Pixar Cars Wiki:The Diecast Project
Welcome to the base of operations for the Pixar Cars Wiki's first ever community project! We're kicking off strong with a topic we all know and love: The golden goose of Mattel's Disney Pixar Cars toy brand, the core line of die-cast Character Car vehicles that have been driving into the hearts of kids and collectors alike for almost two decades. These colorful, authentically-detailed rolling masterpieces have long deserved proper coverage on the largest Cars database ever - think it's time we make it happen.
Participants
- RodRedlineM1 (talk)
- Suba090703 (talk)
- Carslikesninjago (talk)
- Hector the Horrid! (talk)
- Theonationbois (talk)
Goals
February Goals
- Upload the remainder of Thailand promo images (2019 and 2020 mainlines)
- 2022 and 2023 case assortments
- Finish the Cars, Cars 2, Cars 3, and Cars on the Road appearance lists
Cars- Cars 2 (WIP)
Cars 3Cars on the Road
Long-term goals
The long-term purpose of this project is to build an unrivaled library of die-cast information here on the wiki. Besides indexing every vehicle and product ever produced, we also plan to create original written content to cohesively document the line's wider history.
Firstly, we need to create and/or re-locate the main group of pages we'll be working on, and set up intuitive navigation between them all.Add the{{die-cast infobox}}template to each series page, which identifies some quick, basic overview notes (as of currently, production country and series runtime) as well as a chronological guide from each one to the next.Most articles have them already, but check that all pages listed in{{mattel-cars}}include this navigation template at the very bottom of the page, and add it if necessary.- The main Series pages are also largely in place, but we've still yet to accomodate many of the smaller Collections - besides creating the pages (and possibly a separate infobox), we'll have to determine and discuss the category under which each one belongs.
- The bulk of this project involves compiling and editing Series and Collection pages as well as individual character merchandise sub-pages. As of recently, there's now a
{{tab}}template that should be set up at the top of every character page, for easy back-and-forth between series info and merchandise info.- Compile and add each product's official toy number (or "cast number") to pages.
- Collect and/or upload Mattel's official promotional images, both "loose" and packaged ones
- Link to important official resources, like past Mattel website archives. We should also make sure each one has the respective poster/checklist(s) or promotional adverts (such as the Kmart Collector Day flyers).
We'll gradually build toward weaving all this data into well-cited, extensive articles to present a complete, detailed, and thorough historical record of the entire Cars die-cast toy line – for now, it's probably best to focus effort on building the content we'll be working with, partly so we can continue getting a better idea of how to eventually do that.
Completed goals
December:
Get infoboxes and nav template onto all mainline pagesMove all existing information about various sub-series onto their own respective pages.Create the basic series table outline for all mainline pagesAdd all mainline product codes
January:
Upload and add all "Thailand" mainline promo images (2021 onwards)Complete content for the TROC die-cast collectionsSeparate each individual series (i.e. Carbon Racers, Ice Racers) into their own pagesFill in codes/basic tables
Make case assortment templates (i.e. 12-count, 18-count, 24-count, etc.) to start making assortment lists into their own sub-pages(see Template:Mattel case assortment / Race O Rama Series/Case assortments for info). This month, complete sub-pages for:2024 mainline
How to help
I drew greatly from the Hot Wheels Wiki for inspiration on designing some things... here's some tables and other features we came up with to help organize everything efficiently.
Series pages
(Note: See the Supercharged Series for a good example) Writing and researching obviously takes a lot of time, so I think it's wise to start small and work on cataloguing the bare essentials - Focusing on the core page content (i.e. the data) is probably ideal for the time being. Still, it wouldn't hurt to write quick intros for each to summarize some of the bare minimum:
- Series name and "meaning" or relevance (if there is one...)
- Design motif, what it shows and if possible, Mattel "behind-the-scenes" quotes on why choices were made
- Mention and link to other Collections introduced that same year
- Describe changes brought to the overall line (e.g. the Race O Rama Series replacing the traditional mainline designs with the "lenticular" eyes singles)
The focal point of Series pages should be a complete catalogue of each and every product, ideally organized by each individual "assortment" (identifiable using the five-digit "Asst." code on either the bottom or back of the package). Because of how many different elements need to be accounted for, we've been using a dedicated table design - At bare minimum, there's at least 4 data types that should be included:
- Toy #: Five-digit product code assigned by Mattel. These are found somewhere on the packaging (not to be confused with the Asst. code as mentioned above)
- Name: The name used for that model (as displayed on the packaging) for that particular release.
- Model photo: A "loose" (open) image of the model. As a general rule, please use the official ones provided by Mattel - photos from World of Cars BDD are free use and can also be used when the prototype image differs from the final product, or if the official one is simply not available.
- Packaging photo: Same as above but a carded photo of the car.
| Toy # | Name | Model photo | Package photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| K4585 | Radiator Springs McQueen | 
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|
Some might get more complicated: Whenever relevant, note any series-specific features such as collector number or segment series.
| Toy # | Col. # | Name | Segment | Notes | Model photo | Package photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L5251 | 01 | Lightning McQueen | Piston Cup Racers |
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Series that have collector numbers (or "themes" collection numbers) should use that sorting by default, with all others being by the toy numbers - exempting the 2021 series onwards, which should be organized by the official checklist order (which itself is sorted based on segment series, i.e. which film/division they appear in)
Character pages
It’s also in best interest to track every model released for a particular character. Designing this table set was particularly grueling due to how many different things need to be accounted for - Not only do models have different names or artwork variations across different packaging series, often times the same model itself goes through many (sometimes major) production variants, which of course deserve to be properly documented.
| Toy # | Col. # | Name | Series | Notes/variations | Model image | Packaging image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBD | – | Leakless | Desert Art Original (2006) |
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| Leak Less | Supercharged (2006-07) | 
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| 49 | World of Cars (2007-08) |
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| Leak Less No. 52 | Race O Rama (2008-09) | 
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| Drifting (2009-10) |
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| 4/14 | Claude Scruggs | 2016 (Piston Cup Collection) |
|
File:LeakLess2015.jpg | 
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| – | 2020 |
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Resources
Primary Mattel resources:
- From Silver Screen to Die-cast: Disney Pixar Cars Imagined by Mattel - A comprehensive 2011 museum exhibit held in partnership with the Petersen Automotive Museum. While a temporary event without much known video footage, luckily there's a decent amount of photo documentation to work with.
- 2009 and 2010 Collector Guide PDF scans courtesy of World of Cars BDD
- Cars: Ultimate Sticker Collection by DK. Features very rare promotional shots and, if it's possible to obtain a digital scan, could be an absolute goldmine.
Official website archives from 2013-2019:
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- Spring 2017
- 2017 Cars 3 (thanks @NRR 95)
- 2018-2019 (thanks @Carslikesninjago)
- Note: There used to be a German site back around 2009, that is sadly inaccessible due to Flash discontinuation – if it's somehow possible to recover content from this site, please let us know. Apart from World of Cars Online this was one of the only sources for official .PNG artwork renders, in addition to their own promo photos.
For product codes/descriptions:
- Mattel Customer Service - A semi-complete product database, straight from the source. Individual assortment items aren't always listed but most standalone items are.
- Pricecat.be - Open catalogue for currently sold products, stores data sheets uploaded by Mattel themselves
- Amazon has the best-quality promo images than I know of. Smythstoys also seems quite good.
Long-running fansites and forums:
Lastly, here are some of my own research notes I made while planning out this project: Link