Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<excuse me, I have to go back to drooling over my "Pixar ROOLZ" scrapbook.>> Okay, that made me laugh! Anyone know where I can find the CARS character packs? These are six-packs of CARS die-cast in a window box. My guess is it sells for less than $30 retail (individual CARS are $4.00) The only place I have seen them is on eBay, where they are trading for way more than I am willing to pay.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>Anyone know where I can find the CARS character packs?<< You will catch a fleeting glimpse of them as they fly off retailers shelves. Seriously, make friends with the stock boys at the local emporium. Or try bribing somebody.
Originally Posted By cstephens I'm wondering if maybe John Lasseter (sp?) kicked someone's dog. That's the only reason I can come up with for the consistent bile being spewed about Pixar in the face of hard facts. /cs
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I did a bit of research and found out that the CARS character pack is a BJ Wholesale Cub exclusive. Unfortunately, my local club doesn't have any... and I imagine none of them do at the moment. <<You will catch a fleeting glimpse of them as they fly off retailers shelves>> Trust me, I know. The secondary market for these toys is HOT. In fact, I just sold a complete set on eBay on Monday.
Originally Posted By DlandDug What kills me about the Cars toys is that Jamie and I walked through a Target store the day before opening, marveling over the extensive merch available (five endcaps, as well as the aisle). We went back the Saturday night after opening to pick up a Lightning McQueen, and the shelves were stripped bare. The Disney Ice Cream Parlor and Store at the El Capitan Theatre had a fully stocked boutique. They even had two exclusives-- Flo's V8 Cafe and a second racing set-- that were scheduled for a holiday release. By the end of the short run, they were also sold out of most items. (The run of Cars there was snubbed up short to install PotCMC.) I note that the original post on this thread included this detail: >>And then when we went to Toys R Us to buy some more Cars toys, they were virtually out oif stock on the die cast (that were stocked up on Friday), so that's a good sign at least.<< Yep. The way this is rolling out in the UK seems eerily familiar. A disappointing opening weekend, but merch flying off the shelves (assuming that this isn't just an anecdotal observation). I don't agree with the notion that Cars is that inaccessible to Brits. Are car racing and small towns really all that baffling?
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Originally Posted By cstephens LindsayC wrote: > I find myself ‘over it’ when it comes to what Pixar has produced in its last two films - The Incredibles was one of the most uninspiring fillms I have ever seen and CARS - well a film about talking cars and racing cars doesn’t even register on a 1 to 10 scale of interest to me. I'm not sure I'm "over Pixar" per se, but the last two Pixar films also didn't particularly do anything for me, though I am looking forward to the next one because the trailer looked really good. The trailers for "The Incredibles" and "Cars" didn't do much for me either. But I can tell the difference between my personal preference and what the box office says about how others are liking the films. That's why I find amusing that I'm lumped into the Pixar worshippers when I've made it clear that I haven't liked their last two products all that much. But I suppose it's much more convenient to label people, even when the label doesn't fit. /cs
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Originally Posted By leemac It seems people don't believe there is anything to discuss about the UK box office performance of Cars so I'll leave this thread well alone. Especially as a Pixar hater.
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Originally Posted By mawnck >>a sense that personal animus is driving the analysis.<< And I don't see where you get that. Disagreement does not imply "personal animus." I'll be honest - I enjoy tweaking people who I feel are letting their fandom get in the way of their common sense. I'm over it, though, cause it really is a rotten hobby--only about one degree removed from trolling. So putting that behind me, here are my positions: (1) Cars is an excellent movie. (2) Cars is the best animated feature of any kind that has come out this year, which says as much about the competition as it does Cars. (3) Cars is not up to Pixar's past standards, due to a lackluster story. (4) Cars' opening weekend performance in the US was a disappointment, and some folks on this board and elsewhere made fools of themselves trying to explain it away. (5) Since then, Cars has proven to have excellent legs, which may or may not have made up for the opening weekend, depending on whose figures you rely on. (6) Somebody is making a killing off the merchandising. (7) I admire John Lasseter and the folks at Pixar, am delighted that they are in charge of Disney, wish I could work for them. (8) I don't think Lasseter et al are going to be able to transform Disney into another Pixar overnight, what with the ingrained corporate culture, and I find it distressing that so many folks seem to expect them to. (9) I'm dreading the Save Disney-type backlash that's going to come when Meet the Robinsons and Rapunzel aren't Citizen Kane. (10) I'm interested in why Cars didn't do well when it opened in the UK. (11) I'm not interested in folks making fools of themselves trying to explain THAT away as well, and will not be engaging them in further conversation about it. As for Pixar losing their edge, obviously there's no way to prove that based on one movie, but if future flicks prove that they have, Cars is going to be the Pocahontas -- the one people point to as the beginning of the slide. In some minds, that makes me a Pixar hater. In some minds, my dislike of Senator McCarthy makes me a Communist. Oh well. PS - LindsayC, how can you dis The Incredibles like that? You must really hate Pixar!
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Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<That raises a good point 74. If it doesn't play well in the closest similar country why is that?>> Isn't Canada really the closest similar country? I believe George is even considering invading ;-) <<Subject matter? Content? Humour? I sure as heck don't know. And if not the UK is Cars going to have the same problems elsewhere? Should Pixar have been more weary of developing a product that would only do exceptional business in the US? All valid questions IMO. Despite what DlandDug claims.>> I never said they weren't valid questions. BUT they still don't mitigate in anyway the huge hit this film was (and I think I said many times I enjoyed it but in no way thought it was near Pixar's best) ... or the money Disney is making and going to make on the film, DVDs, consumer products etc ... going forward. All films play differently to audiences in different markets. I don't think Disney, Pixar or anyone else should be thinking about world-wide appeal when they decide to greenlight a film. They should think about the quality of the project. If it's good story, you do it and hope the people show up. If you try and figure out how Movie A is going to play in Korea, Italy and Mexico, you're setting yourself up for a failure.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<But when you compare it to Pirates - an anomaly and a phenomena - and call Cars a failure, it just smacks of an agenda. Kinda like what the great Jim Hill has been doing.>> Agendas? No one here resembles that remark!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo "Now Davewasbaloo said that was never an issue for his clan...so I would like to hear from more UK LPers also" Ah, but remember I am a native Californian and a car addict (and my son is growing into one) and we all love Pixar. As for Over the Hedge, Lee, you might not have noticed because you spend much of your time abroad, but virtually every advert break, on every channel, for weeks, advertised Over the Hedge. Although I have seen a lot of posters for Cars, I've only seen 2 ads. That may have an impact.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I really enjoyed post 54. I thought you summed up things very well, and I agree with most of it. Although I must admit I enjoyed Pocahontas a lot more than Cars ... maybe it was the show tunes or the Indian maiden fantasy a lot of guys have (those two things are contradictory, aren't they?) ... I never quite understood why that film gets bashed so much in hindsight. Oh, and I also loved the Incredibles. One other point, if Pixar ever gets the mentality that each film HAS to make more money than the previous one they will fall into the trap that doomed Disney in the 1990s when the Lion King set an impossibly high mark.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo "Tch, tch. The whole statement was, "...merch flying off the shelves (assuming that this isn't just an anecdotal observation)." And the reply ("I'll show you three London Disney Stores that have Cars merch stacked up to the ceilings...) is just as anecdotal. One thing I do know (factually): Cars has been a merchandising bonanza in the States." Not all Cars merch, but the die casts and the traction toys have been outselling PotC in Toys R Us Bedford, Milton Keynes and Luton UK. Same story at the Disney Stores in Milton Keynes, Northampton, Luton and Watford. So in the Home Counties, they have been flying off the shelves. To have a stocked up display the day before release and then only 2 models in 2 days after, shows the merch is selling.
