Looking at: Hot Wheels Car Culture Power Trip

Welcome to the boulevard collectors! Like the title states, today's in-depth review is all about the newest Hot Wheels Car Culture Power Trip assortment. Two of the vehicles in this set made their debut earlier this year. And three of the vehicles are premiums for the first time. So get your popcorn and bonbons out, because today's post is a bit of a long one.

First up for today's review, is the '87 Buick Regal GNX. As most of you know, this premium casting made it's debut earlier this year in the Hot Wheels Fast and Furious Motor City Muscle premium assortment. And although the basic version with the opening hood is cool, this one remains to be my favorite. This is due to it's overall proportions. I knew this casting would get a second release, however, I wasn't expecting it to be this year.

Honestly, this second release is just as good as the first one. The first thing that I like about this release, is how it was finished in pearl white. I always liked the way this paint looked under a light. As such, I feel this was a excellent choice to make this a great model to have. Since the real GNX only came in black, some collectors might favor the Fast and Furious one more. I don't have a specific favorite, as it's nice to see what the GNX looks like finished in another color.

This release's exterior wasn't given any designs. I feel this was a great choice made by the Hot Wheels designers, because in my opinion, this model doesn't need any. It did however, receive the usual tampo details that are given to these kind of Hot Wheels releases. The front of this model was given Headlights and grill details that include the GNX emblem. Tail lights as well as the GNX emblem were applied to the rear. The word "Buick" was placed over a black square on the license plate section. 

The sides of this model were only given two details. The fender louvers received a black tampo coating. This for me was a nice touch, as it makes each section of the vents look open. The last detail on it's sides, is a silver tampo that was applied to the door handles.

Once again the Hot Wheels RR8DOTs were used for this model's wheels. Aside from liking how they look on this model, I also like the choice to make them gold. As nice as theses are for this casting, I do hope the next release is given a different set of wheels. 

Featured next, is the 1991 GMC Syclone. As you all know, this casting made it's debut this year in the Hot Wheels mainline. Like the GNX, I wasn't expecting to see another release of this casting in it's debuting year. I especially wasn't expecting to see a premium version either. Having a premium version of this casting, could ultimately lead to some exciting releases down the road. I just hope they continue to give collectors basic releases as well.

In a recent review, I showcased the last three vehicles that I wanted out of this year's 2020 Hot Wheels case N. One of the vehicles in that post was the red GMC Syclone. In all honesty, this red one is much better. And there is one main reason for that. For those of you that didn't know, there were ten special versions of the real Syclone that were red. These ten, were apart of a Marlboro giveaway promotion. And that's what this release is based on. That is why I feel this one is much better than the red basic one.

Now the real life Marlboro version of the Syclone, featured a targa styled roof. This casting on the other hand does not. I might be alone with this opinion, but I feel it might have been cool if this premium casting was designed with an open roof. This for me, would've made this premium version a little more special. Not having a targa styled roof though, is absolutely no issue for me. This is just something that came to mind. 

Since this is based off of the Marlboro Syclone, it features the exact stripe design that seen on the hood and sides of that edition. Accurately placed under the side stripes is the Syclone decal. Since Mattel is a primarily into making toys for children, the various Marlboro details seen on the real truck are not present on this release, which is totally fine by me. Besides... the only details that are missing, are a window banner and a small Marlboro decal that would've been on the sides as well as the tailgate.

One of the main issues that I had with the first two basic releases, was the lack of front end tampo details. Thankfully this is no longer the case with this premium release. The rear features the Syclone decal as well as "GMC" placed over a grey square on the license plate section. It's too bad a custom license plate wasn't created instead, as that might have made this model look even better.

Since Hot Wheels doesn't have a premium wheel that looks anything like the wheels used for the real Marlboro Syclone, they decided to use black and chrome RRLW5 wheels. In my opinion, you could never go wrong with five spoke wheels. Especially ones that look like these. As such, I feel this was a great choice of wheel for this release.

I do still have one small issue with this release. It's the same issue that I had with the red mainline release. As you all know, the base of this casting fill in the center of the rear. Like the mainline release, the base on this model is black. I still feel like both of these red releases should've had red bases. But like I mentioned in that review, this is something that I can ignore.

The Plymouth Barracuda Hemi, is the next car for this review. Over the years, this casting has had a few premium releases with Real Rider wheels. The only one of those that I have, is the yellow one from the Phil's Garage premium assortment. So I'm happy to finally have another great looking premium release of this Fastback Barracuda. 

Like most collectors, I really like the Mopar theme that's featured on this release. And I feel gloss black was a great exterior color choice to go along with it. I like how the overall design on this model utilizes most of the space that is available on it's sides. Spanning the entire length of this Barracuda's sides, is a stripe design that appears to be based on the classic Mopar logo. Applied to the doors of this model, are nicely sized Chrysler and Mopar decals.

As I've mentioned in various past reviews, I really like when race themed diecast models feature additional sponsor decals. It's also nice when the decals belong to actual aftermarket companies. So aside from the Chrysler and Mopar decals, I really like the additional ones that were applied to this model's quarter panel. The sponsors featured on this release are as follows: Edelbrock, Holley, Bell, and B & M. "Plymouth" was also applied to quarter panel as well.

The top of this model was given some tampo details too. However, these details are only on it's hood. The red, white, and blue stripe design was only applied to the hood scoop. This is actually a cool idea if I do say so myself. Finishing off the hood of this Barracuda, are would-be hood pins.

The front and rear of this model received some great details, and I especially like the details that were applied to the front. Aside from the headlights, this model was also given this car's grill. This was achieved by the application of a black tampo.

One of the other things that I like about this release, is how it was given a red interior. I don't know how you feel about this choice, but I personally like it. A black car with a red interior, is a combination that will always work. And I feel this interior color goes great with the overall theme of this release.

The wheels given to this Barracuda, are the Hot Wheels RR5SP. Torq Thrust wheels on a Mopar themed fastback Barracuda, is a perfect combination in my opinion.  

The fourth car for this review, is the '18 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. As you all know, this casting made it's mainline debut back in 2018. And to be honest, I had been eagerly awaiting a premium version of it. Now that it's been made, this means we could end up seeing some very stunning releases in the future.

One of the aspects that's interesting about this particular release, is how it was given the same exact theme as the Barracuda. At first I was a little put off by the decision to make it similar to the aforementioned car. At the time, I felt like it should've been given a different design. After looking at it long enough though, my opinion started to change. And now I can say that I really like the decision to make this Demon's exterior/interior match the Barracuda. On a side note, it might be cool to get a Team Transport hauler that also has this theme. Having one would be great for those of you that like to make garage dioramas.

Since this release is sporting the same theme as the Barracuda, I like how it was given most of the same sponsor decals. Holley is the only sponsor that wasn't used for this release. The extra sponsor decals on this model, weren't placed on the quarter panel like they were on the Barracuda. Instead, they were placed along the lower half of this SRT Demon's sides. The SRT Demon logo was also placed on the lower half of it's sides. "Dodge" is the only decal that was placed on this model's quarter panel.

There are also a few other differences besides the sponsor decal placement. One of those differences has to do with the Mopar logo. As you saw, the Barracuda featured "Mopar" next to the Chrysler logo. For this release, the Hot Wheels designers chose to use the Mopar logo that features a large M. The hood is where the next difference is. Unlike the Barracuda's hood scoop that just has the stripe design, this Demon's hood scoop features "SRT" next to the stripes.

Front and rear details are one of the great things about this casting finally being in the premium line. And I really like the ones that were applied to this model. The front was given detailed headlights, and the SRT letter emblem. The rear was given detailed tail lights, the Dodge letter emblem, and the SRT letter emblem. All these details added a lot of realism to this release, and I feel that's some of what makes this a fantastic model to have.

The wheels given to this release are the RR5SPM. This wheel was first used on the Ford RS200 that was released earlier this year in the Car Culture Thrill Climbers assortment. At the time, I was excited at all the possible future Hot Wheels releases that could have them. And I can definitely say that I am very happy with how this casting looks with them.    

The last vehicle from this set, is the Custom '72 Chevy LUV. I'm actually surprised at how this casting hadn't had a premium release before now. Each year I look forward to a Hot Wheels Chevy LUV release. The reason for that has to do with all the cool multi-colored stripe patterns that are created by the Hot Wheels designers. And now that we have a premium version, I can't wait to see what the future has in store for this casting.

Like all the previous releases of this casting, this too was given a nice stripe pattern that utilizes multiple colors. And to be more specific, this design utilizes a total of five different colors. Pink, orange, light orange, yellow, and white are a great mix of colors for a pattern like this. I absolutely love how this design spans across the entire side of this model. The only thing that might've made it look better, is if the stripes were applied to the hood as well. Not having stripes on the hood, is no issue for me though.

With this release, we finally have a '72 Chevy LUV model with front and rear tampo details. Aside from the detailed headlights, this pickup's grill section was given a black tampo coating. The Chevy emblem also received a tampo coating as well. The Rear features tail lights, a tampo coating over the raised tailgate letters, and a personalized license plate. The plate appears to be California's blue and yellow one.

Now... as I'm sure you all know, you can have a great looking design that is ruined by a poor exterior color choice. Thankfully, that hasn't been the case with any of the releases of this casting. And that holds true with this release as well. The color chosen for this LUV release, is a very nice shade of metallic purple that combines marvelously with the colors used for the design.

The RR10SPs are the wheels that were chosen for this release. I don't know how you feel about these wheels being used, but I feel they were a great choice for this first premium LUV.

Okay readers, that's all five vehicles from this Hot Wheels Car Culture Power Trip assortment. All in all, I like each one of these vehicles equally. So readers, did you have a specific favorite among these five cars? And how did you feel about Hot Wheels making the SRT Demon match the Barracuda? Feel free to let me know your thoughts down in the comments section. Okay everyone, that's all for this edition of looking at. Until next time, happy diecast collecting!