As you may be aware, posting on this site has been very few and far between this year, compared to years past. There are a lot of reasons, but the main one is time. I started this site and I have run it on my own in my spare time, while working a full time job outside the home. I have a wife, a child about to turn 2 and another one on the way in the next 5 months. With all that going on, there is not a lot of time left over to spend on other things. And with a second child on the way, I anticipate having a lot less free time than I do now.

Another reason is lack of interest. I still love Cars. But the characters in the main line now being produced are very minor characters in the film. They are running out of characters to make into diecast. This is why the line has been splintered into the lenticular Cars and the Cars Toons among others. And now a second movie is on the way, which will start a whole new line of toys to collect.

Also, there is the lack of space. Having to make room for 2 children in the house, I have a lot less room to store my collection, much less display them anywhere. So there is simply nowhere to put the Cars I already have in addition to any new ones coming in.

To sum it up, I will be ending my Cars collecting or cutting it way back soon. And I don’t have the time to give this site what it deserves to continue to make it a great resource. So it’s time for a change. The site will stay up as it is, but the comments will be closed. I will not be posting any new information here. Instead, I am going to try to get the forums off the ground again. The new forum is called Cars Collectors and can be found at http://carscollectors.com/. I will be posting there when I can, but the community will have a much bigger role there. To me, that seems like a much better solution than just simply shutting down, and I hope those of you who participated here will continue there.

In closing, I just want to say that the past 3 and a half years have been amazing. I want to thank you guys for sticking around and help keep this site going. This site wouldn’t have existed this long without you. Take care.

Jonathan
Cars Toys Blog

Click here to view the embedded video.

It looks fun, and I am excited to see it! What did you think?

‘Cars 2′ is set to release June 24th, 2011. And here is the official description from Disney.

Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

They say we will have the first official trailer tomorrow.

To top it all off, Yahoo! has the first official movie poster.

Update: Notice anything about the poster? Look closely, and you can spot some of the Cars characters from the upcoming movie!

‘Cars 2′ is the next Pixar movie on the list and is due out next summer. Expect the toys to show up in the Spring.

This year’s Mater Saves Christmas single carded Cars have begun showing up in the UK. So far, we have Whee-Hoo Winter Mater, Snowplow Lightning McQueen and Holiday Spirit Sheriff. Hopefully, these will show up in the US soon. My guess is they will be showing up at Target and Toys R Us, same as last year. Here are the images.

Check out more images here. Also, check out the Mater Saves Christmas Toys R Us 3 pack.

Mater Saves Christmas 3 Pack

This 3 pack contains Holiday Hotshot Lightning McQueen, Whee-Hoo Winter Mater and Santa Car. It is $19.99. I have seen it at both Toys R Us stores in my area. You can also buy it at the Toys R Us website here.

The McQueen with snow tires seen online has not made it out yet, and the hope is that there are more holiday Cars to come, probably exclusive to Target, same as last year.

So what will we get this year, if anything? I’m not sure, but if you were watching eBay, you may have seen this gem on there recently…

Mater Saves Christmas Santa Car

Yep, it’s Santa Car! I don’t have any other details, but hopefully Santa will bring us Santa Car for Christmas 2010.

Target Speedway 9 Pack

Target has a new exclusive Cars set called the Speedway 9 Pack. That’s right, there are 9 Cars in this set, and it looks like they are not lenticular.

There are 5 racers, McQueen, King, Chick, Sidewall Shine and Clutch Aid. There are also 4 new non-lenticular version of Dash Boardman, Houser Boon, Tim Rimmer and Timothy Twostroke. I don’t think any of these 4 have been released in Final Lap yet.

As I have not seen these yet, I’m not sure on the retail price. But with the holiday season coming soon, expect to see them at a Target near you.

There will be 24 Cars in every case. 8 of these, which we have already mentioned, will be Piston Cup racers with the rubber tires. The rest will be lenticulars, including a chase Car. Here is the full list.

Painted Masked Lightning McQueen (Chase) — 1
Race Tow Truck (Tow) — 1 (First time with lenticular eyes!)
#54 Faux Wheel Drive — 3
#74 Sidewall Shine — 2
#82 Shiny Wax — 2
#28 Nitroade — 2
#80 Gask-its — 3
#39 View Zeen — 2
#101 Tach-o-mint — 2
#36 Tank Coat — 2
Kathy Copter — 1
Pit Crew Sarge — 1
Radiator Springs Lightning McQueen — 1
Dash Boardman — 1

Heavy Metal Mater 4 Pack

Are you ready to ROCK? Speaking of Heavy Metal Mater, we get a look at the next Cars Toons 4 pack featuring none other than Heavy Metal Mater. These are now showing up at retail, but I haven’t seen them so I’m not sure as to which stores.

This 4 pack features Heavy Metal Mater, Heavy Metal McQueen and the 2 rockin’ pittys. I can’t wait to find these, and I also can’t wait to see the toon! You can find more Heavy Metal Mater toys on eBay.