Hot Wheels broke the internet last week. It’s a dumb phrase, usually reserved for the antics of a Kardashian, but it happened in our world last week.
The Hot Wheels Design Team, dubbed the Dream Team on Instagram, dropped the first image of the upcoming Bugatti Chiron. Crack. The corner of the internet occupied by us nerds broke.
The reactions were swift, strong, and thankfully for the most part positive. Of course there are some detractors, but buzzy buzz buzz it created. It is great to see Hot Wheels doing a Bugatti again, and it is great to see it done so beautifully.
I always wonder what it is like to be a Hot Wheels designer, and to watch the reactions from collectors when something you have worked on for so long has been unleashed to the public. There is so much put into the execution of each model, and watching us react has to be exciting and terribly nerve-racking. It is why leaked images bother the designers so much. It just isn’t cool to see something unveiled in an incomplete or incorrect form, after all that work.
So it is awesome to see the Chiron unveiled this way, by the right people, not only complete, but shot beautifully by Designer Ryu Asada for the Dream Team account. I’m a sucker for a good toy car photo, so of course I asked him for more images, and he provided, and is letting me share them here.
I wanted to see how the back was done (it’s part of the window piece, which helps create the mesh look), as well as a profile shot, and Ryu obliged. They are below. It’s stellar.
I also asked Ryu for a little background on the model. He said it took a long time to finally get it to a point they were happy with, as it wasn’t easy to shrink to 1/64. They experimented with ways to make it two-tone, but that couldn’t be done in basic, but maybe we will see a two-tone version in premium some day. He also pointed out that that unique arch that runs from the back to front in the interior of the Chiron is there. They kept it low to the ground like the real Chiron as well. I also asked if he wanted to say anything about it to collectors:
We’re so excited to have Bugatti as our significant partner as their cars represent our brand philosophy well – Speed, Performance, and Style. The real Chiron has super wide body even with stock form so we made sure to get the feel right in our scale. If you look inside closer you can see the arch that runs across from the center console to the ceiling. We do hope a lot of fans will enjoy this little Bugatti.
Ryu Asada
We will Ryu. We most certainly will.
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