Okay everyone, welcome to a new edition of My Want List. Unlike the last case, I was able to find everything I wanted in one trip to the store. And no, I wasn't called. Anyway, this case is jammed packed full of good looking releases. As such, this is going to be another review that gets broken up into two parts. Alright, let's begin.
Hot Wheels has done it again! They have once again created a masterpiece that I feel will be loved by most, if not all JDM fans. Debuting in this year's Factory Fresh mainline set, is the stunning Nissan R390 GT1. This casting, is a replica of the one road version that was built. For those that might not have known, some racing rules require that a
manufacturer has a road version of the car they are trying to race with. So basically, homologation is the sole reason why this particular car even exist.
Since this is based on the only R390 road car, it was finished in a great shade of metallic blue. It's a blue that I feel is close enough to the blue used for the real car. And even if the color isn't quite right, I'd still say that it helped to make this a great looking replica.
The front features detailed headlights, the Nissan emblem, and some additional bumper details. The rear features all of the R390's rear lights, as well as some additional details like the exhaust. They also took the time to incorporate the Nissan and R390 GT1 emblems.
Now as good as this replica is, I do have a minor issue with the wheel choice. The real car has split five spoke wheels. As such, I feel Hot Wheels should have used the PR5s instead. Most might disagree with my opinion, but I think the aforementioned wheels would have made this replica even more accurate.
Before I move onto the next vehicle, I want to quickly talk about this release's interior. The real car's interior is red, while this one's interior is dark grey. Since the interior piece is also the engine, I can understand why they made it this color. I just think it would have been cool if they designed it so the seats could be red. I know it's not impossible to do. Just look at the Greenwood Corvette. That casting's seat is apart of it's base. That's why the gold one from last year has a black interior with a white seat. Ultimately, I have now problem with how this casting was designed. This was just something that came to mind.
The '70 Toyota Celica has finally made it's return to the Hot Wheels mainline, and it's the next release that got checked off of my want list. This casting made it's debut way back in 2013, and it only had two mainline releases after that. There was one more release of it in 2016. But that one was exclusive to the multipacks, and it was simply a recolor of the 2013 release. Now that Mattel can make Toyotas again, I hope to see many future releases of this casting.
I think you all will agree that the best thing about this release, is it's exterior color. I don't know what it's called, but what I do know, is that it's the same color that was used for the 2018 release of the Aston Martin One-77. It's a very beautiful color, and I'm glad they decided to use it for this classic JDM.
The design created for this release isn't one that has a racing number, or a number circle. I mean... those designs are cool and all, but there are enough classic JDM releases with those details. And it's not like they didn't already release one of these with that type of design. So after being absent for a few years, I think it was a great idea to kick off it's return with a simple stripe design. After all, simple can sometimes equal perfection.
I don't always like when chrome gold wheels are used, but this is one time where I think it was an excellent choice. And I like how they chose to use the J5 wheels. This casting looks fantastic with them, and the color combines perfectly with the all of the colors seen on the exterior.
The next release that got checked off of my want list, is the recolor of the Volvo 850 Estate. I actually wasn't going to get this recolor due to Hot Wheels deciding to paint it yellow. If you were one of the ones that read my latest Car Culture review, then you already know that I have the yellow 850 Estate from that assortment. That release, is why this wasn't on my want list. Of course, that changed when I found it.
Upon seeing it in person, I decided to just get it. Basically... the yellow used for this release, is no where near the yellow that was used for the Car Culture one. I would best describe this release's color as being race yellow. This casting does look great finished in this color, but I will admit that I still like the Car Culture one a little more, since it's color is based on an actual color that was available for the real car.
This release being plain, is one of the other reasons why I decided to just get it. For all we know, all of it's future releases will have some kind of design. Now there's nothing wrong with that, it's just I feel it's nice to have releases that are plain. So despite being finished in yellow, I figured that I would go ahead and add another plain release of this casting to my collection
There's really not much else to say about this recolor, other than the fact that it's an okay addition to my collection. Now if you're someone who doesn't care about a specific shade of a color, and just wants a yellow 850 Estate, then this is a pretty good alternative to the Car Culture one. It's only missing some additional details, and if you wanted to, you could swap the wheels to give it that premium look.
Up next, is the recolor of the Dodge Van. Unlike the last casting, I didn't hesitate to add this one to my want list. Personally, the first one is still cool, since it's exterior color is not as common as some of the other colors that are used by Hot Wheels. But I feel this one's color makes it just as good, if not slightly better.
As you all know, Mooneyes is one of the companies that's featured on this release. So I think you can probably guess why I think this recolor is slightly better than the first one. Although this isn't a Mooneyes themed release per se, I feel being finished in yellow helps to make it fit in with the other Mooneyes releases from Hot Wheels.
Since I feel that way about this release, I think it should have been finished in the yellow that's used for the actual Mooneyes themed releases. Now don't get me wrong, the yellow that was used for this one, is still very nice.
Once again, the 5SP wheels were used. Personally, it would have been nice to see a different wheel used. However, I will admit that this casing looks okay with these 5-spoke wheels. Now what's interesting, is how the card art shows it with chrome wheels, while the actual product has grey wheels. Some of you might have preferred for it to have chrome wheels, but I think it looks just fine with grey wheels. It is a recolor after all, so having a different wheel color is a plus for me.
Racing off of my want list next, is the Roborace Robocar that's apart of this year's HW Green Speed mainline set. I don't always like all of the future releases of a casting. Sometimes, they are just not as good as the initial release. Take the Speed Blur release of the Custom '01 Acura Integra for example. Did you see it featured here on the boulevard? No you didn't. That's because I didn't like the design choices made for it. Thankfully, that's not the case for this third release of this Robocar.
I really like how effort was put into this third release. If they wanted to, they could have made it a little more plain since the first two were given cool liveries. But I'm glad they decided to give us another one with a livery that's just as good as the ones applied to the first two. I also like the color that were used for it. Black, orange, grey, and blue, are a fantastic mix of colors for a stripe design.
This one also has a nice amount of additional details, and it's great to finally see one of these with a real-life tire sponsor. Michelin is the company that's featured, and there's a reason why I feel it was a great idea to use them. If you go to the at the bottom of the Roborace website, they have a section that list their partners. One of the companies listed, is none other than Michelin.
As you can see, details were once again added to the sides of this casting. Now instead of placing the racing number there like the last two, they decided to put "Roborace" on one side, and the Hot Wheels logo on the other side. Even though the number is placed there on the real car, I think it's nice to switch things up. So I really don't have a problem with this decision.
I'm glad the TRAP5 wheels were used again. Although they are one spoke less than the real car's wheels, they are the best possible wheel for this casting, since they have a similar appearance.
The sixth release from this case to get checked off of my want list, is the recolor of the Batman: Arkham Knight Batmobile. Earlier this year, Hot Wheels gave us a very cool release of this casting that was finished in a very dark metallic red. And it featured a black camouflage design. In my opinion, it is still a very good release, however, it's no lie that this one is right up there with it. And it all has to do with the decisions made for the exterior colors.
Instead of using another dull color, Hot Wheels decided to brighten things up by giving it a flat tan finish. The design was changed to brown. I think it's great how they decided to use an entirely different type of paint for this recolor. It's not often that we get a flat colored release of this casting. So being this type of finish, really helped to make it stand out from the other releases. And I feel it's refreshing to see one of these in a color that's not dull. Although... I guess some would consider dull colors to be the best for Batman's vehicles.
It's great how they decided to change the wheels too, however, I wish the rim was black instead of grey. The grey that was used, is the same one that was used for the red one's wheels. Additionally, if you take a look at some of the older releases of this casting, then you'd notice how they too have wheels that are painted with this grey. I know the id releases have wheels that are a different color, but that doesn't change the fact that most of the releases of this casting have grey painted wheels. So I think it would have been nice to finally see a non id version of this casting with a different colored wheel.
The recolor of the '17 Lamborghini Urus, is the seventh release that got checked off of my want list. In my opinion, Lamborghini's vehicles look great finished in just about any color. And white, which is what the designers chose for this release, is one of those colors. Now it might not be as flashy as the other two colors that were used for this casting, but I think it's an okay color for a Urus nonetheless.
I also think Lamborghini's vehicles look great with different colored interiors. So that brings me to the next thing I want to talk about. I have seen numerous pictures of white Lamborghinis with different colored interiors. So instead of giving it a black interior like the first two, I feel they should have used a different colored interior for this release.
To liven it up, I would have chose to give it a white interior. Now this isn't the only color that would have worked. Some might prefer the look of white with a red interior, while others might prefer the look of white with a beige interior. In my opinion, any one of those options would have been better.
As you can see, the designers chose to once again use chrome TRAP5s. These are fine, but I would have painted them black instead. Now there's nothing wrong with chrome wheels on a white SUV, I just like the look of white with black wheels.
Okay everyone, I'm going to stop this first part here. Be sure to check out part two, as it will cover the rest of what I wanted from this case. Also, feel free to let me know your thoughts on the releases featured in this post. Alright, that's all for part one. Until part two, happy collecting.
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