I've been in contact with someone inside Mattel who has clarified that the release date on the Speed Racer UBFunkeys series that is on Amazon.com is incorrect. The actual release date is not set exactly yet, but is figured for the month of March 2008. I'm sure that this will be a bit of a disappointment to some, but with as many of the already release figures still missing from my collection, I'm a bit relieved. If they saturate the market too fast, it could backfire on them with people getting frustrated.

I was also given the official list of characters for Series 1...

Wave 1: Speed Racer, Chim-Chim, Cannonball Taylor, Trixie, Snake Oiler, Racer X

Wave 2: Speed Racer v2, Taejo

Keep checking back. We will continue to get new Funkeys updates from our new contact! :)

Labels: Cannonball Taylor, Chim-Chim, Racer X, Site Updates, Snake Oiler, Speed Racer, Speedracer, Taejo Togokhan, Trixie

Of course the 13 days is based solely on the release date posted on Amazon.com, so it’s possibly still going to be longer. There’s been no word elsewhere that I can find.

What we do know is that there will be 8 characters as Funkeys and one new USB hub. Only one color or rarity has been seen of any given character so far, and most of those have only been illustrations, so multiple rarities of each character doesn’t seem to be supported by the evidence. Also unknown is if there will be a CD with any special new optional software to load or if it will be the same U.B.Funkeys install CD. If not, there will have to at least be a new update that the software will download once they are released since we also know there will be an optional “garage” crib.

My best guesses for the characters based on the number 8 and the fact that this release is likely meant to be a marketing tie to the 2008 Speed Racer movie is as follows:

Confirmed Characters: (see earlier post with images)
Racer X, Chim Chim, Speed, Snake Oiler, and Taejo Togokhan

Other likely contenders:
Trixie, Mr. Musha, and Minx

Other possible characters:
Mom Racer, Pops Racer, Rex Racer, Inspector Detector, Ben Burns, Spritle, and Sparky

Don’t forget, you can pre-order the starter pack with the exclusive hub and the Racer X and Speed Funkeys here! I've got mine pre-ordered, do you? :)

Labels: Chim-Chim, Purchasing Funkeys, Racer X, Snake Oiler, Speed, Speed Racer, Speedracer, Taejo Togokhan