Spectre Aston Martin DB10

I've been waiting for this one ever since I heard it was going to be released in the 2016 Hot Wheels line-up. I love the James Bond films, but it's always the cars that are the real stars for me and this Aston Martin DB10 is a beautiful car. 

Hot Wheels captured the DB10 very nicely in this piece. I wish they could have added some taillight detail, but we can't have it all on a $1.00 mainline, so I'll be looking forward to the more detailed Entertainment series release of this car in the coming months. They did well on the front details with the headlights, Aston emblem and even the vent holes in the hood. This one breaks from the Hot Wheels norm and even has a pair of mirrors. Very well-done, indeed.

Hot Wheels '52 Chevy Pickup Multi-Pack Exclusive

I just happened to see this one hanging around in a 20-pack at Toys R Us a couple weeks ago. I don't often buy multi-packs, but this truck and a couple others in the set sold me. Mostly, though, it was this truck.

The '52 Chevy isn't a favorite of mine, but I like it well enough. This is my favorite of all of them released so far, though, by far. The satin blue color with the black trim and gray 5-spoke wheels just looks really good. 

This is a multi-pack exclusive color. I found this one in a 20-pack, but I've also seen it in some 9-packs and if you're really lucky, you might see it in a 3-pack.

Richard Petty's '70 Plymouth Superbird

I'm slowly working on collecting the Hot Wheels '70 Plymouth Superbirds. I have a few so far, but there are two that I know are going to be tough (read: expensive) to acquire. The big one is the 2009 Connect Cars. Prices on that one seem to hover around $75. Ouch! The other big one is the 2011 Vintage Racing Richard Petty car. So, I can scratch the Vintage Racing car off the want list now since I got a pair of them in the mail.




Of course, the only reason to get two of them is so I can set one free...



This really is a beautiful piece and is easily a favorite in my collection. The attention to detail is great with the Petty Racing graphics, detailed window trim, door handles, hood & trunk pins and fuel filler. This car even gets a different interior from the standard Superbird releases and has a single racing seat and a roll cage. Then it's finished off with some Goodyear Real Riders and a metal base. This car is an absolute stunner and a great piece for any Hot Wheels collection.

Bywayman and Race Truck

Bywayman & Race Truck

I love Chevy trucks and the square body trucks ('73-'87) are some of my favorites. It's not an officially licensed model, but the Bywayman and its near identical twin the Power Plower were the best we had in the Hot Wheels lineup for decades. These two trucks were just hanging around my desk, so I figured I'd take some pics of them. 

Bywayman - 1999 Collector #081

This is one I only recently acquired. I was on vacation with my family in Indiana at the beginning of September. We were staying at an RV park and our neighbor across the road was a local who lived in the park. He found out I was into Hot Wheels and said he had a bunch he picked up at an auction he'd sell me, but he'd have to dig them out of his storage building. I agreed to a deal, sight unseen. My wife and I had to leave to come home before he got them out, but my parents stayed behind and got the cars for me. When my parents finally got back home, I was a little disappointed that nearly all of the cards were trashed on the collection, even though there were some cars I was interested in, so I ended up opening nearly all of them.

This Bywayman was one of my favorites of the collection. It's one I didn't already have in my collection and had only seen in pictures. I ended up with two of them from this haul. It's a good looking truck in the metallic green with the Oak Bros. graphics. The unpainted metal base gives it some real weight too.

Race Truck - 1995 Racing Metals Series #1/4

It carries the Race Truck name for this release, but there is no doubt that this is the Bywayman. After all these years, it's probably my favorite release of this casting. I have a few of these that I bought off the pegs back in 1995, but this particular copy is from a collection I inherited from a relative a few years ago. I love the black chrome finish on the body with the Chevrolet racing graphics. It's finished off with smoked windows and a black painted metal base. What a great looking truck!

Hi-Roller - 2016 HW Showroom

Hi-Roller - 2016 HW Showroom #8/10 - Collector #118

This is a really cool looking car. Yeah, it's mostly plastic with only the base being metal, but sometimes I can look past that. To me, the worst part of this car is that the windows are just tampo graphics instead of actual windows. But I digress. The lines are great. I love the sort of art deco era look about it with the long nose, high shoulders, low roof and gun slit windows. Then they top it off with that slick chrome finish. It just looks fast while sitting still. 

The Simpsons Family Car

The Simpsons Family Car - 2015 HW City-Tooned -- #56

I was excited to finally find this one recently. I didn't think I would ever find one on the pegs. It's a cool little car. I really like the tampo detail on the rear with the Cadillac-esque taillights and the crunched fender was a nice touch.

Then and Now Dodge Challengers

'71 Dodge Challenger - 2016 Then and Now #4/10 - Collector #104 and '15 Dodge Challenger SRT (Hellcat) - 2016 Then and Now #9/10 - Collector #109

You can never go wrong with some good Mopar muscle and the easiest way to get me to notice ANY car is with a great shade of blue. So, when you combine some great Mopar muscle with a killer shade of blue, you get what I feel is the best Then and Now pairing Hot Wheels has done. The '71 Challenger just screams classic Mopar muscle and it doesn't get much more "muscle" than a 707hp '15 Challenger Hellcat. I love these two cars and I just can't get enough of that blue.