Trailer Thursday: Two From Greenlight's Hitch & Tow, Series 6

One of the most interesting diecast series we've seen in a long time.

Greenlight's Hitch & Tow line has reached its sixth release, and I don't see them stopping anytime soon. The idea is pure brilliance and a breath of fresh air from the endless droves of the same handful of sports cars that you find on the pegs today. As such, Greenlight is one of the diecast brands you must check out for yourself if you haven't already. You don't even have to be into trucks and trailers. I, for one, am not, but these excite me just as much as anything else on the market.

Though I own a few models from the Hitch & Tow series, the two trailers shown here are firsts for me: the Airstream Bambi and the Shasta Airflyte. They have been available in just about every release, but these might be the best incarnations yet. The Bambi stands out with its colorful, floral-patterned window curtains; the Shasta is now available in a striking baby-blue-and-white two-tone color scheme. This series is really about the trailers more so than the trucks, and these two were instant purchases the moment I saw them.

To make things sweeter, both of these trailers have metal bodies to go with the metal base. They feel heavy and solid, which is refreshing, considering all of my previous trailers have been largely plastic. One thing I would like to see for the future is a more diverse range of trucks for the Hitch & Tow series. I think I have enough C-10's and D-100's as it is, and there are plenty of trucks out there that haven't been done yet.

Otherwise, kudos to Greenlight for a great series, and we all look forward to many more in the future.

Yellow Submarine: The Hot Wheels Morris Mini From the Beatles Series

I'm sure you have all heard about the latest Walmart-exclusive Beatles series. I'm sure many of you have also been frustrated to have not been able to find some of the models, the Mini and the Kool Kombi in particular, due to the larger number of collectors scalpers in the hobby today. Fortunately, I have been able to find the set, sans the Kombi, and I'd like to share my one pick with you guys here: The Yellow Submarine Morris Mini.

As much as I loved the artwork and design on all of the models, I couldn't get myself to pick up the other generics in the series. They will sell like hotcakes because of the Beatles factor alone, but I can't help but think Hot Wheels could have put more effort and thought into choosing castings for this set. The same goes with pretty much every other exclusive series released in the past few years. Even kids don't like generics, as evidenced by all the peg warmers and beat up cards lost in the bottom of the dump bins. Please, do us a favor and get a real collector in charge of the decision-making, because these models are becoming very yawn-worthy.

I only buy what I like, and I picked up the lone licensed casting I could find.

I know next to nothing of the Beatles and I couldn't care less for their music. I wouldn't even be able to tell you who the character on this Mini is. But what I really like is the artwork, which has been translated from the card onto the car. And for the openers (aka. real collectors), there's a surprise waiting for you:

Yes, the hidden side has a different design! This one, I presume, shows all members of the Beatles, but don't quote me on that. Either way, it looks fantastic and should be enough to tempt the cardboard collectors to let go of whatever perceived value they have of their toy cars and free them from their cages.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 20: Ferrari F50

Back at it with the features again.

Today's is a pair of Ferrari F50's from the Matchbox Premiere series. We're moving on to the Ferrari's now, folks. Though I'm by and large a tuner fan nowadays, these Italian stallions will always have a special place in my heart. I grew up dreaming about them. The car that started my diecast obsession was a Ferrari. I always try to grab every 1/64 Ferrari I see and will continue to do so until I die.

The F50 needs no explanation, really. As a kid, I had (and still have) a yellow 1/24 scale model by Maisto. It was my favorite larger-sized diecast model, which explains why I still have it today and why it's still in pretty good condition considering its age. The yellow one shown here, which is from a Toys"R"Us-exclusive gift set, is like a twin to that one, except smaller. Having gone through a few unsatisfactory Hot Wheels models of the F50 throughout the years, I now remember why I loved this car so much.

That line running across the body. That big wing. And, my god, that rear end.

It's fairly common knowledge that the rear is the best feature of the F50. You will be seeing plenty of it in the photos below. I've always felt the front end was a little too soft, but regardless, Matchbox nailed this casting down to every curve. Both of these sport the red interior with detailed engines. Both have the Hot Head license plates. I don't know how that's relevant to the car, but it's a pretty accurate description of me nonetheless.

Silver is like the beige of supercars, but it works on this one.

It's a shame there are so many little nicks and scratches on the yellow model. I received it brand-new-in-box too, which means it's been trapped in its cage for about as long as I've been alive. And that's why you open your cars, guys.

Skylines on a Sunday

What's better than a Skyline on a Sunday?

How about 68 of them?

The idea for this photoshoot came from LaLD member 64wheels, who posted a gigantic and epic group photoshoot of his favorite movie-themed diecast cars. If you don't know what LaLD is, first of all, where have you been? Please go and check them out over here. Great community, great people, and great toy cars. I post there quite often and if you're a diecast guy like me, I would highly recommend for you to join in as well. Nothing special is required for authorship; just ask and you will receive. As always, please keep it classy and professional.

Anyways, I tried to emulate that aforementioned photoshoot with this group of Nissan Skylines right here. Skylines are the bread and butter of any JDM fan's diecast collection. I've been able to acquire quite a few of them over the years and the will always be room for more. No, the R35 GT-R is technically not a Skyline, but it's equally as insane. The Vision Gran Turismo isn't either, but it's a glimpse of what the GT-R may morph into in a few years. Sixty-eight Skylines, most of them coming from Tomica and Hot Wheels, covering a variety of body styles, ranging from budget models to obsessively detailed pieces.

Please enjoy. I shall highlight a few of my favorites.

The R33 is my favorite generation.

The most detailed one.

The rare one.

The tall one.

But my favorite one? The Ultimate Opal Black R35 Spec-V, as shown in the top photo.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 19: Tres Quattros

 

In the last feature, I briefly hinted that I had a few more examples of the castings shown there. Well, here's one of them. I'm not much of a fan of concept cars per se, and I don't collect many of them, but this is one that has grown on me quite a bit. This is the Audi Avus Quattro, and I have it here in three different colorways. While the gold one from the previous post still takes the cake, the chrome is a sight to behold.

Curiously, this is the only Audi in either the Premiere or the World Class series. Just as I'm not a fan of concept cars, Audi's don't tickle my fancy either, but I feel they should've been more well-represented. In any case, we get this concept car instead of a "real" car. Naturally, Matchbox had to replicate it in its signature chrome color. Hot Wheels also has a casting for this car, but it's nowhere close to the real thing. Forget that one and get this one. Attentive readers may notice something off with the chrome example shown here...

Yes, that is an error. The model should come with five-spokes all around. I'm not sure whether to be excited by this or not. On the one hand, I don't collect errors, and a mismatched-wheel error is certainly not the most desirable. It only means I have to go through the process of obtaining a "correct" example. On the other hand, it's a unique piece to add to my growing Premiere collection. When you try to collect all the models of a particular series, it's always nice to have all of the variants out there.

Meanwhile, the red one is a bit of a snooze. It's part of the Select Class sub-series of the Premiere Collection. That means it's a retailer exclusive, in this case, a Walmart exclusive. To complete the collection, there is also a white one that shouldn't be hard to find at all. No rush though; I think I have the two best colorways already.