Through all its iterations, the Exotic Envy premium series has been a mixed bag. The concept is an easy slam-dunk (a car culture set comprised of all desirable, poster-worthy exotic cars – yes please!), but the execution has fallen short of the concept’s potential in every iteration. We’ll examine the new set momentarily, but first let’s get some context from the previous two Exotic Envy sets.
Series 1 was easily the best, with the lime green Lamborghini Huracan being the star of the set. With that recognizable Lamborghini paint color and chrome five spokes that sat perfectly in the wheel arches, this Huracan perfectly executed the idea of an enviable exotic. The Bugatti Chiron was a close second, with two tone paint for the first time and plenty of premium detailing. The only place the Chiron fell short was the wheel choice, which never quite looked right on a multi-million dollar car. The McLaren Senna was the last real winner of the first series, finally getting detailed headlights and 10 spoke Real Riders, but the gray color was far too dull for such an exotic car. The two Aston Martins both fell short, partially because the castings themselves are not great, but also because such rarified cars don’t really enter the cultural zeitgeist and become dream cars in the way Lamborghinis and Bugattis do. Aston Martin only made 24 Vulcans (that aren’t even road legal), and the Valhalla doesn’t even exist yet!
Series 2 felt like a step backward. The Bugatti EB110 is 30 years old, making it closer to a classic car than an exotic supercar. That goes double for the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, which also received Matchbox’s horrible premium wheels for this release. The Koenigsegg Agera R is a very cool car but a very poor casting, so while it’s definitely an enviable exotic, it was hard to get excited about. I quite liked the Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 when it came out, but it had a similar problem to the Aston Martins from series 1 – it’s a track-only car. Since it isn’t road legal, the SCV12 would have been far better suited to a Track Day set. That left only the McLaren Speedtail as a proper choice for the Exotic Envy set, so there was definitely room to improve for series 3.
Series 3 is definitely an improvement over series 2, but it remains plagued by many of the same shortcomings as its predecessors. Just like the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, the BMW M1 Procar and ‘71 Porsche 911 would be better fits for a classic cars/vintage racing set…I certainly wouldn’t classify either as exotics. The McLaren F1 is just straddling the line between vintage and exotic, but I think its still-impressive specs and incredibly high price tag make it fitting enough for this series (and it looks awesome in this color reminiscent of Rowan Atkinson’s car). The Aston Martin V12 Speedster certainly fits the exotic theme, but like the other Aston Martins to appear in this series it feels like it falls short of being a poster car. The casting isn’t bad, but it also isn’t particularly hype-worthy, and I often see its mainline version sitting on the pegs…which makes it feel like a waste of a spot that could have otherwise been used to bring a different, more interesting casting into the premium line. Finally, we have the Lamborghini Reventon Roadster, which I think is a fantastic fit for this series, though the casting itself is starting to show its age. While the Reventon doesn’t look particularly outlandish by today’s standards, I remember obsessing over its fighter jet styling in a pre-Aventador world.
I don’t want this article to feel like a hit piece against Hot Wheels or the Exotic Envy series. Instead, I wanted to express my frustration with the middling casting selection that has consistently held back the excellent potential of the Exotic Envy series. With that in mind, here are a few of the castings I would like to see included in the next series of Exotic Envy:
Most car culture sets include recolors of several existing premium castings, and there is no shortage of excellent exotic premium castings to choose from. I would love to see the new Lamborghini Countach make an appearance in a bright, Lamborghini-worthy color. The McLaren P1 has only made one premium appearance, back in the Cars & Donuts series when premium cars didn’t even get full detailing. I would love to see a fully detailed release of the P1, perhaps with some carbon fiber detailing like the new Bugatti Veyron (which itself would make for an excellent Exotic Envy casting). The Pagani Huayra seems like an obvious choice for an exotic series, being a crazy looking mid-engined Italian supercar. The Lamborghini Aventador checks all the same boxes as the Huayra, and it would also make a great addition to the series. If Hot Wheels really wanted to generate some hype, they could dust off the old Lamborghini Murcielago SV casting…perhaps in the orange color that Richard Hammond drove on Top Gear?
In addition to recolors, most car culture series get one or two castings that get upgraded to premium, much like the V12 Speedster in series 3 or the EB110 in series 2. There’s plenty of good options here too, such as the Lamborghini Centenario Roadster. Since Hot Wheels loves putting Aston Martins in the Exotic Envy series, why not finally give the Aston Martin One-77 casting the full premium treatment it deserves? 2021’s super treasure hunt version of the Audi R8 Spyder gave us a taste of how great that casting would look as a premium, and I’d love to see a car culture version with colored side blades. The Lotus Evija’s super treasure hunt version also showed the difference a set of Real Riders can make, so I’d love to see a premium version that was more widely available.
With so many excellent casting options available, I simply can’t fathom why the Exotic Envy sets keep falling so short. Hopefully, the next one has a better casting selection so we can get excited about it! Until then, I’ll just have to get my exotics from the non-exotic themed car culture sets…
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