Today On The Boulevard: 2022 Hot Wheels & 2022 Matchbox - Sharing What I Couldn't Find

Hello, and welcome to another edition of Today On The Boulevard. Sometimes, you just have to have a little patience when it comes to looking for that one last release. And once again, my patience was tested. Between July and August, there were many different Hot Wheels assortments released, and I was able to get most of what I wanted from each assortment. However, there ended up being three releases I just couldn't find no matter how hard I searched. There was also a new Matchbox Retro Series assortment, and it had a few releases that piqued my interest. But I wasn't able to find those, either.

There's been times where I've removed releases from my want list, but I decided to not give up on the ones I missed. After all, there's always a small chance a release could show back up later on. And that's exactly what happened with everything I missed.

Back in July, Hot Wheels released a Team Transport assortment, and I was able to find two of the three new releases from it. Now, in case you forgot, I only got one of them, and it was the HKS S15 Silvia. The other release was a "Ford Race Team"  themed '65 Ford Galaxie, and I chose to ignore it because I wasn't happy with its overall livery. Basically, I didn't like how it didn't have a racing number on it. If it was a drag car, then I would have had no issue with the decal on its doors. But that release is supposed to be a circuit car. That's why I feel it should have had a racing number on it. 

The third release was a Fleet Flyer paired with a second Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG replica. And it was the only other pairing I wanted from the assortment. It truly is astonishing how it was easier to find the HKS S15 Silvia. That's right, in my area, the Mercedes-Benz overshadowed the mighty JDM. In fact, at one point, I even came across five S15s at one store. Anyway, I'm glad I was able to finally find the other pairing I wanted.

The car this Fleet Flyer comes with is definitely a welcomed addition to my collection. However, the hauler is the main reason why I wanted to have this pairing. And I think you can clearly see why. For the longest time, RPM Starz has needed a better hauler, and this one is exactly what the team needed. Not only does it feature the team's colors, it also has absolutely no decals on it, and that makes it so it can be pair with any race car that's yellow. So had I found more, I most likely would have gotten an extra one to open.

Last month, a few different Hot Wheels assortments with Japanese vehicles showed up in my area, and I somehow managed to find most of them. I was even able to find the premium ones, too. But two of them proved to be very difficult to find, and I really wasn't expecting that to be the case. After all, there are way more mainline releases made than premium ones. In other words, they are a little more common than Hot Wheels' premium releases. So that's why I thought it would be a tad bit easier to find them, but I guess a JDM is still a JDM, and it doesn't matter how many are made. 

Now then, as you saw from my social media post, the Honda Super Cub is one of the releases I couldn't find, and I definitely wasn't expecting it to be that popular. I mean, I know it's a Honda, but it's not a Civic. So I thought it would eventually become a peg warmer.

There are may different reasons why someone would want this motorcycle, but for me, it was all about having at least one example of it. Sure, there'll most likely be one next year, but you never know how many there'll ultimately be. Remember the Ducati 1098R? The last time it was used was in 2013, and there ended up being a total of four different mainline releases. So for all we know, this casting could also only have a limited number of releases. That's why I never gave up on my quest to find it.

The second JDM that I couldn't find was the Nissan Skyline H/T 2000GT-X. And to be honest, I thought it'd be harder to find the new Liberty Walk 2000GT-R casting. But no, the mighty "Hakosuka" managed to overshadow a Libery Walk casting.

There's been many releases of this casting since its debut, and most of them were given some kind of racing themed design. Even the 2019 5-pack release had a racing design. Also, a lot of this casting's releases were either finished in white or black. So it's truly nice to see another one that's different. Okay, let's move on to the Matchbox releases I found.

I really wasn't impressed with the latest Retro Series assortment. Unlike past assortments, this one only had two releases that I wanted to get. Now, if it was there, then I probably would have also gotten the '76 Honda CVCC. But to be honest, I don't feel the need to have it. Sure, I'll admit that the casting look nice finished in silver. However, I think it looks much better finished in yellow.

Now then, between 2004 and 2005, Matchbox gave collectors a 1970 Plymouth Cuda and the Mitsubishi Eclipse Concept-E. Sadly, I missed all of the early releases of them both, and it's because I wasn't into Matchbox at that time. I also wasn't completely into Hot Wheels, either. Anyway, Matchbox chose to use both of the aforementioned castings for this year's Retro Series series, and I couldn't be happier because I've wanted to have more releases of them for some time now.

When I look up pictures of green Cudas on the internet, I mostly find pictures of ones that are finished in brighter versions of the color. Even Hot Wheels has used a lot of the brighter versions of green for their various Cuda releases. Although, there has been a few time where they used darker versions of the color, but I don't recall seeing one that was finished in this particular green. This also appears to be the first time Matchbox has used this particular green for this car. So I feel  they've created a release that stands out. And it truly is nice to finally have an example of a 1970 Cuda that's finished in a different version of green.

Unlike the Cuda, there's only been one other release of the Mitsubishi Eclipse since I got into Matchbox, and it was in last year's Retro Series. Now, since there hasn't been any recent mainline releases of it, I came to the conclusion that there probably wouldn't be any more. So I was very happy when I found out they were going to use it again. And that's why I didn't want to give up on looking for it.

Instead of giving collectors something new like they did with the Cuda, this release is basically a re-release of the one from 2009. So some of the diecast community might not like their decision, but I am because I really like how this car looks finished in orange. And unless it's a Lamborghini, we don't typically see orange used for licensed castings. I mean, I know there's been many orange releases in the last few years, but I feel they aren't as common as a red release. That's why this is now my favorite release.

Well, those are all of the Hot Wheels and Matchbox releases that I couldn't find when they first came out. It might have taken me weeks to find them, but it pays to never give up. Although... there have been many times where I did because it was five months later, and there was no sign of the release ever making it to the pegs. Anyway, I'm glad the hunt for these is finally over. Now I can get back to specifically looking for the latest releases from Hot Wheels and Matchbox.

So has it also taken you months to find one of this year's releases? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Alright, that's all for this edition of Today On The Boulevard. Until next time, thanks for reading, and happy collecting.