It's back!

I always wanted this one but never saw it discounted enough. I did like a lot of the Cars sets.

ka-chow...?

@Huw said:
"Better late then never..."

It's okay, everyone needs a break once in a while.

Coming in at third place, it’s everyone! Everyone who’s in this set, that is. Race ended two days ago.

I wish the bigger Speed Champions sets along the lines of this Cars 2 set returned. Like 75889 .
Not really been much with the 8 wides apart from the occasional start/finish gantry.

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"the plot of Cars 2 explained (poorly):

a hillbilly goes to the bathroom in Japan, winds up in England, and saves the world, 'cuz 'MURICA! F*** YEAH!"

Sadly, this is accurate. Cars 2 could have been so much better. Instead, it's dumber than Mater. (Example: Why do flying cars need a personal jet?!)

Only in the Cars universe would it make sense to have multiple different types of racing cars race one another and it be considered fair.

Where’s Loki?

I would love that set if I was an kid.

This set weirdly reminds me of Mos Espa Pod Race from 1999. There's 3 contestants, each with a pit stop with one crewmember, and two of the contestants are a hero and designated rival and a third guy (idk if the japanese car here was important in the movie. Probably not).

This just gives less focus on the race vehicles and more on a whole lot else.

Same goes for the Speed Racer grand prix set.

I have it!!

this set has some good pieces in it

@Binnekamp:
Shu Todoroki was the hometown racer for the first of three World Grand Prix races, while Francesco Bernoulli was the same for the second race. Being one of the better racers, he gets a fair amount of screen time, and his name gets mentioned, but ultimately that's all just so you're fully aware of him when he falls. And they also need to have a wide field to show that McQueen and Bernoulli are just that far ahead of everyone else.

This is an impressive set. And it looks like it could be easily repurposed into a minifig scale racing setup.

Less tweaking required than you'd expect to convert this Licensed set from a theme without minifigs into an Octan-themed Town set.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"Sadly, this is accurate. Cars 2 could have been so much better. Instead, it's dumber than Mater. (Example: Why do flying cars need a personal jet?!)"

Cars 2 was the best of the trio. And the answer to your question is: Range.” Also, only Holley Shiftwell had the flying package installed. Finn McMissile had a submarine setup, but it’s made very clear in the film that he can’t fly on his own. Also also, how do you get captives and such back home?"

Yeah, that’s my assessment as well-of the jet reasoning, anyway.

@Binnekamp said:
"This set weirdly reminds me of Mos Espa Pod Race from 1999. There's 3 contestants, each with a pit stop with one crewmember, and two of the contestants are a hero and designated rival and a third guy (idk if the japanese car here was important in the movie. Probably not).

This just gives less focus on the race vehicles and more on a whole lot else.

Same goes for the Speed Racer grand prix set."
I absolutely love this comparison. 7171 is one of my favorite Star Wars sets of all time, they really nailed that one. Gasgano is almost completely a nobody unless you watch the extended version of The Phantom Menace (which has been the standard since 2001), but for him to be featured in 1999 is awesome. And I love that we got Aldar Beedo's and Mawhonic's (sadly no Mawhonic fig) podracers with Watto's Junkyard. If you count Neva Kee's and Clegg Holdfat's pods from the bucket, LEGO made 7 of the 20 Podracers back in the first three years of LEGO Star Wars. Wish we could get more than just Anakin's and Sebulba's anymore.

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"the plot of Cars 2 explained (poorly):

a hillbilly goes to the bathroom in Japan, winds up in England, and saves the world, 'cuz 'MURICA! F*** YEAH!"

also, weird vehicular eugenics

@PurpleDave said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"Sadly, this is accurate. Cars 2 could have been so much better. Instead, it's dumber than Mater. (Example: Why do flying cars need a personal jet?!)"

Cars 2 was the best of the trio. And the answer to your question is: Range.” Also, only Holley Shiftwell had the flying package installed. Finn McMissile had a submarine setup, but it’s made very clear in the film that he can’t fly on his own. Also also, how do you get captives and such back home?"

Finally, some Cars 2 appreciation! Definitely one of my favourite Pixar films. It’s incredibly entertaining and a fun ride all the way through.

It’s also surprisingly violent, with easily the highest death toll in any Pixar film. Cars are dying left and right every few minutes, often in graphic detail as their bodies are crushed, compacted, torn apart or even having their internals blown up. Most cars in the film carry realistic, non-fantasy weaponry and regularly assault and attack each other. The villains’ final plan involves removing one of Mater’s body parts while he’s unconscious and replacing it with a bomb. It’s such a stark tonal contrast compared to basically any other Pixar film outside of the Incredibles, and it’s part of why I love it so much.

Cars 2 doesn’t have a lot to do with the first film, but it’s still a perfectly good film in its own right.

I remember Cinemasins talking about this scene and calling Tokyo “Hong Kong” and nobody cared, meanwhile everyone flipped out when he jokingly called the UK “Brexit.”

@ozbrickcreator:
Nope...sorry...this guy's "Speed":
https://brickset.com/minifigs/sr001/speed-racer-blue-pullover

@ICAbricks: Yeah, no kiddin'...I LIKED that Cars 2 moved focus OFF Lightning to spotlight someone else; and also expand focus on the WORLD as well...unfortunately, while the movie was "successful"; it was also seen as a bit of a "failure", so Disney/Pixar knee-jerked, and put Lightning front/center for "one last run"...'til 4 "Comeback Road" (don't write it off, they are making "Toy Story 5"...)

@Monopoly:
It did take a second viewing for me to really appreciate it. The first viewing was more about upending my expectations. On the second round, I was able to focus less on the race and more on the spy movie that's interwoven with it, and that made all the difference. I like most of the Bond series, but I also like the Austin Powers trilogy, the Kingsmen series, and Johnny English. It fits in very well with those.