"Chevy Bel Air" is a new series that was created for this year's mainline, and it features five outstanding releases of great castings. One of those castings is the '55 Bel Air Gasser, and it's a replica of an actual car that's owned by a Hot Wheels designer. Like his car, the Hot Wheels release was also finished in green. So many of you will like that one the most, but there's a reason why I think the case "F" recolor of it is better.
Sure, the first one is more accurate, but they've already used a few different versions of green for this casting. In fact, they just used the color for last year's release. But I guess some of you wouldn't care because that one was finished in a much brighter green. Anyway, I really like when a casting is finished in a color that's never been used for it before. And from what I can gather, this is the first time they've used an actual purple for this casting. So that's why I think this is the better of the two releases.
One of the interesting releases from case "A" was a casting called the "Mighty K," and it's basically an unlicensed casting that depicts a modified kei truck. Overall, it was a very nice release release. It was finished in white, and it featured some nice tampo details. Now, like the Gasser, this too has a case "F" recolor that I feel is better than the first one.
I'm sure nobody really has an issue with white being used for a kei truck, but I feel it's the typical color you'd see these finished in. Take the Subaru Sambar from Matchbox for example. Although this year's release of it features a design, it was still finished in white like the second release. Now, I know there's only been one white release of the Mighty K, so I'm not going to complain too much. But I know for a fact that there's going to be many more releases of it that are white. I mean, just look at the current AE86 casting. White has already been used for it three times. So I feel this could end up being the most unique release of the Mighty K.
One of the stars of case "A" was none other than the white AE86, and I'll admit that it was one of my favorite releases from the case. However, it wasn't the only highlight from that case. One of the other great releases was the new Porsche 935. Now, in case you didn't know, Porsche made it so their customers had the option to pick an iconic livery for their 935. And I like how Hot Wheels used the Momo livery for the debut release their casting.
In the post I made for case "A," I said that I was hoping to see the other six liveries used for this casting. At the time, I though I was going to have to wait till next year to see another one, but to my delight, Hot Wheels has decided to give us another one this year. And this time, it features the John Player Special livery.
The Momo themed one looked great, but my gosh, this Porsche looks absolutely stunning finished in black. So I'm glad they were able to use this livery. Now I'm curious to see if they're able to legally use any of the other liveries. I, for one, hope they're able to because I'd really like to see one with the Salzburg livery, and I'm sure most of you would love to see a Gulf themed one. So let's keep our fingers crossed.
It might not have been one of the highlights from case "A," but one of the cool releases was the '19 Mercedes -Benz A-Class. As you know, the release is blue with a white stripe, and it has white wheels. The exterior color is something I'd expect to see, but I never thought about how a blue Mercedes would look with white wheels. In my opinion, that's a color scheme you'd expect to see on a car like the Impreza. But Hot Wheels has showed me just how cool the car would look with that exterior and wheel color scheme. And now, they've showed me how cool it'd look with another color scheme.
I'm sure there are many people that have them, but I have only ever seen one yellow Mercedes-Benz driving around. I usually see this manufacturer's vehicles finished in black, white, silver, and grey. So it's nice to see something a little different.
What was done to the exterior isn't the only design choice that I like. In my opinion, recolors are even better when the wheels are different, and the designers chose to give this release different wheels. Now, if it was up to me, I would have given this release all black wheels. But I have absolutely no issue with them choosing to use multi-colored ones for this release. After all, they contribute to it being something different.
I don't know about you, but I really like this metallic maroon they've decided to use for Batman's vehicles. It's such a great color, and I hope to see it used for the other Batmobile castings too. I'd especially love to see the latest Batmobile finished in the color. So hopefully the license allows them to do that. Anyway, this recolor is fantastic, which is why I was a little shocked at fast it became the peg warmer. In my area, there's a plethora of these sitting on the pegs at the various Targets. I guess I'm just a part of a small group that likes these different colored Batmobiles.
I had a very hard time trying to find one of the releases from this year's case "B," and you might just remember which one it was. If not, then you should know that it was the Retro Racers release of the '87 Ford Sierra Cosworth. Yeah... I'm trying not to think about how many days it took me to find it. Anyway, this year's release of it is very cool because it features a livery that is based on the Texaco livery that's seen on real car. And I'm going to assume that that is why it wasn't easy to find. Now, the decision was made to give collectors recolor of it, and I decided to get it.
To be honest, I still think the first release is better, but I can't deny how cool this one is. Although... I do kind of wish they would have saved this particular blue for a future release that was plain. If it was up to me, I'd make a blue one with gold wheels. Anyway, if you're a fan of the Hot Wheels Race Team theme, then you probably think this is the better of the two releases due to its overall color scheme. Sure, this blue is much darker than the blue that's typically used for those releases, but it's still blue and orange. So I'd have to agree that this is the better looking "Hot Wheels" themed release. However, the overall theme is based on the Texaco livery, so that's why I still like the first release more.
For many collectors out there, the '99 Honda Civic Type R (EK9) is the star of this case, and I'll admit that it's a nice release. But I happen to think the star of this case is actually the new Nissan Z Proto. I honestly thought it was going to be extremely difficult to find, but that wasn't the case. In fact, I've come across this new casting more times than the Civic. I guess nothing can overshadow a legendary JDM like the EK9.
I have to say, this is a very nice 1:64 scale replica of Nissan's new Z, and I like how they were able to incorporate side-view mirrors into its design. But the mirrors aren't the only great thing about this casting. The real car is seen with a black roof, and I love the design choice that was made to give this casting an accurate looking roof section. Instead of having to use a tampo detail, which could have had alignment issues, this casting's entire roof section is its window piece.
This first release also has a nice amount of tampo details, and I especially like how they added a yellow tampo to the front of its base. They could have left it plain, since it is a small area of this casting, but they didn't, and I'm glad. Any additional details are always a welcomed sight.
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on this year's release of the EK9, and as I've already said, it's a nice release. After all, it's finished in yellow, which is a color that was available for the real Type R.
Although it's nice to see releases of this casting that are finished in Type R colors, I do think it'd be great to see some that are not. And no, blue is not the only color I'd like to see used for this casting. In my opinion, this casting would look fantastic finished in the metallic green that was used for this year's release of the Integra. So hopefully they'll think about using some different colors next year.
I don't always like all of the castings that are picked to be Treasure Hunts, but there have been a few times where they've picked a casting I like. When that happens, I will usually try to keep an eye out for the release, even though it's not on my want list. So with that being said, the case "F" Treasure hunt, which is the '17 Jeep Wrangler, is a release I decided to try and find. And to my surprise, I was able to find a bunch of them.
To be honest, I wasn't initially going to pay much attention to the Mud Studs series, and the reason for that is because I didn't care too much for the muddy appearance they gave these releases. I also didn't like the brown wheels. But I started to pay more attention to the series after I got my hands on the Toyota Land Cruiser 80. It might have had mud splatters on it, but I liked its overall design. So if not for that release, I would have overlooked this Jeep, and I would have regretted it in the future because I do like the orange they picked for it.
There were a few other releases that I checked off of my want list, but I've decided to save them for a White Booth Wednesday post. Doing so will keep this post from being way too long. So be sure to visit each of those post to see my thoughts on the other releases I got from this case.
Okay, what was your favorite release from this case? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Alright, that's all for this edition of My Want List. Until next time, thanks for reading, and happy collecting. And remember, these are just toys.
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