The CARS singles are known as the “mainline.”

It is borrowed from the Hot Wheels line connoting that the single CARS on the blister pack is the mother trunk line of CARS, the diecast.

But for new collectors or those who for some unfathomable reason were not collecting these in 2006 🙂  , it can be a bit confusing to sort through the entire line of name changes, card changes and even name changes to the same or real similar looking CARS …

So, let’s start from the start – to the simple days of April, 2006 when there were ONLY 12 singles and only 12 CARS on single blister cards to buy (Movie Moments will be covered in a separate part).

The first series is generally called the “Desert Art,” or “Classic” series. It had no official name but then like the first GODFATHER movie was not called Godfather I … who knew there was going to be more than one release?

As you can see on the cardback, there were 12 CARS and ALL were featured on the back – Sheriff, Lightning McQueen, Doc Hudson, King, Wingo, Sally, Lizzie, Mater, Sarge, Chick Hicks, Fillmore and DJ.

However, for collectors to differentiate between this card design with 12 CARS on the back and the later release of the same front card art but with 16 CARS on the back is to commonly call them as “Desert Art 12-back,” and/or “Desert Art 16-back.”

At the time, it should be noted that this being Mattel – no one was really convinced there were only 12 CARS released and while it seemed like a simple set to complete (bwhahaha) – much like today, stores did not have a full set so it seemed the collection would never be complete – it did not help that the two cards were not only intermixed on the shelves and in the sealed cases in shipments by mid 2006, to most people and collectors, they were sure there another or more cardbacks they are just not seeing so people didn’t pay that much attention – thinking they were like current releases today or other Mattel diecasts that that showed a few and says COLLECT THEM ALL. So that Collect Them All on the back didn’t really mean that this was really ALL the CARS but more of just a catchphrase …

Of course, most people simply opened them up or maybe bought an extra one but not really paying that much attention to the cardback – a) they were just happy to find a second one and b) other than Hot Wheels, no COMPLETE line of diecast garnered much secondary market interest (yes, other manufacturer’s chase cars were worth selling but the other 11 cars in the case might make you $2 each …).

It really wasn’t until late 2006 when people started to realize that there was really only two full releases, one with 12 CARS and one with 16 CARS (12 repeat releases but with the 16-CAR cardback).

The interesting thing with CARS is that there pretty much has been eBay interest and a healthy CARS secondary market since April 2006 with periodic insane bursts (December 2006, August 2007, October 2007, & May 2008). (Test your CARS knowledge! Guess the crazy days! 🙂 ).

CARS SPOTTING Desert Art 1.0

12 official releases.

To serious collectors however, the Desert Art 1.0 series really consists of 16 CARS … An extra Fillmore where his name is spelled correctly as FILLMORE instead of ‘FILMORE’ as it was incorrectly spelled for MOST of the run of the Desert 12-back cards. Yes, the correct spelling version is much harder to find.

On the back of most of the cards are a promotional tag and logo – LICENSE TO WIN (see top right cardback) where each CAR purchase was supposed to earn you points towards presumably CARS prizes but since the CARS sold so well (sellout for essentially most of 2006), why bother spending money on a promotions? Presumably because CARS did not ‘test’ very well as a must-see film of 2006, after production had begun on the diecasts, Disney marketing probably panicked and added the promotional program to try and “clear the shelves” if necessary – however, three diecast CARS were already completed so they were released WITHOUT the promotions logo and info but CORRECTED later in the run.

They are LIZZIE, WINGO & SARGE …

These are relatively significant packaging variants and along with the corrected spelling of FILLMORE make up the 4 CARS most collectors consider a COMPLETE 12-BACK series.

You can drill down deeper where the start and ends dates in the legalese of the promotions vary – earlier ones ended in October 31, 2006 while later ones ended in December 31, 2006 … but they are minor variants in the big scheme of things … you are free to disagree with me but basically, while I believe you can garner a pricing premium if you are offering a WINGO with no promo info but not as much interest or pricing for the minor text differences beyond the fact you are offering a Desert Art 12-back CAR.

There are additional minor small text variations covered in more detail in our book.

Opened, the CARS themselves contain no production codes underneath but they all are made in Thailand.

Right after the film was released, Mattel released the second wave (aka: Desert Art 1.5) and what they presumed was to be essentially the last wave of CARS diecast.

CARS SPOTTING Desert Art 1.5

New to the line were: Dinoco McQueen, Nitroade, Leak Less and Ramone (Green).

The front card art stayed the same – they added the 4 CARS to the top & bottom row. The LAST time a complete line would appear together as a full & complete checklist.

Fillmore is spelled correctly on the front and the back throughout the 16-back.

As they transitioned from production in Thailand to production in China, there are differences in color, & the mold for King, Doc Hudson, & Sally. (Last variant update HERE). (Boost not a single – covered later).

As with the Desert Art 1.0 series, there are minor variants in the text warnings and the position of the product code from run to run but not really significant.

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In auctions, there is often confusion as most sellers tend to lump Desert Art 1.0 (12-CARS) with Desert Art 1.5 (16-CARS) as the “classic series” or the “Desert Art series,” so it’s hard to shift through what’s what AND if you are trying to buy FILLMORE versus FILMORE, it’s hard to tell sometimes because they stole a photo from elsewhere so before you bid on a “Desert Art” card, be sure and ask that is a photo of THAT CAR and that they can tell the difference between 12 and 16.

So, to be a completist at the end of this point, should you have 16, 20, 28 or 32 CARS? That’s entirely your call. 🙂

Throughout 2006 … this line defied all expectations to continue to sell like crazy … so much more was going to come in 2007 but for now, it was pretty simple – just 16 TOTAL CARS or counting repeats, 28 CARS cards to collect … or add at least 4 for card variant collectors.

COMING NEXT – Supercharged & the really crazy year of 2007.