The wait for the next release of the BMW M3 E46 is finally over! I couldn't wait to see how the next one looked. And now that it's out, I'm very pleased with what I'm seeing. The first two releases of this casting are still very nice, but nothing beats the metallic blue that was used for this one. This is definitely the E46 I needed in my collection.
Besides the exterior color, I really like how they made the decision to give us another plain release. Not every Car Culture model has to have a flashy racing design. And this BMW, is one model that will always look good without one. Although... I will admit that it can look nice with one. After all, I do like how the Team Transport release looks with Eibach livery that was created for it.
Now I want to talk about the wheels. Once again, the designers chose to give this casting the 10-spoke wheels. I don't have an issue with them being used for this release, however, I do hope they aren't the only Real Rider wheels that will work for this casting. Personally, there are a few other ones that I feel would be great for this BMW. Remember the RRMC wheels that were used for the Euro Style cars? Well... that's one style of wheel that I'd like to see used for this BMW.
This Car Culture set also features two new castings. The Audi S4 Quattro is the first one, and the Mecedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG is the second one. I think it's safe to say that we're officially in a Hot Wheels EDM era, and I'm kind of glad. Classic American and Japanese made cars are nice, but it's about time we started getting some of the great classic cars from Europe. Alright, first I'm going to talk about the Audi, then I'll talk about the Mercedes.
When I first started seeing this Car Culture assortment on the pegs, the S4 Quattro was one of the ones that was left behind. I really couldn't understand why. I, for one, love all of the new Audi castings we've gotten from Mattel's diecast brands. Now, since this is a new casting, I want to make mention of a specific exterior feature that I like. You might already know what I'm talking about. But if you don't, then I'm talking about the side rear view mirrors. I think it's fantastic how the decision was made to incorporate them into this casting's design. This realism adding feature, is one of the things that I've liked about the newer castings.
You can probably guess what I like the most about this debut release. So I'm not going to go any further on that subject. On a side note, I do hope to eventually see a release that's finished in Imola yellow, which I feel is another nice color for this car.
As you can see, the designers chose to give this release the 6-spoke wheels. I actually really like this decision. Since the real car also has 6-spoke wheels, these were the best possible choice for this "Factory Fresh" looking release.
Collecting Hot Wheels continues to be a learning experience for me. Whenever a race themed casting is made, I will usually turn to the internet to see if it's based on anything. Not once have I ever claimed to be an expert, and a lot of these cars raced, and made history long before I was born.
So, what I learned, is that this release is based on an actual race car that is called the "red pig." It was built by a company that would ultimately become a subsidiary of Mercedes. I'm not going to lie, I though AMG was always apart of Mercedes, but from what I found out, it wasn't. Anyway, I'll leave the history articles to the pros, and all the other reviewers. I now want to go over how I feel about this piece.
Based on the pictures I found, Hot Wheels did a really good job with this release. Like most Hot Wheels replicas, it doesn't feature all of the decals that are seen on the real car. However, I do appreciate them adding the ones that they did. I only wish this replica also featured the AMG window banner.
The front and rear were also nicely decorated, and they even gave the trunk latches a tampo coating too. I think we can all agree that smaller details can make a huge difference when it comes to how great a model is. And all of the ones applied to this release, helped to make it a near perfect replica of the "red pig."
There's one last thing about this release I'd like to point out before I get to the last vehicle. If you take a look at the underside of this casting, you'll notice an interesting design choice. The exhaust is actually not apart of the base. This might be trivial to some, but I think it's a neat design.
The last, and probably most popular model from this assortment, is none other than the Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus. I'm very glad to have this release in my collection. And no, I'm not just saying that because it's a T1 Panel Bus. Like a lot of other Hot Wheels castings, this too is one of the ones that I don't have many of. I mean... I do have a few, but it's not as many as I'd like.
Since I don't speak German, I decided to look up the meaning of "RENNDIENST." This word basically translates to racing service. In fact, when you look up the word, you get image results of the Volkswagen Bus this release is based on. Now, I'm quite sure many of you already knew what this, but if you didn't, then like me, you learned something new. Like I said, Hot Wheels continues to be a learning experience for me.
There is one thing I would have done differently. Looking at pictures of the Volkswagen Bus this is based on, I noticed that it has white bumpers. With that being said, I would have gave this release a white base, which would have given it white bumpers like the real Bus. Besides that, this is a really good replica. It's definitely the perfect release for those of you that have a collection of Porsche race cars that are open and on display.
Well... that's all four of the releases I decided to get from this set. At the end of the day, this set isn't bad, and I really like it's theme. If they would have used a different Porsche, then this set would have been perfect.
So, did you decide to get all five of the models from this German themed assortment? Or did you only get certain ones? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Alright, that's all for this edition of My Want List. Till next time, thanks for reading, and happy collecting.
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