My Want List: 2022 Hot Wheels Case E - At Long Last

Hello everyone, welcome to another edition of My Want List. Every now and then, Hot Wheels will put together a mainline case that is packed full of must-have releases. And even though I get excited about these cases, I do tend to remain level-headed because I know it'll be somewhat tricky trying to find what I want. That said, after finding out what was in case "E," I knew right away that I'd have a hard time trying to complete my want list. Thankfully though, I was able to find most of what I wanted earlier this month, and I was even able to get an extra Glory Chaser to have on display. 

Although I was happy with what I found, I wasn't completely satisfied because I still needed to find seven more releases. Fortunately, it didn't take as long as I thought it would to find more of this case, although... it is worth mentioning that I still need to find one more. But I'm not disappointed because I was able to find the two that I thought I'd never see, as well as some other great releases. So with that being said, let's go over what I found.

I like replicas of modified vehicles just as much as I like stock looking vehicles, and that's why I was astonished by the Liberty Walk GT-R. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Overall, the casting was really well done, and it ended up being one of my favorite new castings from last year's mainline. I was also excited because it was a casting that featured a new real-life aftermarket company's product. So getting that GT-R made me want to see more castings designed with Liberty Walk's kits. And Hot Wheels has given me exactly what I wanted with the release of a brand-new S15 Silvia casting.

The Hot Wheels design team has definitely done a magnificent job turning Liberty Walk's re-creation of the Group 5 Silvia into a 1:64 scale model. And if this casting doesn't put the "Hot" in Hot Wheels, then I don't know what will.

I love when castings are designed with plastic headlights. It might be a small detail to some, but it's a big detail for me because I feel it looks way more realistic than a tampo light. Now, to my surprise, this casting was also designed with plastic tail lights. Noticing this made me appreciate this casting a lot more than I already did. Side-view mirrors are anther feature I like to see. So besides the licensed body kit, the additional features helped to create a ten out of ten casting, and I'm eager to see the next release of it.

I have to say, group 5 cars are starting to grow on me. They might have had wild and wide exteriors, but I feel that's what helped to make them so memorable. I guess you could say that it was their charm. Anyway, I'm now wanting to see more Group 5 castings, and it's thanks to castings this S15, as well as the GT Scorcher. I, for one, would love to see a Hot Wheels version of the BMW 320 and Ford Capri. So hopefully they think about doing those and more. 

Today, many of Toyota's old school cars continue to be very popular among automotive enthusiast. And AE86 Sprinter Trueno is definitely one of the stars of the show. Now, there are a few different ways one might have been introduced to this car. Maybe you were around when it first became available to buy, or maybe you became a fan of it thanks to Keiichi Tsuchiya. As for me, I got introduced to the car due to watching Initial D. In fact, that anime is what also introduced me to drifting. 

Back in 2006, Hot Wheels release their first AE86 casting, and it ended up not having that many releases. Fortunately, I was able to get some of them, and to this day, the Cars of the Decades release is still my favorite. Anyway, Hot Wheels has since decided to make a new version of this hatchback, and I remember how disappointed I was with their decision to make it a premium. Fortunately, they ended up adding it to the mainline, and that has made it so I've been able to get some of the casting's releases. And now I've gotten one more thanks to case "E."

The "red panda" is finally here! I know it doesn't have a complete two-tone color scheme, but I feel this release can still be called that. Now, there's been a few releases of this casting, but I think this is one of the better ones. Sure, the "panda" color scheme might be more popular, but white has already been used for this casting three times now. So I feel this one stands out like the Falken Tires themed one, and I'm extremely glad they didn't choose to do the same thing they did with the Salzburg themed 918. In other words, I'm glad they didn't make it one of this year's Red Editions.

The exterior color isn't the only design choice that I like. Sometimes, a recolor will have the same wheels as the initial release, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it is nice to see a recolor with different wheels. And not only did they just give it different wheels, they also gave it wheels that are a different color.

I'm very happy with the colors they picked for this year's mainline release of the AE86, however, I would love to see one that's not finished in the usual colors. So I propose the use of yellow or orange. In my opinion, those would be great colors for this casting, and it'd be refreshing to see something completely new. But I'm sure everyone will accept whatever color they pick for the next release. 

Like SUVs, station wagons are vehicles that I used to not pay attention to, and that has led to me missing out on the initial releases of awesome castings like the '70 Chevelle SS Wagon. Fortunately, Hot Wheels continues to use it, which is why I ended up with two releases in my collection. The 2016 Hot Wheels Garage release was my first one, and 2019 HW Flames release was my second one. Now, both of those are very nice releases, and I especially like the metallic brown that was used for the 2016 release. So even though I wanted to own more releases of it, I was completely satisfied with the two I had. Although, it is worth mentioning that I did end up wanting one of its older releases.

After I got the 2016 release, I decided to look up the casting so I could see all of the ones I missed. And the debut release is the one that immediately caught my attention because it was finished in blue. I might have been happy with the metallic brown one, but I definitely wanted to have a blue one. 

The casting ended up being used two years later, and despite being finished in blue, it was given a theme I didn't care for. So that left me wondering if I was going to have to try and get the debut release off of the secondary. And I honestly would have if it wasn't for this year's release.

It's not be the same blue that was used for the debut release, but this is exactly what I was hoping to eventually see. And not only did they just paint it blue, they also gave it a white stripe design, which is what the debut release also had. This release was also given chrome wheels like the one I was going to get. The interior color is the only thing that's different, but that's not something I care about.

This one features more decoration than the debut release, and I love it! I mean, if you're going to add stripes to a big ol' station wagon, then you might as well go all-out by decorating its roof and its sides.

As you already know, both of Mattel's diecast brands will sometimes give us the same vehicle, and it is interesting to see the differences between the two. Sometimes, both brands will create equally nice castings, but there has been a few times where one brand's version is better than the others. And a perfect example of that is seen with the Viper RT/10. I think we can all agree that the Matchbox version is hands down the better of the two. That isn't the only Matchbox casting that's better than a Hot Wheels version though. Another one is Matchbox's version of the Audi R8. Similar to the Viper, it too has the best proportions overall. 

So why did I talk about those two castings? Well, it's because I feel one casting will overshadow the other due to the name of the brand that designed it. And even if it's not as good as the other one, I feel it will be the one that's liked the most. Sometimes, it even seems like people will forget about one brand's casting when the other brand releases theirs. So that brings me to the 2020 Corvette C8, which is a car that's currently being made by both Matchbox and Hot Wheels. 

I can understand why the Super Treasure Hunt version would be difficult to find, but I didn't think it was going to be the same story with the regular version. I mean, it's not a bad looking casting, and I'll most likely add many of its future releases to my want list. But I honestly think the Matchbox one is the better of the two. Once again, I decided to make the overall proportions of the two castings my main focus. And when compared to the Matchbox casting, the one from Hot Wheels seems to be a little narrow. It's not as bad as the Hot Wheels Audi R8, but it's definitely noticeable to me. 

Many of you will disagree with me, and that's fine, but I think Hot Wheels should have left the street version of the C8 to Matchbox. Especially since they were already making the race car version of it. I guess I just can't understand why they've decided to make the street version as well. Take the BMW 2002 for example, both brands make it, but one makes a modified version, while the other makes a stock version. And I feel that's how things should be done when both brands decide to do the same car.

Now, as you know, the 2020 C8 was also available as a convertible. So if Hot Wheels was going to also do the street version, I feel they should have made that one instead. And if not that, then they could have made a version that has its roof panel removed. At the end of the day, either one of those options would have been better than doing the exact same car. 

Although I'll still get the Hot Wheels version, I do have to admit that the Matchbox casting is the one I'm going to look forward to the most each year. So hopefully they'll continue to use their casting for many years to come. Okay, let me get to the next release.

Last year's J-Imports set made me very eager to see what this year's set had to offer, and so far, I've liked what they've given us. Although, I'm still wondering why they chose to make the RX-7's design have the same color scheme as the design that was applied to the 2017 release. But that's neither her nor there. Anyway, this case has two more J-Imports releases, and I was able to talk about one of them in the first case "E" post I made. Well, I'm now able to talk about the second one, which is none other than the Honda S2000. I have to say, Ryu Asada designed many great castings, but the S2000 continues to be one of my favorites to this day.

Usually, I'd be disappointed if a release was finished in a color that's been recently used. You remember the Greddy one from 2020, right? Of course you do. Anyway, because this release is honoring the legacy of Ryu Asada, I have no issue with them choosing to use yellow again. After all, Hot Wheels decided to create an entire "Ryu Rides" collection within the mainline. So a yellow release of this casting was inevitable. Now, even though this release is technically a re-release of the first one, there are three main differences between them.  

Unlike this one, the first release was finished in a metallic yellow. The yellow used for this releases isn't bad at all, but I do kind of like the metallic yellow that was used for the older release more. The next difference is seen with the wheels. Both releases have the same wheels, but the first release's wheels were black with a yellow rim. And while I don't dislike how it looks with them, I do have to admit that I think the car looks better with chrome wheels instead. The third main difference has to do with the tampo details. Instead of an "R Asada" windshield banner, the designers chose to create the logo you see on this release's fenders. They also placed "R Asada" on its license plate section. 

I know it's not that big of a deal, but if it was up to me, I would have also added the windshield banner. I mean, this release is honoring his legacy after all, so I think they should have used some of his design ideas.

The Bone Shaker, Deora II, and the Twin Mill, are the three unlicensed castings that I feel could be the brand's mascots due to them having real-life counterparts as well. Now, all three of them are very nice castings, but the Bone Shaker is definitely my favorite. Since its creation, the Bone Shaker has had a plethora of beautiful basic and premium releases, and I do wish I had more of them. But the designers continue to make nice releases of it, so I've never felt the need to get one of the older releases off of the secondary. And this year's HW Dream Garage set has another nice one.

I didn't have to think twice about adding this release to my want list. Not only did they pick a great exterior and wheel color scheme, they also created a very cool design for it. I especially like the skull, which in my opinion, looks like something you'd see on the side of a WW2 era plane. It's also nice how they chose to decorate its hood. 

Well, those are the six case "E" releases I found. Like I said, I still need to find one more release, but I don't think it's as popular as the first two I talked about. So I should be able to eventually find it, and if not, then that's the way the cookie crumbles. 

So did you like any of the other case "E" releases besides the AE86, the S15, and the Corvette? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Alright, that's all I got for this edition of My Want List. Until next time, thanks for reading, and happy collecting. And remember, these are just toys.