Obscure Hot Wheels Car of the Day: 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS

  I love collecting Hot Wheels cars. I like to showcase some of my favorites from my enormous collection of cars. Today's obscure car is the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS. Now why is this car obscure? Well it's an obscure SUV in itself. The Isuzu VehiCROSS was unlike any other SUV in it's day. It was very unique and had features that weren't found on most SUV's. These features included a matte black resin shield on the hood of the VehiCROSS that was intended to reduce glare from the sun.

2000 First Editions

Another interesting feature of the VehiCROSS was a locking gas tank. How many new vehicles come with a locking gas tank?
 Here's a little production history for the VehiCROSS. In 1997 Isuzu debuted the VehiCROSS in Japan. They sold from 1997 to 1999 in Japan. It wasn't until 1999 when Isuzu debuted the VehiCROSS in the United States. They sold the VehiCROSS in limited numbers from 1999 to 2001. 1,805 were sold in Japan and 4,153 were sold here in the US.
  When the VehiCROSS debuted here in the USA in 1999, it got a lot of buzz from the automotive world. So It made sense for Mattel to get the Isuzu license so they could produce the VehiCROSS for the Hot Wheels line. So in 2000 the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS debuted in the Hot Wheels 2000 First Editions series. It was released in Astral Silver Metallic paint for the First Edition release.

The Tiki Torchers version

  Onto the obscurity factor. The 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS was released only 4 times in total. The first 3 releases were in regular VehiCROSS color schemes. The second release came in 2001. This time it was painted in Proton Yellow. In 2002 the third one was released in Foxfire Red Mica. The 4th one is often forgotten. The fourth one is unlike the other 3 VehiCROSS's that Hot Wheels released. The 4th one was released in a 5 pack from 2004 called Tiki Torchers. The 5 pack release features different wheels than the previous 3 had. For the Tiki Torchers release it had the Off Road 5 Spoke Wheels or OR5SP's.
   Fun Fact about the Tiki Torchers version, it was used as a background vehicle in Robot Chicken. They actually use Hot Wheels cars depicting traffic scenarios. So Robot Chicken doesn't always use action figures. You got to keep an eye out for the Hot Wheels cars seen in the background.

  So the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS was never seen again after the Tiki Torchers 5 pack. It's likely that Mattel lost the Isuzu license and never bothered to renew it. It's a shame because the Isuzu VehiCROSS would make a great car for their Car Culture Japan Historics series. The VehiCROSS has a cult following among off roaders. Some day it might be a future collectible.

Nobody wants your VHS copy of Titanic

   I went to The Salvation Army to look around for a bit today. I did my usual browsing and checked out the DVD's/VHS tapes. There were more VHS tapes than DVDs. However what caught my attention was there were 3 copies of Titanic on VHS. Last time I went there there was one copy. My God they are multiplying, 

Tons of Titanic VHS at a thrift store

  I have a theory that every thrift store in the Untied States has at least one copy of Titanic on VHS. At least every thrift store I've been to has a copy of the 2 VHS tape set. You can't give these away. Nobody wants your dizzy ass copy of Titanic on VHS. Why is that? Well for one, Titanic was one of the best selling VHS tapes of all time. You probably know that Titanic was at one time the highest grossing film at the box office. So it sold even better on VHS.

  However some VHS versions of Titanic are in Widescreen, but most of them are in fullscreen.  The original DVD release of Titanic was in non anamorphic widescreen. However later DVD releases corrected that and Blu-Ray's are anamorphic
. So with the fullscreen VHS version you are losing a lot of picture. Nobody really has a VCR anymore. VCR's went out with high button shoes. So the question is, why does every thrift store in America have copies of Titanic on VHS?

  I think the reason why is that nobody wants them anymore is because most people have completely upgraded their VHS library to Blu-Ray or DVD or streaming for that matter. I'm not saying that there are people who don't still use VHS tapes, because there are people who still use them. VHS is an obsolete media format that still has a niche market. However the market for VHS copies of Titanic isn't existent. Maybe the people who collect widescreen VHS tapes there are but nobody wants Titanic on VHS. They just sit on the shelves and collect dust. 

  If I owned a thrift store I would literally just throw VHS copies of Titanic away. Literally every thrift store should do this when someone donates a VHS copy of Titanic. Some thrift stores have literally a shelf full of Titanic on VHS. Who knew a VHS tape would be a shelfwarmer? A shelfwarmer is a collectors term for an item that just sits on the pegs or shelves in a store for what seems like an eternity. AKA an item that nobody really wants.

  Titanic on VHS is something that nobody wants anymore. Seriously it's amazing to see these rot on shelves at a thrift store. I don't manage a thrift store but I would definitely throw them out when someone donates them. What was once all the rage is now just a common everyday item at a thrift store. So please stop donating your VHS copies of Titanic to thrift stores or charity. Nobody wants them. If you are in the market for Titanic, just go buy the Blu-Ray it is 4 discs of entertainment.