Yes, Mattel is launching a Collector’s Club … as Juicy Bling Barbie might say – “We’re not just for kids anymore!”

I guess the days of selling Girl Scout cookies and pet grooming are so over for Barbie … (AS IF!)

And so, we move onto the next phase of CARS collecting … Movie Moments only at Target, Mack as a WM Transporter and a Collector’s Club for limited edition items.

There are some nice aspects though – there is NO membership fee so no having to get up at the crack of dawn (like 9 AM on the West Coast! Holy snickey! Who gets up that early?) just to fire up the computer … or wondering if you want three memberships (one to open, one to keep and one to store in a salt mine …).

However, it’s NOT limited to CARS, Mattel will offer other non-Hot Wheels items at the Mattel Collector’s Club.

What will they be offering? Well, we’ll get a preview Thursday morning during SD Comic Con and the site will go live on Monday, July 28, 2008.

Of course, this Club setting perfectly fits into any conspiracy theories regarding the Second Coming of the Motor Speedway of the South … sure, we have zero actual evidence but like the days of yore, it’s just plain good fun to run in the streets with pitchforks and lighted torches … well, that’s how we have fun here in the land of ex-communicated Amish. 🙂

As, as of now, they are planning no limits on purchases which leads me to believe two things:

a) Limited means ‘limited to how many we (Mattel) can sell or

b) They are in for surprise when some CARS fan (nee CARS eBayer) with more money than sense (yes, I’m casting aspirations at you 🙂 ) will step up to buy 5,000 of Albert the RV* to corner the market …

* Please note, I have NO idea what they are planning to sell at the Collector’s Club but it would be logical to sell CARS characters that people want but a retailer will look at and think, who will buy a combine named Frank? Of course, we know better but retailers like WM who are asleep at the switch and for some reason, keeps buying tons of birdseed instead of CARS.

Of course, the “no limit” thing could also be for a pre-buying plan … like their recent Batmobile sale at the Red Line Club … you have to pre-pay and it’s coming in 6 months so essentially Mattel only makes what they can pre-sell plus maybe a thousand more? Smart way to gauge interest and of course, if they don’t pre-sell enough, they just cancel that line …

The other interesting thing tied into the ‘no limits’ plan is that they seem to planning on making these items available to third party re-sellers/wholesalers so they can get in on the action … so you can buy direct from Mattel online or buy from a third party … that seems to be the plan so that might circle back to “limited” being ‘limited to how many we can sell’ so unlike a lot of other Collector’s Club, we don’t have to panic, the early, the mid-morning and lolly-gagging late afternoon bird all gets the worm. Hummm, worms.

So, that’s actually not bad for international CARS fans – directly, Mattel will sell to you but will not ship overseas (Canada, you’re a-okay … as the St. Lawrence seaway is apparently not an ocean to cross … though Mexico, that Rio Grande is apparently too wide a gulf to traverse …) so since it looks like 3rd party sellers will be able to receive items wholesale, if they ship overseas, you can join in on the fun.

So, in a couple weeks, we’ll know more but so far, so good – just bring money – easy access (oh, sorry Juicy Bling Barbie, didn’t mean to imply anything …).

ALSO – it looks like any unsold SDCC Lightning Storm McQueen’s will then be available on the Collector’s site but don’t hold your breath 😉

ADDENDUM – Maybe I lost a paragraph somewhere – sorry. The Collector’s Club will go preview during SDCC Thursday, 24, 2008 and go live the following Monday. And to repeat, it’s not the Redline Club – no membership fee, no membership card, no poster, no “special” car for joining, etc … it is an online store featuring only limited edition items (some CARS, also action figures). As of now, no “general” merchandise will be available (such as individual CARS) for now – that could change down the line.

BTW – Way back when, we did two posts on other CARS that we might expect to see or not expect to see … some have already come true through …