has been released several times over the years, including last year and is still common to find at the store. The deluxe size is a bit bigger than the one I'm showing here, but is still off scale compared to the size in the film (since we know that one is big enough for Mater to ride in). I never ended up picking up the deluxe size version (since I have this one, but may be regretting it now), but you can view an image of it here. 

If you're looking to get even a larger size Dinoco helicopter that can actually fit Mater, there are a couple other options that I never took advantage of. There is a cool Disney Store carrying case and a Mattel Supercharged electronic version-both are plastic and were release a few years ago so, naturally, have become rare.  

If you're searching for any of these products, I definitely recommend searching eBay or Amazon for the best prices.  

Cars: Flo

Continuing some of the classic Radiator Springs folks, here we have Flo- the owner of the V8 Cafe!

This is a 1:55 scale diecast from Mattel. This one in my collection is from the original "Desert" series, but she has been released many times since. She has been released so often, that it wouldn't even be necessary to list them here! She has basically shown up in every line over the years in single packs and multi-packs, with fixed eyes and with lenticuar eyes. 

There were a few other variations of her released as well, such as Pit Crew Member Flo and Flo with Tray (which are almost the same, but do have their differences. Those versions of the character will be shown here as soon as I'm able to get them.

Flo is available yet again in stores now, but if you'd rather pick her up online, you can snag one on Amazon (for some reason, WAY over priced right now) or on eBay using the link below:

Cars: Flo

Cars: Fillmore

"I'm tellin you man...every third blink is slower." -Fillmore, Cars

Here's everyone's favorite hippie car, Fillmore! Fillmore is another one of my favorite characters from Cars. His 60's voice and personality are priceless as well as his few, but classic and memorable, lines.

These are 1:55 scale diecasts from Mattel. I have the original "Desert" series release and a "lenticular eyes" release (for some reason I ended up with two Fillmores, I think one was in a multipack).

Besides these two releases, Fillmore has been released more times than I can count. If you don't have him as part of your collection, you'll have a LOT of options to choose from online (and even at the store currently).

If you'd rather just snag him online rather than hunt him down at the store, just head over to Amazon or eBay using the link below: 

Cars: Fillmore

Cars: Sheriff

The Sheriff is one of the Radiator Springs remaining 12 residents at the time of Cars and is the first character to meet Lightning Mcqueen after his grand, speedy entrance into the town.

Being one of the main characters in the Cars franchise, Mattel has released his diecast countless times since his initial release in 2006. Since then, he has been released in every line Mattel has put out (including in many single packs, movie moments, multi-packs and holiday releases).

He has even been released a couple times in the last year, so you should have no trouble finding him if you're looking to complete your Cars collection.

The Sheriff from my collection, as seen below, if from the original 2006 "Desert Series" and, as always with Mattel, is 1:55 scale in size.

Besides the holiday editions with added accessories and the lenticular version with moving eyes, every Sheriff released has been exactly the same re-release over and over without adding any variance. Basically, if you have one, you have them all.

If you're one for shopping online, you can pick up the Sheriff on Amazon or on eBay using the link below:

Cars: Sheriff

Cars: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari F430)

As anyone who has seen the Cars films knows, the hilarious Luigi and Guido are huge Ferrari fans. At the end of the film, when a Ferrari actually enters their shop for new tires, Luigi and Guido are completely star struck which results in a classic laugh out loud moment. 

Mattel has released this Ferrari character numerous times over the years appearing in the Supercharged, Lenticular, and World of Cars lines. The version I have shown here in my collection is the Lenticular one with moving eyes. 

He was also released in a very cool 3-pack with his buddies Antonio and Costanzo, seen here.

If you're looking to add this Ferrari to your collection, you can pick him up on Amazon or on eBay using this link: Cars— Ferrari F430

See more cars from my collection by using the Cars and Cars 2 label to the right and look for more right here soon! 

Cars: T.J. Hummer

Here is Mattel's 1:55 scale diecast of T.J. Hummer, a character seen during the end credits of the original Cars. During the credits, Sarge is seen in charge of a new boot camp for troubled young SUVs—T.J. being one of them. He's the one who complains "I've never been off-road!"

The version I have here is the normal size release (off-scale, a bit too small), which was on a regular size card. He was also released as a Deluxe Mega Size size vehicle (size comparison pics between the two here). The Deluxe version was also included in a five-pack (called "Sarge's Boot camp", seen here), which includes Sarge and the other boot camp attendees.

If you're looking to add T.J. to your collection, you can pick this car up on Amazon or on eBay using this direct link: Cars: T.J.

Thanks for stopping by today's post and be sure to check back daily for more!

Monsters University: DMR Magnets & Erasers

A few weeks ago, I log into Disney Movie Rewards (DMR) and realized I had some unused points and some Blu Ray points from recent purchases that I had yet to submit. After entering the codes that I had (with a little help from some free codes/points by searching online) I had enough points to get a couple of little Pixar items there for free!

The two I chose were the DMR exclusive "Dress Up Magnets" (300 points) and a really cool "Eraser Set" 4-pack (which includes Sulley, Mike, Art and Don for 400 points).

When I arrived home from our recent trip, these were waiting for me in the mailbox! It's always fun to use my DMR points to get little items completely free of charge, even if they're items I probably normally wouldn't get.

If you're a Pixar fan with some DMR points that you've accumulated and want to use them, check out the Pixar section of the rewards and you might find something that you're interested in.

If you haven't signed up for Disney Movie Rewards, I would definitely recommend doing that today! I only started around a year ago when I realized I had countless DVDs, soundtracks and Blu rays that had points with them that had been sitting around for years. It was fun going through them all and racking up thousands of points (all of which are long used by now since there are some pretty cool items that show up often).

 If you're not familiar with how DMR works, I'll explain. With every Blu Ray or DVD you purchase, there will be a code included inside the case on the left hand side when you open it up. Sign up/Log into Disney Movie Rewards' website and there you'll see a bar to type in your codes to. As you put in your codes, you'll start to see your points accumulating to the left under "My Points." Once you have enough points to get something, just visit the "Get Rewards" tab and browse what they're offering. From there you can order little fun items, and even some bigger items if you have a massive amount of points. It's as simple as that!

 Anyway, go check out! If you're a Disney movie fan, chances are you have lots of points just waiting to be submitted.

Cars: Cora Copper

Another brand new 2014 release from Mattel, here's Cora Copper! Cora is another reporter/photographer seen briefly in the original Cars (screen shot above).

 This is Cora's very first release as a diecast vehicle. She's available now at your local store, but if you're having a hard time tracking this one down, you can pick her up on Amazon or on eBay using the link below:

 Cars: Cora Copper

Like usual with even the cars with the smallest roles in the films, Cora has her own back story on "Pixar Wiki":
 "Cora Copper Golddigger is one of those press hounds you never want to tangle with, especially if you've got something to hide! A tireless (some say ruthless) investigator, she's uncovered dirt on the cleanest circuit racers - anything that will sell copies of her paper, "AutoMan Empire!"

Thanks for stopping by today! Check back for more here every day and, in the mean time, you can check out the rest of the cars posted from my collection by using the Cars & Cars 2 label to the right.

Cars: MagicBandits

 Today I'll be talking about MagicBandits again, so if you read my last post about the Monsters Inc. ones, I'll just be reusing what I said there.

Today's post is something I had a lot of fun with in Disney World...they're called MagicBandits! I had no idea about these before my trip but they turned out to be a really fun surprise. They're basically just little accessories that snap into the extra holes of your magic band (seen below) to add additional pops of color and personality. At first when I saw these, I thought they were kind of a pointless way for Disney World to make extra money. I was like"these are lame, who would buy these." That thought didn't last more than 10 seconds.

The first ones I saw in the parks were The Monsters Inc. ones, which sold me on the idea of these things.  I thought it would be fun to add some of my love for Pixar to my magic band and my overall ensemble. After finding those, I was hooked and looked for more Pixar related Bandits. I then found this great Cars 3-pack featuring Lightning Mcqueen, Mater and Lightning's signature number 95 logo and found out there was a rare Incredibles 4-pack as well, which I'll be showing right here soon as well.

Since there were no Vinylmations I was looking for during this trip, these MagicBandits were a fun alternative. It's always fun for me to hunt down some kind of Pixar Disney World exclusive collectibles during the week.

Me finding the Cars MagicBandits, which were a little harder to find. This is my "little boy on Christmas morning face", as Brita calls it. : )

 You're probably wondering if these stay on well, and yes, once you pop them on, they're pretty secure. They can snag on things, however, and pop off (I had that happen once or twice, for example getting off of Rockin' Roller Coaster). For the most part though, you won't have to worry about them falling off. Getting these for young kids though may be a different story, since they could easily rip them off. I definitely wouldn't get them for kids under six or seven, but it totally depends on the kid of course. Just in case you do plan on getting these Bandits for very young kids, be aware that they can easily be snagged on something or ripped off and lost.

Anyway, that's about it with these things. They're fun and I definitely recommend decorating your magic band when you go. They have many different Disney characters, from the classics to the Muppets, to choose from! You can find them in just about every park and resort gift shop.

Events: Disney World Trip May 2014 Part 2 (Days 4-7)

...and the Disney World magic continues with part 2 of our incredible trip! If you missed it, read part 1 here.

Day 4- Animal Kingdom & Back to the Magic Kingdom

 Tuesday, May 6th, was our 4th day in the parks. We hit up Animal Kingdom and had a great time visiting the safari, eating an Asian lunch at the Yak and Yeti quick service counter, vising the gift shops and going on/walking through all the attractions.

One of my favorites of the 4D shows in Disney World is "It's Tough to be a Bug" which is found inside the Animal Kingdom's iconic tree, the tree of life. For me, it's totally classic as I've been visiting that show since Animal Kingdom first opened and enjoyed it at California Adventure as well.

 

I was so excited to see Dug and Russel and knew we had to take a picture with them since the line was no longer than a 10 minute wait. I think the cast members are confused when adults without kids take pictures with the characters (long story), but hey, no shame! I had to capture moments with every Pixar character I could find. This was a unique opportunity since this is the only place in all the parks where you can find these beloved characters, Dug and Russel. The person inside Dug's costume was especially hilarious and never got out of character.

While waiting in line, you could press buttons on Dug's collar machine to make Dug talk to you. His voice comes on and he teaches you how to "woof" like a dog. 

 

Also in regards to Up around Animal Kingdom, there is a new activity/attraction there in the park where young kids can go around to different stations scattered throughout the park and earn Wilderness Explorer patches (stickers) by doing certain challenges. They can then add them to a special book they get called the Wilderness Explorer's field guide. Next time you're in Animal Kingdom, look for the cast members dressed in Wilderness Explorer's outfits (like Russel's) and they can help you get started. See more info about it here.

After most of the day in Animal Kingdom, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to do additional rides there we hadn't done yet or repeats of ones we had done.

We hit up the Monsters Inc. laugh floor, which is another one of my favorites (of course, it is Pixar so I am a bit biased...but really it's a great show either way). 

 

 Waiting in line for this is always fun because of all the details. I notice something new every time! Something new that was really fun while waiting for the show doors to open is they've added a new MU segment of the pre-show video. It's an ad type clip for Monsters University, starring Art, in which he discusses the new "School of Laughing" which trains monsters to be funny. You can watch that here if you're interested.

 If you haven't been to the show, the basic story is that after the events of Monsters Inc., the monsters now invite humans into the monster world to collect their laughter, rather than monsters going through closets. The monsters put on a comedy show in hopes to fill a giant "laugh canister" up with laughter from the audience to be able to power their city. The technology to make the show possible is outstanding as the cartoon monsters talk and interact with the audience in real time.

There are running gags throughout the show which feature people up on the big screen like "that guy" (if you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about) and the hilarious Roz makes several appearances.  

 

Other Monsters University references have been scattered throughout the attraction as well, such as new MU backgrounds (seen below) for the characters and references regarding attending the school.

 

A big highlight of the show (and of our whole trip actually) was that we were featured up on the big screen for the longest portion of the show! I wish I got pictures or video of it but I was too in the moment. they started by having the camera on my wife Brita and monster small talked with her for a bit. He asked her name and he cracked a witty response about her water being filtered (get it?). He continued to ask her where she was from and who she was with...that's when I came in. She said "my husband Dan" and the camera shifted over to me. 

He continued to ask us how we met and how long we were married. We told him we had been together for eight years and married for two and that the last time we were there in Disney we got engaged. He then said "wow married for two years...what the secret to a successful short marriage?" I said lots of trips to Disney World. The monster then started an act that's in every show, where he had Brita pick a number, tell the audience and then the monster summons psychic powers to "guess the number." My job was to put little antennas over Brita's head and I got carried away doing over the top antennas. The monsters started cracking up and was like "what is he doing???" It was absolutely hilarious.

After the show, we hit up some more rides, shops and got a glimpse of the Incredibles during the Festival of Fantasy parade.

 

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is another classic Pixar attraction there at the Magic Kingdom. I was telling Brita, while we were there, a little interesting tidbit about the ride and I'll share it here as well. The Ride opened in November 1998, one year before the release of Toy Story 2. The big hype surrounding the ride at the time (I remember because I was there) was that it was the first time the public saw what "Evil Emperor Zurg" looked like, who at the time, was just a brief reference in the original Toy Story. I still remember how cool that was!

 

 Even though I've had many years more of practice than Brita, She still beats me EVERY single time at this ride. For me, it's really hard to tell where my laser is actually hitting, but Brita has figured out how and always dominates by thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) of points. You can see by the picture below that she's taking this seriously! More on this ride later when we ride it again. 

My one claim however, is that I beat Brita EVERY single time at Toy Story Mania. I do much better at that one. It's just funny that we both have one of the Toy Story shooting games that we're better at. I'm determined still to beat Brita at this and she's still very determined to beat me at Mania one day. 

 

At the end of the night, after one amazing dinner at Ohana's restaurant at the Polynesian Resort and some more time at the Magic Kingdom, we hit up our resort's main area and gift shops. Some cool trinkets I found were Mike Wazowski, Mater, Lightning Mcqueen and Nemo antenna toppers. If my car had an antenna, I totally would have gone for them. 

 

Day 5- Hollywood Studios, Round 2

 

This was another full day at Hollywood Studios...there's so much to do there and we still didn't get everything done that we wanted to. Being the movie/film-making fan I am, this is my favorite park of the four. Plus, I feel this park has the most Pixar, so that adds to the favoritism. 

This day, we got there super early to get on Toy Story Mania again since we didn't have fast passes (the way they work these days is that you can't choose more than one of the popular attractions and we already had Rockin Roller Coaster for the day), but the ride wait time was already at 80 minutes and sold out. After all these years, it's still one of the most popular rides! We didn't end up waiting the long wait, but more on what happened below.

 

Later on that afternoon, I asked a really cool cast member where to find the hotdogs with puled pork and cole slaw I had seen people have around the park (they're amazing by the way, I totally recommend it). We chatted for a minute, he pointed the way and that was that. A little later, in a different part of the park, we went to a "fast pass kiosk" to see if there were by chance any more fast passes available for Toy Story Mania. It just so happened that the same cast member who showed me where the hot dogs were was standing there next to the fast pass guy. They were both really cool guys and we chatted for a few minutes. It turned out that they were still out of Mania fast passes and that there wouldn't be anymore for the remainder of the day so Brita and I said we would just go wait the wait.

The cast member that had told me about the hot dogs turned out to be a "magic maker" and he said "You know what? Here, you guys go enjoy yourselves." He then gave us two free fast passes eligible for any ride! " I was like "NO WAY. Why are you being so cool, man?" He told us that we were "good people" and that he enjoys spreading the Disney magic. He then wrote up yet another form which was eligible for another hot dog- for free-because he knew how much I enjoyed the first one. Such a highlight! Gotta love the Disney Magic. 

 

 After Toy Story Mania, walking around near Pizza Planet and lots of other rides and shows, we hit up visiting some of our favorite Pixar characters: Mike, Sulley, Lightning and Mater! 

 

 I always wished that they made Pizza Planet look how it is in the film-complete with the alien crane game! I'm surprised they never took advantage of that. There was so much more they could have done with this one here at Hollywood Studios. Maybe someday if they do a full Toy Story/ Pixar expansion, they'll make a full movie accurate Pizza Planet and close this one down. Hey, I can dream can't I?

 

 That night after all the Hollywood Studios fun and a delicious French dinner at Chef's de France, we headed back to our resort for the pool and hot tubbing. It just so happened that they were playing Monsters University on a big screen by the pool so we totally had to watch some of that! We came in around half way through and it was a classic night.

Day 6- Magic Kingdom, Round 3

 For our last full day, we spend a lot of time in the Magic Kingdom again. There's just so much to see and do there! We had a phenomenal lunch at the brand new Be Our Guest castle and explored all the New Fantasyland. 

We hit up Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin again (So I could beat Brita at it for once in my life) and, of course, she won yet again. Dang it! Maybe someday I'll come out victorious...maybe if I took it more serious like she does. I mean, come on, Look at that "gameface"! She's not messing around.

 

 The picture below featuring Weezy is from waiting in line for the Mickey's Philharmagic 4D show.

This day was mostly about finishing up attractions at the Magic Kingdom and doing some repeats. Mid afternoon, we took a few hours relaxing at the pool at our resort and finished the night with the whole family at dinner (the 1900 Park Fair Cinderella buffet at the Grand Floridian) and one last visit into the Magic Kingdom for some of the classics like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. The park was so empty at this point, we were basically the only ones in the ride! 

Day7- Resort Pool, Downtown Disney and a Frantic Trip to the Magic Kingdom

The last day...always a sad day to leave the Disney magic! I spent the morning by the pool and took it easy, since the trip was so jam packed. We wish we had an extra day to finish up last minute things!

Something else I noticed before we left, was that my parents' room (right next door to us) had a cool Finding Nemo ceiling boarder. Why didn't we get that? Love it.

After some relaxing and packing, Brita and I checked out of the resort and headed to Downtown Disney so that she could get me some of my birthday requests. So excited! 

We had one of the best meals ever there at the Wolfgang Puck Express quick service restaurant and then hit up some of my favorite stores again such as Once Upon a Toy, The World of Disney and the Art of Disney.

 Unfortunately, the stores didn't have the items we were looking for. We had seen them all week in other parks and figured they would have them here. We should have just gotten them when we saw them at the time. We were very rushed to get back to the Magical Express but we thought we would have just enough time to rush to the Magic Kingdom since we were sure they had them there.

Since there is no direct bus rout from Downtown Disney to a park, we had to take a bus to the Contemporary Resort first and then run to the Magic Kingdom. I went and stayed in line for a Dole Whip float  (since Brita wanted one last one, it's one of her favorites) and Brita went to the stores to track down the items. Frustratingly, they didn't have them there either...after all that! It turns out they were only in Hollywood Studios and we should have gotten them while we were there. Oh well! It was a fun and crazy effort.

We made it JUST in time to our Resort for our Magical Express back to the airport. Below is my "sad leaving Disney World" picture- it's always a tradition! I can't even wait for next time. I hope we get to go back soon.

 

Now we're back safely to Rexburg and back to the real world, grateful for all of our magical 

memories.

Thanks so much for sticking with me through all of our Disney days and I really hope you enjoyed reading about all of our times there. 

If you interested in many more pictures of the entire trip, feel free to visit my full Facebook album HERE. Please like and comment! I would love to hear your thoughts.