The Lamley Awards are approaching. Later this month the voting will start, and there is a lot figure out. Best HW New Model, Best MB New Model, Model of the Year for both brands, Model of the Year for 1/64 in general, the list goes on. It’ll be fun to say the list.
The most competitive vote is always for Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt. Love em or hate em, Supers always bring the most interest. Years of doing this blog have solidified that for me.
The fact is Supers are only half of what most Hot Wheels premium models are. The spectraflame paint used on Supers can’t even compare to that used on RLC and Convention cars, and sometimes the casting choices live a little to be desired. But I am like you, in that I love finding them. Velocita or ’67 Camaro, it is always a trip to come across one.
Take my 11-year-old daughter. She could care less about Hot Wheels, but she has always wanted to find a Super, because it is exactly like finding a treasure. And when that moment finally happened, in a Dollar Tree in Taos, New Mexico this summer, it made the whole trip. The Surf Crate is hanging on her wall, next all her other 11-year-old 6th Grade girl stuff. Finding it was an event.
So soon we will vote on best Super, and the opinions will come forth fast and furious. Ask me which of the 15 Supers in 2017 will be voted as Best, and I can’t tell you. I have a pretty good idea of what models will battle for the top spot, but I have no idea which one will win.
The Nissan Fairlady Z will most surely be a contender. It’s JDM, yo, which is an instant qualifier these days. And before I had it in hand, that is all I thought it had going for it. To be honest, the Fairlady Z casting is not my favorite. I thought the body was a bit too narrow, while the wheel wells a bit too wide. The FuguZ casting, even with a different nose, seems to be the better proportioned of the two. That shows comparing the two with Jun Imai’s Kaido House deco:
But holy hell if that doesn’t matter on the 2017 release of the Fairlady, especially the Super. Add this to no-fail rules in life: everything looks good in an Advan Racing livery. Everything. All my complaints about the casting are out the window, because it looks amazing in black with the red Advan stripes and logo. It helps me see how mice the silhouette of the model really is:
Maybe it’s the slant of the stripes, but this is a great looking model. One of those that, Super or not, is a must have. I contend that most Supers are wanted only because they are hard to find, but there are numerous models, premium and basic, and look better. This one would be popular anywhere, in any line. And for that reason it is a home run Super TH. Sporting the Advan livery and looking this good puts it up with my favorite Super TH of all time, the Mooneyes Dodge Van from a few years ago.
But that doesn’t mean it is the best this year. You will determine that. I will make my pick too, and considering how nice the ’67 Camaro, Chevy C10, and Toyota Off-Road look, among others, we have our work cut out for us.
Click on the photos for a larger view:
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