I begin this feature with an embarrassing admission: this MC20 has been sitting on my “to be reviewed” shelf for over a year. That’s absolutely no statement about the quality of this model – it's truly excellent – but these models don’t tend to get the viewership numbers that their more mainstream Hot Wheels and... Continue Reading →
Forgotten Gem: The Speed Machines Ferrari California
With the recent announcement of Ferrari’s return to Hot Wheels, it seemed like a perfect time to take a look back at one of the best and most overlooked of the Hot Wheels Ferraris: the California. Though, if we’re being honest, it’s not just this diecast version of the California that gets frequently overlooked, as... Continue Reading →
Matchbox’s 1/64 BMW M2 Looks Better Than The Full Scale Version
Calling a modern BMW ugly is a bit like calling the sky blue. Insulting their design language has become so common that it’s becoming a cliche, even if the insults are well-deserved. While models like the iX showcase the worst of BMW’s current beaver teeth, the BMW M2 stands out among the BMW lineup for... Continue Reading →
Mustang Dark Horse: Finally Some Modern Muscle In The Hot Wheels Lineup
It’s about time we saw some proper modern muscle in the Hot Wheels lineup. It used to be common for every new muscle car facelift or generation to get not only a new casting, but a whole rainbow of recolors. In recent years, the number of modern-era muscle cars in the Hot Wheels lineup has... Continue Reading →
I Thought I Was Done With The 500E. Then Came The Metallic Green Version.
The Hot Wheels Mercedes 500E was made to be an instant classic. Easily one of the best mainlines of the year back in 2021, this German heavyweight helped usher in the classic Euro trend that’s currently proliferating throughout the diecast world. The debut version featured black paint with silver 5-spokes, which is exactly how I... Continue Reading →
Matchbox’s Durango Police Seems Too Premium For The Moving Parts Line
If you’re a Matchbox collector, odds are you’re also a fan of diecast police cars. When the Dodge Durango first came to the Matchbox line a couple years ago, I was surprised to see a civilian version rather than a squad car. I didn’t have to wait long for a police version, though. Matchbox just... Continue Reading →
What Went Wrong With The Hot Wheels Elite64 Audi RS7 Sportback?
In its first few years of existence, the Elite64 line has swung wildly from overpriced mediocrity to greatness and back again. There have been some greats, like the LBWK Aventador and Freightliner Cascadia, and there have been some not-so-greats, like the Modified Mustang. However, none have felt like a bigger disappointment to me than the... Continue Reading →
The Lamborghini Revuelto Is My Most Anticipated MiniGT In Ages
The Lamborghini Revuelto’s styling has been the subject of endless online discussion, with the chief complaint being that it’s not a radical enough design departure from the Aventador. I couldn’t disagree more. Sure, it maintains the same angular, fighter jet inspired shapes from the Aventador, but the Aventador is one of the greatest looking supercars... Continue Reading →
Matchbox’s Lexus LC500 Will Make Your $1 Drop Top Dreams Come True
The Matchbox lineup is filled with cool and interesting cars that are always fun to add to your collection, but every year there’s one or two cars that just feel more special. They’re the cars that you have to have, that you’ll hunt tirelessly to track down, because they’re just perfect. For me, the new... Continue Reading →
The Matchbox Convoy Line Goes Out On A High Note (and a Tease)
The Convoys from Matchbox were always among my favorite toys growing up. There’s just something about a big truck that captures a young car enthusiast's imagination. I would set up obstacle courses to try to steer my big rigs through, then practice backing them up to a loading dock to fill them up with whatever... Continue Reading →
Is The Third Time The Charm For The Hot Wheels Bugatti Veyron?
In the world of Hot Wheels, we get some good castings and some bad castings. Every once in a while, we see the design team update a casting to fix an issue with it or to modernize it to meet modern expectations (such as the first-gen Dodge Viper or Matchbox’s Jeep Gladiator). It’s not too... Continue Reading →
Let’s Hope the Hot Wheels GR Corolla Chase Isn’t The Start of a New Trend
That’s a pretty salacious headline, so let me start off by expressing my love of this model. This new GR Corolla casting is excellent, with plenty of details and a plastic grille section that reminds me of Hot Wheels from a decade ago. It’s a little bit wide compared to other Hot Wheels hot hatches,... Continue Reading →
The Ford GT is the First Matchbox Super Chase Worth Chasing
Since they debuted a few years ago, Matchbox’s super chase models have always felt a bit lacking to me. Where Hot Wheels $upers are often an upgraded, more premium version of the mainline they replace, Matchbox’s super chase models often feel like a downgrade over their mainline counterparts due to the addition of unnecessary side... Continue Reading →
Matchbox’s Mk8 VW Golf GTE Is A Perfectly Purple Hot Hatch
The Mk5 VW Golf GTI casting is one of my favorite Matchbox models of all time, so I’m stoked to see this Mk8 Golf GTE debut as the perfect purple successor to my beloved Mk5. Add in my affinity for hot hatches, and this seems to be the perfect Matchbox model for me. So, how’d... Continue Reading →
A Clean Livery Makes The Matchbox VF Commodore SSV Worth Getting Excited About
The prototype of the Holden VF Commodore SSV debuted at the Gathering in 2022 to much fanfare, especially from the Australian Matchbox collectors. As a huge fan of the Chevy SS, I was thrilled to see that its Australian sibling would be coming to the Matchbox line (it’s common for owners of Chevy SS’s to... Continue Reading →
The Confusing Case of the Hot Wheels Mk7 Golf GTI-ish
The Mk7 VW Golf has been a frustrating casting to collect, as every version we’ve seen has been ruined by ugly side graphics that come at the cost of any front or rear detailing. As a lover of clean cars and Volkswagens alike, this has annoyed me to no end. Luckily, it seems someone at... Continue Reading →
MiniGT’s McLaren Artura Brings The Beauty Without The Reliability Concerns
McLaren's naming structure has become a bit crowded lately. Even as a certified car guy, the alphanumeric soup of 570S, 600LT, 650S, 675LT, 765LT, and so on has become hard to keep track of. As the new entry level model in the McLaren lineup, the Artura seeks to free us from the numbers with a... Continue Reading →
Hot Wheels Aston Martin DBS: The Best Premium Model Nobody Cares About
The late 2010’s really were a peak for Aston Martin’s design language. All their cars were the perfect combination of elegant and aggressive in a way that just exudes “cool” – none more so than the DBS. Hot Wheels’ take on the DBS is fantastically executed, with great proportions and lots of casting detail. Originally... Continue Reading →
Two Decades Later, The Hot Wheels Murcielago Gets A Much Needed Redesign
Believe it or not, the original Lamborghini Murcielago casting came out in 2003. To its credit, the Lambo holds up better than most castings from that era, but a lot has changed in the years since. Hot Wheels castings have become more detailed, more realistic, and less focused on track use, which meant the aging... Continue Reading →
Tarmac Works Brings The AMG Muscle With The SLS Black Series
I’ve never explored the world of Tarmac Works before, as most of their models are of cars that are outside my car tastes, but I love an AMG Mercedes. As one of the rarified Black Series models, this SLS might just be the craziest car Mercedes has ever made, so I decided it was time... Continue Reading →
