At the original price of $49.99, it was definitely spendy and a lot of pricing room for discounts and clearance.

But for those who couldn’t wait or wanted a nice pristine box, it’s not a bad set for completist and variant collectors.

Of course at $32.99 or now at $25, it’s pretty much a must buy for a myriad of reasons.

EXCLUSIVE

Captured Professor Z is different version (no monocle, new expression, webby restraints accessory).

EXCLUSIVE?
UK Ramone WITH Paint Gun is coming as a single but UK Ramone no paint gun? He is not marked as an exclusive – is he coming in a 2-pack? (2-packs are not actually broken down by content so the rest of the year is unknown … and if he’s a 2-pack, is he the repeat character or the “exclusive?”

VARIANTS
You the Bomb Mater is different from the TRU box set – it’s a little more accurate in color to the film. Though presumably this is the same as the single release coming soon. So, if you’re an opener, it saves you another singles purchase.

Don Crumlin has different color eyes. Not terribly exciting but you can pretend it’s his cousin, Jon Crumlin – another henchman Gremlin.
UNIBODY UPGRADE
While Finn and Holley are re-releases obviously, they look so much nicer as a unibody diecast metal shell … so if you’re gonna spend sleepless nights (don’t all CARS collectors in this situation? 🙂  ), might as well replace the first releases with these from a box set versus buying 2 singles …

WEIRD UPGRADES
Lightning is pretty much the same but I have to say, the quality control and paints/deco applications on the CARS in this set are nice to super nice so if you haven’t gotten an unibody Lightning McQueen, here you go.

Sally – Sally pretty much looks likes her last CARS 1 releases but she’s actually heavier! The last Sally I have open is from 2010 and she weighed 1.510 grams and this new one weighs 1.729 grams – doesn’t seem like much but a 13% weight upgrade! I will refrain from making any weight jokes.

Fillmore – I actually noticed him first, he felt hefty – he does weigh more than the first releases, he’s not much of an upgrade – only about 3% more in weight but an upgrade nevertheless – plus the new mold is a little sharper in spots and his tampo decals are printed brighter … AND for oddball variant collectors, his base is black and not dark gray – not very noticeable but the back tailpipes are now black and not dark gray.

Sheriff – My Sheriff is from 2006 and while I have him on all the cards in subsequent releases – in the CARS 1 era, for the most part, there were not a lot of minor variants so after a while, I did not pay too careful attention so I may have missed the first “upgrade” to Sheriff but if you have not opened a Sheriff in a while, don’t be so quick to give this one away. First, he’s slightly heavier – not by much – less than 2% heavier but this new mold is super detailed and sharp – plus the quality control and detailing done by Mattel’s own plant is SPECTACULAR. This Sheriff is a 9 on a scale of 10 in terms of paint ops. I don’t know if everyone in every case looks as nice but this puts my 2006 one to shame. That one was okay but if you look closely, lots of paint slop, etc, etc … this Sheriff is also slightly lower – that by itself would not be worthy of real variant status but the attention to paint (if it’s true of all or most) makes it a nice upgrade.

Bottom line, only Victor H. and Vladimir Trunkov look essentially the same as the current releases so if you’re a completist, this London Rescue offers quite a lot of interesting upgrades.

At $25 for 12 CARS or 10 upgrades, it’s definitely worth a second look.

And yes, no detail is too small – Nearly 18% increase in body weight! They don’t put that on the box!

Now Zincier!

More zinc than you can shake a periodical table at!

Zinc You Know Your CARS? Zinc Again!

Should I stop now?

Now available at Amazon.