Some things to note with the latest release of the 3-CAR Gift Pack, the Finish Line McQueen is faced another way but the Dinoco Mia Tia McQueen are all the same from the last release – as are the Team No Stall release – they all look essentially the same.

However, Mater is arguably different & Bruiser is definitely different than the previous release.

As noted by others, the new Mater is less weightier as they trimmed metal here and there and replaced it with plastic. I am not really sure when they did the switch as the last Mater I really opened was in 2006 🙂 … the Mater on the right is 2006 Mater. The face sports much less “rust” coloring … but again, it’s hard to tell if it’s a permanent switch or just these two random comparisons. Diecast cars and not just CARS that require a wash or an overspray tends to be random in terms of specific paint – it’s an accepted and considered ‘norm’ in the diecast collecting biz … it’s only if they deviate so far but you can compare the two Mater’s to yours. Otherwise, facial expression, eyes & teeth are essentially the same.

Essentially the same – the main metal removed and replaced with plastic include Mater’s “engine” compartment – which used to be one metal piece as part of the front cab. You can see a line separating the two now as the engine/carburator is now pushed up through a hole in the metal that makes up the rest of Mater’s front cab piece.

The side of the bed is now plastic – it used to be metal.

The right has more blue overspray (2006) than current Mater … what does yours look like?

Again, I’m not sure of the exact switchover since I have not really paid much attention to Mater … since there are really are never two exactly alike … since Mater as a diecast has a lot of “bumps & bruises” with oversprays, washes and other color streaking – it’s hard to make them exactly alike … generally batches will look similar but if you compared an April 2006 Mater to August 2006 Mater, it’s natural for him to look different.

Bruiser has a lot more differences …

WM Bruiser is on the right. The most obvious difference is he’s brown eyed … and is now blue eyes.

The mustache is actually the same but the slightly higher-positioned forklift covers up his mouth – which you can see more clearly on the WM Bruiser (right).

Not visible in this photo but the wheel rim color is a slightly more pale light green though Bruiser’s actual green is also a skoosh darker in the 2009 version …

And of course the date of production difference … all WM Bruiser’s have XXX7 as their “born on” date.

And so in other words, Collect Them All! (since his eyes are different 🙂 ).