Ride or Die? The 2nd Wave of Jada Toys' Fast & Furious Build N' Collect Series

Ride or Die.

Jada Toys has hit it big with its Fast & Furious lineup. Say what you want about the movies, the plots, or the acting, but they're exciting and fun-to-watch at the very least. That's how Fast & Furious has become one of the biggest Hollywood franchises today. Jada was smart to pull this business move and acquire official licensing to replicate F&F's most iconic vehicles in diecast form. 

They may not be for everyone. Jada Toys usually produces their vehicles in off-scales. Their 1/18 and 1/24-scale models are a tad larger than they claim to be. They also produce models in 1/32 and 1/55 scale, both of which are irregular scales in the diecast world. In a collection, it's hard to fit them in with the rest of the masses. Jada models have an exaggerated style that aren't very realistic even though they're packed with a ton of character. They use bling-y wheels and tacky bodykits on many of their cars. Furthermore, there are car enthusiasts who just don't care about Fast & Furious in general. 

Well, I do. 

I love all the movies, with the exception of the most recent one, which was both incredibly cheesy and ridiculous at the same time. While 1/55 scale is a bit out of my range, I had to grab a set of these, just as I did with the first wave of Build N' Collect releases. 

A little bit on the Build N' Collect series. When the first wave came out, they sold like hotcakes. I rushed to Target every other day to look for them. I even overpaid, as Target initially priced them at $6 rather than $4. The marketing strategy is simple yet genius. Each of the six cars in the set comes with an extra part to build a "bonus" vehicle (not sold individually), hence the "Build N' Collect" moniker. In Wave 1, that was the white Toyota Supra from Furious 7. In this wave, it's the orange Supra from the original movie. Tempting, right?

That forces collectors like me to purchase an entire set, even if we don't like some of the models. I personally would've passed on half of the cars here if it weren't for the Supra. Therefore, the strategy was a success. The important question is "Was it worth it?" 

In short, yes. The Supra is one of the best models of the bunch. However, the throne goes to the bare-metal Dodge Charger Maximus. Take a look for yourself...

Greenlight's GL Muscle Series 14

I've been on a tear recently. After a brief dry spell from the holiday season, it seems stores have started to put out fresh new product on the pegs. Great for me, because I just found these three beauties the other night. They are from Greenlight, and they're from the GL Muscle series, which focuses on American sports cars, past and present.

The trio you see here are the '69 Chevrolet Yenko COPO Chevelle, '70 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442, and '71 Plymouth HEMI Cuda. The three others from this series are the '66 Shelby GT-350H, '11 Mopar Dodge Charger, and '12 Mopar Chrysler 300. All of them are stunners and are worth picking up, depending on your tastes. Today, I have these three to show you guys.

Priced at $6.99 each, they come in clamshell blisters with a collectible "trading" card, for those of you who are into that sort of thing. Me? I open them, keep the cars and toss everything else away. Which allows me to give them their much-deserved DLM treatment, like so:

We'll start with the HEMI Cuda because it's my favorite classic muscle car. This one comes in Violet, which is absolutely a great color. The HEMI vinyling is done in flat black and can be hard to see. I personally would've done it in white instead, but hey, who am I to complain?

Next, we have the Olds 442 in Custom Blue.

The color is the first thing that strikes you. White and yellow stripes finish off the look very well. And then you realize the 442 is a gorgeous car to begin with, so your hands will be itching to grab this one immediately. This particular example is based off the Goodyear Grabber vehicle, designed for off-road racing. That's what the trading card says. I honestly have no clue; I just know it looks pretty darn nice.

 

Last is the Yenko Chevelle in Daytona Yellow.

I saved the best one for last. This is my personal favorite of the three. I know Greenlight has released this model many times, but I've never found one until now. Now I understand why this one has a hard time staying on the pegs. If you're like me and you don't know a thing about classic cars, you might have only heard of Yenko from that one Fast & Furious movie with the Camaro. You don't have to know what it is to appreciate it. Killer looks.

Try as I might, I couldn't get the hood to open, so I don't have a photo for that. Nonetheless, I hope what you see here has convinced you to go out and look for some of these. The price tag is a bit on the steep side, but they're completely worth it.

Until next time!