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.

'72 Plymouth Duster Thruster - Since '68

'72 Plymouth Duster Thruster - 2007 Since '68 Muscle Car Series

There have been nine versions of the Duster Thruster released between 2007 and 2013. This is the initial release of the car. This one is the only release that got tagged with a specific model year and they got it wrong in the process. The taillights and sidemarkers actually make this a '70 or '71, but not a '72. Either way, as a fan of Dusters, I like this car. This car is metal/metal and I like the attempt at color-matched bumpers. Unfortunately my car here has a tampo slide on the left side that I couldn't see until I opened it, so one day I'll have to get another good copy to set free.

'71 Dodge Demon

'71 Dodge Demon - 2009 New Models #13 Collector #013

I like the Demon since it's the Dodge version of the Plymouth Duster. I grew up with (and still have) my dad's '72 Duster 340 he bought new. I like the Demons and feel Hot Wheels did a decent job with the casting and they started the car off with a great look in this metallic purple.

Dawgzilla - 2016 HW Hot Trucks

Dawgzilla - 2016 HW Hot Trucks #9/10 - Collector #149

This is another of those that I shouldn't like, but I do. I like the big haunched up fenders, giving it a muscular look, and the suspension detail you can see in the wheel openings. It even has a pair of Subaru BRAT-style seats in the bed. The new beadlock wheels don't hurt either.

Hawkman - 2015 Hot Wheels DC Comics

Aside from the Star Wars character cars that the Star Wars fan inside me won't allow me to pass up, I've tried to avoid getting into the character cars. I have actually picked a few up over the last couple weeks, though, that have grabbed my attention. This has to be one of the coolest character cars they've done.

This car starts off cool enough, looking a bit like a '60s dragster with the pizza cutter tires up front and the driver sitting over the rear axle. Having the redline tires just adds another retro-cool touch. You almost want to fault the car for having a plastic body, until you find out what the plastic is all about. Pop open the body and Hawkman spreads his wings, revealing the Hawkman symbol beneath and the hidden mace and battle axe.

I had seen this car posted on a Facebook group several months ago and had been keeping my eyes peeled for it. I finally found it at Toys 'R Us last week. If I hadn't seen it posted before, I probably would have just passed on the car, but learning of it's awesome little trick, made me want it.

Here's the awesome trick...

Showing off the battle axe and mace hidden up front...

Auto World 1965 Ford GT40 - 2015 Car and Driver Approved Selection

I just bought this one last week. This is the first Auto World car I've ever bought. I've always looked at them, but I have to admit that a large majority of the models Auto World makes just don't interest me all that much. This one is a definite exception, though. I've always loved the Ford GT40. The car has a great racing history behind it, but for me, it's really all about the design. It's just such a beautiful car to me. I saw this one hanging on the pegs and it just grabbed me. I honestly almost didn't buy it, but I was flipping through the pegs and found a second one and I was sold since I could keep one and open one. They came home with me.

The attention to detail on this car is stunning. The correct wheel design and Goodyear tires, all the painted latches and handles and the engine visible through the rear window are all incredible details and I might just be taking a closer look at more Auto World cars in the future.

Matchbox Lamborghini LM002

When I first heard about this one coming out, I was pretty excited. When I was a kid, I thought the "Rambo Lambo" was so cool. Powered by the 400+hp Countach V-12, the LM002 had great performance both on-road and off-road.

While Hot Wheels is the king of custom, Matchbox is great with realism. With the detailed headlights and taillights along with the Lamborghini badging and license plate, they live up to their reputation on this one and it looks outstanding.

I hope to see many more releases of this one in the future.

First Post - Charger Lineup

I'll start with a pic of my '69 Charger collection I took a few months ago. They're in approximate chronological order beginning with the 2004 First Edition on the near end to the 2015 Road Trippin' on the far end. I've added two more to the collection since taking this pic. Not counting the two more recent acquisitions, there are four known variations on the casting that I'm missing from this pic. Two of those are attainable, but not cheap. The other two will probably never be a part of my collection.

The '69 Charger is my ultimate dream muscle car, but since I'll probably never own one, I'm over-compensating with my miniature Chargers.