This year’s Hot Wheels convention preview presentation felt very underwhelming to me. The mainline section of the presentation was filled with a huge number of generic “originals”, the premium section had some good models but also a disappointing number of future pegwarmers, and even the RLC line featured far less to excite me than previous years. I went to sleep the night of the convention feeling disappointed, with relatively few new models to be excited about and a feeling of discontent toward the direction of the brand…
…Only for me to wake up the following morning and see a number of pictures of the physical samples that showed at least a half dozen incredibly cool prototypes that hadn’t even been mentioned during the presentation the night before. I can’t fathom why the Hot Wheels team chose to omit those models – perhaps they just haven’t decided what line they will be in – but those omitted models were enough to change my feelings about the upcoming line as a whole. The mainline remains rather disappointing, but the premium lines are looking very exciting!
In an attempt to replicate the emotional journey I went on, I’m going to structure this article in a slightly weird way: the first section will be based on the official presentation we were given on the Saturday of the convention, and the second section will feature all the incredibly cool cars they didn’t show during that presentation. If you just want to see the cool stuff that wasn’t featured, feel free to jump to the second heading. Note that I will just be showing the highlights (read: my favorites) in this post, so head over to the Lamley stream VOD to watch the whole presentation for yourself, if you haven’t already.
What They Showed Us:
Mainlines:
The mainline section was the least interesting part of the night, with a disappointing number of new Hot Wheels “originals” entering the lineup, but my favorite mainline by far was this GMA T.33. We’ve technically seen this casting previewed before, but I’m glad to see it confirmed for Mix B and that it’s wearing a factory road car deco. It looks far superior to the GMA T.50S that is debuting in this year’s mainline, at least to my eyes.
We learned at the Matchbox line preview this summer that Mattel has the Maserati license back, so I was excited to see what Hot Wheels would do with it. Puzzlingly, they chose to kick off Maserati’s epic return with…a Shamal? It seems like an oddly obscure choice to me, and certainly not a car I ever would have been seeking out a model of, but I’m intrigued to see what it looks like once we have a final production version ready to go. I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed though, as Matchbox chose to celebrate Maserati’s return with heavy hitters like the MC12 and GranTurismo, which feel far more interesting and exciting than the Shamal. Hopefully someday we see an MC20 (rumored for premium but I haven’t seen anything official) or a redone QP5 Quattroporte.
The Ford Mustang GTD is undoubtedly a very cool car, but this debut deco leaves a bit to be desired. We’ve seen leaked versions of this car already, and I find the silver paint to be a bit too metallic and the wheels to be a bit too orange, so I’ll probably be waiting for a recolor to pick one up.
While the Kia EV6 isn’t a car or a casting that I have any interest in, I thought this model was noteworthy because of the difficulties many Kia models have had at Mattel. After the quick disappearance of the Kia Stinger casting and the much-delayed and ultimately canceled Kia Seltos from Matchbox, I didn’t think we would ever see another Kia from a Mattel brand. Not only did Hot Wheels decide to make a model of the EV6, they are making a custom modded Kia with rather outrageous graphics. Color me surprised.
The 1975 Datsun Sunny Truck isn’t a new casting by any means, but its inclusion as a super treasure hunt is interesting because it implies there will be a mainline version to go with it. Up until now, the Sunny has only been in premium and the silver series, so it’s interesting to see it make the move to the mainline.
That was everything I found noteworthy from the mainline, but luckily the premium lines were more interesting.
Premium:
The first truly new premium series that Hot Wheels showed off was Hammer Drop$, which is a very cool theme that gives the Hot Wheels team a lot of options in terms of castings they can include. As far as I’m concerned, the highlight of the series (and the presentation, if I’m honest) is this white and blue Bugatti Veyron. Confirmed to be the newest Veyron casting, this model should be a significant step up from the black and carbon Veyron released in a 2 pack earlier this year. The deco looks amazing, and I can’t wait to get this model in hand to compare all 3 versions of the Veyron casting side-by-side.
As a rule, I’m not into concept cars, so I don’t care at all about this Lancia Stratos Zero, but it got a lot of applause at the preview so hopefully enough collectors are interested in it to prevent it from being a pegwarmer. If it ends up sitting on the pegs, we’re in trouble because Hot Wheels showed off 3 different versions of this casting during the presentation: the red one you see here, a black chase version, and a silver 2 pack release.
I’ve never been a big fan of the mainline version of the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 casting, but the extra detailing of these premium releases might be enough to change my mind. I’m never going to be a completionist on this casting, but the black and red Boulevard version is calling my name.
We’ve seen a 3D printed prototype of this Liberty Walk McLaren 720S before, but it’s very cool to see it in its final deco. I’m not typically into bolt-on widebody kits like this, but the blue color and excellent wheel fitment makes this model look very cool, and it should make a perfect companion for the Elite64 Aventador that was released in a similar color. There will also be a chase version of the 720S in black.
This is the deco I’ve been waiting for on the Lancia Delta Integrale, ever since the casting debuted in 2021. When Top Gear made their segment proclaiming Lancia the best car maker in the history of the world, one of the cars they featured was a red Delta Integrale that looked just like this, and I’ve wanted one in my collection ever since. I’m thrilled to finally have a stock, road car deco on this casting, so this one is a must-have.
The E34 BMW M5 debuted in the F&F line in black, but I must say it looks far better in this bright white color. The white makes all the black detailing stand out, especially the kidney grille and door handles. I also think these 5 spoke wheels are a better fit for the M5 than the 10 spokes that the debut version had. Regular readers will know how much I love realistic license plates on cars, and that sure looks to be a German plate on the back!
I’ve loved the Bugatti Chiron casting ever since its release, and the premium versions are always exciting because they get detailed headlights and full rear detailing, so I’m glad to see another one in the line. However, I do find this black deco a little boring, and I’m not sure about the decision to use a chrome lip on the wheels. I’ll wait until I get this model in-hand to make my final decision about it, but I expect it to have a spot in my collection.
I expect this Nissan 180SX 2 pack to be incredibly popular among collectors, especially those who missed out on the original release of the black 180SX. I particularly like the blue wheels on that white Sileighty – they just feel like such a perfect fit for a car like that.
This Mini 2 pack worries me, because I still occasionally see this Austin Mini Pickup from the Boulevard line hanging in Walmarts around me, so it feels like a very poor choice to re-release it so soon.
If you’re going to re-release a Boulevard model, this is how you do it! The FL5 Civic Type R only just released at Walmart, but it was inevitably going to be hard to track down, so I love the decision to include it in another set. Given the $15+ going rate for this model in the second-hand market, this 2 pack feels like an amazing deal if you can find it in stores. Save $2 on the FL5 and get an EK9 for free!
Elite64:
The Elite64 line has been hit or miss so far, but Hot Wheels came out swinging with the Freightliner Cascadia car transporter. I’ve been wishing for a proper Hot Wheels/Matchbox-scale car transport truck for years, but the closest we’ve gotten since the Matchbox Super Convoy line was the Convoy car carrier, which could only hold 3 cars. This Elite64 model can hold a much more appropriate 5 cars, all while having a much more detailed (and licensed!) Freightliner cab. I’m absolutely in love with it, and they could ask just about any price for this truck and I would buy it in a heartbeat.
It seems Hot Wheels wanted the chance to fix the sins of the original Valkyrie casting, and this Elite64 version looks very promising so far. Personally, I don’t care about the opening doors, but I do appreciate the much better stance and incredible paint color. I suspect this model will inevitably be compared to models from MiniGT and Postercars, so we’ll have to see how it holds up against that competition.
It’s not often that Hot Wheels comes up with a model that I have to Google to see what it is, but this McLaren M6 GT was just such a model. It won’t have a spot in my collection (obviously, since it’s a car that had no meaning to me), but I definitely appreciate the care and attention to detail that went into it. Check out those mirrors!
RLC:
The preview of the Shelby GT500 Code Red made me the most excited I’ve been for an RLC model since the Integra Type R! This model looks absolutely epic, and it’s probably one of the few models where an opening hood is actually worthwhile. Black chrome has never been my favorite Spectraflame color, but it works pretty well on this model, and it makes the red elements in the interior absolutely pop!
This Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut is the definition of ambitious. As someone who never liked the mainline Jesko casting, I’m glad to see a revised, more accurately proportioned one on the horizon. However, if this model comes out on-time and in working order, I’ll eat my hat. Hot Wheels is going to attempt to replicate the dihedral doors that Koenigsegg is so famous for. That’s an incredibly cool idea, but I can’t even imagine how hard that would be to do in diecast. Given all the issues around the RLC McLaren F1’s doors, I’m a bit worried for the future of this model, but my fingers are crossed that they can get it sorted and that the model is as epic as it looks!
That was it for the convention presentation, and there was clearly some good stuff there, but it felt like the hit rate was noticeably lower than previous years. There were fewer models that I was jump-out-of-my-seat excited for, but it turns out that was only because they forgot to show them to us.
What They Didn’t Show Us:
When I saw the first images of the prototype board begin to appear online, the first car that caught my eye was this bright yellow Swede. Initially, I thought it might be an updated Agera casting (the original wasn’t great), but it appears to be even more exciting than that! It’s hard to tell exactly which model this is, but my best guess is that we are looking at the Koenigsegg CCXR, based on the front end design and the canards on the front bumper. This might be the most interesting car from the entire event, and one I’ve wanted to see in diecast for quite some time, so I can’t believe they didn’t cover it in the presentation! The side mirrors look substantially better than the existing Agera casting, and the back end of the casting looks longer. I can’t wait to learn more about this casting in the months to come.
Almost as exciting as the Koenigsegg, we have what looks to be a Mercedes-AMG CLK Black Series – star of one of the greatest Top Gear segments of all time. Hot Wheels has been absolutely killing it with the Mercedes models lately and this CLK is no exception: the fender flares are appropriately enormous and the wheel fitment looks great. If the debut version of this model isn’t silver with a companion chase in black, I’ll be disappointed. This model can’t hit shelves soon enough.
Nor can this Audi RS6 Avant. Matchbox already has a Moving Parts RS6 Avant, and while I’m normally not a fan of Hot Wheels and Matchbox making the same cars, Matchbox has been so frustratingly slow issuing recolors of the new RS6 that I actually welcome a Hot Wheels version. This prototype looks great, with huge wheels (the 1:1 RS6 has 24s!) and a good amount of detail in the front end. As long as it doesn’t release in the same black paint as the Matchbox version, this RS6 is an easy win.
At first, I thought this was yet another gray version of the fantastic Aston Martin DBS, but upon closer inspection, it actually appears to be an Aston Martin Vanquish. Certainly not a model that was on my convention bingo card, but one I’m very happy to see. This era was a high point for Aston Martin design, and I’m happy to see it getting a little bit of love in the diecast scene. This model looks nicely detailed – I particularly like the silver trim piece on the A-pillars and along the roof – and the color is understated but classically Aston Martin. Hopefully this model is popular so Hot Wheels finds it worthwhile to redo the 2005 V8 Vantage casting!
I haven’t seen this MR2 in anyone’s convention pictures, but it did appear in Lamley’s preview Instagram post. It appears to be an MR2 TRD 2000GT, a factory-ish version of the MR2 from the 90’s. A quick Google search suggests that only 35 were built, making this exactly the kind of obscure 90’s performance car that’s likely to be very popular among Hot Wheels collectors. This casting looks quite cool, and provided it gets a clean deco, it should make an excellent companion to the Celica GT-Four that Hot Wheels already makes.
The Dodge Viper seems to be having a bit of a moment in the Hot Wheels world, with the recent redesign of the first-gen Viper casting, and the upcoming F&F SRT10 convertible. Now, it looks like a second-get Viper coupe is going to be joining the mainline, and it looks pretty good! I always think the front end of these early Vipers looks a little too bloated, but it’s cool to see this American icon getting some attention from diecast collectors.
It’s worth noting that the red McLaren Senna that was on display at the convention had matching wheels, which confirms that the one used in Hot Wheels’ press images was indeed an error. Oops!
These additional prototype cars were some of the most interesting models of the entire event, and they really helped shift the tone of the line preview for me. After being rather disappointed by the presentation, I’m relieved and excited to learn that there’s such cool, interesting cars coming to the Hot Wheels lineup. I still think the mainline is a bit of a let-down so far, but the premium lines look absolutely stacked with interesting models, and I can’t wait for them to hit shelves!
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