Obscure Hot Wheels Car of The Day Number 1: Syd Mead's Sentinel 400 Limo

  Today I thought I would start reviewing what are in my own opinion, obscure Hot Wheels cars. These cars may be obscure to them being relatively unknown in the modern world, or cars that were only made once such as an ex Corgi casting.

The original artwork for the Sentinel 400 Limo

  Syd Mead is a well known concept artist and futurist. Some of his designs have been featured in hit movies such as Blade Runner, Tron and Aliens and has even spread out to the video game industry as well. So in 2002 Mattel for some odd reason thought it would be cool to make one of his concept art into a Hot Wheels car. So they did they chose the Sentinel  400 Limo from his book Sentinel which features a ton of car concept art. Out of all the cars that were in that book they chose the Sentinel 400 Limo. So far the Sentinel 400 Limo is the only concept art of Syd Mead that has ever been turned into a Hot Wheels car.
   This car is one of my favorite Hot Wheels cars. It rolls smooth and it looks great when placed next to other iconic movie cars such as the DeLorean Time Machine or the 1989 Batmobile. The Sentinel 400 Limo has been re released and repainted a couple of times since it debuted in 2002. However those cars are painted nothing like the original 2002 First Edition. If you ever see the 2002 First Edition, buy it it's worth every penny.

Hot Wheels Flintmobile

You Are Mine Now You Belong To Me

  Well after coming up empty at the First 2013 Kmart collector day, I finally was able to get my hands on a new for 2013 Hot Wheels Flintmobile and a Camaro Treasure Hunt car. I went to the grocery store with my mom today and I took a walk to the nearby CVS to look at the toys and found the Flintmobile. I bought it and walked back to the grocery store and found a Treasure Hunt.

My New Years Eve Tradition

  I have this weird New Years Eve tradition where it involves Hot Wheels cars. Some years one Matchbox car has been involved in it. Are you confused yet?  If you are confused I'll clarify it for you. Back in 2004 I was buying the 2005 Hot Wheels First Editions like mad. My mother wouldn't let me open the cars for some odd reason that I honestly cannot remember at all. I usually remember things like that but this one slipped me.
  Now where was I? Oh yes the Hot Wheels cars and New Years Eve. Originally I would buy all of the next years new models and cars that are not technically a new model but are making their mainline debut and keep them MOC until New Years Day. I only buy street cars not Hot Wheels original designed cars. Since about two years ago I made a modification to my tradition, I would open the cars on 12AM on New Years Day. So tomorrow at Midnight I will open all of the New for 2013 New Models I have sitting on my CD carousel. I cannot wait to open them. So Will the 2013 Hot Wheels Monster Jam trucks count to a New Years tradition? That answer is yes although I don't have any to open yet. I saw one at Toys R Us not too long ago and passed on it because the lines at the registers were like a mile long and had impatient people sitting in the car. Hopefully Walmart might have some tomorrow.

New Changes For the 2013 Hot Wheels Mainline

  Every New Years Day, I have a Hot Wheels tradition that started in 2005 and continues to the present day. Around Fall, Hot Wheels begins to release next years new models along with the remainder of the current years cars. Every year I buy up all of next years new models excluding repaints and won't open them until New Years Day. I open them at midnight. So when I was at Walmart today they added a ton of new cars to the dump bin of Hot Wheels cars. There were plenty of 2013's cars there.
  So that begs the question what are the changes I am talking about? Well the changes are mind boggling. There is no longer a yellow striped New Models series. Any new models are going to be mixed in with segment series like Hot Wheels sister brand Matchbox does. The new models are marked with a yellow circle that says New For 2012, kind of like how Mattel states new WWE figures with the red First Time in the Line sticker.

Here are some New for 2013 cars., Batman Live Batmobile, 2012 Mini Countryman, and 1970 Toyota Celica

   If you see a ton of green striped cars, don't get too excited because they aren't Treasure Hunts. They are a segment series called HW Imagination. One new for 2013 HW Imagination car is the Batman Live Batmobile.

Hot Wheels New Models Rant

  Yesterday I went to Walmart and did my usual run to the toy dept. To my surprise I saw they put out some new Hot Wheels cars. The pegs were dry the last time I was there. So I looked to see what was new, and to my surprise the Subaru WRX STi was there but I was disappointed to find out it wasn't in the first color, blue, but red. So I bought it anyway because I like Subaru's along with 2 of The Dark Knight Rises The Bat, one to open and one to leave MIB, and one 2013 Dodge Viper SRT.
  Now what really pisses me off is that Mattel makes a run of the original color and then makes more later on in another color that is probably more widely available than the first color. If you are a New Models completest like myself, you probably want the original color that it debuted in instead of the variant repaint. This has happened to me about 3 times already in the last few years. It happened to me when the Toyota FJ40 came out. My store never got the wave with the yellow one so they got the one with the blue one. Then it happened twice this year, the first was with the Ford Falcon Race Car and now with the Subaru WRX STi. It's annoying that Mattel's horrible distribution is partially to blame for this nonsense. Who else to blame? Well I'm sure the design team had something to do with this as well.

Picard reacts to the DeLorean Repaint in Black

  Mattel has been making some questionable decisions when it comes to New Models repaints. For instance the 2010 New Models, DeLorean DMC-12 had been originally released in a color that looks like Stainless Steel, shortly after that came a repaint this time in gold which is understandable because there were 3 DeLorean DMC-12's that were painted in 24 Karat gold. Lastly they released a mind boggling repaint this time in Black. Were they on something when they thought this up?  They did this with another iconic car, the Buick Grand National by releasing a repaint in Maroon and the Dodge Lil Red Express in Purple.
  Are the people at Mattel who greenlight these stupid repaints on drugs? Seriously I'm sure they are thinking that the target demographic for Hot Wheels cars which is mostly kids wouldn't even notice the repaint isn't accurate. Well guess what Mattel, People do notice, it's the car enthusiast and Hot Wheels collector who do. I'm sure they don't care whatsoever what we think of these repaints. I sometimes like them and buy every New Model repaint. I do when there is a new Ford Mustang or Shelby Mustang in the New Models. I have a Hot Wheels Ford dealership playset and I think it is ok to buy one of each color to make it look like your dealership has some variety of inventory. For some reason I haven't bought every color of the Ford Boss Mustang Leguna SECA. Maybe because I am trying to cut back on my spending.
  Sometimes the repaints make sense and sometimes they don't. Modern repaints for cars make sense, ones of iconic cars do not make sense in the least bit. Sometimes the repaint is worth more money in the long run sometimes it isn't. Well there is my Hot Wheels rant. Stay tuned for more along the way.

Top 30 Hot Wheels Cars that Should be Made

A few days ago I blogged about top 10 cars that Hot Wheels Should Make. So here is 20 more cars.

1. Dodge Ram SRT-10.
2. Buick Roadmaster Wagon
3. 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88
4. 2003 Mercury Marauder
5. 2002 Lincoln Blackwood
6. 1971 Ford Pinto
7. Jeep DJ-5 Dispatcher
8. 1958 Toyota Toyopet Crown
9. International Harvester Metro
10. Opel GT
11. 1990 Saturn SL
12. Excalibur Series V
13. Zimmer Golden Spirit
14. Glassic Model A replica
15. Ford Torino Station Wagon
16. Diahatsu Hijet
17. Cadillac Hearse
18. Lincoln Town Car
19. 1991 Subaru Loyale
20. Any Saab car.
21. Any Volvo car
22. John Deere Gator
23. 1938 Mack ED Pickup Truck
24. Mazda Millenia 
25. Scion TC
26. Fiat 500
27. Mercedes-Benz G500
28. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
29. Subaru BRAT
30. Subaru 360

Top 10 Cars that Hot Wheels Should Make

  The other day I was thinking about some cars that Hot Wheels really should make. Most of them on this list are TV and Movie cars, while some are not.

1. Batman Forever and Batman and Robin Batmobiles. Well Since Mattel has already made the 1989 Batmobile, the 1966, and the Tumbler, why not make the Joel Schumacher era Batmobiles even though nobody likes the movies the cars deserve a chance.
2. Wagon Queen Family Truckster. Well this car has never been made in diecast form whatsoever. It is a legendary movie car after all. On the downside National Lampoon's Vacation is rated R so seeing a hot wheels version of the wagon is unlikely, but you never know.
3. 1975 Chevrolet K5 Blazer from Jaws. I love the custom Amity Police Department 1975 Chevy K5 Blazer with the top removed and the light bar on it. It is a really cool car from Jaws and it is one of the most memorable police vehicles in movie history. A replica just sold for $22,000 at the Barret Jackson Auction in Palm Beach FL.
4. The General Lee. Why hasn't Mattel made this car yet? They already have a '69 Dodge Charger in the line and all they have to do is modify it a little bit to make this legend.
5. Rolls-Royce Phantom. In the early days of Hot Wheels, there was a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in the line and later came a Phantom II. Since Then a Rolls-Royce hasn't been in the Hot Wheels line since the 1995 FAO Schwarz 24k Gold Classics 3-Pack. So If they still have the Rolls-Royce license they could make one.
6. Ferrari 456 GT Venice Wagon. Yes This is not a Joke a several of these obscure cars were made by Ferrari for the Sultan of Brunei and they would make a perfect addition to the Hot Wheels lineup.
7. Yugo GV. Yes that's right a Yugo GV. Probably the worst car ever made. It would be one of the more obscure hot wheels cars in the line. Everyone Needs a Yugo Sometime... Even a Hot Wheels one.
8. Grumman-Olson P800. You're probably wondering what is that? You've probably seen one of these everyday but you don't know what kind of truck it is. Give up? It's the UPS Package cars with the rounded off front and round headlights. It would be a cool one indeed.
9. Subaru 360. Here is a tip to Mattel, make more Subaru's and older Japanese cars. So far Hot Wheels has made 2 Subaru's and one upcoming. It would be real nice to see them make their first car they sold here back in 1968.
10. GEO Tracker/ Chevrolet Tracker. Why Hasn't anyone made this legendary SUV? It's a classic American car that is really a rebadged Suzuki. They Sold zillions of these things and they never got a toy version. What A Crock. I hope to see one in my lifetime.

The 2012 Kmart Hot Wheels Collector's Day Sucked

  Ok a few days ago I noticed a sign in Kmart for their quarterly Hot Wheels Collector's Day. It's an in store event that is geared towards Hot Wheels Collectors and offers the chance to get new castings and exclusive colors. Also there is a chance to get a mail away form for an exclusive car.
  Now on to why the first event of 2012 sucked. First off There were not a lot of cars there to look through. They usually have a huge amount of open cases of them laying around the toy department. There was only 1 different 2012 New Models street car available that I did not have. It was a 1968 BMW 2002. The event usually has a few new release models that you can choose from. Sadly since I only collect street cars there wasn't much I could want except for a Thrill Racers Volcano Dodge XP-09 which I also bought. What really annoyed me the most about this in store event was that there were no order forms for the exclusive 1955 Chevy Panel truck mail away. It was because of either 2 things. Thing 1 is I got there too late. Thing 2 could be that they never put them out. They did however had a 8.5x11 postcard of the artwork of the exclusive car which was free. This was a total let down. What a way to kick off 2012 Kmart.

5 Things I Collect

  I collect many different things. In fact there are too many things that I collect. Really there is. To tell you how bad this is, since Black Friday, I have acquired 4 new hats for my collection, and a diecast NASCAR. So yeah I do have an extreme collection of many things.

My Favorite Car Key

1. Car Keys. How did I get into collecting car keys? Well to my best knowledge, I started collecting car keys when my sister gave my dad her old 1991 Subaru Loyale wagon. In the car there were a bunch of junk keys that she was about to throw out, and she gave them to me instead, one of those keys was an old worn out Mitsubishi key for one of her old cars. I believe it was the one that caught on fire. I'm not really sure but I am certain it is. Anyway after that day I became obsessed with car keys. When my grandfather was still living and no longer driving anymore, I noticed he had old gold Cadillac keys, and I asked him for them and he said yes. They were for his Cadillac that was stolen, I also have keys for my mom's 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and other cars my family has owned.
2. Trucker hats. Here is another thing I collect. Again I don't know how I got started collecting them. I believe it was after watching the movie Days of Thunder, seeing all of the old NASCAR trucker hats that the driver's used to wear. So I have many friends who are truckers who I meet and they give me hats because they know I collect them, Especially the ones who drive for my employer who I will not mention. to give you the jest of how many hats I own, I have a Rubbermaid bin full of hats, Two shelves in my closet full of hats stacked on top of one another, an old Circuit City handbasket full of hats and an old coke crate with some hats. As a friend of mine says, You only have one head and you can only wear one at a time.
3. Hot Wheels cars. Well I have been collecting them since I was a little kid. So since I was born 22 years ago you can guess around there. I have tons of cars loose and mint. The majority are loose. The ones that are mint are my Trea$ure Hunt cars and TV and movie cars and some rare cars in between. I also have a respectable NASCAR diecast collection with cars both loose and mint. I have many 48 car carriers and they take up 3 bottom shelves and counting. This is one that will never be finished.
4. WWE Action figures. I used to have a few Jakks ones when I was around 8-9 years old. I foolishly gave them away. Now in the Mattel days, I have a bigger collection than my Jakks ones. I started collecting again in January of 2011, after a friend told me about the SVR games and how the Create a Wrestler feature is pretty good. I bought SVR 2010 to make a Lady Gaga CAW and was hooked on WWE games and was hooked on them. How this connects to WWE Action figures, is one day I was in Kmart on my lunch when I saw a basic series 8 Maryse figure and I bought it, thinking I would make a custom Lady Gaga action figure with it, my friend said don't do that and I didn't. So that's how I got into WWE action figures.
5. Score Soundtracks. Well If I hadn't got into Nine Inch Nails because of my friend, I wouldn't have bought the Oscar winning soundtrack, The Social Network by the man behind Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor and his associate Atticus Ross. After buying the Social Network soundtrack, I bought other score soundtracks such as ones from the Batman movies, and The Brave Little Toaster and The Stupids just to name a few. They are way better than Various Artists soundtracks although I own the Oh Brother Where Art Though soundtrack.

5 Things That Keep Me Up at Night

Sometimes I just can't fall asleep at night. I can think of many good reasons to what keeps me up. Here are the pesky things that keep me up.
1. Waiting for 5-23-2011 to Come. Why May 23rd 2011 you ask? Well I will tell you why. Lady Gaga's new Album Born This Way is coming out and I can't wait any longer to buy the deluxe edition CD. I have never been so exited in my life for a CD to come out. Yes I still buy CDs., Why you ask? The answer to that is coming in another blog post
2. Funny Internet Memes. One meme that makes me laugh hysterically is none other than Ya Dun Goof'd. No matter how hard I try to go through my day without saying Ya dun goof'd is impossible to not say it. I sometimes laugh myself to sleep saying ya dun goof'd.
3. Playing with my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. This is another hobby of mine that keeps me up sometimes. I will be playing with my Matchbox Super Convoy International LoneStar, and my Ford C900 along with other cars and trucks, doing various test drives. I make up my own scenarios with the cars, whether it's a Austin FX4 taxi competing against a Checker Marathon taxi or, dropping a Ford Pinto on it's rear to make a fake explosion they still keep me up at night.
4. Staring at random things in my room. I have various decor in my bedroom. For instance when I have trouble falling asleep, I tend to stare at my one of my Lady Gaga posters for 20 minutes before falling asleep.
5. My CDs. Sometimes I will be playing my CDs before I go to sleep. Sometimes I get a little bit revved up and they make me resist going to sleep. Maybe playing Lady Gaga before going to bed is a bad idea. I think I should play one of my score soundtracks instead.

The Pains Cereal Box Prizes

 When I was a kid I remember seeing a toy that came with the box of cereal. I would beg my mom to buy me the cereal she said I will buy it for you only if you will finish the box. Naturally I agreed to the deal. When I would go home from the store, the first thing I would do would rip open the box of cereal to get the toy out. Ironically its not the toy you hoped on getting.
   You see the problem with cereal box prizes that are promoting a new movie is that they don't mass produce the popular ones. I remember 10 years ago when Kellogg's had diving subs that were based on vehicles from Atlantis the Lost Empire. If I remember correctly there were 5 subs all together. There was the Leviathan, the fishy shaped one, and a crayfish shaped one. Then there were the Ulysses and the sub pod subs. Now the problem here was in my theory that the Atlantean shaped diving subs were produced in higher numbers than the submarine used by the expedition team. You would think that everyone wants the Ulysses one. Well guess what I was one of them who wanted it. I never got it. Damn Kellogg's makes more of the less popular toys so we have to suffer.
    Another problem with cereal box prizes is the chance of getting doubles of a prize. Back in 2004 I remember when General Mills was putting Hot Wheels cars in their cereals to promote the Cheerios NASCAR team and Richard Petty. Naturally Hot Wheels cars and anything related to Richard Petty means I have to have it. We bought the boxes of cereal and at first i started cars that I did not have. Then I started to get doubles. I kept getting that pesky 1970 Chex  Plymouth Barracuda Hardtop. I must of got like 3 of those bastards. I needed to collect all 10 cars. Until 2010 I had only 9 out of the 10 cars. I was missing the 1974 Dodge Charger in the Cheerios livery. I finally completed the set when I went to a party at my parents friends house when their grandson gave me the car because he never plays with it.
    I have since stopped going ape shit for Cereal box toys in 2009 when General Mills started using Lego for their NASCAR promos. I love Lego but the stuff in the cereal box isn't made by Lego. So Screw it and fuck cereal box toys. They are evil and a waste of money.