Tuesday, August 01, 2006

OK, so I'm a big kid.


Doc Hudson
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
All breakfast cereal should be like this. Open the packet and out fall a plastic car. This one even has stickers you can decorate it with.

Those who keep their eyes open will be aware of the Disney film “Cars” is out now – this is “Doc Hudson” from the film, or in this case from a packet of Cherrios.

The makers (of the model not the ever litigious Disney) have pinched a trick from Dinky cars. There are a couple of light tubes from the roof to the headlights so they actually appear to light up. Ingenious. I’m always fascinated by the cost of tooling up for something like this. Someone has designed a set of moulds, made the parts and then assembled them. Somewhere in a factory, probably in China and paying pathetic wages, there are factories full of people making these things up.

Of course the cereal approach to modelling isn’t perfect. I want a “Filmore” but there isn’t one in a packet near me. Still, if all breakfast food included plastic model, surely the problem of people skipping breakfast would be ended. Mind you, the new issue would be people playing when they should be going to work…

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