DETROIT, 11:34 PM, SUN JUL 6 | 2 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@jalopnik.com | RSS
Posts Tagged “

Hot Wheels

”
novelties

Honda Racer Hot Wheels Toy Is Whacky, Real Whacky

Hot Wheels' 40th anniversary is upon us and to celebrate Mattel, parent company of Hot Wheels, arranged the "Hot Wheels Designer's Challenge." This challenge gave a handful of big name car manufacturers like Honda, Lotus and Mitsubishi the opportunity to design a crazy ass Hot Wheels car. Honda decided to go above and beyond crazy with it's Honda Racer, which looks like something Speed Racer drives in his nightmares.
More »

3:20 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Travis Hudson
2,629 views, 36 comments

ad watch

2008 Pontiac G8 GT Goes "Hot Wheels" In Second Commercial, And It's "Mine"

Pontiac's ad agency released a second commercial this weekend for their new rear-wheel drive muscular muscle sedan, the 2008 Pontiac G8 GT. While we've got to say it's not nearly as cool as the "Spy Hunter" G8 commercial we saw in the wee hours of Friday morning, the "Hot Wheels" theme ain't too shabby. Although we'd have found the commercial more convincing had it shot off the end of the track and into the back of our younger brother's head. Still, we're wondering what pubescent fantasy they'll use to market the newly-revealed 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP, the G8 with a stick. Wait, don't answer that question.

9:20 AM on Mon Mar 17 2008
By Ray Wert
6,350 views, 37 comments

Latest by LandofMinos, That pissed and muted look: @mytdawg: I had a Matchbox car that was A HJ Holden Ute. It was my favourite for years. and I thought it was an El Cam until I saw my friends one actually had Holden Ute written under it. I more »

novelties

Hot Wheels + Rocket Power = Inner Child Very Pleased

If you're anything like we were as kids eventually your mischievous dad handed you five pounds of bottle rockets with a subversive smile and told you not to blow your hands off.. well, you nearly wet yourself with joy, didn't you? What is it about pyrotechnics that makes young boys lose their minds with happiness? Why, the same thing that makes pyrotechnics attached to toy cars even better. This video comes from what may be the best Instructable ever made, though we're irked at it's improper name. Of course, seeing this makes us want to go out, buy and build Revell's 1966 El Camino model, attach three or four Estes E engines to the bed and be the first to attempt to put an Elco into orbit, falling satellite debris be damned!

1:00 PM on Thu Feb 21 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
4,327 views, 47 comments

Latest by madderhatter: For some reason a Go-Cart and JATO Bottles are coming to mind. more »

classic ad watch

Buy Cheerios, Get Johnny Lightning Double Trouble!

Back in the late 1960s, the Topper Johnny Lightning cars just couldn't compete with their Hot Wheels rivals. Still, the Double Trouble (yours free via some not-clearly-explained Cheerios-related mechanism) was pretty cool, and nice ones fetch halfway decent money today.

12:30 PM on Fri Feb 15 2008
By Murilee Martin
598 views, 7 comments

sema

SEMA 2007: Hot Wheels Unveils First Manufacturer-Designed Models

For the first time ever, Mattel went beyond its in-house design studio and asked automakers to come up with designs for its new hot line of pint-sized dream machines. See what they came up with after the jump. More »

3:25 PM on Tue Oct 30 2007
By burstein
4,391 views, 11 comments

Latest by damnElantra: what, no one is commenting on the retro chevy? i say that one is not too bad. might even say i like it! more »

question of the day

What's Your Favorite Car Toy?

I'll make a confession. While I no doubt owned Matchbox and Hot Wheels toys as a kid, I wasn't that into 'em. I loved cars of course, and seeing how we managed to spend so much time in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach when I was young, I could wander the streets with my car geek friend David while our folks finished brunch and look at actual slant-nose 935s, Lambo Jalpas, Ferrari Mondials, Avantis and what ever else the merchants of bad taste deemed necessary that week. We did see an Aston Martin Lagonda parked in front of Nate & Als one Sunday, which was and continues to be one of the happiest moments of my life. What I am trying to say is that I am totally the wrong guy to be asking this question. So, I will let commenter Seth L,
"What is your favorite car toy? Matchbox? Tonka? Micro Machines? An amazingly complicated HotWheels track? Supercity?
And for the record, my favorite car toy had to be my Green Machine. Mostly because the secret compartment held my Harlem Globetrotters lunch box, and that trick closely resembles the gun pockets found in the RS 4. – Jonny LIeberman More »

12:00 PM on Thu Jun 7 2007
By Jonny Lieberman
3,090 views, 80 comments

Latest by Nightwing: @78TLC: I loved M.A.S.K.! I still have a few of those toys laying around too! @a007map: I wanted a Power Wheel so bad when I was a kid. I remember this kid moved in across the street when I was a more »

retro

Race Caws! Stunt Caws! Super Loopa!

Thunderjet and AFX slot cars manufactured by the Aurora Plastics Corporation of West Hempstead, New York forever etched racing cars into the minds of impressionable youth. The company also made some forays into gravity powered Hot Wheels style racing toys. By the looks of this old commercial for their Speedline Stunt and Drag Set, it seems they went as far as three or four feet from the factory to recruit a couple of kids rooting through the dumpster for spare slot car parts as talent. Hey you kids get outta there! You wanna be in a commercial? Lookit da box! – Mike Bumbeck More »

3:29 PM on Wed Mar 14 2007
By Mike Bumbeck
458 views, 6 comments

Latest by SpudMills: @MurileeMartin: Not me. I didn't want to scorch the paint. I saved the pyrotechnics for my friend's crappy model cars that he never painted. We'd stick gasoline-filled Baggies (the alligator skin kind) and a firecracker inside. more »

hot wheels

Jalopnik Late-Night: Challenger Shooting-Brake Hot Wheels Are the Double Radness

While Davey and I will never agree on exactly where a hatchback ends and sport wagon begins, I will bet my Subie snatchback on the fact that these custom beauties tickle us equally in the trousers. So hot are these toys, I even bet Uncle Bumbeck will help us perfect our time machine (hopefully with a brass hammer) so that we may terrorize our little sister by pushing these down the hall screaming VROOOM!!!!! and mortally wounding Barbies. Click and drool my friends, click and drool. – Jonny Lieberman More »

2:54 AM on Thu Dec 7 2006
By Jonny Lieberman
436 views, 2 comments

Latest by bigusfickes: did you mean DUBble radness? What's radder than rad? Double radness. more »

holiday gift guide

Jalopnik Holiday Gift Guide: Sizzlers Lucky Best Super O!


Long before plug-in hybrids or electric rocket sleds like the Tesla were the talk, a smaller and much faster plug-in was available for use by kids not even old enough to drive. Hot Wheels Sizzlers relied not on sponge rubber wheeled launching devices or setting up 20 feet of orange track on the staircase for velocity. Sizzlers were powered by wee electric motors and on-board rechargeable batteries. A minute or so of charging with the Juice Machine and the cars barrel-assed around the track for up to five minutes. As the Sizzlers were not confined to slots or lanes racing action held SUPER PASSING POTENTIAL! The good news? Hot Wheels has re-issued Sizzlers and Sizzler accessories. Now go buy four sets and make a wicked huge track. At 25 bucks a set you can't lose. Lap counter may be sold separately. – Mike Bumbeck More »

12:29 PM on Wed Dec 6 2006
By Mike Bumbeck
1,560 views, 12 comments

Latest by scotte: They're all good...all the stuff that fired up our imaginations and made us who we are today. Somewhere, I've still got my Sizzlers (2 Ford J-Cars, a Ford GT40 Mark IV, 2 '70 Mustang Boss 302s, a 70 1/2 Camaro Z28--with more »

honda

Honda Fit References Wheel Past


At first we thought the tire pressure safety sticker just featured this super cool wheel graphic because it was affixed to a Honda Fit, a vehicle with some manner of hep supposedly built-in. The wheel caught our eye because the illustration looked a lot like a cartoon version of a vintage Cragar five-spoke, or a two-dimensional representation of the classic Hot Wheels Redline wheel. On the pillar of the 2007 Honda CRV? Same sticker. Same wheel. Perhaps Honda should come up with a special super-wheeled edition Hot Wheels Fit, and launch it down a full-scale version of bright orange track, complete with loop. – Mike Bumbeck More »

11:57 AM on Mon Nov 20 2006
By Mike Bumbeck
247 views, 4 comments

Latest by conspicio: That hot wheels track was great for smackin the cr@p out of your friends, or your dad spanking the cr@p out of you with that damn orange track. Sweet memories, all of them...really. more »

news

No Pocky for Kitty: Coop's Japanblogging in One Handy Package!

The man we often refer to as Coop just got back from the islands of the Rising Sun, and no, the fool didn't bring us a JDM right-hand-drive Starion A6M. But he sure did take a lot of pictures. So if you, like us, are a fan of the mighty Mister Cooper, click over and check it out. We've provided handy links for your convenience. More »

2:51 AM on Tue Jun 6 2006
By Davey G. Johnson
111 views, Comment

news

Coop's Hot Wheels Box Art

Even Coop knows that his frequency of posts on his Hot Wheels designs is reaching some measure of self-absorbed critical mass, but hey, we're playing into his hand, aren't we? And besides, when was the last time Satan chomping a cigar appeared on a Mattel product package? More »

5:28 PM on Fri May 12 2006
By Davey G. Johnson
795 views, Comment

news

Coop Designs Hot Wheels!

We've been a fan of Coop's art since we were a teenager. We've had the pleasure of getting to know the guy over the last few months, and we were pleasantly surprised at the similarity in our attitudes. The guy knows how to build a car, has a very similar fine-art technique to ours (although he's got way more technical skill than we do) and is a damn fine writer. We say this simply because we've met many people we've admired from afar over the years and were sorely disappointed. Not so with Chris Cooper. And now he's fulfilled a lifelong dream — designing a pair of Hot Wheels Mercs. Good onya, Coop. If anyone deserves it, you do. More »

5:44 PM on Fri Apr 7 2006
By Davey G. Johnson
190 views, Comment

news

Hot Wheels Mania

"Some guys' passion is girls," says Jon Melin, a Hot Wheels collector. "Some guys' is cars." Our passion is both. And punk rock. And lately, Charles Bukowski. Which essentially makes us the living embodiment of the scuzzy dude at the end of the block, minus the meth habit. Plus, there are still hot, smart girls who kinda like us. Give us five years ladies, and we'll be collecting Hot Wheels too. Nah, it'll probably be vintage moped carburetors. Just because if you get dorky about something really esoteric and/or most likely French, it becomes cool. And besides, we were always more the Matchbox type. The axles didn't bend as easily. But oh that awesome orange track... More »

6:35 PM on Tue Mar 7 2006
By Davey G. Johnson
244 views, 1 comment

Latest by Mojo: I got Hot Wheels models of a Fiero and a Camaro funny car when I was barely an embryo that I gave to my nephew just a few days ago... and it's true. The axles suck. more »

custom cars/hot rods

The Twin Mill Grows Up

It's a common adage amongst SEMA vets that one's first trip to the show is basically a waste. The sensory overload is so insane that all you can do is spend your time basking in the pure insanity of the place. And it was for us as a neophyte auto-journo on our first trip to Vegas back in 2001. But one thing we'll never forget is the sight of the full-size Hot Wheels Twin Mill unveiled in honor of the Mattel brand's 35th Anniversary. The boys over at Street Rodder have added the whole sordid tale of the car's genesis and completion (minus the details involved in Boyd's 1998 bankruptcy) to their "Milestones" section, so why not mosey on over and take a gander at this much-motored monster of an overgrown toy? More »

4:26 PM on Mon Nov 21 2005
By Davey G. Johnson
513 views, 1 comment

Latest by henri: i was just at the Petersen Museum. this thing looks amazing in person (as do most of the cars on the 2nd floor, i'm not really into the older stuff on the ground floor) speaking of the Petersen, they have that more »