A Super Saturday

  I love collecting Hot Wheels cars. Well to be exact diecast in general. So yesterday I decided to venture off to the Dollar Tree nearest my house. I didn't expect to find anything good. My two local Dollar Tree's rarely restock Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. The last time they restocked Hot Wheels cars was months ago. The exact date, I cannot remember when. So about my day and how I ended up at Dollar Tree.
  On Saturday there was a thrift store that was having a 50% off everything sale for Labor Day. They always have a 50% sale before a major holiday. I ran into my mom's friend there. I see her shopping there a lot. I looked around and was contemplating buying a Ford Mustang coffee mug for work since I work at a Ford dealership. However I decided not to buy it. I don't feel like lugging it to the parts room and risk getting broken. So I walked out empty handed. I've haven't been buying as much as I used to at thrift stores anymore since I am working again. I only have time to check them twice a week if I can get around to it. I mostly have been buying CD's or DVD's when I go to thrift stores. I haven't been seeing any good hats at The Salvation Army in a while. What's up with that?

The Lamborghini Aventador J Super Treasure Hunt

  I went to The Salvation Army later that day to look for new hats. They had nothing. It's been dry for the past few weeks. So I ventured to the Dollar General to see what they had for Hot Wheels cars. There has been reports of some Dollar General's stocking international short carded Hot Wheels cars. I haven't seen short cards since Walmart had them in the checkout lanes years ago. I've been finding Super Treasure Hunt cars at Dollar General. However they had short carded cars, but no Super Treasure Hunt cars.
  The final venture on my hunt was Dollar Tree. I didn't expect to find anything good since the last few times I've checked there they had nothing. I almost didn't stop in Dollar Tree but I gave it a shot. So I made a beeline to the toy section and to my surprise they restocked both Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. Like a madman, I searched the pegs for anything good. At first it appeared to be nothing good since I already had the first editions from that I already had. I was about to give up when I checked the second to bottom peg and saw a Lamborghini Aventador J Super Treasure Hunt Car behind a few cars.
  This marks the 6th well 5th 2019 Super Treasure Hunt I found this year. The real fifth one that I found was a Street Creeper Super Treasure Hunt, but I traded it for a Pizza Planet Truck. I don't really care for the Hot Wheels Original Designs cars so I had little attachment for it. I still can't believe I found it. I have 30 Super Treasure Hunt cars hanging on my wall. All found in the wild. I can't wait to find more.

I Finally Got Public Enemy Number 1.

  I'm a Hot Wheels collector among many things. For years there was one car that has eluded me. You see ever since I first saw the Mercedes 300TD Collector # 606 from 1997 in a book, I've always wanted that car. I love station wagons so having this car in my collection made sense. This car isn't like other Hot Wheels cars. Why is that? Well for one thing, this wagon isn't technically a Hot Wheels car. It's an ex-Corgi casting. Back in the early 1990s Mattel bought out Mettoy which was the makers of the iconic Corgi brand of diecast. So Mattel had acquired a bunch of old Corgi castings and released them as Hot Wheels cars for a brief amount of years in the late 90s. In fact most ex-Corgi castings were only released once such as the 300TD.
  For years I've been going to the local farmers market to look for this car from the various sellers who sell Hot Wheels cars. I've been fortunate to find other ex-Corgi cars that I've wanted. The Mercedes 300TD has always eluded me, until a few weeks ago. Ironically I didn't get the car at the farmers market, I got it in a Reddit trade.

  I am a Reddit member who is mostly active in the subreddit r/HotWheels. I've been fortunate enough to engage in several trades with other members there. Buying those non super Treasure Hunt cars have paid off so far. I'm very grateful for buying that Pink Cadillac Sixteen Regular Treasure Hunt car because it enabled me to get the Mercedes 300TD. I was originally trading the Cadillac Sixteen for the Matchbox Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe. The other member asked if there was any other car I was looking for. So going out on a limb, I asked if he had the Mercedes 300TD. I was in luck, he had it. So we traded cars and I ended up with the Mercedes 300TD that I've wanted badly for years. It's such a quirky car. I love it because you can automatically tell it isn't a Hot Wheels design. Heck even it says on the carding, European Styling. This car is one of the most obscure Hot Wheels cars out there. Not because it's an ex Corgi car but because it is a station wagon. Many years ago Station Wagons just weren't popular in Hot Wheels form. Now they are getting quite popular. Now Hot Wheels has given us collectors many wagons in recent years such as a Chevelle Wagon and a Skyline Wagon. Will this 300TD make a comeback some day? I highly doubt it will ever see a mainline release ever again. So I'm glad I have this One Hit Wonder Hot Wheels car.

Hot Wheels Needs To Make More Rolls-Royce's

  You know what Hot Wheels needs to make more of? Rolls-Royce's. There is simply not enough of them in the line. In the entire history of Hot Wheels there have been only two Rolls-Royce's. The first one was a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow which came out in 1969. The car hasn't been released since 1971. The second Rolls-Royce is the Phantom II which came out in 1984 and hasn't been made since 1995 which was when it was in the inaugural Treasure Hunt Series.
  Now my main argument here is that Hot Wheels clearly needs to make more Rolls-Royce's. Why? Well, Rolls-Royce is a very popular brand of ultra luxury cars. They have some of the hottest cars on the market and they generate alot of buzz in the automobile world. For instance, the Rolls-Royce Phantom is a very hot and marketable car. Hot Wheels could create buzz along the collecting community by making one. I don't want to spend $40+ for a damn Minichamps one.
  It wouldn't hurt Mattel to try to make one because they could make some money on a Rolls-Royce license. Heck they already have the Bentley license and they already have two different Continental GT's between the Hot Wheels and Matchbox brands. It would be best for business to make a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, especially a Diecast of John Lennon's customized Silver Cloud. Collectors would eat that up in a heartbeat. I don't get why they don't release more Rolls-Royce Diecasts.

Hot Wheels Needs to Make More Lexus's

  It got me thinking the other day, how Hot Wheels only has one Lexus in their line. That Lexus would be the SC400. The Hot Wheels Lexus SC400 is so outdated by today's standards that they really can use more Lexus's in their line. One is not enough. If I am not mistaken Matchbox, has one Lexus as well. I've always wondered why they don't make Lexus's enough. They are a very popular luxury car in the USA. So why don't they make many of them?
   Well Mattel already has the Toyota license, and the Scion license. I guess they still have the Lexus license since they have the Toyota and Scion licenses. And since Toyota owns Lexus, they probably got a package deal on all three. I blogged about Hot Wheels needing to make more Acura's and Hyundai's. So this is a followup to that. Hot Wheels always seems to neglect certain car brands, such as Rolls-Royce, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Kia, Land Rover, Jaguar, Buick, Oldsmobile. The list goes on and on. It will never end.
  I would like to see Hot Wheels make the Lexus LFA, which is a very expensive luxury car. That is right up Hot Wheels' alley. The Lexus LFA is one of those cars that was very much well talked about in the automotive world and in magazines and blogs alike. So with all of the buzz about the LFA one would think that Hot Wheels or Matchbox (both made by Mattel) would at the very least try to make a diecast of it. Stuff like this really grinds collectors gears alike. I just don't know what to do sometimes.

Why Isn't The Nissan Skyline Street Legal in the US?

  Many people wonder why the Nissan Skyline isn't street legal in the US. Some people say it's because it's right hand drive. While others claim it's because its too fast. Then there is the theory that the Nissan Skyline doesn't meet US emissions requirements.
  Actually the real reason the Nissan Skyline isn't street legal in the US is because it doesn't meet US crash test standards. So We can put an end to the why the Skyline isn't street legal in the US debate right here. So what can I do if I want to buy a Nissan Skyline? Well there are a few options out there. I'll explain them in the next paragraph.
  Option 1 is you can buy a Infiniti G35 coupe. That car is the same damn thing as a Nissan Skyline, only rebadged as an Infiniti. A major loophole in logic is if you can buy a Infiniti G35 in the US which is the same exact thing as a Nissan Skyline, why can't you buy a Nissan Skyline in the US? That's automaker's logic at its finest folks.
  Option 2 is you can buy an older Nissan Skyline from Japan that is at least 25 years or older. NHTSA allows any older car that is at least 25 years or older to be allowed into the US as an import. So a Ken and Mary Skyline would be Ok to import to the US because it is from 1972.
  The third and final option is the cheapest one. Buy a toy Nissan Skyline. If you can't afford the real thing, just buy the Hot Wheels version of it or whatever toy company makes a Nissan Skyline. For $1 you can't go wrong. Hot Wheels makes several Nissan Skylines from a Ken and Mary Skyline, an HT 2000GT-X, an R34, and a R32. Tomica also makes several Skylines.
  So now you know why the Nissan Skyline isn't street legal in the US and a list of 3 available options to owning a Skyline in the US.

Hot Wheels 2013 USS Enterprise NCC-1701

  On Tuesday I received the second thing on my wants list. Actually I ordered two of them. As you probably know, I collect Hot Wheels cars. I tend to buy all of the street and movie cars that are New Models. Hot Wheels put out a USS Enterprise in the basic line this year and it is extremely hard to find. I haven't seen any of them on the shelves in my area. Most of the online retailers are scalping this diecast at $10+. There is no way in hell I would pay that amount for a basic Hot Wheels car. So I was on Amazon looking for the Hot Wheels Star Trek Enterprise and found the battle damaged variant for $3. So I bought 2 of them. One to open and one to keep MOC.

Monster Jam Then and Now 2 Packs

  One of the things that has gotten me into monster trucks again is the Hot Wheels Monster Jam Then and Now 2packs. These are really cool and interesting. You get 2 Monster Jam trucks for around $7.99. One is it's first incarnation and the second one is it's modern form.
  First off the Then trucks have a a different frame on them and also a different suspension system. Also they have a different body style than the Now truck respectively. So far there are 4 different Then body styles, a 1980s Chevrolet K10, a 1985 Ford F250 and a Early 90s Chevrolet and finally a 1952 Ford F100 for Grave Digger. The Then trucks really steal the show out of the 2 trucks in the pack. So far there has been in series 1 Excaliber, Samson, and King Krunch. Series 2 has King Krunch, Grave Digger and Predator, and Sudden Impact. Series 3 has Virginia Giant and Black Stallion and King Krunch again. I don't know why King Krunch is being in all 3 of the 2packs. It makes me wonder sometimes.
  Most of the trucks that have been featured in the Then and Now 2 Packs are independent trucks, ones that are not owned by Feld Motorsports with the exception of Grave Digger. I like the independent trucks that have been around since the beginning of monster trucks. It shows that Mattel cares alot about them.
  The Now trucks are just the current look of the truck. With the modernized frames, engine layout and suspension system. Basically you don't really give a damn about the Now trucks but you play with it anyway. I do but not as much as the Then trucks. These 2packs are really marketed at the old school monster truck fan in my opinion. Little kids might not care that Grave Digger was originally a 1952 Ford F100 pickup. I hope this line continues because I will be buying them all.

How Hot Wheels Can Improve the Monster Jam Line.

  I love Hot Wheels cars. I even collect the Monster Jam trucks as well. Not all of them but ones that interest me. Now the Monster Jam line has improved a lot since Mattel got the Monster Jam license. They have improved the suspension system in the trucks, by making the wheels more bouncy and the tires bigger and eliminating the realistic 4WD turning mechanism. When you would push one of the first Monster Jam trucks, the axles would turn not making the truck go straight. That used to annoy me when I was little. I'm glad they changed that.
  Now how they can improve the line? Well one way they can do so is to stop making the Hot Wheels Original Designed trucks since they don't compete in Monster Jam. So making a truck of the Hot Wheels car Bone Shaker isn't the brightest idea if it isn't a real monster truck. Another way for improvement is to do away with the Edge Glow variations. Why should they? Well I don't think a glow in the dark monster truck is a good idea. It's just weird that they make trucks like that. Sure it attracts little kids but to an adult collector like myself I just see them as a waste of peg space. Now there is only one Mud Tracks truck I own and it is the Grave Digger pickup truck which is an accurate interpretation of the first Grave Digger made from a 1952 Ford pickup used as a mud bogger.
  Now the Travel Treads trucks are a good Idea to coincide with the haulers that they make but I don't trust a toy with removable wheels. I don't know if it will fall off when I push it. I don't have any and don't plan on owning them so doing away with them will help this line a lot. Another way this line can improve is if the made accessory packs, such as plastic cars to crush. They would be a huge seller.
  Now onto shelfwarmers. Mattel has corrected this issue a few years ago with the ridiculous amount of Grave Diggers that warmed the shelves like crazy. They have learned not to overpack certain trucks in cases. I guess you can call Grave Digger, the John Cena of monster trucks. Recently there has been a special series of Monster Jam Trucks called Then and Now, which is a 2pack of the first incarnation of a monster truck paired with it's current version. This is a cool idea which old school fans can get an original look truck with it's current look.