There are a lot of cool looking custom vehicles over in Japan, and some of them are a little more wild than others. But they have all led to the creation of some very cool diecast models. And the Raijin Express is one example of a wild vehicle that has led to a very cool diecast model. Of course, that's not the only wild custom JDM vehicle Hot Wheels has made. As you know, one of their other castings is the Mad Manga, and its latest release is the seventh one I had on my case D want list.
So... I might be wrong, but it seems like there isn't going to be a Race Team set in this year's mainline. Earlier this year, Hot Wheels released a Race Team themed Twinnin' 'N Winnin' in the Baja Blazers set, and now they've released this casting with a similar theme in the Contoured set.
Remember, I did want to have more Race Team themed releases in my collection. So the lack of a Race Team set in this year's mainline is a little disappointing. Hopefully there's going to be as many as there were in previous years. But if not, then I hope to see at least one more Race Team themed release, and hopefully it'll be a casting I want. Anyway, let me get back to this release.
In my opinion, there are certain designs that are perfect for certain custom cars. And I feel this particular Race Team design is perfect for a Bosozoku casting. Besides liking the design, the exterior color is another reason why I wanted this release. As you know, blue is my favorite color, and I missed the one from 2013. So I've spent all this time hoping they'd do another one finish in the color, and I like the shade that's used for the Race Team releases.
Do you remember the last release of the Custom '01 Acura Integra GSR? Sadly, I do, and it's a release I try to forget about. Yeah... that's how much I didn't like it. You might have had it on your want list, but I felt they ruined the casting with the design choices they made for it. I guess the red one wasn't as bad as the purple one, but I chose to ignore that one too. So I had my fingers crossed that the 2021 mainline would have a better looking one, but that ended up not being the case.
(Here's a picture of that shameful release.)
Fortunately, Hot Wheels chose to give us one in this year's mainline, and it is way better than the Speed Blur one.
Now this is what I'm talking about! A nice custom exterior color, a simple stripe, and a decal stack on the doors is exactly what I like to see when is comes to a tuner car like this. I especially like how it features real-life aftermarket companies. This style of design is why the Wings West themed Civic is one of my favorite releases of that old casting. So it'll most likely be the same story with this release. In other words, it'll be one of my favorite releases of it for many years to come.
The Integra isn't the only J-Imports release in this case. Also arriving from Japan is the Mazda RX-7, and it's not a bad looking release either. Although... I do kind of question one of the design choices made for it. Of course, it's nothing as bad as that Speed Blur Integra.
So what's the design choice I'm questioning? Well, it's the colors they picked for the design. I'm sure you all remember how the 2017 release was also finished in blue, and it too featured a blue stripe design. And the colors they picked for it were basically the same as the ones picked for this release's design. So even though there's nothing wrong with this year's release, I do have to admit that I'm puzzled by their decision to make it have it feature a similar color scheme. At the end of the day though, there is nothing wrong with having two similar colored RX-7s.
Now, I don't like assuming things, but I'm going to assume that you also like the additional decals that were applied to this year's release. In my opinion, having them makes this blue one slightly better than the last blue one. But custom cars don't always have to have decals, right? So I could totally understand why someone would like the 2017 release a little more.
The '69 Copo Corvette was the vehicle I picked for White Booth Wednesday #126, and one of the things I said was that I only had two releases of it. Well, for some reason, I totally forgot about the one I got from the Corvette 5-pack. So I actually had a total of three different releases. Anyway, that doesn't change the fact that I still don't have as many releases of this casting as I'd like. So I can say that I was stoked to see a release of it in this year's mainline.
This release does feature a color scheme that's somewhat similar to the one I picked for a White Booth Wednesday post. So to be honest, I would have preferred to see one with a different color scheme. But I'm not going to complain because I think this one is slightly better than the blue one I had. And it's all thanks to how decorated it is overall. The additional decals also contributed to how I feel about it.
Ultimately, like the RX-7, there's nothing wrong with having two similar colored Copo Corvettes. I'm just happy to have another release of it in my collection.
It's no lie that Hot Wheels gave us some fantastic models in last year's Factory Fresh mainline set, and five out of the ten were new castings. It also featured an updated version of the Civic Si. So if I had to score it, I'd give last year's Factory Fresh set a ten out of ten. And I'll most likely feel the same way about this year's set.
The Mercedes-Benz 500 E is one of the castings that made its debut in last year's Factory Fresh set, and in case you didn't know, I ended up getting an extra silver one to have on display. So that should tell you that it was one of my favorites. With that said, I think you can imagine how happy I was when I found out we were going to get another Factory Fresh release of it.
Magnificent! That's the only thing I can truly say about this release. Initially, I though the first two were going to be the ones I'd liked the most. Basically, I considered black and silver to be two of the classiest colors for a classy car like this. But who says this shade of red can't be a classy color too? I, for one, think this car looks outstanding finished in the color.
Now I'm eager to see the next color they pick for it. Personally, I'd love to see one finished in the same green that was used for the Integra. Metallic white is another potential color they could use. No matter what they pick though, it'll most likely be another release added to my want list.
Like I said at the start of this post, there was one release I had a hard time finding. And you might be shocked to learn that it was the 2009 Ford F-150. That's right, it was a HW Metro pickup truck.
In my area, trying to find this release was like trying to find a Treasure Hunt, and I really don't see why. Maybe I'm just missing something. I mean, it is a nice release, but I didn't think it was that nice. In fact, it wasn't even initially on my list due to the Goodyear decal being so big. But my opinion of it changed after I had some time to think about it. Basically, I started to think that this this release looked like a vehicle you'd see at an automotive show.
The tailgate is one of the sections I'd like to put the spotlight on. Why is that? Well, it's because the designers chose to decorate it. Since this is a mainline release, they could have left it plain, but I'm glad they chose to continue the stripe, as well as add the Goodyear logo.
Okay, that's all twelve of the releases I had on my case D want list. I'm sure many of you had more on your want list than I did. I'm also sure many of you wanted that cartoonish looking Batmobile. I saw it, but I had no interest in getting it. And I currently have no desire to ever have it in my collection.
So how did you feel about the releases from case D? Did you have a specific favorite? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Alright, that's all for this two-part edition of My Want List. Until next time, thanks for reading, and happy collecting. And remember, these are just toys.
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