In honor of MacWorld’s keynote today, why and when we should get the Apple Mac iCar re-released along with his Pit Crew in a beautiful box set.

A few days ago, we covered why the Mac iCar is not on the re-release schedule.

Briefly, there is no ‘legal’ reason in the way people use the word legal as to why we have not seen the Apple Mac iCar re-released.

The reason is pretty simple – a bunch of CARS have ‘real world’ trademark and ‘trade dress’ agreements that require separate agreements and of course, payment for additional releases. But unlike for example the Elvis RV, that is a straightforward negotiation because it is ONE CAR. We want to re/re-release it – here’s how much we will pay you. Agree? Done. Same with Jay Limo. Sure, Mattel has to pay them more to license their name and ‘trademark’ look but there’s no additional negotiations needed beyond that because they are standalone CARS.

The Apple car and Dale Jr. are different because we want the hauler, the crew chief, a couple Pitty’s (at least) and maybe even the Pit block that the Crew Chief stands on so it’s more complicated.

On the other hand, Mattel can’t really ask for more money just for the Apple car as part of the mainline release. No matter how many Mattel crammed into a box … a box of 18 of just the Apple & Dale Jr. would still sell out and it would be on eBay for $29 … Mattel would make only a fraction of what people are willing to pay so why give away the farm? … plus, even if Mattel moved the Apple car to the megasize and asked $5.99 for one … it would still sell out and be on ebay for $39.99.

The other main consideration is the amount of money.

While Jay Leno or the Elvis Presley estate is not going to get rich from the licensing for the diecast … hey, X thousands is X thousands, right? Plus it’s promotions for Jay and Elvis in a kids animated movie – all good.

But conversely, going to Apple and saying we can make you $10k extra this month by selling an Apple Pitty pretty much means nothing to them … plus, they are going to look at the Pitty and wonder – what is this again?

And sure, the Apple store can sell this but look, Apple is one of the few companies that does NOT even clutter up their stores by selling t-shirts or promotional posters … they don’t really care about selling a limited edition item.

That is why an Apple Mac iCar Piston Cup box set makes sense for everyone involved.

(these are of course, the great Aroldo Pongetti one-of-a-kind customs)

This setup in a beautiful diorama is the way to pitch this to Apple – plus, they get it all done in one fell swoop – instead of constantly going back to Apple to negotiate another mainline release, it’s done at once and Mattel gets to take home the full value of a Hauler, a Piston Cup racer Car and two Pitty’s.

For Apple, they get a limited edition one-of-a-kind showcase that NO other brand or Piston Cup racer gets … a mocked up box set with a diorama is also the kind of showcase that Piaxr or John Lasseter can show to Apple … not just a Piston Cup racer or an out-of-context hauler, etc …

Mattel could easily sell this set for $60-$75 depending on how limited the set would be – and sure, Mattel could pay a giant chunk in licensing to Apple but frankly, Apple could care less since it would still be under $100k, a rounding error – instead, why not build into the cost of this and send Apple and Pixar X thousands of these to give away or sell*? What Apple or Pixar employee would NOT want a display box with a racer, a hauler and two Pitty’s?

* Both Pixar and Apple have company stores. Not the Apple retail stores but Apple has a “company” store across from their front HQ entrance where you can actually buy t-shirts and posters. (Pixar store not open to public – Apple company store is).

So, instead of having to keep going back to negotiate pieces of the Apple Mac iCar race setup, just do it all at once in a brilliant and classy showcase that Apple & Pixar would appreciate and understand … and instead of two giant corporations and accountants quibbling over a tiny amount, it’s a great employee incentive.

And for Mattel, production is actually easy. The racer is done – it’s one of 3 main bodies for the racers, the Hauler mold is done and the Pitty’s are clearly just repaints. Get a crapload of white paint and print up the FEWEST decals needed for a racer/hauler & Pitty. They could fit this into production very easily. No new tools, no new molds and instead of making $25 – Mattel can make $75 dollars per …

In fact, with the new Target Hauler sets just released, even the box is designed, plenty of room for another Pitty – we might ask for an acrylic covering though.

And of course, this being Apple & Mattel – the PR value and free advertising would be millions! What a great way to invigorate the line? There’s even time to do it for SDCC this year since all the tooling and molds are already done – just white paint, decals and a display box.

In other words – HOW TO CAUSE A RIOT AT SDCC 101.

It’s hard to believe Mattel only sold one CARS item last year at SDCC while most of the other major players like Hasbro was selling 4-5 items per line … there were more MY LITTLE PONY exclusives than CARS … WTH?

(okay and never mind, matty’s CAR selection after a year stands at ONE).

But 2009 is the perfect year – by next year SDCC, it will all be CARS2 so this year is the year to keep the buzz going and of course, make $1.5 million dollars in a few days …

So, put me down for 3 🙂

And if you thought Aroldo Pongetti’s Apple customs were great, he went back and did several more Crew Chiefs …

Aroldo named them the good, the bad and the ugly … I was thinking more like: the awesome, the amazing and the brilliant …

Um, which one is the ugly?

Sure, Aroldo can make his own but maybe Mattel will take 75 green pieces of paper I have with George’s Washington’s pics on them?