Buried Treasure Planet: Unreleased Disney Wild Racers

Disney Wild Racers Treasure Planet John Silver

Recently I was the victim of eBay sniping.  At literally the last second of the auction, a bloodthirsty pirate took away my chance at getting a highly coveted collectible that I'd known about for years, but never seen.  A John Silver Treasure Planet Disney Wild Racer.

What is interesting is that this particular eBay auction listed the car as "BEN" (the obnoxious robot) from Treasure Planet.  This car is clearly not BEN, it is Silver.  It is Silver's arm as a car.

The popular Disney Racers die cast car collection started out as "Disney's Wild Racers" made by Hasbro back in 2002.  The cars were sold at toy stores and retail giants like Walmart.

New waves of Disney Wild Racers were announced, but never released.  Among those announced was a set of cars for Disney's 2002 animated film, Treasure Planet.

The Treasure Planet set was going to feature BEN and Silver.  I have to admit this Silver car looks better than I ever imagined.

There was also an eBay auction for a different, unpainted prototype version of the Silver car.

I lost that auction, too.

The unpainted Silver car is pretty slick, too.

It's not surprising that the Silver car was never released.  Treasure Planet did not do well at the box office, and the Disney Wild Racers line was discontinued at toy stores.  Luckily, the line became Disney Racers and continues to be sold at Disney theme parks.

Another unreleased Disney Wild Racer is Buster the dog. *

UPDATE 02/18/2025:  OK, I wrote this a long time ago, and I now think this is Baloo the Bear from The Jungle Book.

Baloo was announced as a Wild Racer, to be sold with Shere Khan. But Baloo was never released.

Buster the dog was the villain in the 2001 movie Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure.  The paint scheme and nose made me think it was a dog, but the ears do look like a bear, and it has Baloo's tufts of hair.

I'm not sure who this character is supposed to be.

Is this the long lost Jungle Book Baloo Disney Wild Racer?  I'm leaning towards yes.

Disney Wild Racers of Shere Khan and Bagheera were made and sold (as was a Kaa the snake track).  It is curious that the planned Baloo car was never made.

It is rather shocking that Zero dog did not make it past the prototype stage.

Zero Disney Wild Racer

Zero the dog (with Skeleton Jack) from The Nightmare Before Christmas seem like they'd sell like crazy during the Haunted Mansion Holiday season at Disneyland in California.

It looks like Zero would have been similar to the "invisible" Cheshire Cat Disney Racers.

Dr. Finkelstein from The Nightmare Before Christmas was also made into a prototype Disney Racer.

Dr. Finkelstein also seems like a no-brainer to sell at Disneyland.

Jack, Oogie Boogie, Zero and Finkelstein could sell really well as a boxed set.

Rex and Woody had been announced many years ago as a set for Disney Wild Racers.

Eventually, Woody was released at the Disney Parks.

Given how many Toy Story character Disney Racers have been made, I'm rather shocked that Rex was never produced.

I failed to get any of these Unreleased Disney Racers when they were being sold on eBay.

By 2016, the Disney Racers line has morphed and grown into something very different. Star Wars and Marvel are the big focus now, which isn't that shocking, because they sell.

The search continues for more buried Treasure Planet Disney Racers...

When Two Holidays Collide-Nightmare Before Christmas Treats

This is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

When Tim Burton's stop-motion animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, debuted in 1993, there wasn't much merchandise tied to the film. There were watches at Burger King, gift items from Applause, and a line of action figures. A good bit of that merchandise wound up getting marked down. Times have changed, and Jack Skellington and his crew are quite popular among collectors. The Jack plush toy above was a Disney Gram sold through the Disney Catalog.

When "Nightmare" debuted, it was actually released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures. There was some concern that the film was too dark. I believe the film was originally a Walt Disney Pictures release, but executives got cold feet and switched it to Touchstone.


The Disney Catalog has released a huge assortment of merchandise over the years. This cover featuring Lock, Shock and Barrel is from 2005.

I love seeing Halloween inflatables in neighborhoods. I have yet to see these, but I like them (especially Jack's flailing arms!).


Sally was also available. It looks like she and Oogie Boogie were stationary.




If you wanted, you could really give your home a Halloweentown makeover.



How about dressing up like Nightmare Before Christmas characters for Halloween? You can even dress up your dog, though your dog may not appreciate that.


It looks like it would be really tough to see out of that Jack Skellington mask.

Don't forget to decorate your front porch!


Those carved pumpkins look really impressive! There's lots of designs to choose from...



I really like these eerie lights.



How about decorating your Christmas tree with Jack Skellington heads? The animators working on the movie had different heads to pop on to the puppets. These ornaments show a few of Jack's facial expressions.



How about an Oogie Boogie candy dish for Halloween? Maybe you could fill it with gummy worms.


You can make your own Halloweentown with different miniature buildings.


It takes a village to create Halloween.

In 2005, Hawthorne Village created their own version of Halloween Town.

Hawthorne Village brought many of the buildings and characters from the movie to life (in light-up form).

I'm not sure if that cool moonlit background was included with the set.

Go ahead and get every piece in the set.  It's only money.

Hawthorne Village created other town themed collectibles, too.

You may want to check out It Takes A Universal Studios Monsters Halloween Village.

High-end collectors should not feel left out. The Disney Catalog offered limited edition pieces, too, like a Jack Skellington mask.


How about a mirror for your haunted dining room?


I like the character designs used for this nesting doll set.




I also think these felt ornaments are great...



As are these fun Christmas stockings!



Here's a great cuckoo clock by artist Addis Zaryan (he created some fantastic stylized Lion King merchandise for the Disney Catalog, too).


I've seen lots of Nightmare Before Christmas snow globes.

This one features the song "What's This?" I love the Christmastown Carousel with its Beluga Whale and other critters.

Ten years ago, Disneyland in California started changing its Haunted Mansion for Halloween and Christmas (Tokyo Disneyland in Japan also does this).



In October 2008, I got to visit Disneyland in California to experience "Haunted Mansion Holiday" for myself. It was one of my favorite parts about the trip.



New Orleans Square got mighty crowded with folks eager to see what was going on in the Haunted Mansion.


I did not even try to take pictures inside the attraction. I especially love how the Stretching Room is changed, and the Gingerbread House in the Grand Hall sequence (it is animated and smells wonderful).

I did manage to get some souvenirs!


Jack and his ghost dog, Zero, replace the Haunted Mansion's Caretaker and dog in the wonderful winter wonderland Graveyard scene. The Singing Busts have pumpkins on their heads.

Disneyland also had a great Jack Skellington bobblehead. Actually, I only saw this at the Disneyland Hotel, which is a short walk from Disneyland.


This bobblehead can also be found at Walt Disney World.

The hot item at Disneyland was a pair of Jack Skellington Mickey Mouse ears. I got a pair, of course!



Yes, I even had it personalized!


Happy Halloween, and Merry Christmas!

In Memory of William Glenn Scott (Glenn Shadix)

This week at work, I met an artist named Lisa Opielinski.  She was creating something to honor the memory of her friend, William Glenn Scott, who died September 7, 2010.  Today I learned from Lisa that her friend had a successful career as an actor, and went by the name Glenn Shadix.  He played Otho in the movie "Beetlejuice" and provided the voice of the Mayor in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas," among many other memorable film and television roles.  Much to my surprise, he was an Alabama native, and he died in his house in Birmingham.

I felt very fortunate that Lisa decided to tell me about Glenn, and very sad that he had passed away.