Mattel Disney Pixar Diecast CARS: The Old Mater Switcheroo
Last week in our post on ‘retired’ CARS, I pointed out that in the ‘production category,’ Mater was switched from mostly metal to just the cab portion as metal …Basically the old Mater was virtually all metal except for the tow hook apparatus and tow lines. The new Mater is all plastic except the cab portion and where his entire car except the tow area was essentially one piece of metal, he is now mostly all plastic and they fit a metal cab on top …
The telltale sign being a visible gap-hole in the plasticy Mater “engine” compartment.
Desert Back – Thailand Mater is on the left. New ROR Mater is on the right. You can see now the engine is plastic and they dropped the metal cab portion over it – whereas before, it was all ONE piece of metal so no visible line-gap around the edge of the engine.
I thought the switchover was during WOC cards but people have reported that their supercharged Mater is the plasticky version. I did go back and look and my SC version is the all-metal version so presumably during some production run gap (was it during the Sarge recall?), they did the switchover …
It’s a little confusing here as the SC version has a painted line by the edge of the engine but not an actual gap. Amd as with any diecast car that requires a wash or dirtied look, no two will ever be the exactly the same … but presumably, the early release of SC Mater was all metal.
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metroxing
21 March 2009
Advertising, collecting, diecast, Film, Marketing, Mattel Disney Pixar CARS, Retail, Toys, TV
37 Comments
Mater Weight Update
I scored my first Case G this morning, and bought Mater. He now weighs a full ounce less than the previous more-metal one! (3.25 ounces vs. 4.25 ounces)
I wonder how much BUBBA will weigh?
John, you are HILARIOUS weighing the cars!! I LOVE it!!
While we are on the subject of TRUCKS… Was Chick Hicks Crew Chief Green Truck ever released?
(MET: Nope, moved to Megasized, probably Fall or Holiday this year).
Two years ago, when my daughter opened her first Mater, I was smitten with collector’s fever. I was smitten because of the quality of the toy. Last week, when I opened a replacement Mater, I was really disappointed with the change. I felt betrayed. My enthusiasm has waned.
I never see single packs of Mater anymore, but the next time I do, I have a bad feeling that when I lift it off the peg, my hand will go flying up in the air, since I’ll expecting something quite heavier.
And yes, once again, the Marketing Genuises in the Glass Tower strike again!!
I dont have an EA number on the bottom of mine. I think I bought mine back when they only had like 10-12 cars out.
Larry the EA is the factory code on the plastic blister, not on the car itself. The early cars did not have a factory code on the car bottom, or a date either. Just the made in Thailand mark with the Disney Pixar trademark. Only way to know actual production date is to have the card/blister saved that the car came from on the original 12.
John in Missouri’s Trivia Answer
I don’t have a carded Bruiser Bukowski, but here are the 3 lightest on WoC cards:
Fred with Bumper Stickers (1 3/4 oz || 51 or 52 grams, it was changing between the two)
Chuki (1 7/8 oz || 55 grams)*
Al Oft the Lightyear Blimp (1 7/8 oz || 55 grams)
Brand New Mater is the hevaiest on WoC card (4 1/4 oz || 120 grams)
* Chuki of ROR card is 52 grams
Cool. I missed the ‘carded’ part earlier. I would have still guessed Chuki though. Forgot all about Fred.
RB mater appears to be all metal.
MET, did we ever find out about BN Mater? Remember I asked about that in your last post about this. Was BN Mater the same way? Can anyone actually look at their BN Mater and see?
(MET: I only noticed the Mater since I opened the 3-pack. Basically I really only open the first appearance of a CAr so it’d literally been years since I opened a Mater. I know people had mentioned it before but when i felt it in my hand, I knew it weighed a lot less. With BN Mater, it’s be harder to fix since he’s just essentially one piece … I suppose they could slice his bed portion off the current mold and make it plastic also … right now, he’s just one piece of metal but that’s not always easy to do – the ROR BN Mater is ALL METAL still (except for the tow parts) so maybe when they need to make a new mold for BN Mater … but also keep in mind, BN Mater is re-released a lot less often than mater so they dont make that many BN Mater’s anyway … so they might leave him alone).
I guess since BN Mater has a hood and no reason to have a plastic engine, it would be hard to tell if the bed sides are plastic without checking an open one?
I’ll stick with my first release desert-back Mater. I remember getting him, and being just impressed with the detail in the paint on him.
Just checked my SC Mater with J Hook. production code is 3256EA so late 2006. It is all metal, so can’t help much on when this happened.
Probably all early SC versions with the J Hook hanger are going to be all metal, since the changeover to the folddown hanger was much later, early to mid 07??
Wonder how obvious the weight difference is? Is the Radiator Springs Shopkeepers Mater the new plastic or all metal? Need to dig mine out.
Checked quickly, ah glad these are in dust proof containers. Radiator Springs Shopkeepers Mater SC is all metal, the production code was 2006 on the bottom. So far my guess is all SC made in 2006 are fully diecast except for hook and tow line.
This is a change of subject, but when is the winner of the elvis rv contest going to be announced?
Anyone? Please?
Walmart Bruiser may be the lightest? Or maybe Al Oft? Anyway, my SC Mater is the half plastic one, but all my BN Maters are still all metal. Why would they change one but not the other?
What is the date code on the card bottom of your Sc Mater?
The code on the bottom of the blister is 1087 EA, but on the Mater itself it’s 0727 EA.
Answer below …
Met I would think that Brand New Mater is still all metal?
To prove how much of a Carsaholic I really am, I weighed all the carded Cars on a kitchen scale, and Brand New Mater is the heaviest.
Can anyone guess the lightest carded Cars character?
Lizzie?
Hey John could we get a weight comparison
On a carded 12DB Mater Vs. a SC Mater? Because
I just got a 12DB Mater and he seems really heavy.
guido?
Answer below…
Partially plastic mater…bummer…but my Brand New mater is all metal…What’s up with that?
Mater is a heavy metal dude. No thanks on the plastic. :l
I thought Mater looked a little different when I took him out of the 3-Car gift pack. He definitely feels lighter. Too bad. I like my Mater with a little more heft. 😉
Poor Mater a victim of cost vs quality. Well I think I have all versions of Mater so I will take a look as well.
I will have to go back to Big Lots and see which versions they have there.
Had 3 left.. they were all metal. Mine is all metal also.
Collect ’em all.
we need a ghostlight mater!
with a little light up lantern on his hook. I think slice brought that one up. Would make a great ‘chase’ .
Mater… Gotta have my Mater…Thanks for the story.