Happy Convention Friday!

With the 27th Annual Hot Wheels Collector’s Convention in Garden Grove, California, today, we’re looking at a Convention Car from years past. 5 Years ago, at the 22nd Annual Hot Wheels Collector’s Convention, we were graced with an excellent rendition of the Hot Wheels casting, SS Express. Back when HotWheelsCollectors.com brought a car of their own (other than pink party cars) to the convention, this SS Express was offered as part of the Virtual Convention Sale at HWC.com. An online sale that sold convention pieces to the collectors who could not make it to the convention, while still having the vehicle for sale at the actual convention.

The SS Express is an interesting casting as it was designed by Phil Riehlman as if it were part of the Red Line Era Spoilers line–an early 1970s line that featured customized production cars with raked stances, spoilers and an exposed engine! While the SS Express lacks the actual spoiler on back, it has the raked-stance and exposed engine making this one mean car. This car is based off of the Hot Wheels ’70 Chevelle SS casting. While the ’70 Chevelle SS debuted in the 1999 First Editions, the SS Express didn’t roll off the assembly line until late 2007 as part of the Since ’68 line.

The level of detail on the version shown above is what truly makes the car special. Sure, its a convention car and it was limited to 10,000 pieces, but the graphics work coupled with the spectraflame paint really separates this car from even the other convention cars. The “gasser” style paint-job featuring retro-inspired Hot Wheels graphics is wild and crazy but does the trick. There are “REDLINE RACING ASSOCIATION” logos at the top of the front fenders, while the interior front seats are painted red. There is even a “40” graphic above the back fender. The Chrome Real-Rider 5-Spoke Wheels with Red Line black tires even contribute to that mean stance of this vehicle. To top it off, the headlights and Chevy “Bow Tie” are painted on the front of this version.

While the SS Express hasn’t surfaced since the black version in the 2010 4th of July line, its surely to show its wicked head in another Hot Wheels line in the not-so-distant future. Until then, try and track down the 9 variations of this “Neo-Spoilers” casting.

Go Kart

The Hot Wheels Go Kart was released as a 1998 First Edition. This version was released in 2010 as part of the mainline HW Garage Series and features a Hot Wheels Race Team deco. To look at past Go Kart releases, please visit its SouthTexasDiecast.com and/or Hot Wheels Wiki page(s).

Toy Fair ’96

The Toy Fair is held once a year in New York and is only open to people in the toy industry. Every year, since 1992, Mattel has brought with them an exclusive Hot Wheels vehicle. In 1996, the Hot Wheels brand was represented with the Power Pistons. A new model in 1995, the Power Pistons is what is considered a “track set car” as it was designed specifically for use on Hot Wheels track sets. Its safe to say that the Power Pistons shown above has not seen many Double Loop Launch and Criss-Cross-Crash track sets.

Toy Fair vehicles are about as limited as they come and can be highly sought after by collectors since they aren’t sold to the general public. These vehicles showcase upcoming Hot Wheels lines, products and design techniques. This new, at the time, casting was most likely picked to promote the track-ready vehicles released in 1995. In addition to the Power Pistons, the Power Rocket and Power Pipes were also released in the 1995 Model Series. This vehicle also features graphics similar to the Race Team Series cars.

Since the body of the Power Pistons is plastic (the base is metal), that is not Spectraflame Blue paint you see, its a Blue Chrome VUM. VUM is a process in which a colorized chrome surface is applied to Hot Wheels vehicles. This can be applied to both plastic and metal bodies. This Blue Chrome VUM coupled with white sides, and “TOY FAIR” in the Hot Wheels flame logo, make this one sharp car! Go ahead, scroll up and take another glance!

The Power Pistons has been released over 20 times since 1995 and has been included in a fair amount of track sets over that span. Some of these track set versions are very hard to track down as not many were made and most ended up being played with by kids. If you get a chance, break out the orange track and let this baby rip…if you don’t have track readily available, check out the Power Pistons in action in this video on YouTube: MOTHER OF ALL HOT WHEELS TRACKS.

Revving up the new blog with a classic!

This ’52 Hudson Hornet is one vintage beauty! It was released in 2012 as part of the Hot Wheels Boulevard 30-Car Box Set. The casting’s classic design along with a perfectly executed vintage racing design of the Hot Wheels Race Team made this an instant hit with collectors. Oddly enough, this is a variation of the Hot Wheels Boulevard version which came in a non-racing scheme metallic sky blue with white top and classic white wall tires. This aforementioned 2012 version was the initial release of this ’52 Hudson Hornet casting.

As it stands, there are 3 versions of this casting. The Hot Wheels Boulevard, the Hot Wheels Boulevard Box Set (pictured), and the 2012 Red Line Club rewards version which appeared in Spectraflame Olive. If you’re into the old Hornets or Doc Hudson, from the movie Cars, this is a great casting to start collecting.