I think we all love when Hot Wheels decides to give us a new premium casting, and that's exactly what they did when they put this assortment together. With that said, making it's debut is the Baja Bouncer, which is an unlicensed trophy truck. I'll be honest, I usually prefer to only see licensed castings used for the Car Culture series. But I have no problem with an unlicensed casting being used when it looks as realistic as this one. And I'm sure they used an actual vehicle as a inspiration for it's design. I say that because at first glance, you'd think it was a licensed trophy truck.
I, for one, love when Hot Wheels decides to do matching releases, and I think a lot of you do too. I mean how could you not? Anyway, this release was given the same Lucas Oil livery that was applied to last year's Wild Terrain release of the '67 Off Road Camaro. I actually quite liked the livery when I first saw it, and I thought it was going to be a one and done thing. So I'm honestly glad to see another release with it. I also think it's great how they chose to use the same decals, as well as the same wheels. Both of these design choices helped to further make this release match the Camaro.
Since it looks like this is going to be one of the liveries that's used, I feel it'd be cool if we eventually got a Team Transport hauler to go with these. As for the vehicle, maybe they could do use the '70 Old 442 that was used for the 2019 Desert Rally Car Culture assortment. Ultimately, I can't wait to see the next release that's sponsored by Lucas Oil, Fiftenn52, and Borla Exhaust.
You all remember the Super73 sale, right? You know, the one where you got a Ford Bronco R if you bought their bike. Yeah... I definitely wasn't going to buy one of their bikes just to add the aforementioned casting to my collection. At the time, I was a little disappointed because I thought it was only going to be used for special releases. But I should have known that wasn't going to be the case. And I'm glad because it's such a awesome looking vehicle.
Based on the pictures I've seen of the real vehicle, I'd say this is a really good replica. And I'm not just talking about the casting itself either. What I'm also talking about is the livery, which is based on the one applied to the real Bronco R. I do wish they were able to add all of the decals, but I'm happy with the ones they could. It's also nice how the decals were accurately placed, although... BFGoodrich was placed just a tab bit higher, but that doesn't matter to me.
As stellar as this release is, I do have one small issue with it. What I don't like is how the wheels are all black. If it were up to me, I would have made the rim section of the wheels red. Doing so would have made this 1:64 scale replica a little more accurate. I know for a fact they could have done that because the Power Trip release of the '87 Buick GNX was given gold 8 DOT wheels with a chrome rim.
Besides my little issue with the wheels, this is still a ten out of ten release. And I'm happy I didn't have to buy the Super73 bike just to have one of these in my collection.
Earlier this month, I published a My Want List post where I talked about the releases I wanted from this year's mainline case P. One of the releases I got was a red Ford SVT Lightning. In that post I talked about how I wasn't able to get the premium version of the truck, but I didn't care because I was happy with the mainline version. Despite being satisfied with it, I was still wondering if I was ever going to have at least one release of the premium version. Well, the wait is finally over thanks to fact that I was able to find this entire assortment.
Like I said in my case P post, the mainline one is a great alternative this one, and I still feel that way. But I have to admit that this premium one is a tad bit better due to it's proportions.
Now then, as for how I feel about this particular release, I can honestly say that I like how they've decided to make it plain. I mean, I wouldn't have had an issue with it being given a design, but I definitely like having a plain release of this version that's finished in a nice color. I might still prefer red, but this truck looks a-okay finished in silver.
There's been so many European vehicles released lately that one might ask if JDM castings are still a thing? Well, they most certainly are, and this assortment features one that I'm very happy to see. Finally, Hot Wheels has given us another release of the '75 Datsun Sunny Truck (B120). I was wondering what they'd chose to do for it's next release, and I can say that I'm pleased with the design choices made for this one. It's not plain like the first one, but that's totally fine by me because I quite like the design that was applied to this one.
So as you can see, this release features a great amount of decoration, and I love all of the additional decals. It's also nice how they decided to decorate the tailgate as well.
There's one more detail I'd like to shine the spotlight on, and it's seen on the front of this truck. In some of my older post, I've made mention of how I love seeing custom license plates applied to these little vehicles. I know it's a small detail, but having one can make a diecast release look even cooler than it already does. And that's how I feel about this release having a plate that says "DAT SUNY."
When it comes to a future release with a design, I feel it'll be hard to top this one. I mean, I'm sure I'll have positive things to say about it if I like it, but this one will always be one of my favorites after the debut release.
Okay, the last release from this assortment in the '20 Jeep Gladiator. I was quite surprised to see a premium version of this casting. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to ever be a premium, but it's nice that it is! After all, that means we'll get some outstanding releases with their awesome off-road Real Rider wheels.
Overall, I think this is a really nice release, and I definitely like it more than this year's mainline release. And yes, that includes the one finished in blue. Anyway, one of the interesting things about this release is how they chose to paint the doors black. I'm not sure if they were trying to go for a carbon fiber look, so I'm not going to assume that by saying that's what they did. But what I can say is that I think it was a neat idea to make the doors a different color.
Now this release does feature some additional decals, which are a little hard to see. So for those interested, the companies featured on this releases are as follows: Fifteen52, Eibach, and Bell. As you know, Bell makes all kinds of racing helmets. So because of this casting's dirt bikes, I feel adding that decal was a nice touch.
I should also mention that I like the color they chose for the wheels. In my opinion, this particular gold goes great with the green that was picked for this release's exterior.
Alright, that's all five of the trucks from this assortment. I have to say, they really did a good job with these. Now do I have a specific favorite? The answer is no. I can honestly say that I like all of them equally.
So how do you feel about these? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Okay, that's all for this edition of Looking At. Till the next assortment, thanks for reading, and happy collecting. And remember, these are just toys.
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