I am making a lot of people squirm with that statement above.
There is probably an army of Redline collectors with torches and briefcases full of Redlines embedded in padding heading my way right this second. Or blue card collectors with pitchforks. Or the “import is crap” crowd ready to make their standard illogical arguments.
Bring it all on. Car Culture is the best thing Hot Wheels has ever done.
I know I will get some pushback on that. It is my opinion, of course, and the point of collecting is that your own opinion is all that matters. You collect what you like. There is of course a school of collectors that love the retro, nostalgic stuff, whether it be the actual old Hot Wheels or the current models that pay homage. But the growing group of collectors that I see are those that love Hot Wheels for the cross-section of the automotive world it creates, from stock cars to race cars to all kinds of elements of car culture.
Hence, the name. Car Culture does just that. It is one of the first lines that Hot Wheels has kept fairly loose in terms of themes. Every assortment not only has a different theme that loosely fits under the “Car Culture” umbrella, but even the artwork for each is completely different. It means Hot Wheels can go wherever they want with each assortment.
And this is where one of you might say “yeah, but they don’t do enough muscle with this series”, or “where are the hot rods?”. I hope they do them. The point is, they can!! The only thing they are locked into with Car Culture is that each theme is different. I can see Rally. Or Nostalgic Race Cars. Trans Am Racers. Station Wagons. Gassers. You think of a theme, there is no reason Hot Wheels couldn’t do it under Car Culture.
And you can tell there is passion behind these. We have seen several new Real Riders introduced in Car Culture, and more importantly a wonderfully diverse group of new castings.
And that trend continues through 2017 into 2018. In 2017 we will see a BMW M1 Race Car and Subaru Impreza “Bugeye” WRX. In 2018, we already know about the Nissan Laurel, Skyline C210, and Skyline C10 Wagon, with more yet to be announced.
The one complaint I hear most about Car Culture? The lack of complete deco. I agree, and so does Hot Wheels, so even that changes in 2018. That removes the only real complaint I have.
So yeah, I love this line. I hope it continues past 2018. I hope I can fill the wall display I have dedicated to Car Culture.
So I have been of the opinion for awhile that Car Culture is the best thing Hot Wheels has done. I didn’t need any convincing. But the Mercedes-Benz 190E Evo II? My goodness, it is so good I might have to fight you if you don’t share my opinion on Car Culture. On the video, I call it “perfect”. I mean it. It is perfect.
One of those “quit now, because it will never be better” models. I don’t need to type all the hyperbole I used in the video above, so I won’t. Just know that if Car Culture doesn’t exist, we don’t see a model like this. But here it is.
Same goes with the Porsche 964. Last year’s Track Day release was only there to whet the appetite. This model in black is its fulfillment.
And it goes from there. A BMW, Honda, and Renault. All welcome, all different, all going into the collection.
I love this line. It is the most fun I have collecting Hot Wheels. I am all in, and that won’t change anytime soon. Go ahead and say I drank the kool-aid. I most surely have, and it’s delicious.
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