The first car for this feature, is the brand new '98 Honda Prelude. This casting, is the main one that I wanted from this case. I love how we're getting another Honda model to collect. Recently, both of Mattel's diecast brands have blessed us Honda lovers, with a couple of great models. Their Matchbox brand gave us the CVCC, and their Hot wheels brand gave us the glorious Civic EG. And now we're finally able to have a Prelude.
This model's body, features two design decisions that I feel, make it a fantastic model to have. As I've mentioned in past post, I like when Hot Wheels castings are designed with side rear view mirrors. I'm sure we can all agree, that having them, makes the model look more real. The second design decision, has to do with the head lights. Instead of being a solid casting, the head light section is not filled in. This allows for the head lights to be apart of the windshield plastic. I don't know about you, but I really like this aspect. Like side rear view mirrors, this feature also helps to bring the model to life by giving it realistic looking head lights.
If you're new to the boulevard, then there's something about me you should know. I personally like to have at least one plain version of every Hot Wheels casting that I like. So thankfully, the Hot Wheels designers decided to make this first release plain. As a whole though, this model is based on a '97 Prelude that was owned by Hot Wheels designer Ryu Asada's parents. A comparison picture can be found on his Instagram page. Being based on that car, made it so this model was given a detail that I like. The detail being, a license plate. And it's not just any license plate either. This plate is the exact on that was on his parents Prelude.
The final aspect of this casting that I like, are the wheels and the interior color. The wheels featured on this release, are the Hot Wheels PR5 wheels finished in chrome. These wheels were a nice choice in my opinion. On a casting like this, you could never go wrong with them. Now then... onto the interior. For this release, Hot Wheels decided to give it a red interior. I'm not sure if this is also based on his parents car or not, but what I do know, is that being red helps to liven up this model as a whole. It also combines flawlessly with the grey exterior color. At the end of the day, all I can say about this model is #4cylinderstrong!
The next car for this post, is another fantastic Hot Wheels Honda casting. This time, it's the 2018 Honda Civic Type R. I absolutely love the details that were given to this release. However... this design isn't a Hot Wheels original. From what I can tell, this release overall, is based on the one that was brought to SEMA by Team Honda Research West. And there are a few key aspects besides the design that confirm this. One of those, is the number plate that's on it's doors. Aside from being the exact shape as the one on the real car, it also features the same number as well.
The second aspect, has to do with the wheels. Like the car this is based on, this too features all black wheels. The wheels given to this model, are the Hot Wheels J5s. Despite being a fantastic looking wheel for this model, I do have a small issue with the decision to use them. The wheels featured on the Team Honda Research West Civic, are the Enkei NT03s. These wheels have a total of 12 spokes. In my opinion, Hot Wheels should've used their 10 spoke wheels. Aside from being two spokes less than the Enkei wheels, I do feel the 10SPs would've been a much better choice, since the spokes on them are the same shape as the Enkei wheels.
Now then... as far as sponsor decals go, this release does feature one that's seen on the real car. The decal in question, is the Honda Racing HPD decal. This decal is accurately placed on the back door. One of the other decals seen on the real car is Bilstein. Based on some of the recent premium Hot Wheels releases, Mattel does currently have the license to use them. As such, I do feel this release could've also featured that decal. But alas, this is a $1 mainline after all, so it's details aren't going to be the same as a premium release. Like the Prelude, it's #4cylinderstrong with this model!
The Manga Tuner recolor, is the last car for this feature. In my opinion, this recolor is better than the first color. Since this model as a whole is cartoonish, the best way to complete it, is by giving it a wild cartoonish color scheme. Hot Wheels was able to achieve this with a couple of nice design choices. But before I get to those, I should mention that I really like the exterior color choice for this release. For this releases exterior, the Hot Wheels designers decided to use a purple that I feel, goes great with the cartoon like theme of this casting.
Now that I got the exterior out of the way, it's time to go over the other features that make this one more cartoonish than the first one. The first release, featured a base that was the same color as the exterior. This release on the other hand, was given a base that's a different color than the body. The choice to combine purple and pink, is what ultimately completed the cartoonish look of this release. But that's not all. There is another piece of this release, that further adds to this look. The piece in question, is the interior. For this castings first release, the Hot Wheels designers gave it a grey interior, which also means that it had grey exhaust pipes. For this release, they decided to go all out with the color scheme by giving it a yellow interior, which also means that it has yellow exhaust pipes.
I also like the recolor of the stripe design. The main stripe on the initial release was yellow. There were no other yellow aspects on that release. The thin stripes off to the sides of it were gold, which matched the gold OH5 wheels. For this recolor, the Hot Wheels designers decided to make the stripe design feature the colors that were used on various parts of this release. The main stripe is pink, which goes with the base. And for the thin stripes, they decided to make them yellow, which goes with the interior piece.
Like the first release, this too features the Hot Wheels OH5 wheels. However... unlike the first one, these ones are finished in chrome. This wheel color decision is fine by me, as the overall model itself is wild enough. And to be honest, gold or any other color wheels, might've made this release too wild. At the end of the day, this is another great release of this casting, and I hope to see more future releases that are just as colorful.
In my opinion, case K wasn't bad at all, as it featured lots of good cars for collectors of every age to collect. With that being said, everyone has a favorite, and I'm curious to know which of the cars from this case was yours. As usual, feel free to let me know down in the comments section. Alright, that's all for Today on the Boulevard. Until next time, happy diecast collecting!
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