Sunday, October 23, 2022

My Want List: 2022 Matchbox And Hot Wheels - Cool Rubber Tire Releases

Hello, and welcome to another edition of My Want List here on the Star Boulevard of Speed. Like you, I also pay attention to each of the premium assortments that are released. Sometimes, I want the whole assortment, while other times there's only one or two releases that I want. So despite being the hardest releases to find, I will sometimes add a premium release or two to my want list. Of course, I don't really expect to find any of them. But there has been many times where I was able to chance upon them, and it's always exciting when that happens. And recently, I was able to chance upon some of the latest premium releases from Matchbox and Hot Wheels. So with that being said, let's get this post started!

I really haven't had that much luck with Matchbox's Collectors Series. Usually, the assortments never last that long on the pegs like the various Hot Wheels premium assortment. And that's why you haven't seen me talk about any of the releases that I like. Fortunately, I had a bit of luck this time around with the latest assortment. So I was able to see all of the new releases. Now, even though I found all of them, there were only two releases that I wanted, and the first one is the Drag Beetle.


Yeah... I'm sure this is going to be the one release everyone wants. I mean, why wouldn't it be? After all, it's a Volkswagen. As for me, I have no interest in how popular a certain casting is, and I'm sure a lot of you feel the same. In fact, I'm sure many of you also wanted to have at least one example of this casting in your collection too. Now, it's not like I don't have any other drag cars in my collection, it's just I don't have many of the castings that feature a body that lifts up. That's why I had to have this release.


Now that I'm able to see how this casting actually looks, I can honestly say that it's not bad. However, I also have to admit that there is one feature that's bothering me, and its the mechanism that allows its body to lift up. In my eyes, its design is a little odd, and I do kind of think it takes away from how awesome this casting could have been. At one point, Hot Wheels had their own version of a drag Beetle that featured a body that opened, and it didn't have a huge boxy feature on the back of it. So I feel Matchbox should have taken Hot Wheels' design into consideration when they wanted to create a way for this casting to have a body that lifts up. Ultimately, I'm still glad to have one of these, so I can kind of ignore the back of it.


Lately, Matchbox has given us back-to-back classic car releases, and I could be happier because I love being able to have decent stock looking examples of vehicles from a bygone era. And one classic car that I've really enjoyed being able to collect from Matchbox is the Plymouth Savoy. Now, I knew there was going to be another release of it in this year's Matchbox mainline, but I definitely wasn't expecting to see a second one in this year's Collectors Series too.


This example of the Plymouth Savoy is truly something I thought I'd never see. After all, this is Matchbox, and I'm not used to seeing them turn stock looking American classics into drag cars. Usually, that's something I'd expect from Hot Wheels. But I can honestly say that I am very pleased with their decision to do what the other brand normally does with their classic American cars. And I'm not opposed to seeing this done more often. In my opinion, the Matchbox designers are more than capable of making racing liveries that are just as good as the ones that are created by the Hot Wheels designers. Of course, I still want to see stock looking premium releases, but I think it'd be great to have a racing themed one like this every now and then. 


This release also has a nice amount of front and rear tampo details, and I really like how they added "BEAST" to its license plate section. I also like how they painted its grill as well as the areas around its tail lights black.


Ultimately, I still like the first two releases a little more, but that's simply because they are plain examples of this beautiful American classic. But I can't deny how awesome this drag race themed release is, and it's definitely going to be featured in the 1:64 Scale GT's auto museum. Okay, let's move on to the one Hot Wheels premium release I got.

Last month, Hot Wheels released an Entertainment assortment that had five cool releases in it. But like the latest Matchbox Collectors Series assortment, there were only two releases that I wanted. Sadly though, I was only able to find one of them. Now, I'm sure you already know which release I couldn't find, so there's no reason to really talk about it. And to be honest, it's not the one I absolutely had to have. I only added it to my want list because it's a new casting. But I already knew it'd be the one release that I couldn't find if the assortment ever made it to the pegs. So I'm not disappointed at all, and how could I be? After all, I was able to find the release I wanted the most, which is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI.


There's been a few Forza themed premium releases now, and I think this is one of the best ones. In fact, I think it's a little better than the Forza themed S15 Silvia. I mean, just look at this release! Like many of you, I was also pleased with the first release of this casting, since it was plain. But I was hoping to eventually see one with a design on it. And I have to say, they have definitely blown me away with the design choices that were made for this release. I especially like how the Tommi Makinen stripe was used as an inspiration for this release's stripe. Oh, and I also really like how it has a California license plate that says "GAMER." 


Since the first release of this casting was given the 10-spoke wheels, I thought the next one would either have the 5-spoke or 6-spoke Real Rider wheels. Now, either one of those would have been a great choice for this release, but I think it's cool how they chose a smaller BBS LM style wheel with a bigger tire. In my opinion, this design choice will help to make this release stand out for many years. Although... I guess there could be another one with these wheels. But even if there is, I feel this particular release will still be one of the best ones.


Well, I think you already know the next release I'm going to pick for this month's edition of Best On The Block. And who knows, I might also pick one of the Matchbox releases too. But you'll just have check out the post at the end of the month to see. 

So how do you feel about the releases I talked about today? Do you like one of them more than the others? Go ahead and let me know your thoughts down in the comments section. Okay, that's all for this edition of My Want List. Until I find more releases, thanks for reading, and happy collecting!

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