Monthly Archives: April 2024

2024 Hot Wheels H Case Review

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by

The 2024 Hot Wheels H case is here and we have a review for you guys. This has been our thoughts on the case so far!

The first car on our list is the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS. The car features a silver paint scheme with hits of blue on the hood stripe and number decals. The car has cutouts in the windows and what appear to be smoked headlight covers. A raised windshield wiper can also be seen on the windshield. Porsche branding can be seem on the front fender and Carrera GTS branding makes its way to the rear corner of the back. This car features a lot of small details that make it a nice Porsche for many collectors. The next car to be featured out of the H case is the regular treasure hunt Purple Passion. This car features what appears to be a Spectrafrost Blue paint job with some plaid graphics all over the car. The car is part of the Hot Wheels Art Car series and features an “I” on the roof which will help spell a message once all the cars are together. The Purple Passion has a sweptback look to it and does not feature side windows. There is also a tail that is slightly separated from the rest of the car. There might be just enough room to slide this one onto a keychain for someone looking for an alternative to the coupe clip craze. The car also features dark blue wheels and a treasure hunt logo is visible towards the front of the fender. The third car on our list is our potential Super Treasure Hunt, the Volvo P1800 Gasser. While the paint on the regular version leaves something to be desired, this car still has a few neat details. The car features a matte blue paint but the Spectraflame teal on the Super variant lend itself to more of a Richard Petty aesthetic. The car features grey 5-spoke wheels, chrome engine bay, and orange windows. The number 43 and “Lickety Split” decals are featured on the side. The car also features small tires in the front and large in the back giving it a drag racing profile. The Super Treasure Hunt variant will feature a Spectraflame paint scheme, pink windows, pink rims, and a pink TH logo on the front fender. Our fourth car we will be taking a look at is the tooned Mazda RX-3. The car features an orange paint scheme with black 5-spoke wheels and black fender flares. The car also features some hard to see branding from Toyo tires, K&N, and Mazda. This car is another nice addition to the Hot Wheels Tooned series. The last car we will be looking at for the first half of the H case is the ’64 Chevy Chevelle SS. This car comes in a red paint scheme and features white stripes along the top of the vehicle and on the front fenders. The car features some nice small details like the door handle, key lock, and emblem on the front fender. The engine sticking out of the hood is also a nice touch.

The second half of the H case has few recolors and some interesting cars to look at. The ’63 Studebaker is sure to be a hit with some collectors. The dark red and gold paint scheme give this truck a classic look. The side exhaust is also a nice touch to give this car a slightly modified look. The extra detail to the headlights and grill also set this car apart. The next car we will look at is the King Kuda. This is another car from the Hot Wheels Art Car series and features a white and red scheme. The red wheels and windows go well with the red details on the car. The car features the Jack, King, Queen and Ace of Heart graphics around the vehicle. The Ace on the hood is a unique way of incorporating this car into the HW Art Car message. The third car on our list is the recolor of the McLaren Solus GT. The car now comes in an orange paint scheme with black and yellow splatters surrounding the vehicle. The car is reminiscent of the painting “Free Form” by Jackson Pollock and I think it would be interesting for Hot Wheels to incorporate actual art pieces into their cars. The car brings a unique new look to the Hot Wheels mainline selection. Our fourth car is the recolor of the ’15 Mazda MX-5 Miata. The new orange color is much brighter than the previous iteration. The car is still missing some of the headlight and tail light details that we like to see but the missing top and spoiler still give the car a nice silhouette. The final car on our list is the recolor of the ’57 Jeep FC. The car now comes in a matte red finish and features a few stripes on the doors. The car maintains the tire in the bed and still has the same overall aesthetic that many collectors enjoyed.

Overall, the H case brings some nice new cars to the mainline selection. This case will still be good to look for as it will contain the Olive Skyline and white Civic Si from the G case. From an investment perspective, cars to hold on to will be the regular treasure hunt and the Super treasure hunt. The white Civic will also be a nice car to stash for later.

 

Hirohata Merc

This entry was posted in Hot Wheels on by

The Hirohata Merc is a very famous custom car that we have seen brought into the diecast world by Hot Wheels. With the reintroduction of the diecast model in the 2024 Hot Wheels G Case, we thought it would be a good idea to dive into the history of this iconic vehicle. In the 1950’s having a custom car was the best way to show off your personality and get all the attention at the drive in. George and Sam Barris were among the first to start chopping and customizing cars and by 1951, they had become one of the premier shops for auto customization. The shop had more than it’s fair share of talent to help build the best vehicles on the road. Alongside the Barris brothers was Herschel “Junior” Conway, now known for his affinity of car painting. George Barris was the one running things at the shop, directing the customs in the direction he had in mind. Masato “Bob” Hirohata bought a brand new 1951 Mercury and brought it over to the Barris custom shop in hopes of having a completely custom car. Bob was hoping to have the car finished in time for the 1952 Motorama.

After months of procrastination, the car was started and finished in around a two week timespan. Some of the custom details included changing the lines on the car to be more streamlined. Many of the emblems and chrome parts were also removed including the door handles. A hidden button along the side of the car would allow access to the car. A curved chrome trim piece separated the front and rear windows giving another unique look to this car. The roof was chopped more in the rear than in the front giving the car an iconic sweptback look.  The car featured parts from other car manufacturers that had to be bought new and attached to the car. Some highlights were the Buick side spear, grill from a 51 Ford, separated French headlights, Cadillac hubcaps, ’52 Lincoln taillights, Appleton spotlights, and a Cadillac motor. The dashboard featured pinstriping details done by Kenneth Robert Howard, who is now referred to as the father of modern pinstriping. The interior also feature custom dash knobs and an immense amount of upholstery details. The “Ice Green” paint job was a stark contrast to the metallic paints that most customs of the time were using.

After doing well at the 1952 Motorama, the car began being featured in magazines including Motortrend and Hot Rod. In 1953 Bob Hirohata drove the car cross country to Indianapolis for a car shop competition and took best in show. In 1955, the car went through a color change, replacing the Ice Green for a gold metallic paint. The car would display this new paint scheme for the movie Running Wild where it was featured. After the movie appearance, Bob sold his Merc. It moved to a few other owners until 1959 where Jim McNiel purchased it from a lot for $500. By this time the car had been neglected and needed some work. After some restoration, Jim fixed the car up, but after he met his soon to be wife, the car was forgotten once again, but left in a protected place. Jim kept his aspirations of maintaining the car and declined multiple offers on the car including one reportedly up to a million dollars. Some time later Jim received a call from Pat Ganahl, editor for Rod and Custom magazine. Pat had an aspiration to help Jim restore his Merc so the magazine would have a high-profile car to feature in the magazine. The car stayed in the garage for the restoration. Most of the work was done by Jim and his son with some outside help here and there.

As the car neared completion, a target date and location was set for the cars re-unveiling. The Hot Rods and Customs car show at the Oakland museum of Art. The last detail that needed to be added was the paint and a call came in from Junior who didn’t work on the car during its first rendition but wanted to give his hand a try at painting the newly restored body. The car was restored to the original two tone “Ice Green” paint scheme with help from PPG. After 10 years of work, Jim’s dream of restoring the Hirohata Merc was complete. The car went to a multitude of car shows and eventually made its way to the Pebble Beach car show where it won first in class helping cement the cars legacy. On April 12, 2017 the Hirohata Merc was made part of the National Historic Vehicle Registers now archived in the Library of Congress. The car now resided at The Peterson Automotive Museum following the death of Jim McNiel. “The real car is currently owned by Beau Boeckmann over from Galpin motors and it’s on display in his Galpin Speed Shop up in Van Nuys, California” says Brendon Vetuskey, one of the creative Hot Wheels designers. The car was sold at a Mecum auction in 2022 for $2,145,000 after all fees had been paid.

This isn’t the first release of the Hirohata Merc from Hot Wheels. “Well, it’s not the first time that hot wheels has made this car in 1/64 scale. It was done previously in the premium product lines. However, it’s back in 2024 as a mainline car so you can buy it for one dollar…” Vetuskey states. The Merc had its first debut in 1998 as part of the Legends: Barris Kustom 4-Car Set. Along with being part of the premium set meant with more detail came a higher price. Vetuskey explains how he managed to take the complex car from premium to mainline. “I borrowed the original sculpted pattern from Larry Wood for this car and had it scanned in our model shop. I made a few adjustments to it and that’s what we used to prepare the digital sculpting for this car…With a car in the mainline, we are typically limited to four parts to keep it at a one dollar price point and I incorporated part of the body into the chassis to provide a color break which represents the real car. It will also help our graphic designers when they do new color versions of this for future releases” Vetuskey explains. There is plenty of excitement surrounding the real and diecast version of this classic custom and we’d love to see more cars like this make their way to the pegs.

Hot Wheels Pink Party Car: 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra R

This entry was posted in Hot Wheels on by

Will the upcoming release of the Hot Wheels RLC Exclusive Pink Edition 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra R be as hot as its color? This formally known “Pink Party Car” is set to release April 16, 2024 at 9am PT on the hot wheels website. The unique Hot Wheels casting has been catching the eye of every diecast collector with its vibrant pink color that Hot Wheels is calling Spectraflame Pink. You might recognize this color along with similar variations from earlier castings such as the famous pink Volkswagen ‘Beach Bomb’. Spectraflame pink made its debut as a part of the Hot Wheels Sweet Sixteen collection in 1969 on the Custom Mustang. Although the bright pink is what catches your attention, but don’t let it blind from its other intricate details such as the license plate and the Cobra logo. One over looked detail of many Hot Wheels cars is the license plate that adds a special touch to the car. In this case the plate reads “PNKSTNG”. Alongside the license plate are two white stripes and Cobra emblems that follow both sides of the car, key signature details that can’t be forgotten when replicating the legendary car.

One of the most loved details of the RLC collection line by many collectors is the engine bay. Although missing details from the life-sized car, it is still impressive. This 1:64 diecast might contain most of the details of the actual car including a 5.0 liter cobra engine but it definitely won’t push out 235 horsepower.

Moving from the engine bay to the interior comes complex details for a 1:64 scale model. The interior features two seats, a dashboard, a center console, and, of course, a shifter all in molded pearl white. From the body to the base is a fully metal chassis painted matte black. Finally you got to have wheels to roll, so this diecast sits on five spoke Real Rider wheels with a metal brush finish.

While we don’t have one on hand, Mattel provides numerous photos on their site for us to see each up-close detail. The Hot Wheels RLC Exclusive Pink Edition 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra R will be packaged on an illustrated card featuring the Hot Wheels logo at the top, the Red Line Club trademark, and a detailed life-like image of the car, just like most Red Line Club cars. It is said to be incased in a Kar Keepers clamshell case. Now the question remains, will you be going for this casting?

 

All images pulled from Mattel

Hot Wheels NFT Garage Series 8

This entry was posted in First Look Hot Wheels Uncategorized on by

Mattel has released information on the upcoming NFT Garage release, and we will be giving you a quick rundown on how to participate and which cars you will be looking to grab in this exciting new drop.

The Mattel Hot Wheels NFT Garage Series 8 release will bring 60 new digital NFT collectibles to the program, but only six will give you a redeemable vehicle. We will take a look at each one individually later. There is still some confusion on how the NFT garage drops work so that we will go through a quick rundown. On the release day, you can purchase two different NFT packs just as you would any other item on the Mattel Creations site. The only requirement is having a Mattel Creations account (not an RLC membership). The basic pack will cost $25 per pack, giving you seven digital collectibles. In these packs, there is around a 30% chance of getting a redeemable Super Rare card and around a 4% chance of getting the Ultra Rare. The Premium Pack will cost $80 and is guaranteed to contain 1 Super Rare redeemable NFT while having around a 40% chance of containing the Premium Pack Exclusive ZAMAC NFT. Both packs should be limited to 8 per account. While the redeemable cars are amazing, the drop has one more important rarity type. The showroom rarity Lamborghini Countach LP 5000 QV looks great in all white, and while we’d love to see a real car released, however, that won’t be happening. The Showroom Exclusive will be needed to complete the Series 8 NFT set. The showroom car will only be available in Standard packs. Now that the formalities are out of the way let’s take a look at some redeemable vehicles.

The first Super Rare cars we will be looking at is the ’84 Audi Sport Quattro. The car looks to come in a Spectrflame Navy Blue and features white rims. The car also features Hot Wheels NFT Garage branding on the windshield, and Audi rings on the side. We expect this car to perform the best out of the Super Rare Cars. The next best car to look for is the black ’69 Chevy Camaro. The black-on-black aesthetic of this car is an easy sell, and we could see this also doing very well. The car also features Hot Wheels Radial Tire white lettering on the tires which give a bit of a classic look.

The next Super to look for will be the ’64 Lincoln Continental. This car comes in a nice Bronze paint with what looks like a tan top, although it is hard to tell. The car also features white wall tires with black rims and some black flame graphics on the paint. This car has a great mix of old-school luxury and hot rod aesthetics. The last of the Super Rares, possibly the least of the bunch, is the ’72 Plymouth Cuda FC. This car has a nice green paint scheme with a black tail section. The car appears to have a drag aesthetic with large back wheels and smaller front tires. The side exhaust on this car is a nice touch, and the HWNFTG across the front splitter adds some uniqueness. However, we expect this car to perform slightly worse than its Super brothers.

The final two cars of the set will be the more exclusive cars. The ZAMAC McLaren 720 S features a paintless body with McLaren graphics. The car also features black rims with an orange/red line around them. We expect this car to do fairly well mostly because it’ll cost you a minimum of $80 to obtain. The final car and hardest redeemable will be the Nissan Fairlady Z. This car comes in a dark red paint scheme with white and black graphics. An NFTH logo can be seen on the side. The grey rims also look very nice. We expect this car to perform very well, much like previous Treasure Hunt NFTs before it. The production limits for the NFT series are as follows: ’84 Audi Quattro 4300pcs, ’69 Chevy Camaro 4300pcs, ’64 Lincoln Continental 4300pcs, ’72 Plymouth Cuda FC 4300pcs, ZAMAC McLaren 720 S 3600pcs, Nissan Fairlady Z 1800pcs, Showroom Lamborghini 320pcs. That’s a wrap on the redeemable NFTs releasing on April 18th. Will you be going for any of these exclusive cars? Let us know which is your favorite!

Hot Wheels Legends Tour: Where Diecast Come to Life

This entry was posted in Hot Wheels on by

Hot Wheels, the iconic brand that has fueled the imagination of car enthusiasts for over half a century, is hitting the road once again with its exhilarating Legends Tour. This annual event, now in its [specific number] year, brings together automotive aficionados, collectors, and fans of all ages to celebrate the passion and creativity of custom car culture.

The Hot Wheels Legends Tour is more than just a car show – it’s a vibrant celebration of automotive innovation and ingenuity. From classic muscle cars to futuristic concepts, the Legends Tour showcases a diverse array of vehicles that push the boundaries of design and performance. Whether you’re a die-hard gearhead or a casual enthusiast, there’s something for everyone to marvel at and admire.

But what sets the Legends Tour apart is its emphasis on community and inclusivity. Unlike traditional car shows, which often cater to a niche audience, the Legends Tour welcomes enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. From seasoned collectors to young fans experiencing their first car show, everyone is encouraged to participate and share in the excitement.

Central to the Legends Tour experience is the opportunity for attendees to witness the magic of Hot Wheels come to life. Throughout the event, participants have the chance to vote for their favorite custom car, with the winner earning the coveted title of “Hot Wheels Legend” and the chance to have their design immortalized as a 1:64 scale die-cast model.

But the Legends Tour isn’t just about showcasing cars – it’s also about inspiring the next generation of automotive enthusiasts. In addition to the main event, the tour often features interactive activities and workshops designed to engage young fans and ignite their passion for cars. Whether it’s building custom Hot Wheels cars, designing their dream car, or meeting real-life automotive legends, kids of all ages are sure to leave the Legends Tour with memories that will last a lifetime.

Moreover, the Legends Tour serves as a platform for aspiring car builders and designers to showcase their talent and creativity. For many participants, being selected to compete in the tour is a dream come true, offering them the opportunity to share their passion with a global audience and potentially see their design become a part of Hot Wheels history.

In conclusion, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour is a testament to the enduring appeal of cars and the power of imagination. From its diverse lineup of custom vehicles to its focus on community engagement and inspiration, the Legends Tour embodies everything that makes Hot Wheels such a beloved brand. So whether you’re a seasoned collector or a wide-eyed youngster with dreams of building your own custom car, the Legends Tour invites you to join in the celebration and experience the magic of Hot Wheels firsthand.

 

Hot Wheels Legends Tour Mazda Autozam Picture from HotWheelsOfficial Instagram page.

Featured image from Mattel Creations