For all the potential that it seemed like the Hot Wheels premium 2-packs had when they first launched, I think it would be fair to say the line has fallen a bit short. These packs are theoretically Target-exclusive, but all the Targets around me still have sets from the first mix of 2024. Likely as a result, Mattel relented on Target’s exclusivity a bit, and the 2-packs started to show up at hobby shops. That made finding them a little bit easier, but it didn’t solve the line’s other shortcoming.
Since the line’s inception, nearly all 2-packs have featured one repeated model alongside one new model. That’s good if you’re new to collecting and missed out on the opportunity to pick up that older model when it was new, but it reduces the desirability of the sets for dedicated diecast collectors. Effectively, it means you’re paying $13 for a single new car, since most of us don’t want a bunch of duplicates in our collection. Yet every once in a blue moon, Hot Wheels releases sets with two new models. When they do, the 2-pack line suddenly starts to make sense.
This Mopar-themed set definitely makes sense, even if the cars it contains are anything but sensible. I’ve been arguing for years that we need more modern muscle cars in the diecast world, and it seems like someone at Hot Wheels finally listened!
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is probably the crazier of the two, spec’d in the fittingly named “Plum Crazy” purple. This paint is gorgeous, with lots of metal flake that helps this Challenger transform from a subtle dark purple in the shadows to outrageously bright purple when directly under a light.
Much like its paint color, the casting itself is a bit on the exaggerated side, with its cartoonish staggered wheel setup and massively flared fenders. I personally prefer the regular Challenger Hellcat casting, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like this Demon. In fact, I’ve been hoping for a factory fresh version of this Demon casting since it was released back in 2018! That original mainline version was close, but it lacked any detailing on the front end, and the rear detailing could charitably be called lazy. Since then, this casting has been stubbornly immune to clean decos, much to my dismay. I wanted a clean version so badly that I eventually took matters into my own hands, removing the side and top detailing on 2024’s Stars & Stripes release to make a custom silver Demon.
As cool as that silver one was, this purple release is far superior, and not just because it didn’t require me to spend an hour with an Expo marker. Its metal base combined with the Challenger’s large body gives the model an impressive heft, while the Real Riders look far more premium.
I particularly like the detailing at the rear, with wonderfully detailed brake lights (that have better alignment than I’d expect on a real Challenger!) and a black lip spoiler on the trunk. As a lover of realistic license plates, you know this Challenger’s “RAWRRR” custom plate is like catnip to me (pun intended).
Yet as great as the Plum Crazy Challenger is, it’s actually the less exciting model of the set! The 2015 Charger SRT is the true highlight of this 2-pack. When I first saw it, I thought it was a brand new casting!
In fact, if you take a peek at the base, you’ll find a 2025 date code.
Upon closer inspection, this is actually the existing mainline Charger SRT casting that has been around since 2016, albeit with a brand new metal base. The biggest giveaway is the weird lines around the doors, where the door jam at the front awkwardly ends at the A-pillar and the rear door jam stops short of the C-pillar.
We’ve seen our fair share of modern Charger castings, but this Hot Wheels narrow-body SRT version has always felt the most underappreciated. Weird doors aside, this casting has proportions good enough to trade blows with the Matchbox Hellcat Widebody in a side-by-side comparison! That’s high praise indeed.
So if this casting is so good and it’s been around since 2016, why does nobody talk about it? I think its lackluster decos are to blame. Like the Demon, the Charger SRT casting has been frustratingly immune to clean decos. Despite being released 10 times, this is the first time we’ve seen it with front or rear detailing. For whatever reason, Hot Wheels always thinks “regular” cars like the Charger need crazy side graphics, and it tends to ruin the models for collectors. The only side graphics on this new version are a pair of subtle “392 HEMI” badges on the fenders.
The Charger’s mesh grille texture looks great on this model, and I’m glad to see the vents on the hood get black mesh detailing as well.
Around back, the new brake light print shows us what we were missing on all those previous mainline versions! It transforms the look of the car, and makes the rear the one place where I think this Hot Wheels casting outshines every other modern Charger casting, including Matchbox’s.
Where Matchbox just printed the rear lightbar on a flat trunk, the Hot Wheels version has the lightbar slightly recessed, better matching the geometry of the real car. The bumper also sticks out farther, with much more dimensionality around the rear license plate. Like its Demon counterpart, we get another custom plate (though it is a tad undersized).
Sadly, I think the wheel choice lets this car down a bit. TE37’s may look good on everything, but they feel like a bit of an odd choice on an American muscle car like this. The five spokes may have been a better fit, but I suspect Hot Wheels didn’t want to use the same wheel design for both models in the 2-pack. The wheels also stick out a bit farther from the fenders than I would like – probably a side effect of this casting’s mainline origins.
The paint color is another oddity. The Hot Wheels Fandom page claims this is B5 Blue, but it just isn’t. It’s too pale and pearlescent, where B5 Blue is saturated and metallic. I don’t think it ruins the model by any means (I actually quite like it) but it’s odd that it’s so far off from the color it’s theoretically trying to replicate.
Nevertheless, I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to add both of these modern muscle cars to my collection! It’s unfortunate that this 2-pack will likely never make it into Targets for retail distribution, because sets like this are exactly what the line needs to increase its sales and inventory turnover. With the recent sneak of an upcoming yellow C6 Corvette that’s scheduled to appear in a 2-pack, it seems this won’t be the last of the modern muscle cars we see from Hot Wheels. That’s something we can all be thankful for…
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