Cars 2: Victor H. (Hugo)

Here is the Mattel 1:55 scale diecast release of Victor Hugo from Cars 2! He was first available in 2012 as part of the original Cars 2 series (#30, seen below) and then was re-released in the 2013 series ( as part of the "Lemons" sub-line, #2/7).

In the film, Victor H. is the head of the Hugo family who works for Professor Z; he is seen during the big lemons meeting at the Porto Corsa casino and makes several appearances after that during some of the film's final scenes.

At this point, this character isn't available in stores anymore, but he still can be easily found online (such as on eBay or Amazon). Good luck on the hunt if you're still trying to tack this one down!

If you're a Pixar Cars fan or collector, be sure to explore my "Cars & Cars 2" label to the right of this page to see my entire collection of diecasts and other merch posted thus far. More to come soon!

Cars 2: Mike Lorengine

Here we have Mattel's 1:55 scale diecast release of Mike Lorengine from Cars 2! This character was released just last year and was part of the 2013 "Palace Chaos" sub-series (#2/9).

As seen in the screen shot above, Mike appeared near the end of the film as one of the Queen's Range Rover body guards at Buckingham Palace. 

If you missed picking up this one for your collection when he was available in stores, no worries. You can still easily find him online, so head either Amazon.com or eBay using the link below to purchase:
Cars 2: Mike Lorengine

Cars 2: Kabuto

For today's post, here we have the 1:55 scale Mattel diecast release (well, re-release) of Kabuto! This character was originally available years ago in the "Cars Toon series" and then was released again in the original 2012 "Cars 2 series". He was then released again last year in the 2013 series (the one I have here) and then again this year as part of the 2014 "World of Cars series." Phew! He has sure seen his fair share of releases over the years for being such a minor character in the franchise.

Kabuto was first seen in the classic Cars Toon: Tokyo Mater. As seen in the screen shot above, he then made a brief background cameo appearance in Cars 2 during the Tokyo party scene.

If for whatever reason you have missed this one picking this one up in stores, or if you'd rather just snag it online, be sure to check out Amazon or eBay for the best deals.

Cars 2: RS Team Lighting Mcqueen w/ Special Edition Display Case (Target Exclusive)

Just a couple months back, Disney/Pixar and Mattel released this unique 1:55 scale "RS Team Lightning Mcqueen" - only available at Target stores. This is an absolutely fantastic collector's item, meant for adult collectors such as myself, and I couldn't be happier with it!

This version of Lightning Mcqueen features a metallic paintjob/finish and is housed in a quality special edition acrylic display case "for safely storing and proudly displaying." It retails for $14.00.

The display case easily pops right out of the cardboard packaging. Simply snip the plastic band on the top holding it in place with some scissors and you're good to go; no need to destroy the outer box if you're wanting to keep it intact.

The top portion of the case also comes off easily (just give it a decent tug), however, Mcqueen is screwed into the base of the display case. A screwdriver is required if you're looking to take him out of the case completely. For me, I'm just going to keep him in the case as is, since I got this for display purposes only.

If one was to take out Mcqueen for play, he does function just as a standard Mattel diecast (rolling wheels, same size, same weight, etc.).
 

When this was released, I honestly had no idea about it. My good friends T.J. and Julie (from over at PixarPost.com) sent me a message one day asking me if I wanted them to pick one up for me and, once I saw it, I couldn't resist! I was really surprised that I had no idea about it. Once again, a very big thanks to them for always being so incredibly thoughtful towards me and for being so supportive of my collection. 

While they found this at their local Target store, I have yet to see it show up at mine after all this time. I did some digging and found out this is technically an online exclusive and is "not sold in stores" (according to Target.com), so it's indeed interesting that they found it at there's. Keep a look out though as it just might show up in stores for you as it did for them.

If you'd rather just purchase it online, visit the official listing at Target.com HERE or visit eBay using the link below:
Taget Exclusive RS Team Lighting Mcqueen

Please let me know if you have any other questions or comments regarding this or any other product you see here on my blog. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back daily for more items from my Pixar collection!

Monsters University: Disney Store Scare Cards

Since last year, there has only been a few ways to get your hands on "Scare Cards" from Monsters University:

• "Projectionist Scare Cards" (given only to movie theater projectionists when the film was released; see my full write-up about them HERE and learn everything you need to know about all the scare cards that have been released in that post)

•  "Disney Parks Scare Cards" (given out only at Disney Parks during the brief "Monstrous Summer 24 Hour Event", May 2013)

• "Scaring All-Stars Coloring Book Scare Cards" (were included in a recently released Monsters University coloring book as "tear outs"; see my full write up about those HERE)

•  These "Disney Store Scare Cards" (handed out only at Disney Stores to promote the release of the Blu-Ray, late Summer / Fall 2013)

These Disney Store Scare Cards were given out for a very limited time to young kids who, from what I understand, completed a certain Monsters University clinic/workshop activity there at the store. The cards came in packs of five (six if you included the top promotional card). Each pack included the same cards: Squishy Squibbles, Art, Mike Wazowski & James P. Sullivan: "Rookies of the Year", Terri & Terry and Don Carlton.

They are similar to the "Projectionist Scare Cards", but include the movie accurate "Monsters Inc." banner in the top right corner (instead of the film's title) as well as the proper stats on the back (instead of projectionist instructions). 

This is a very rare and sought after set of cards and I'm incredibly grateful to blog reader Randy Allen who sent these over to me as a surprise! A HUGE thanks to him for his thoughtfulness, generosity and for being a faithful reader here.

If you're looking to track down these for your collection, be sure to check eBay (using the link below) periodically as they do show up once in a while:
Monsters University: Disney Store Scare Cards

Cars: Todd Pizza Planet Truck

You're probably here because you're, and I'm guessing here, a Pixar fan; and if you're a Pixar fan you most likely know of the famous Pixar Pizza Planet truck "Easter egg". If you're not aware of what I'm referring to, I'll give you a quick overview.

It all started with the original Toy Story, where the now famous and iconic Pizza Planet delivery truck made its first appearance and played a significant role in the film. Ever since then, the truck has made very brief background cameo appearances (usually pretty hidden, why it's known as an "Easter egg") in almost every Pixar film to date- all except The Incredibles for whatever reason. It's now almost like a game, where Disney/Pixar fans try to search for the truck's appearance in every new release from the studio. To see where it shows up in each film, check out the Pizza Planet Truck Pixar Wiki Page.

When both Cars films were released, the fact that the Pizza Planet truck would show up was inevitable - and sure enough it did. Not only that, but he became an actual "living" character in the signature style of "the world of Cars" (adding eyes to the windshield and a mouth to the bumper) and received "Todd" as a name. 

In the screen shots above, you can see Todd's most prevalent appearances in both films; during the Los Angeles International Speedway race near the end of Cars and during the Radiator Springs Grand Prix race near the end of Cars 2. He also makes a couple more appearances that are harder to spot (such as in Cars 2 when he is seen briefly on the television screen at the Wheel Well Motel).

In 2008/2009, Mattel released their 1:55 scale diecast of the character in the "Race O Rama" series, which became very sought after and hard to find. The bad news was that I was never able to get him when he was available and didn't want to pay the high prices he was selling for online...the good news, however, came this year when I found out he was finally being re-released as part of the 2014 series! After all this time, I would finally have a second chance to add Todd to my Cars collection.

I was thrilled when I found Todd recently and he doesn't disappoint. This has got to be one of my favorite Cars diecasts of all time, not just because of his iconic design, but because of the great detail as well. I especially love that "YO" is included on the back, since that was a detail of the truck seen only in the Toy Story films.

This character has been proven to be still as popular as he was when he was released a few years back. It's very difficult to find this re-release at the store (at least in my area) and seemed almost as hard to track down as a "chase" edition car.

If you're still struggling to find this one at a store near you, be sure to head to Amazon or eBay using the link below for the best deals:
Cars: Todd Pizza Planet Truck

The Incredibles: Hot Topic Tee

Hot Topic has recently re-released their Pixar The Incredibles themed graphic tee which features the film's iconic logo. I had seen that this shirt had been released on their site a while back, but it was sold out by the time I know about it. As soon as I saw that this was available again while browsing their website recently, I knew I had to get it. I've seen many tees like this (sporting The Incredibles logo) over the years and had been meaning to get one for a while now. When I saw Hot Topic had their version, I was all for it (since I have gotten a few of their tees in the past and enjoy how they fit).

 While I've never been one to shop at Hot Topic, I've really enjoyed the Pixar themed shirts that they've released over the last year or so. They fit really well, have cool simplistic designs and are a  soft, quality material - this one is no exception. 

I only just received this shirt, and it's already sold out on their site again unfortunately. However, there's a chance it could come back again if you're interested. Be sure to check HotTopic.com periodically to see if it's back in stock. 

Additionally, be sure to check out the posts I did on my other Pixar Hot Topics tees; ones based on Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Cars and Wall-E. 

If you're any kind of Disney/Pixar fan or fan of The Incredibles in general, I would definitely recommend picking up this very cool t-shirt. You won't be disappointed! Also, check out my Mr. Incredible Tee that was available exclusively at Target stores this past summer.

Cars 2: J. Curby Gremlin

Here is the Mattel 1:55 scale diecast release of J. Curby Gremlin from Cars 2! He was available last year in the 2013 series (#1/7 of the "Lemons" sub-line).

In the film, J Curby is the head of the Gremlin family who works for Professor Z; he is seen during the big lemons meeting at the Porto Corsa casino and makes several appearances after that during some of the film's final scenes.

J. Curby isn't available in stores anymore, but he still can be easily found online (such as on eBay or Amazon). Good luck on the hunt if you're still trying to tack this one down!  

Pixar Collection: Mini Figurines PAGE UPDATE

Today's post is an exciting page update to my Disney/Pixar Toys R Us exclusive mini-figure collection! With generous help from T.J. and Julie from from PixarPost.com, I now have Edna, M-O and Bruce; characters I was having a hard time finding myself. See more details over at the original post HERE. 

Finding Nemo: Anglerfish Light-Up Action Figure (Disney On Ice)

A few months ago, I saw this Finding Nemo Anglerfish figure pop up on my eBay news feed. I was like, "whoa...never seen that before! I gotta have it, everyone knows this iconic scene from the movie." Unfortunately, it was selling for around $70 which was far beyond the price range I was willing to pay for it. A few more popped up on eBay a couple weeks later, but they were also selling for quite a bit.

I did some extensive research on this toy, yet found close to no info on it whatsoever. The only conclusions I could make is that it was an electronic toy and that it was very rare. 

Just last week I was able to win this one on eBay for a really decent price! I was extremely excited. And after a bit more research, I found out that this was in fact a Disney·Pixar Finding Nemo DISNEY ON ICE exclusive figure. 

The toy is made from a thick, sturdy PVC material and measures about 7.5" long (11" counting the "dorsal appendage") and roughly 3" wide. See size comparison with my hand below.

What really cool about this toy, is the aforementioned light-up feature. Press the top button on his spine to light up his back, eyes and the illicium (the ball of light that dangles from the dorsal appendage). Press the second button on his spine to change the light's colors and blinking patterns (about 12 light patterns total).

Additionally, pull on his tale to open and close his frightening mouth! I guess you could say he has "chomping action"— perfect for chowing down on little Marlin and Dory toys. Speaking of that, this great figure is the absolute perfect size to be played with (or displayed) alongside the Hasbro Finding Nemo collection of figures seen HERE.

This is a really fun, well made toy, with some awesome paint details and features. Be sure to check out my brief YouTube video demonstration of the lights and action feature below: 

Also, if you're looking to track down this figure for your Pixar collection, be sure to check eBay often (using the link below) as they do pop up quite often:

Finding Nemo: Light-up Anglerfish Action Figure

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Dan the Pixar Fan: Official Logo

I'm absolutely thrilled to reveal my very first official "Dan the Pixar Fan" blog logo, created by my brother - the extremely talented and generous Rob Taylor of Herofied Art!

Ever since I started this blog (wow, almost a year and a half ago at this point), I've always thought it would be great to brand myself with some sort of memorable logo associated with my blog and social media accounts; something instantly recognizable, iconic and clearly Pixar, yet very simple, colorful and minimal at the same time. I wanted it much different than any of the other great "Pixar fan site" logos out there (i.e. keeping away from the Luxo lamp since that has been done by sites before me). I considered going to my brother Rob for quite some time, since he's an amazing digital artist, but I first wanted a clear vision of what I wanted.

I pondered for a while, what other iconic Pixar imagery/elements are out there that I could use as the basis for my logo? A thought then came to me and it made perfect sense...Andy's toy chest from Toy Story! This is something that Disney/Pixar fans absolutely know (despite that it actually only makes some brief appearance in the films), is totally classic and, hence being a "toy chest", relates to the fact that this is a blog dedicated to toys and collectibles.

That was it. I now knew what I wanted in a logo as this idea had everything I was looking for.

During this past summer, I contacted Rob and pitched this idea to him. He was all in and I felt like he caught my vision immediately. However, I respected the fact that he first needed to finish his art shop's "busy season" (which included a crazy schedule selling his art at just about every comic convention on the east coast through the summer and fall) and that he would get to it as soon as he could - which meant most likely sometime in December.

This week, Rob surprised me by starting the logo I had envisioned and, after some long hours on his part, got it completed. I woke up this morning to having received the final export of the logo and I was beyond thrilled! He kept my original idea, yet put his own artistic spin on it which far surpasses my expectations. I especially love the way he added the Luxo Jr. ball (even though it is featured in other logos out there) as I feel it gives it even more of a "Pixar feel", yet isn't the prominent focus of the piece. A HUGE thanks to Rob for taking on this project for me and for being so generous with his time and talents.

If you're a fan of Star Wars, Marvel & DC Superheros, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, etc., be SURE to check out his "Herofied" art shop over at Etsy.com/shop/herofied or his official website HerofiedArt.com. Rob is a brilliant graphic design artist with a style unseen anywhere else - he truly does "Reimagine the Imaginary." He digitally creates everything himself from the ground up (using Photoshop), in addition to adding his own photographic textures (he's also a professional photographer by trade) to give more life and detail to his images. Another unique aspect of Rob's art is that, in addition to regular prints, he also prints his art on wood and metal, which makes his shop very different from most artists out there. I can't recommend heading to check out his art enough...  It's out of this world! If you like what he's doing, be sure to like him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and follow him on Instagram.

Any thoughts on this logo or Rob's "Herofied" art? Comment below!

Cars 2: Harumi

From last year's Mattel Cars / Cars 2 collection, here we have the 2013 1:55 scale diecast release of Harumi (from the "Tuners" sub-series #5/10).

In the film, she is briefly seen during the Tokyo party (as seen screen shot above).

If you missed Harumi when she was available at the store and are looking to pick her up online, be sure to head to Amazon or eBay for the best prices.

Thanks for dropping by and be sure to check back daily for more from my Pixar collection!

Cars 2: Submarine Finn McMissile

From the original 2011 Mattel Cars 2 series, here is Submarine Finn McMissile! This was the very first "Deluxe" size diecast in the series to be released and, as usual, is Mattel's signature 1:55 scale.

In the film, Finn can be seen using his submarine fins at the end the opening sequence (after he "plays dead") to make his secret subsurface escape from the lemons.

This Finn McMissile hasn't been re-released since, but he can easily be found inexpensively online on either Amazon or eBay. He's a must have for any avid Cars / Cars 2 collector so be sure to track this one down!

Cars 2: Suki

From last year's Mattel Cars / Cars 2 collection, here we have the 2013 1:55 scale diecast re-release of Suki (from the "Tuners" sub-series #1/10). She was first available in 2012 as part of the original Cars 2 line (#44) and has just been released again this year in the 2014 line. She has seen her fair share of releases over the years for such a minor character!

In the film, she is briefly seen during the Tokyo party (screen shot above) and also appeared on the streets during, what I call, "the Tokyo arrival montage" (also a very brief appearance).

If you missed Suki at the store, or would just rather pick her up online, be sure to head to Amazon or eBay for the best prices.

Thanks for dropping by and be sure to check back daily for more from my Pixar collection!