Cars: "Race Around Radiator Springs" Motorized Track Set & Piston Cup Race 5-Pack REVIEW

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.

Soul: D23 Expo 2019 Exclusive Sticker & Concept Art Lithograph

It's been over a week since the 2019 D23 Expo and I still feel so "jazzed" to have learned a bit more about Disney·Pixar's mysterious film Soul; including getting to be among some of the first few to see actual footage (about a 3-4 minute clip) from the movie! While we still don't know a ton about the actual plot, we at least know a bit more than we did back in June when the title was revealed.

What we know so far:

• The film is directed by Pixar's Chief Creative Officer, Pete Docter (Monsters Inc., Up, Inside Out; one of my personal favorite directors), co-directed by Kemp Powers and produced by Dana Murray.
• The first Pixar film to have an African-American lead and supporting cast.
• The film will tackle high concept questions like “Why am I here?” and “Where did I come from?”.
• Joe Gardner is the main character (a middle-school band teacher who has a passion for playing jazz and dreams of playing music full time at the Half Note Jazz Club).
• After an unexpected step into a NYC sewer opening (following his excitement for landing a big gig), Joe's soul form is separated from his body.
• Joe is transported to the "cosmic realms" and the "YOU Seminar"—a place where souls learn their personality traits before coming to earth. You essentially learn, well, how to be you.

Joe Gardner

22

• Joe meets a soul named 86 billion, 783 million, 123 thousand, five hundred and 22—or just 22 for short. 22 is not fond of the idea of coming to earth, which seems to be why her number is so large. She's been in the soul realm for a long time, seemingly not wanting to gain a body based on her perceptions of earth life.
• Joe Gardner is voiced by Jamie Foxx, Libba (Joe's mom) is voiced by Phylicia Rashad, Paul (Joe's neighbor) is voiced by Daveed Diggs, Curly (a drummer character; maybe a friend of Joe's?) is voiced by Ahmir "Quest Love" Thompson and 22 is voiced by Tina Fey.
• Jon Batiste will be writing original jazz music for the film, while Oscar-winning composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network) will be scoring the film. 
• Release date is June 19th, 2020.

There you go! For the most part, that's just about everything we know. Based on the footage I saw, I could not be more excited.

Now we have to talk about the film's beautiful logo, designed by the talented Josh Holtsclaw (a graphic artist at Pixar). As seen above, a light-up 3D version was actually featured on one of the walls at the D23 Expo Pixar booth. I just think it's gorgeous and captivating and had to give it a shout-out!

I also felt very lucky to have brought home a few free D23 Expo exclusive goodies I picked up: a Soul logo sticker (seen above) and a Soul lithograph featuring stunning concept art (seen below)—which I think I might have to frame! I already love the color palette, which is very different from any other Pixar film thus far. I really dig the pastel pinks, blues, greens and purples. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the litho signed by any of the filmmakers, but it's a beautiful piece regardless.

By the way, if you zoom in (look to the right), you can spot Joe in soul form standing next to 22. See them? I know it's hard to see, but they're there. The print is 9" x 17".

What are your thoughts on Soul? Are you as intrigued and as fascinated as I am? Let me know your thoughts on the film, the logo, the sicker and the lithograph/concept art in the comment section below.

Toy Story 4: Woody & RC LEGO Review (Set 10766)

"Guys! Woody's riding RC!" I'm back with another look at yet another super fun LEGO Toy Story 4 set released earlier this year—Woody & RC (Set 10766)! This review follows the post I did a few months back featuring the Duke Caboom's Stunt Show and Carnival Thrill Coaster sets (which you can view HERE). Once again, this is part of the new "4+" collection (previously known as "LEGO Juniors"). That just means they have less pieces, are a bit less intricate, have simpler instructions and are just all around easier to build; but the designs are still very appealing, cute and classic LEGO! They're perfect for kids who have outgrown Duplo sets but maybe aren't quite old enough for the more involved builds.

While RC does have a brief appearance at the start of Toy Story 4, looks-wise this set seems more inspired by the original film (Woody riding RC with his remote, Andy's "alphabet blocks" and the green army men). Speaking of the army men, just look at them! They're the "microfigure" size, so they're teeny-tiny. This set is a must have just for them—so unique, I've loved them ever since I saw them at Toy Fair back in February! RC has an extra cute stylization to him as well and measures 2” high, 3” long and 2” wide. Retail price is [a very fair] $9.99.

Here's a look at the 69 pieces fresh out of the box! I had fun building this with my six year old nephew Noah. Took us less than 10 minutes.

Included here are pieces for six "blocks" (two red, two yellow, one blue and one green), four army men (even though the back of the box only shows three), a standard size Woody minifigure, three traffic cones and RC's remote/RC himself.

Here's everything all assembled! Loving all the classic, cheery Toy Story colors.

You can easily find this set currently at Walmart, Target, Amazon or wherever LEGO sets are found. What are your thoughts on this one?! Did you pick it up for your collection or plan to? Shout out what you think down below. A huge thanks to LEGO who hooked me up with this set to review!

NOTE: See my posts on the original 2010 RC LEGO set HERE and Green Army Men set HERE. 

Onward: Guinevere Van D23 Expo 2019 Exclusive Pin & Full Scale Replica

Long ago (well, last week to be exact), my glorious quest to find all the best exclusive merch at the 2019 D23 Expo was coming to an end...and what an amazing journey 'twas! I can attest that there is still plenty of magic in the world, as I experienced it firsthand.

Some of the coolest treasures I accumulated weren't even things I paid for, but rather freebies given out at panels and booths! Like this Onward pin for instance (inspired by the already iconic "Guinevere" van from the film), which was given to fans who took a picture with the real life replica van that was parked at the Pixar booth and shared the photo on social media using the hashtag #PixarOnward. Such a cool exclusive that I'm grateful to have! The pin is an awesome sparkly purple color and measures about 1.5" in size.

Check out my detailed photos of the full scale, working van replica below. This thing was like it drove right out of the movie screen and onto the expo floor!

Some of my favorite details are the mix tapes (very 80's inspired) that can be seen on top of the dash through the windshield and the "New Mushroomton" (which is the main characters' town as seen in the film's teaser trailer) GWNIVER license plate.

FUN FACT: This "real life Guinevere" project was lead by none other than Pixar Creative Director Jay Ward. Because he's the resident car guy there at the studio (many of you may know his name from his work on the Cars franchise), he took the lead on getting the van built—this meant finding the right donor vehicle, overseeing the shop crew who was doing the work and granting creative approvals along the way. Can we just go ahead and give him and the team a huge round of applause? Every single square inch of this replica is movie accurate thanks to Jay's incredible attention to detail.

I'm so thankful that me and some friends were able to spend quite a bit of time with Jay over the weekend last week.

Lastly, now that I'm home, I remembered to take a picture of back of the pin as well. It reads: Disney·Pixar Onward, D23 Expo 2019, Disney/Pixar, Made in China.

What do you think of this pin and the van design? How about that replica? Are you excited for Onward? Having seen about 12 minutes of the film (an eight minute clip and a four minute clip there at the expo), I can tell you that it should be a great film with a touching story, signature Pixar humor, stunning animation, clever world-building details and all the heart you'd expect.

Let me know your thoughts down in the comments! If you're interested in snagging one of these pins for your collection, be sure to check out this direct link to current eBay listings.