Officially, the name has changed from PLANES 2: Fire & Rescue to just PLANES: Fire & Rescue. It is scheduled for July, 18, 2014.

THE PLOT

“Planes: Fire & Rescue features a quirky crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from a raging wildfire. When world famous air racer Dusty learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of wildfire air attack. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his courageous air attack team, including spirited super scooper Lil Dipper, heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire, and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero.”

“John Lasseter said, it’s important to highlight the men and women who protect us from forest fires.

What if Dusty could never race again? Could he find a dream worth living for? These questions will help establish the story for ‘Planes: Fire & Rescue,’ which will see the main character of ‘Planes’ join a fire and rescue squad. “We’re going to be doing a deep dive into, not just firefighting, but wildfire air attack,” said Director Bob Gannaway.

Julie Bowen, one of the new cast members, plays Lil’ Dipper, Dusty’s biggest fan. “She likes him just a little too much,” said Gannaway. “She talks faster than me.” Dane Cook will be back as the voice of Dusty, who will trade in his racing stripes for his new firefighting exterior.

Via Screencrush.

Since the movie is coming in mid July, the street date for the merchandise should be May 1, 2014 … meaning leaked stuff should start hitting the shelves on or before April 1, 2014. 🙂 … or the backdoor stuff should be available around January 10, 2014.  🙄

There are the usual suspects of merchandise, large plastic lights and sounds, playsets, etc, etc … but of course of most interest to people here are the diecasts.

As you can obviously tell – Dusty will be sporting pontoons at least part of the film. The other main characters are:

Fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger

Super (water) scooper Lil Dipper (voiced by Julie Bowen).

Heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter

Ex-military transport Cabbie

All-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers.

DIECASTS:

This of course is just a preliminary list so if a character is not listed, it doesn’t mean much of anything at this point.

At least three of the smokejumpers (which seem to be AWD CARS) will be released in their separate lineup.

WINDLIFTER & BLADE are in the oversized singles lineup (both helicopters).

Gift Packs come with 1 Oversized PLANE, 1 singles PLANE & 1 vehicle. The first three listed include:

There are also 3-packs (separate listing) which presumably comes with just three PLANES? (no breakdown of each case).

There seems to be lights & sounds versions of the smokejumpers & Dusty Pontoon but there’s no scale listing yet.

Expand your expanding collecting room.