Home » CARS World 2016, Disney Pixar CARS 3, Mattel Disney Pixar Diecast CARS 3

Mattel Disney Pixar CARS: Andy Gearsdale Area 51 Mystery

Thanks for the great pics, “John H.”

Andy Gearsdale, a giant Army transport was once scheduled for release in 2012.

But of course, he never made it out like a few other Deluxe in 2012. Though you could probably pick up 92,000 Submarine Finn’s.

A new Andy Gearsdale seems to have popped up but it’s not listed on the Mattel breakdown for 2016.

Andy-Gearsdale3-4-front

Andy-Gearsdale-front

Andy-Gearsdale-lside

Andy-Gearsdale-rear

It’s a nice looking diecast but most of the clues (chassis info/tires) seems to point to a Disney store release.

Andy-Gearsdale-chassis_02

Compared to Mattel Sarge.

Andy-Gearsdale-&-Sarge-3-4-front

Nicely scaled.

Andy-Gearsdale-&-Sarge-front
Andy-Gearsdale-&-Sarge-3-4-front_02

Compared to Corporal Kim of the Toons lineup (UFO Mater).

Sgt-Kim-&-Andy-Gearsdale-rear

Sgt-Kim-&-Andy-Gearsdale-front

Sgt-Kim-&-Andy-Gearsdale-3-4-front

Mator UFO.

Andy-Gearsdale-&-Mator

As John H. notes, if it was a Toon release, he’s have the door UFO logo/designation.


Andy-Gearsale-in-UFM_03

From CARS 2.

Andy-Gearsdale-in-London

Thanks for the great photos, “John H.”

It definitely seems like to be a Disney Store offering – probably a box set? Give us a shot if you see it online or in stores.

«  »

11 Comments

  • John says:

    eBay (China) continues to be flooded with these. Most of the sellers are not the usual dealers in Cars, in many cases Andy Gearsdale is about the only Car in their store.
    I wonder if maybe a production run was done under contract for Disney Store or the Theme Parks but was cancelled or rejected for some reason?
    The manufacturer would then be motivated to sell them off any way that he could.

  • John says:

    Another possibility is that this model is destined for the Theme Parks. We’ve seen them turn to Mattel (or a Mattel-alike factory) in the past for manufacturing of Cars models for sale inside the Parks.

    • Mack_me_Bucko says:

      Good point there — but in the end, it won’t matter to me, I bought two, and they’re good enough for me to enjoy them.

    • Mack_me_Bucko says:

      If China is listening to our gripes and complaints on what we’d like to see made — perhaps we should offer them advice here in the way of a “hit list” of the top five Cars we still need!

      1. Wrecked Hudson Hornet

  • Mack_me_Bucko says:

    If it’s a factory custom, where is the original tooling from? The gold Sally etc., are simply plating existing parts that are already being made in-house; but creating all new tooling (that is pretty darn accurate to the screenshots) is certainly stepping up their game –if that is what is happening.

    • RCcars5 says:

      The factory workers just managed to secure a prototype of Andy and made a mold. There’s not much more to it than that. It’s also been known since last June that Andy would eventually be made as a factory custom.

      • Mack_me_Bucko says:

        Then the Chinese are certainly showing a level of sophistication and initiative not seen before. Seems unlikely to put that kind of money into tooling, then only to sell them piecemeal via the “back door” and hope for significant sales numbers.

        • Mack_me_Bucko says:

          “Fit and finish” is often a great indicator of quality, so I took apart an “Andy Gearsdale” to look inside. All the interior (and thus unseen by the consumer) molded surfaces feature a high level of finish, smooth polished tooling, no wild tooling marks, and they generally look like first rate quality parts. I’d be surprised if it were knock-off tooling that they would go to such extremes as that. Most knock off Chinese toys have parts that fit atrociously, and this “Gearsdale” model ‘fits like butter’ with great precision.

          There were no part numbers or mold numbers on the inside, and other than the visible:

          © Disney/Pixar
          Made in China

          There are no maker’s marks, tooling or mold numbers, etc. Mattel often has mold numbers engraved inside parts, but Disney Store offerings usually don’t. As a further clue, Mattel uses spun-down rivets for assembly, whereas Disney Store almost always uses blackened screws — just as seen on this “Gearsdale” model.

  • RCcars5 says:

    This is most likely a factory custom just like the Gold Sallys and McQueens on Ebay from China. Probably not coming to the Disney Store.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.