NC TRACKRAT

For those who collect, I just found a white '96 Carrera sunroof coupe Hot Wheels. "New for 2019", It's 4/10 NIGHTBURNERZ, #155/250 on the upper right hand corner. After all these years, it's rather rare to find a new release of any 993's. If anyone finds any other colors, let us know.

Railmaster.

993s are hot with toy car makers! Is it copyright related now when the design have turned 25? Not a Hot Wheel but a fresh release!

NC TRACKRAT

On the back of the Hot Wheels package: "Porsche, the Porsche shield and the distinctive design of Porsche cars are trademarks and trade dress of Porsche AG. Permission granted."

SpeedyC2

Here you go: Hot Wheels 2019

"Who needs a radiator? Porsche Carrera is the ultimate air-cooled sports car with a 6-speed gearbox and precise handling. Its autobahn shredding flat-6 engine cranks out 285 horsepower!"

Looks like white and maybe Mexico Blue, or thereabouts.

Paolo1

I recall Hotwheels and Matchbox being made to a much higher standard in the '70s and '80s. The doors opened and details were finer. Am I recalling correctly?

SpeedyC2

It may not be correct, but it's what I recall as well!

VadGTI

Matchbox and Majorette made amazing models. Hot Wheels always made stuff that seemed cheapish, without fine details (mostly... there were exceptions).
Look at all the fine details on this Matchbox 911:



Or this Majorette 911:




Or these Majorette and Matchbox 944s:





Or this Matchbox 928:



Compare that to the much more crude Hot Wheels 928 or 911 of the same vintage:





Also, Hot Wheels was mostly US stuff, while Majorette and Matchbox were worldwide, so you could find all kinds of not-available-here stuff if you looked hard enough (as I did when I was a kid ).

Paolo1

Nice primary source material. I also had some German and/or Italian made cars from that era at same scale that were even more special. I'd love to give them to my son, but I understand that is a big risk due to possible lead paint.

GBX

Very cool! Do you have a link?

pp000830

https://www.google.com/search?q=4%2F...hrome&ie=UTF-8

95_993

Anyone remember CORGI's? Loved 'em!

GBX

Already have the white one. Was hoping for a link to purchase the yellow safety car.

FrenchToast

Riviera-esque Blue and white are the only color at this time. More colors will be offered in the future. I think metallic brown was the original prototype color, so that might make an appearance. They have also made a 993 GT2 for a few years now.

Matchbox sometimes, but Hotwheels rarely. In fact, very few of the 99-cent Hotwheels have ever had opening components. A few from the original Redline era do. Most others usually originated as a casting from another Mattel brand.

Here is a Redline 917 that lost its engine cover. Hotwheels also has made a modern reproduction of this casting (original tooling was probably melted down). They also make a 917K and 917 LH!



You could make that argument for some of the 90s toys, but Hotwheels would strongly disagree today.



The HW 928 isn't a bad model at all. It does not have opening doors like the MB, but the shape is pretty good. There is no interior, hence the blacked out (or chrome in some cases) windows.

Here is the final decoration for the HW casting



The, erm, exaggerated style of the 911 is typical of Hotwhels models of the era.

It's worth noting that both the Matchbox 928 and 911 originated as Lesney (England) models. The 928 is RHD.

The style of replicas of both Matchbox and Hotwheels often differ, and are related directly to their history. While they have changed in the past decade, Hotwheels was always meant to be a toy appealing to the fanciful ideas of a child, hence the often exaggerated or fictional features. Hotwheels also made it a point to have low-friction axles, making them the fastest of their kind. Matchbox (and Lesney) originated as a company making accurate collectibles.

Fun fact; that Matchbox 911 was actually copied by a company called MC Toy. MC Toy is now Maisto. Maisto and Matchbox must have reached some settlement about it, as Maisto actually still produces the MC Toy version of that 911 (Matchbox no longer produces their own).

Here is the MC Toy:



Majorette is a French company, and often makes cars more relevant to that region. I am not readily familiar with their history. However, I do know that until very recently, they were not officially exported to North America after the 90s. They have undergone corporate changes and few, if any, of their old castings are still in production. But that's not to say the new ones are bad - they are in fact quite good.

Original Corgis are 1/43-scale. Many of the 1/64-scale Corgis were produced when Mattel absorbed Corgi. Most of the tooling was transferred to the Hotwheels name. I forget the actual timeline of the Corgi 1/64s.

Long before the current HW E30 M3, HW made a 325i that originated as a Corgi casting.




Age has nothing to do with it.

Technically, models must be approved by the respective owner. Today, usually each color and/or decoration must also be approved.

But that doesn't stop many unlicensed products making their way out.
_

What you see in stores often supports this. The industry is plagued by scalpers. They will literally go everyday to the big-box stores and buy all the desirable models, then throw them on eBay for ridiculous prices.

SpeedyC2

^ Fascinating history lesson! Thanks!

NC TRACKRAT

No matter what the scale, I like cars! Here's a shot of a few Hot Wheels...some may seem like the same but they're slightly different. The showcase is full of favorites. There's a walk-in closet full that just beg to be displayed but, sadly, no room. It's a disease...that I see has infected many of you as well!