The first car for this post, is the '67 Camaro that is apart of the 2020 Hot Wheels Flames mainline set. This is still one of my favorite Camaro castings from Hot Wheels. And the main reason for that, is due to the side exhaust. Some collectors might not like how it no longer features an opening hood, but that's not an issue for me. Personally, I'm just glad this casting is still getting releases.
This particular release, may end up being one of my top five favorite releases of it. Like always, there are a few aspects that I like. Now as you might know, flame paint jobs are one of the many car customizations that I like. And I feel, the Hot Wheels designers once again did a great job making a flame design. The overall design, which starts out on the hood, is a combination of flames and stripes. This design, utilizes orange and yellow for it's colors. One design decision that I like, is how they made the hood stripes connect to the stripes on the fenders. On the sides, is where the flames are. With this section of the design, I like how they made the side stripes turn into flames.
The design featured on this casting, was enough to make this a must get for me, but that's not the only thing that I liked about it. The exterior color also played a huge role in making me want this release. For this release exterior color, the Hot Wheels designers decided to use a copper like brown. This color combines marvelously with the colors used for the flames. Also contributing to me liking this release, are the wheels, which are the Hot Wheels MC5s finished in gold. Though chrome wheels might've been better, there's no denying how cool this release looks with gold wheels.
Up next, is the jaw dropping McLaren Senna that is apart of the 2020 Hot Wheels Nightburnerz mainline set. This is one of those castings that makes me appreciate diecast companies like Hot Wheels. It's nice to be able to have a stunning 1:64 scale model of this car to look at. As you all know, this is the third release of this casting. And I like how they're all finished in great colors. This third release, was finished in white. I'll be honest, I still like the first color the most due to it being blue. However, that doesn't mean white is a bad color for this car.
One of the aspects of this release that I like, is how it features the same front and rear tampo details as the first two. Although I wish it could've also featured head lights. Like the first releases, this too has a McLaren emblem on the front and rear. Also featured on the rear, are tail lights. One thing that makes this better than the orange one from last year, are the 10SP wheels. The orange one featured the Hot Wheels PR5s, which aren't bad, but the 10SPs are closer to the wheels used on the real car. The only difference is the spoke count. The real wheels have nine spokes, which is only one less spoke than these wheels from Hot Wheels. At the end of the day, this is a very nice model, and it should definitely be on your want list.
Up next, is the recolor of the '19 Corvette ZR1 Convertible that's apart of the 2020 Hot Wheels Factory Fresh Mainline assortment. There are a few reasons that I put this one on my want list. First and foremost, is it's exterior color. This release's exterior was finished in a dark blue that looks absolutely fantastic on this casting. Though I like this blue a lot, I won't deny that I still don't have a specific favorite between this and the orange one. To be honest, this car would most likely look great finished in any color.
The next reason, has to do with the wheels. Sometimes, it's nice to see recolors featuring different wheels. Having different wheels than the first color, almost makes it look like a second release instead of a recolor. The first release was given black PR5s, while this release was given grey OH5s. Though the PR5s are closer in looks to the real car's wheels, I won't lie when I say that I like how this casting looks with the OH5s. Although the shade of grey that was used for them combines nicely with the exterior color, I do feel black OH5s might've looked even better. This of course, is just something that came to mind. At the end of the day, this is a very welcomed addition to my collection.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this review, this case features multiple new releases. With that said, the next car is the brand new McLaren Speedtail. This car is simply beautiful, and I'm happy to see a Hot Wheels casting of it. Lots of exotic cars have numerous aerodynamic body features, which is all fine and dandy. But what I like about the Speedtail, is how simple it's body looks. I feel the same way about the Lamborghini Murcielago. One of the interesting facts that I found out about this car, is how it's able to reach 186 MPH in just 13 seconds. The only thing that comes to mind, is the Hot Wheels slogan ''beat that!'' In fact, a car this fast, is right at home in the Hot Wheels line up.
In my opinion, this first release from Hot Wheels was executed perfectly. It's exterior was finished in one of my favorite shades of light blue. Additionally, it also appears to be based on an actual color for this car. The wheels are another thing that makes this a great release. The Hot Wheels designers made this 1:64 scale replica match the real car by giving it two different wheels. The front features the Hot Wheels Aero Disks, while the back features the 10SPs. The back wheels are actually very accurate, as the real Speedtail's wheels are ten spokes.
Completing this model off nicely, are the small tampo details that were added. The only detail on the front is the McLaren emblem. The back half of this release is where most of the details are. From what I can tell, the real car has a brake light that is placed vertically over the engine. This detail was thankfully added to this Hot Wheels release. The rear end, features tail lights as well as the McLaren emblem.
Featured next, is the majestic 2020 Koenigsegg Jesko, which as you all know, is another one of the debuting cars from this case. In terms of exotic cars from Hot Wheels, recent times have been great. And finally, Hot Wheels is giving us the chance to add another car from Koenigsegg to our collections. Before this casting, all we had from Koenigsegg was the Agera R. I really hope Mattel gets to keep the license to use this companies name, which would make it so we could end up getting more of their cars.
Now obviously, I haven't seen an actual version of this car. So I ultimately had to use Google images as a reference. Based on the pictures I'm seeing, the actual car appears to be a brighter shade of silver than the one that was used for this release. In fact, I'm not even sure if the real car is silver or not, as I'm seeing articles talking about how Koenigsegg used 34 layers of paint for it's exterior. This paint difference however, in no way detracts from how good this model is, and to be honest, the silver that Hot Wheels used doesn't look bad.
Contributing to how nice this first model is, are the tampo details. Most of these details are seen on the top half of this model. Like the real car, this too features accurately placed grey stripes. I also like how they are accurately continued on the roof. Just in front of where the stripes start, is a thin green stripe that outlines the vent. Realism was added to the vents over the front wheels by adding a black tampo coating over them. The wing, was also given some additional little tampo details. The last of the details on the front half of this car's top, are head lights, and the Koenigsegg emblem. Though this car doesn't feature tail lights, it does however feature this car's exhaust. This was achieved by applying a silver tampo onto the rear. The name of the company was placed underneath the exhaust.
The last thing that's cool about this model, is how it was given the Hot Wheels OH5 wheels. Being five spoke, helps to bring this model closer in looks to the real thing. The wheel color is the only thing I would've done differently. Instead of making them chrome, I would've made them all black. But that's just me. Overall, each feature of this first release, which also includes the chrome OH5s, helped to turned this model into a 1:64 scale masterpiece.
Alright... the next vehicle for this review, is the 2020 Ram 1500 Rebel that's apart of the 2020 Hot Wheel Hot Trucks mainline set. This is another casting that's debuting in case N. Like I've mentioned in a past post, I wasn't always into pickup trucks. As such, I will gladly add any release I can to my collection. The way this casting was designed, is what I like the most about this model. What I'm getting at, is how this pickup is constructed out of multiple pieces. A perfect example of this, is the hood vents. Instead of being shaped into the hood, this model's hood vents appear to be apart of the interior piece. This in my opinion, gives this 1:64 scale Ram 1500 very realistic looking hood vents.
Flame red, is one of the many colors that's currently available for this model's real life counterpart. And I like how the Hot Wheels design team decided to use it for this release's exterior. The details on this pickup truck, are only on the front and rear. The front was given head lights, and a silver ''RAM'' grill emblem. The rear features tail lights, as well as some addition features seen on the tailgate of the real thing. The raised letters on this castings tailgate, were given a black tampo coating. Featured on the real tailgate, is a rebel emblem that's black with a silver outline. This emblem was marvelously replicated on the tailgate of this model. The last detail on the tailgate, is a black ''4X4'' emblem.
The OEM wheels on the real truck, have six spokes. Hot Wheels currently does not have an off-road basic wheel that looks similar to the OEM wheels. As such, they decided to use their beadlock wheels with chrome added. I have no issue with this wheel choice, as I think we can all agree that they look great on this model. And it's not like folks don't get aftermarket wheels for their pickup truck. For those of you that like to do wheel swaps though, you might be able to get more of a realistic look by changing the wheels to the Off-Road Real Rider 6SP wheels.
One of the things that I currently like about Hot Wheels, is how they're starting to release cars from the '90s. And that brings me to the '96 Chevy Impala SS. This debut model, was placed in the 2020 Hot Wheels Nightburnerz mainline set. To be honest, I never though I'd see a Hot Wheels version of this car. One things for sure though, it's nice to see a new older American car. One of the downsides to this first release, is how it wasn't given tail lights. It was however given front and side details. Featured on the front, are head lights and a silver Chevy emblem. It's sides feature the Impala emblem as well as the ''Impala SS'' letter emblem.
Details aside, I like how the Hot Wheels designers decided to make this first release black. Personally, this is one of those vehicles that I feel, looks the best when painted a certain color. It's similar to how I feel about black on a Range Rover or blue on a Impreza. For me, black on this car just works. Of course it was also one of the main colors that was available for the real life counterpart. Me liking this color the most, doesn't mean that I won't like any potential future color release. In fact, I would love to see this casting finished in one of the other colors that was available for the real '96 SS. In my opinion, the next release should be finished in dark cherry metallic.
I really like Hot Wheels releases that feature wheels similar to the real life counterparts wheels. As such, adding realism to this Impala SS, are the Hot Wheels 5SPs finished in chrome. Like these wheels, the real car's OEM wheels were five spoke. All in all, the Hot Wheels designers did a great job with this casting. And if you can look past it not having tail lights, it is a great addition to any collection.
Up next, is the recolor of the '19 Chevy Silverado Trail Boss that's apart of the 2020 Hot Wheels Hot Trucks mainline set. The initial color release for this year, was white with a black stripe. This recolor was changed to black with a white stripe. The Hot Wheels logo was also changed to white. There are two decals that didn't get a color change. The first one is the Belltech decal, which is still red. The second one, is the grey Silverado decal that's within the side stripe.
The wheels are another feature that's the same as the first color release. Like the white one, this too was given grey beadlock wheels. Even though I don't have a problem with the wheel choice, it would've been nice to see this re-release with some different wheels. Just to throw an ideas out there, the OR5SPs finished in chrome might've looked really good on this release. Aside from my little issue, this is still a really solid release, and I feel you should also add this to your collection.
The next vehicle, is another recolor. This time, it's the McLaren P1. As most of you know, this casting has had two other color releases. The first one, was a marvelous teal. The Second one, being a Target exclusive Red Edition, was white and red. And this one, was given a dark grey satin finish. Like matte, I also feel Hot Wheels cars that features satin finishes are unique. I mean... most Hot Wheels releases are either gloss or metallic. I also like how base color is black. This in turn, made this release have a dark grey and black exterior color scheme. Even though I prefer brighter colors on exotic cars, there's no denying the fact that dark colored exotics are just as stunning.
Unlike the first color release for this year that had grey PR5s, this P1 release was given the 10SPs. As cool as this model looks with the PR5s, I personally prefer the ten spoke wheels. These wheels not only look like the real car's wheels, they also have the same spoke count as well. As such, I feel each P1 release with them, looks slightly closer to the real car. I also really like how the Hot Wheels designers decided to make the wheels black. Black wheels combine nicely with the exterior color scheme.
The next car is the Aston Martin One-77 that's apart of the 2020 Hot Wheels Exotics mainline set. This release also has a ID chase version available. But you know me, I don't make those kind of releases a priority. This regular version is good enough for me, and there are a few reasons for that. The obvious reason is the color, which is a wonderful shade of red. As you already know, I love brighter colors on exotic cars, and this shade of red is a perfect example of a bright color.
The next thing that I like about this model, is how a stripe design was added to it's top half. The design as a whole, features two stripes. The second stripe is thinner than the first stripe. Both stripes start on the hood, and then finish on the roof. I also like the placement of them. Instead of running up the center of the car, the Hot Wheels designers decided to place the stripes on the drive side. After the stripes, the only other detail on this model are head lights. Sadly, this model doesn't feature any details on it's rear.
This release has two additional aspects that I feel, make it a cool model to have. The first of those, is the interior color, which is white. Being white, helps to liven up this model. Though not similar to the real car's wheels, this model was given the Hot Wheels Y5s. I actually like really like how this model looks with these wheels. And it's great that they decided to make them chrome. Though most might really want the ID chase version, there's no denying how nice this version is. As such, I feel this should definitely be on your want list.
The last car for this review, is the recolor of the '52 Hudson Hornet that's apart of the 2020 Hot Wheels Rod Squad mainline set. One of the things that I like about this year's Hot Wheels mainline, is how some of the older American cars got a release. Earlier in the year, we got the Plymouth Fury, and in case M, we got the '49 Merc. Now yes, I know this Hudson Hornet was also apart of case M, but I hadn't seen it till now. And since the back of the card is case N, I decided to feature it in this review.
For this re-release, the Hot Wheels designers decided to finish it's exterior in metallic purple. The design also received a color change. Most of the design aspect on this model, except for ''Hudson'' which is still white, were changed to a pale yellow like color. The outline for each of these aspects, was changed to a light turquoise. This combination of colors, combined with the purple that was used for the exterior, made this a very eye catching model.
Although I'd prefer to see different wheels on a recolor, I do like how this re-release features the same wheels as the first color for this year. The Hot Wheels DD8 wheels on older cars like this, in my opinion, have a period correct. As such, I feel using them again was a perfect choice. Despite being the same, the outer rim did receive a color change. The outer rim on the first one, was red, which matched the outline around that release's design. Thankfully, this one's outer rim was changed to chrome. I probably wouldn't have got this release if they made the outer rim turquoise.
The interior color is the last of this re-release's aspects that's a different color. The first color release, featured an interior that matched the design and wheels. Due to it's exterior color, a red interior was fine for that release. For this re-release, the interior color is black. Just like how I felt about the wheels, I probably wouldn't have got this if they matched the interior color to one of the other aspects of this release. I don't know about you, but I personally feel that a turquoise interior would not have looked good with this model's purple exterior.
Okay racers, that's a wrap for this diecast review. The Speedtail, Jesko, and Impala are the some of the top cars from this case. I am very excited to see what the future hold for all three of the aforementioned cars. So, did you have a specific favorite from this case? Or did you also like the three cars that I mentioned? Go ahead and let me know down in the comments section. Alright, that's all for Today on the Boulevard. Until next time, happy diecast collecting!
