PIXAR “Tribute” Cars

Wow, ok, I have been sitting on these for a while, so it’s high time to bust ’em out, snap some photos, and give you fine folks the skinny on this small set of celebratory cars with regards to some of Pixar’s biggest films.

• 1 / 5 – Toy Story – Combat Medic
• 2 / 5 – Monsters, Inc. – Altered Ego
• 3 / 5 – Finding Nemo – Path Beater
• 4 / 5 – The Incredibles – Fish’d & Chip’d
• 5 / 5 – Cars – Hiway Hauler

It seems a little strange to get these in the wake of so many Disney Character Cars, but it’s all good. The artwork on some of these is very much worth taking a gander at.

And so we first land on the Combat Medic, a staple of these celebratory sets due to all that blank space on the sides, just begging for some clear, uninterrupted artwork. Paying homage to the Toy Story franchise, one side is filled with Buzz Lightyear and a stark, modern background. The other side shows us Woody & Jessie with the “Woody’s Roundup” title card. They’re riding atop BullsEye with a big, layered sunset in the background.

Altered Ego is a very strange car, and I guess it’s appropriate enough for Mike & Sulley from Monsters, Inc. The metalflake gray is a nice look, and both sides feature Mike & Sulley fresh out of a closet door.

The Path Beater looks to be a rough and tumble 4WD pickup truck. It’s a bit basic and “everyman,” much like Nemo’s fairly ordinary father who beat extraordinary odds to find his kid.

I hate to say it, but I just don’t know anything much about The Incredibles. The Fish’d & Chip’d’s classic design leads to a lot of horizontal space to show off artwork of the family and it’s a very nice red color…

And bringing up the rear we have the eye-catchingly large but surprisingly lightweight Hiway Hauler, lending its space to the one and only Cars. The chrome windows are a very cool choice we don’t see too often. Other than that we’ve just got a big ol’ money shot of Lightning McQueen himself on the trailer. The artwork, instead of having the sort of CG-gloss we’re all used to when it comes to Cars, has that sort of retro-look to it, like what you’d see on a vintage lunchbox or something.

That’ll do it when it comes to this small Pixar collection. The subject matter may not be completely in my wheelhouse but it is nice to see some artwork on some cars again – it feels like the trend all but died over the course of 2019 and 2020. Stick around, ‘cuz we got at least 2 more of these “tribute” sets to cover in this giant backlog…!

Hot Wheels – Mickey and Friends 90th Anniversary

Man oh man I feel like I have been after this set forever. I saw it online or something, and I figured it was just a matter of time ’til it showed up at Walmart. But I waited and waited and waited and it never did. A few weeks ago, when I was on the hunt for the Isabelle amiibo, I actually did find 2 of the cars…at a Best Buy of all places. And then I found 2 more…at another Best Buy. I figured knocking out half the set accidentally was pretty good, so I just assumed I’d stumble across the rest soon enough. I semi-religiously checked at least one of the Best Buy’s afterwards but was unable to turn up anything at all.

I really hate when the occasional set ends up so strangely distributed – or I at least wish I had someway of knowing before supplies went scarce. I had a similar issue last year with those Nightmare Before Christmas cars. According to everything I personally saw they were only ever available at GameStop. After a lot of hardcore GameStop searching, I was only ever able to make it up to 6 (out of 8) cars and by the time I resigned to buy the other 2 online, it was pretty clear that there wasn’t going to be any new ones coming in.

A little dejected and a little pissed off, I resorted to just buy ’em online. The way a lot of these sets and singles are priced, if you want to buy them singly, you end up paying close to what you’d pay for a set after 3 or 4. Luckily I found a pretty good deal for the 8 car set on Amazon. Of course now I have 4 extras but that won’t be an issue.

Now I do like these “tribute” cars but damn, these body designs are getting awfully familiar. Anyway, here’s what we got:

• 1 / 8 – Mickey Mouse – Fast FeLion
• 2 / 8 – Minnie Mouse – Quick N’ Sik
• 3 / 8 – Goofy – Fandango
• 4 / 8 – Pluto – 16 Angels
• 5 / 8 – Donald Duck – Vandetta
• 6 / 8 – Daisy Duck – Scoopa di Fuego
• 7 / 8 – Pete – Fish’d & Chip’d
• 8 / 8 – Chip ‘N’ Dale – Horseplay

I don’t know why, but these all have a very lightweight, cheap-y feel to them. They feel almost fragile and they look way more “plastic-y” than these guys usually do. They just don’t feel very sturdy. Nothing’s really wrong with them, I just feel like the wheels are too loose, the windshields have too much give, and most of the paints have a strange feel to them. Mind you I have no idea how Hot Wheels are made, but it almost feels like something didn’t cure correctly or set right in the final stages. I like the way they look and I dig most of the HWO designs chosen, they just feel somewhat insubstantial to me.

Our first pair is Mickey & Minnie in the Fast FeLion and Quick N’ Sik respectively. The artwork is pretty basici – a small portrait and some text – but the colors are matched nicely and the cars subtly exude a masculine and feminine aura.

Next up is Goofy in the Fandango and Pluto in 16 Angels. The choice of colors seems a little strange here, though at least they share that common orange. Goofy’s larger size makes him a good match with the Fandango. 16 Angels stays close to the ground, much like Pluto does as the group’s only 4-legged member. I don’t know where the hell they plucked this green from, but it looks great, even if a little off the mark from Pluto.

And then there’s Donald and Daisy Duck with the Vandetta and Scoopa di Fuego. Why is Donald Duck in the Vandetta…? I dunno, but I really like the flat, beak-like shape of the di Fuego for Daisy.

Our final pair is Pete in his Fish’d & Chip’d and Chip ‘N’ Dale with Horseplay. The oversized Fish’d & Chip’d is the perfect symbol of opulence for Pete. Not sure I understand Horseplay and the Chipmunks. I’d expect something that was more representative of 2 things wrapped into one, if that makes sense.

We haven’t seen many sets like this so far this year so I am glad to have it, but with the availability headache plus lower quality I am left a little disappointed. I do like the use of color throughout, and while minimal graphics were used, there is a nice consistency to them that says, “we’re from the same series.” I wish I had more fun stuff to say about but I think that’s it. It’s all a bit basic, but I think that’s the point – a simple homage to a classic set of characters.

Hot Wheels DESPICABLE ME: Minion Made – Tribute Cars

I know I know, this is a pretty old set of cars, stretching back to the days of the Despicable Me 3 Character Cars if I’m not entirely mistaken. So yes, all the more reason to go ahead and bang these out for the sake of posterity! I’m not a huge fan of Despicable Me or the Minions in general, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying these specialty themed cars.

For whatever reason, I never saw these at any of my local haunts during their run. Why? I don’t know, I really don’t. They seemed to be fairly prolific on the web, and although I will purchase a set I really like, I typically don’t spring for random sets like these. I don’t mind dropping $0.99 per car if I run across them in a store, but paying $2 to $4 per car plus shipping for a set I’m not gaga over seems a bit too indulgent. Most of the time sets like these are exclusive to Walmart, but I know at times they can be exclusive to other stores, so that may have been the case and I just never set foot in one of these stores at the right time. Then again, some of these Walmart-exclusive sets are strangely absent from 5 or 6 of my nearest Walmarts at times.

So how did I end up with these cars? Well, in the wake of the disappearance of Toys R Us, it actually seems like a lot of more clandestine toy vendors are appearing, particularly those specializing in high quality, collectible, and educational toys….sort of like an expanded version of the toys and games areas at Barnes and Noble: building toys (LEGO, Mega Construx, etc.), adult and advanced games (dice games, Settlers of Katan, X-Wing, Magic: The Gathering, Cards Against Humanity, etc.), high quality plush toys, puzzles (Rubik’s Cubes!!!), and “toys” aimed at the adult collector, everything from Hot Wheels and Star Wars: Black Series to those $80 Justice League figures. I actually thing this is a great trend. Don’t get me wrong, Target, Walmart, et. al are all great staples of toy collecting, but we don’t need another one of them, and this new(ish) “indie” breed of toy store will hopefully gain a foothold in some shape or form in the coming years. Unfortunately, right now it’s all too common to go back to one of these places after a month only to find it all boarded up or replaced by a store full of oriental lamps. But with the gaping hole left by Toys R Us, I truly hope these guys can find enough of a market share to succeed.

Ok, I didn’t quite answer the question yet, I know. I don’t visit Crabtree (Crabtree Valley Mall) all that often just because TTC (and a lot of other places) are so much closer and less congested, but I do check it out and again, and when I went about a week ago I noticed a brand new “higher end” toy store called “Tic Tac Toys.” Again, this is one of those places that might go under right after Christmas, but hopefully folks like these are trying to figure out the best way to succeed and aren’t giving up. Anyway, this place wasn’t chock full o’ Hot Wheels, but they did have a small, moderately impressive selection, 6 of them being the Despicable Me: Minion Made set.

Let’s bang ’em out!

• 1 / 6 – Fish’d & Chip’d
• 2 / 6 – Deora II
• 3 / 6 – Jester
• 4 / 6 – Slikt Back
• 5 / 6 – Synkro
• 6 / 6 – Monster Dairy Delivery

Regretfully I can’t offer up any real expert commentary regarding these cars because I just don’t know shit about these yellow cretins. But on the whole I dig the car designs and the graphics used on ’em.

Fish’d & Chip’d is a large but sleek Rivera-type car from yesteryear and the days of hangin’ at the hop and sippin’ some malts. According to the card, we’ve got some kinda vampire theme going on here, which is accentuated perfectly by the deep purple paint job. It’s got gold accents including the rims and a nice little vampy-Minion face painted on the sides and hood. As wild, random, and juvenile as these little blobs are, this car exemplifies a great usage of restraint and less-is-more.

Then there’s the Deora II, a vehicle most of us are familiar with as a surfboard carrier. The theme here appears to be some kind of tropical setting, what with the neon green and the “Minion Beach” painted on each side. I guess this is pretty darn appropriate: a surfboard-wielding car at the beach!!

Jester is always a fun car to play around with, and they really went all out with the purple and green pastels and the clear blue windshield. Judging from the card we’ve got some kind of Old World, Ancient Egypt thing going on. I mean I guess it doesn’t have to be Egypt, but it definitely appears to be going for some kind of pre-Greco-Roman aesthetic. However, aside from something which I guess you could call heiroglyphic-ish if you squint, the vibe is difficult to discern from the car itself. Honestly it looks more like a homage to Easter. But what do I know!? Damn Minions!

Fourth out the gate is Slikt Back, a sort of elongated, exaggerated version of those fancy Caddy’s and Buicks from the mid-1900’s. Pirates seem to be the running theme here, with the Minions’ own version of the Jolly Roger stamped on the exceedingly long trunk area. The car is colored a deep cherry red and features the only high-gloss finish of the series. There ain’t much here that screams “pirate!” other than the graphics, but hey, I guess sometimes that’s good enough.

Synkro might be my overall favorite of the set, though it’s a tough call between it and Fish’d & Chip’d. This one is really hard to nail down thematically. The card shows the Minions as part of a band – I think. Well actually I don’t know. The guy in the foreground is shooting a sneaky glance towards the 2 in the back; one of them is holding an acoustic guitar and the other has a teddy bear. I don’t know what they’re doing. Maybe it’s just a generic “Minions being Minions” thing. The car doesn’t give us any clues either, with nothing other than a stylish “Team Minion” slapped on the sides. Color-wise it’s yellow and blue in what I assume to be a nod to the Minions’ yellow complexion and blue clothing. So I guess this is just the, “Yeah, Minions!” car…? It’s decent enough, but I feel like it needs an actual Minion graphic somewhere to really drive the point home.

Last but not least is the Monster Dairy Delivery which seems to be an in-house favorite over at HW HQ. It’s kinda like something between a mail truck and a monster truck. The card here takes us back to prehistoric / caveman days, and I think a beefy, oversized truck is a pretty damn good choice for the occasion. What I really dig is the “word” “CRO Minion” plastered on each side. (In case you’re stuck scratching your head, “Cro-Minion” is a reference to the “Cro-Magnon,” a type of European early modern human that would largely fit much of what we deem “cavemen.”)

Overall I think this is a spirited set of cars…the sillier, more relaxed subject matter led to fun and whimsical designs. I’ll admit that a dedicated Minion fan might get more out of this than I did, but despite my dislike of the critters I can appreciate and enjoy the inspiration they provided. Now Hot Wheels, you’ve done a Character Car set and these “tribute” cars, so c’mon, get these Minions out of your system!