Welcome back to the boulevard collectors! Like the title states, today's review is all about the Fast and Furious Quick Shifters assortment from Hot Wheels. Words can't describe how much I've enjoyed collecting these premium Fast and Furious replicas. And like all the other sets, this too features five great cars. In fact, two of them are brand new castings. So with that said, it's time to quickly shift right into today's review.
The first of the new castings from this set, is the '65 Corvette Stingray Coupe. As you all know, this car was driven by Letty in The Fate of the Furious. After seeing it in the movie, it instantly became a car that I wanted as a Hot Wheels. As cool as it is, there is one specifc reason as to why I wanted Hot Wheels to release it. When it comes to C2 Corvettes, my garage is seriously lacking. I do have a '63 Corvette, but I missed out on getting the '64. Initially, I thought Hot Wheels would utilize their '64 Corvette casting for this replica. I was ultimately delighted to find out that we were getting a whole new casting.
Personally, this replica was executed perfectly. The red that was used, contributed to that opinion in a big way. Sometimes the paint used on these replicas, is a slightly different shade. Thankfully, that isn't the case with this release. In my eyes, this shade of red is accurate to the shade of red that was used for the real car. To be honest though, even if the shade was a little off, I would still love this release a whole lot. Like I mentioned, my garage was lacking in C2s, so I will gladly accept any plain C2 Hot Wheels release.
The wheels given to this release, are the good ol' Torq Thrust styled Hot Wheels RR5SPs. Since Hot Wheels doesn't have a Real Rider wheel that looks anything like the wheels seen on the movie car, this wheel choice is fine by me. And to be honest, I think C2 looks better with this style of wheel. However, since the one in the movie has a pro-touring style customization, I fully understand the wheel choice.
I really like the smaller details that were given to this model. The front end, features this car's turn signal bulb. The door handles, were given a black tampo coating. The back half of this model's top, was given this car's gas cap details, as well as the would-be Corvette emblem. The rear was given tinted tail lights and a accurate license plate.
The next debuting model, was seen at the end of Fast & Furious and at the beginning of Fast Five. That model, which is the second new casting, is the black 2003 Honda NSX Type-R. This car was seen during Dom's prison break. What's nice, is that we finally have all three of the cars that were featured in that scene. The only vehicle that we'd need now, is the prison bus. Of course, I don't see that ever getting a Hot Wheels release. One things for sure though, it's nice to finally have a Hot Wheels casting of this NSX model year. Flip up headlights are nice and all, but there's no denying how cool this car looks with it's facelift.
Like the one in the movie, this model is sporting a red interior. Aside from the color being correct, the interior of this model is different. The NSX that Mia drove, was left hand drive, while this casting features a right hand drive interior. Although this is supposed to be a replica, this is one change that I really like. In my opinion, this feature makes this model a true Honda NSX, instead of a Acura NSX with a Honda emblem.
The wheels featured on this model, are the Hot Wheels RR6SPs. Now personally, I don't have a problem with them. I mean... you could honestly never go wrong with Volk TE37s on a NSX. However, since this is a replica, I feel they should've used different wheels. If you go back and pause at the scene where the NSX is turning after Mia pulls the hand brake, then you'll see what I mean about the wheels. Based on the wheels seen on the movie car, Hot Wheels could've used the D7RR wheels. If those wouldn't of worked, then the next best wheel would've been the RRMC wheels.
Completing this model nicely are the front and rear details. The front, features the Type-R Honda emblem. The rear features a detailed tail light section. Placed within the tail light section is the Honda emblem. Also featured on the rear, is a accurate license plate.
The next car from this set, is the black '70 Plymouth AAR Cuda, which was only seen in Fast and Furious 6. Personally, gloss black with a matte black AAR stripe, is a really cool combination for this car. Also along it's sides, are side marker lights. The only issue I have with them is the placement. The sides of this casting was designed to have indents for this detail. Unfortunately, the tampo light on mine was placed just above these indents. Due to mass production, this is one of those minor issues that I tend to ignore.
The next set of details, are seen on the top of this release. The entire front half, is accurately finished in matte black. Additionally, two silver circles were placed on the front half of the hood. And as you
already guessed, these details are the would-be hood pins.
Front and rear light details, are one of the great things about premium Hot Wheels releases. And I really like the ones featured on the front of this '70 AAR Cuda. Aside from the headlights, this model's front end also features this car's turn signal/parking lights. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but this appears to be the first Hot Wheels '70 AAR Cuda with this additional tampo light detail.
The details on the rear are nice as well. Besides the tail lights, the word "Plymouth" was applied to the license plate section. The detail next to the license plate section, appears to be this car's tail panel emblem.
The wheels seen on the real car, are the FIKSE Profil-5S. For this release, the Hot Wheels designers decided to use black RR8SP. I don't particularly have a problem with this wheel choice, as they do look great on this casting. I do however, have a problem with the choice to make the outer part of the rim chrome red. The car this is based on, has red line tires. As such, I feel Hot Wheels should've used all black wheels with red line tires.
Up next, is the Nissan Skyline GT-R (BCNR33). I'm sure you all remember this car from Tokyo drift. This release's design, is a perfect example of why I appreciate Hot Wheels putting the Fast and Furious cars into the premium line. Had this been a basic release, it might not have featured the full design. The full design being the sections on the top and rear of this model. The recent basic Fast and Furious R34 releases, are a perfect example of what I mean.
As good as this replica is, it does have one major aspect that's not quite right. And that aspect is the color that was used for the design. The Hot Wheels designers made the design blue. From what I can tell, the design seen on the movie car, is actually more of a purple. Now I might be wrong, as it could just be my TV's color settings. At the end of the day though, this possible color difference is not that big of a deal for me.
Now obviously, this release features front and rear tampo details. However, what I want to focus on, is the rear end details. This is because I have a issue with a design decision. For some reason, the Hot Wheels designers decided to make the section around the tail lights grey. This is not accurate at all, as this section on the movie car is the same color as the design. As much as I can ignore the possible paint difference, this is one detail that I jsut can't ignore. For me, it throws off the overall look of this replica.
Not all is bad though, as I do like the other details featured on the rear. And one of those details, is the Japanese license plate. For me, this detail helps to give this model an authentic JDM look. Also featured on the rear, is a GT R emblem. The center of the truck was given a silver dot. This detail is basically this car's Nissan emblem.
The wheels featured on this release, are the new Hot Wheels Real Rider five spokes. Aside from looking fantastic on this model, they are also accurate to the wheels seen on the movie car. If you pause the movie while Han is drifting around this R33, you'll notice how the car appears to be sporting the Volk GTC wheels.
The last car from this set, is Suki's pink Honda S2000. In all honesty, I really wish Mattel would get the license to use Veilside. I know lots of folks don't fancy body kits, but I still do, and it would allow Hot Wheels to finally make an accurate version of this car. On a side note, it would also allow them to make Han's Veilside RX7. Ultimately, I still very much appreciate a premium version of this movie replica, and there are a few reasons for that.
The main reason, has to do with the casting it's self. This premium release, features a pink metal base. All the previous basic releases of this replica, featured a black plastic base. Personally, the pink base, which gives us an all pink S2K, looks much better.
The next reason, has to do with the design. Unlike the previous basic releases of this car, the top of this of this one, was given the design seen on the top of the movie car. I feel this gives it more of a completed look. In the case of front and rear details, this release was given the usual. So that's headlights and tail lights, as well as the Honda emblem on the front and rear.
The wheels given to this release, are another reason why this premium version better. The wheels on the real car, appear to be the RO JA GTMs. The wheels on this release, are the Hot Wheels RRMCs. Even though the spokes aren't entirely like the RO JA ones, they are still better than the wheels used on the previous basic releases.
The interior color, is the last reason. The first basic release, was given a grey interior, while the second basic release was given a black interior. Finally with this premium release, we have Suki's S2000 with a white interior. This for me, helps to make this replica a little more accurate.
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