While we’ve had some planes or flight capable characters “CARS” previously – some were hard to define if they were accurate if they were the right scale since they were in the air (Rescue Squad Chopper) with nothing to really compare it to … or simply a “generic” flying craft that could be the correct scale size in “CARS World” (Kathy Copter or even Barney Stormin) as the real craft varies in size and could be that size – or larger – but close enough scale wise. There were a couple CARS flying craft obviously too small such as Dinoco Helicopter (too small to fit Mater) or Al Oft (a 1:55 scale version would need to be about 3.7 feet long – doable but not the most exciting of releases 🙁  ). But they were mostly minor characters so it was acceptable that they might not be perfect – it was good enough to get them.

But in the case of PLANES – it’s much more important that they scale up correct and some are real planes. Since the releases are from the Disney stores, we can only start the analysis but there are also some Mattel clues to already add some things up …

Unixed sends along great photos to start our analysis.

From the Disney Store, Skipper, a Vought Corsair F4U (Wikipedia).

This was a cool looking plane 70 years ago and it looks just as cool today – the Disney Store did a great job in making it a diecast. There were dozens of versions – I’m no expert as to which one this is exactly/was but the later WWII models were around 33-feet so we’ll call it that). At 1:55 scale, he should be about 7.2 inches long, the Disney Store one is 5″ long  – he’s close to 1:80 in scale (well, if you want to be more precise 1:785 scale).

Mater is reported to be a 1950’s Chevrolet 3800 (looks more like Bubba to me – some people say Mater is a 1951 International Harvester or a Dodge) – the 3800 length is around 196 inches so that’s probably pretty close – Mater’s tow bed is probably a tick longer than a typical pickup bed but close enough … so the Mater diecast is around 3.5″ long (a hair under but we’re not sending anyone to the moon 🙂  ) so proper 1:55 scale – @3.56″ – so we can feel pretty safe in saying Mater is 1:55 in scale. Yep, you don’t need to toss 1,000 diecasts. 🙂

So while Skipper should be longer, parked next to Mater, he looks appropriately right. Yes, he could be a bit longer but the other important aspect is the height.

I presume the Pitty, Sparky is the plastic one from this Disney Store “figurine set?”*

If you look at screenshots, the Pitty’s to PLANES are about that “height,” so the Disney Store ones are pretty much on target.

* The figurine set are all plastic/resin with non-rolling wheels but “John H.” notes, the Pitty’s are 1:55 in scale so if you want display items, they are nice, this set also contains a plastic Skipper which “John H.’ notes is about 1:140 in scale (about 50% the size of the metal version).

So, while the Disney Store Vought Corsair could be a hair longer, it’s hard to beat the world class reproduction of the real one, also mostly solid metal diecast WITH folding wings AND landing gear that goes up into the wing – super nice!

Pretty hard to complain. The Mattel one does not seem to have folding wings and I’m fairly certain the wheels are locked in the down position but we’ll have to verify the last part.

Another hint that the Mattel ones might not be up to par? Look closely at this preview of the Gift Set. Notice the Pitty is the same height as the PLANE (and Bulldog should be a much larger plane) …

So, the Disney Store ones are not quite 1:55, at least with the Corsair, about 1:80 in scale … but the Mattel ones look like they might be closer to the Disney Store figurine set, closer to 1:140 in scale …

Thanks for the great pics, “Unixed,” and thanks for the info, “John H.”

So, now what do you think of the Disney Store PLANES? And perhaps the much smaller scale of Mattel’s?

Some of the early releases are temporarily sold out but more should be due by July.