Cars: Japeth

I know, I know. Another car. I know Cars isn't the most popular of Pixar films (which translates into my Cars posts being the least popular), but I do still love it and enjoy the diecast collecting aspect! With Cars 3 coming out this year, be prepared for a very Cars centric year ;) I know there are plenty of fans out there besides myself though, so let's get to it!

Today my Disney·Pixar Cars collection continues with yet another pretty new, never before released 1:55 scale diecast release from Mattel...Japeth! He is part of the 2016 "Rust-eze Racing" sub-series (#8/12).

As shown in the screenshot above, Japeth is a rusty car seen in the front row of the Rust-eze sponsor tent after the film's opening race. Once again, Mattel outdid themselves with the rust/dirt paint application here. They've really mastered that!

TRIVIA: Japeth is named after Japeth Pieper, a Pixar Studios digital painter who passed away in 2010. His painting credits include Wall·E, Ratatouille and, of course, Cars.

If you haven't been able to spot this one in stores, you can always browse current eBay listings via THIS LINK or shop on Amazon using the direct link below. Happy hunting to all my fellow collectors! Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Cars 2: Vic Vanley

From Disney·Pixar's Cars 2, here we have Vic Vanley... yet another relatively new, never before released Mattel 1:55 scale diecast! This character hit shelves back in September (but only just started showing up in my area a few weeks back) and is part of the 2016 "Cruisin' Tokyo" sub-series (#4/9).

As shown in the screenshot above, sleepy Vic is briefly seen in the streets of Toyko checking in for the night at the Capsule Motel (during, what I call, the "You Might Think" arrival to Japan montage).

Though nothing too unique or special, Vic is another solid addition to my ever growing Cars collection. I do like the paint color, which also seems to have a little bit of a metallic sparkle.

Looking to pick this one up but can't find it in stores? No worries— here's a link to current eBay listings or be sure to check out Amazon using the direct link below. Happy hunting!

Monsters Inc: Scream Canister Portable USB Charger

As a pretty huge fan of Monsters Inc., this has got to be one of the coolest items I own. Here we have the Monsters Inc. inspired "scream can [canister]" USB portable charger (or "mobile battery"), sold exclusively in Japan! As you may know, it's very rare that I purchase any foreign products since there's just too much of it out there; but when I saw this, all bets were off. I absolutely needed this in my collection! A big thanks to my parents for hooking me up with this for Christmas.

Of course, the scream canisters in the film store the scream energy needed to power the monster world and this is modeled directly after them. Now whoever thought of taking that design and making a replica charger to help supply power to one's phone is just brilliant.

This charger is 4" in size with the average price being around $55. Though the directions are completely written in Japanese (as well as just about everything on the package), this is a pretty self explanatory item (especially if you've owned a portable charger before).

All you have to do to charge the scream can up for use is this: plug the small end of included USB cord into the canister and then plug the opposite side into some kind of USB wall outlet attachment (like the one you use when charging your iPhone) or computer. You will immediately see red lights in the center, illuminating one at a time (meaning the device is charging). Let charge for two to three hours or until all five red lights are glowing.

Your charger is now full of energy and is ready to take on the road! When needed, just plug your phone's USB cord directly into your phone and the can's USB outlet. Press the button on the side of the can to start the power flow.

It even comes with seven stickers to decorate your canister with! There are also plenty of screen accurate details, such as the words "Max. Scream Capacity 8400 SUV" imprinted right on the can. Pretty neat stuff.

This is not only an extremely cool looking item but it's very practical as well. I love my portable chargers in general, especially when I'm traveling (particularly in airports), at a convention or anywhere where it's difficult to find access to a wall outlet for charging. They always come in handy while I'm away, as I know I'll always drain my phone before the end of the day by continuously being on social media and taking endless pictures.

Lastly, here's a little video I took for my Instagram while the canister was charging up. Now you can see what I was referring to in action!

Remember, this item only ships from Japan— so if you're looking to add this to your Pixar collection, the most convenient way to pick this up is on eBay (visit this direct link to current listings).

For all you Monsters Inc./University fans out there, this might be a must have for you. Be sure to scream out your thoughts in the comments below!

Disney Figural Kingrings (Series 8) PAGE UPDATE

So remember my Disney Figural Keyrings Series 8 post from a couple days ago? And I said I was debating about whether I should pick up more or not? Yah... Well I did (who was I kidding). That didn't take long right? I went back and picked out four more and, what do you know, luck was on my side once again.

Click on through to the original post HERE to see who I got this time around!

Cars 2: Jason Hubkap

From Disney·Pixar's Cars 2, here we have Jason Hubkap... yet another new, never before released Mattel 1:55 scale diecast! This character hit shelves late last year (around fall time, but I didn't find him until recently) and is part of the 2016 "Paris Parts Market" sub-series (#5/6).

As shown in the screenshot above, Jason is a parts vendor briefly seen at the car parts black market (in the scene directly after Tomber is tased by Holley Shiftwell).

This is a really unique looking, tri-colored rusty car with some fantastic details. I love his look as it's unlike any other car in my collection!

I was able to find this one at Target right before Christmas, but I have yet to seem him since. He definitely was a harder one for me to track down. If you never found Jason in stores, you can always check out eBay HERE or Amazon using the direct link below.

Best of luck all my fellow Cars collectors!

Disney·Pixar The Animator's Sketchbook Review

Are you a Pixar Studios mega fan? An aspiring artist? A future Pixar animator? Maybe all of the above? Then this is for you. Released October 15th 2015 by Chronicle Books publishing (the ones behind the brilliant "Art of" books), here we have The Disney·Pixar Animator's Sketchbook! Though I'm not an artist by any means (I mean gosh, my drawings still look third grade level), I do have a passion for strong storytelling and filmmaking. This is an amazing journal style book for jotting down any creative ideas—whether you're going into the animation field or not.

As a Pixar fan myself, I had been eyeing this for a while until I had eventually forgotten its existence. However recently (for Christmas), thanks to my thoughtful friend and fellow co-castmember Gabby, I now have this awesome book in my collection. A huge thanks to her!

This book has so much going for it. It's inspiring, practical and a lot of fun. Inside you'll find five tabbed sections based on crucial early pre-production stages: Concept, story, color script, characters and worlds. Along with with brief introductions to each stage of development, there are also a plethora of inspiring quotes from Pixar filmmakers and great examples of some of the work Pixar artists have done throughout the years in these areas. Other than that, it's pretty much blank (with templates) for YOU to fill with your own original content!

Story...

Below is an example of some of the blank storyboard pages you'll find in the "story" section of the book.

Color scripts...

Characters...

Worlds...

For me, this is just a really cool book to have as part of my ever expanding collection of Pixar merch; but what's interesting is that this book is actually helping prepare the next generation of animators, filmmakers and storytellers. There are young Pixar fans out there right now writing down/drawing their ideas in this journal who will someday work at the famed studio in some capacity.

Find this on Amazon using the link below or at Barnes & Noble (online link HERE). Original retail was $18.95, but it has since gone on sale.

Here's to the very talented future of Pixar!

Pixar Collection: Disney Figural Kingrings (Series 8)

Over the past couple years, "Figural Keyrings" (from company Monogram International) have gained a tremendous amount of popularity— particularly their Disney series. With that said, Series 8 of their Disney Figural Keyrings collection has just been released; and it's entirely Pixar themed! Pixar characters have shown up in previous series before, but this one is made up of them 100%.

The catch? These adorable keyrings come in "blind bags" (like everything these days, right? ;), so you don't actually know who you'll get until you open that foil bag. They stand at about 2.5" tall, are made of (what they call) 3D foam (which feels like a eraser type material) and retail for $6.90 each.

I popped into my local Hot Topic a few days ago to see if I could find them and, well, there they were— almost a full case of them! I tested my luck and picked five characters, having no idea if I got any doubles or not. I could not wait to get out of the store to tear them open! It's always a nerve wracking (but fun nonetheless) thing to get blind toys.

This series has 11 awesome characters from a variety of Pixar films: Wall·E, Eve, Hamm, Rainbow Unicorn, Wheezy, Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible, Syndrome, Green Army Man, Dug (Mystery Exclusive A, as seen on the back of the bag below) and Edna Mode (Mystery Exclusive B). I seriously love the looks of all of them, so I didn't care too much who I got as long as I didn't get any repeats.

I'm excited to report that I got some really good ones (Wall·E and Wheezy were hopes for me, so yay!) and no doubles. Here's who I got...

 

Rainbow Unicorn (Inside Out)

Syndrome (The Incredibles)

Mr. Incredible (The Incredibles)

Wheezy (Toy Story 2)

Wall·E

You can find Disney Figural Keyrings in stores/online at Hot Topic (currently 20% off), Target, Toys R Us, Amazon, etc. This is a fun line of figures that have great stylized looks about them and vibrant colors; however I've found they're not the longest lasting (my Zurg broke after a few months of being on my keychain). I can still highly recommended these though to Disney·Pixar fans who want to deck out their keychains, backpacks or luggage with their favorite characters!

I'm debating if I should get any more or leave it for now. What do you think? Be sure to let me know your favorite characters in this series in the comments below. Did you pick any up? Who did you get? Shout it out!

UPDATE 1/12/17- 
Remember above when I said I was debating whether or not I should continue on with these? Well, like usual, I couldn't help myself. I went back to Hot Topic to test my luck once again and picked up four more blind bags. I couldn't believe it when I opened the bags to find four characters I hadn't already got! How on earth I was able to choose nine in a row without any doubles is beyond me.

Not only did I find four more, but within those four were the two I was hoping for the most this round: Mystery Exclusive A (Dug) and Mystery Exclusive B (Edna Mode)! I was thrilled to get Eve and Hamm as well.

And here they are—

Dug (Up)

Edna Mode (The Incredibles)

Eve (Wall·E)

Hamm (Toy Story)

At this point, I only need two more; so you can be rest assured that I'm going to just go ahead and finish up this series at this point. Look for an update right here soon enough!

UPDATE 1/18/17- 
Once again, I visited my local Hot Topic a few days ago in hopes of getting the last two I needed. As seen below, I prevailed! 11 out of 11 with no duplicates. Series 8 is now complete for me.

Check 'em, out...

Green Army Man (Toy Story)

Mrs. Incredible (The Incredibles)

Up: Dug with Cone of Shame Funko "POP!" (SDCC 2016 Toy Tokyo Exclusive)

"I do not like the cone of shame..."

Released last July exclusively at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con (Toy Tokyo booth), here we have the limited edition Disney·Pixar Up inspired Dug with "cone of shame" Funko POP vinyl figure! This is following the wide release version of Dug which hit around June of last year. While the original Dug was #201, this variation gets its own number of 202 in the Disney Funko "POP!" collection.

I did not attend SDCC last year, but I was lucky enough to have received this as a gift for this past Christmas (thanks to my wife's grandmother). I had been looking to get this since the time of release, so I was thrilled to finally add this to my ever expanding collection of Pixar Funkos!

Original retail price at the convention was $15. This figure seems to have used the same lower body sculpt as the original wide release, but this Dug's sad expression head/cone is an entirely new sculpt. He stands at a little over 3" high and, as usual, Funko did a fantastic job nailing the expression and overall details. So cute.

At this point, eBay is really the main route to go if you're looking to add this to your collection. I'd say $40-$60 is the average selling price there currently (direct link to current listings HERE).

For all you Funko collectors/Pixar Up fans out there, I highly recommend picking this up if you have the chance. It's one collectible not to be missed! 

Cars: J. Low Lee (Super Chase)

Here's one of the final cars I needed from 2016 and the third and final Super Chase from this past year— J. Low Lee! This is a traditional Mattel 1:55 scale diecast character as seen in the original Cars, but because this one's classified as a "Super Chase", it makes it that much more difficult to find in stores (no more than 4,000 units have been distributed). If you've found one in stores, then lucky you!

As shown in the screen shot above, you can spot J. Low Lee at the Los Angeles International Speedway near the start of the final race sequence. He's a dedicated fan of the Piston Cup racing series and has pledged his loyalty specifically to Strip 'The King' Weathers. As stated on the back of the package, "J. Low has been to every race that #43 has ever entered, proudly wearing his lucky Piston Cup hat."

If you haven't had any luck with finding this Super Chase release in stores, be sure to check out this direct link to current eBay listings or Amazon using the link below. The prices are really reasonable with this one, at least compared to past Super Chase characters.

Best of luck on the hunt to all my fellow Cars collectors!