Welcome to another edition of Looking at. Like the title states, today's assortment of Hot Wheels is from the newest Entertainment case T. Like the previous Hot Wheels Entertainment assortments, this too features vehicles from various franchises. Two of the vehicles are representing the Gran Turismo franchise, and they are the main ones that I wanted from this assortment. So with that being said, let's get things started.
Before I get to the Gran Turismo vehicles, I figured that I'd start this review off with one of the other great vehicles from this assortment. And that vehicle is none other than the Wonder Woman Jet from the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984 film. All I can say, is that we finally have a jet from the Wonder Woman franchise that's not invisible. As you all know, there were no actual jets in the previous Wonder Woman themed releases. Now since this movie isn't out yet, I'm not entirely sure what role this aircraft is going to have. I'm also not sure if it will even be flown by Wonder Woman since it's not invisible. I'm assuming it will be, but only time will tell.
Movie roll aside, I really like how this release looks. The main sections of this aircraft was finished in dark grey, and the nose was given a black tampo coating. I'm not sure if this is going to be the exact color of it in the movie, but what I do know, is that this color scheme is appropriate for this kind of aircraft. "AF73 097" is the only other detail that was applied to this model.
All in all, this is a fantastic model that would look great sitting next to the other DC vehicles that were released in previous Hot Wheels Entertainment assortments.
The first of the two Gran Turismo vehicles from this assortment, is the Porsche 962. This release overall, is sporting the Rothmans livery. Now for those of you that didn't know, Rothmans was a tobacco company. Since Mattel is in the business of making toys for children, Hot Wheels is not going to feature cars that promote the use of substance. That of course doesn't stop them from using the overall theme of a tobacco livery. It just has to have a few changes. Another example of this is seen with the Marlboro Syclone that was released in the Car Culture Power Trip assortment.
So like I mentioned, this 962 has the theme from the Rothmans livery. So it's sides are blue with a gold and red stripe above it. The biggest change done to this livery is the sponsor decal. "Racing" was applied in place of Rothmans. Some collectors might not like this change, but I personally see nothing wrong with it. I mean... if this is the change that has to be made in order for us to have a 962 with this design, then so be it. Accurately placed underneath this detail is "Porsche." The racing number circle as well as the number font, are details that also appear to be accurate. Like the real car, this model's wing features the exact Rothmans logo on it's sides. But of course, the logo features "Racing" instead. The one cool thing about this detail, is that the Hot Wheels designers decided to stylize "Racing" in a similar manner to how Rothmans stylized their logo's word.
The Hot Wheels version of the Rothmans logo, as well as "Racing" and "Porsche," are some of the details that were applied to front end of this model. Detailed headlights were also applied to the front. And of course, the rear features light details too.
This model's windshield features a white windshield banner with "Porsche" applied in black. For me, this detail was a nice touch. Running from the roof to the wing, is the exact stripe that features the three colors from this livery. The Rothmans logo was accurately placed over these stripes. In all honesty, they could have left this detail out, but I'm glad they didn't. Like the real car's wing, the center section of this model's wing is blue, with "Racing" and "Porsche" applied to it.
For this release's wheels, the Hot Wheels designers decided to give it white RRA wheels. Based on the wheels used for the real car, these are some of the best Real Rider wheels for this casting. Of course some of their other Real Rider wheels could've worked as well.
The second Gran Turismo vehicle, is the awesome Mazda 787B. In the Gran Turismo franchise, there are special vehicles know as the stealth models. One of those vehicles is none other than this exact 787B. I love how Hot Wheels was able to re-create this in-game special vehicle as a 1:64 scale model. Helping to give this release that stealthy look, is it's matte black finish. Now yes, the cars in-game feature a non painted carbon fiber exterior, but matte black is a great alternative in my opinion.
The sides of this model features what appears to be all of the details featured on the 787B from the games. However, there was one major detail change. The in-game car features a racing number box, while this model features a racing number circle. I suspect the reason for this change has to do with the casting itself and how it features a removable section. Had they chose to use the number box, then there might have been detail alignment issues. Using a circle instead, allowed them to place the detail on the removable section only. If I'm right, then this is the best possible way to avoid tampo issues. It's a change that I totally support.
The top of this model was given some very nice details. Although it's hard to see in my pictures, the top was given black stripes that start on the front and run all the way to the back of this model. And yes, the stripes are a different texture than the exterior paint. Like the 962, this 787B's windshield was also given a white windshield banner. The Gran Turismo logo was accurately applied within it. The decals applied to the front of this model are as follows: Polyphony Digital, Mazda, Mazda Speed, the Gran Turismo logo, and the racing number circle with the number. The section after the side windows features an accurately place Gran Turismo GT logo, and "Mazda Speed" was placed after that on the removable section.
The good thing about this casting being a premium, is that it's wing is able to receive some details. The sides of it feature the Gran Turismo GT logo, and the top of it features the Gran Turismo logo. I love how these details were included on this release. Having them helps to bring this model closer to the one featured in the games.
For this release's wheels, Hot Wheels chose to give it their newest RR5SPM wheels. Since the in-game car is seen with black five spoke wheels, this wheel choice is okay. In my opinion though, when you look at the spoke shape of the in-game car's wheels, the Hot Wheels RRE wheels might have been a better choice.
As great as this releases is, there is one issue with it that seems to be a recurring problem with this casting. And from what I've seen, a lot of collectors are not too fond of it. The issue is with the wing. Once again, the wing of this casting is ending up bent. This is most likely due to how it's packaged and the warm temps it goes through during shipping. Supposedly this problem is fixed with the use of warm water. So for those of you that like to take your models out of the pack, this could be a possible fix. I should also mention that all of the ones that I found had bent wings. So this might just be something we'll have to live with.
The next vehicle offered in this assortment is the Pagani Huayra. With this release, we're finally getting another Gumball 3000 themed vehicle. And I really like the various design choices that were made for this release. So to start, it's exterior was finished in a nice shade of matte grey. After that, it was given a very nice design that also uses matte colors. The main color of the design is matte black, and each section of it is outlined in matte red. This for me, is a very cool combination over the matte grey that was used.
Now it's not just the design that makes this release cool. Complementing it's looks, are of course the additional details. The front of this model features headlights and the Gumball 3000 logo. The last detail applied to the top of this model is "Gumball 3000." This detail was applied to the top of the windshield. I think it's great that the Hot Wheels designers decided to utilize the windshield for an additional detail. The rear of this model was given the usual details. So that's tail lights and this car's emblems. "Pagani" was also applied to this car's license plate section.
The details placed along the sides of this model aren't bad at all. After all, this is an exotic car and all of it's performance comes from the factory. So there isn't going to be aftermarket sponsor decals like you might see on an EVO. The details on it's sides are as follows: 07, Gumball 3000, a emblem that I'm assuming says Horacio Pagani, and the Hot Wheels logo.
This release isn't just cool, it is also the debut of the brand new Hot Wheels RR10SPM wheels, which look fantastic on this model. At long last we have a nice looking Hot Wheels ten spoke Real Rider wheel. I can already envision all the castings that would look great with them. Some of the castings that come to mind, are the various Porsche, Nissan, and BMW vehicles that Hot Wheels uses. I can't wait!
The last vehicle from this assortment is the TMNT Party Wagon. As you all know, there are two versions of this casting. The first version, made it's debut as a SDCC exclusive, and the second version was made for the mainline. Now since I already had the one in the mainline, I was a little on the fence about getting this one. Basically, I don't always get every single version of a Hot Wheels vehicle. But this time I did because Hot Wheels decided to use the SDCC casting of the Party Wagon for their premium line.
Right away I knew I was holding a much better version of this vehicle. This premium version has many features that make it way better than the mainline version. Two of those features are it's side door that opens and it's visible interior. Not having a visible interior is one of the bad things about the mainline version. I also like how the wing is taller than the mainline version's wing. The roof's features are also better on this premium version.
As far as the paint goes, this premium release's exterior was finished in metallic yellow. Now obviously this is better than the basic version, however, I don't know if this franchise's creator ever intended for the van to be metallic. At the end of the day though, metallic yellow makes this van look great.
The front of this release features the same details that were applied to the front of the mainline release. It's the rear end of this one that received details that weren't present on the mainline one. These details might simply be tail lights, but the addition of them is a huge plus for me.
The wheels chosen for this release are the Hot Wheels Moon Disks done in white. These Real Rider wheels are another aspect that makes this one much better than the mainline version. From what I can tell, these are basically similar to the wheels seen on the Party Wagon in the 1987 cartoon.
Alright readers, that's all five of the vehicles that are offered in this Hot Wheels Entertainment assortment. Even though the two Gran Turismo cars are the ones that I wanted the most, I can't deny how great the other three vehicles are. As such, I don't have a specific favorite among them. Now the one thing that I'm hoping for, is the release of some of the other Gran Turismo Stealth Models.
So... did you have a specific favorite from this assortment? If so, go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Welp that's all for this edition of Looking at. Until next time, thanks for reading and happy diecast collecting.
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