When I shifted my collecting focus from “cardboard completist” to “buy-what-you-like” & “casting collector” in 2012, I began tracking down wheel variations of the castings I had already collected. I still have a long way to go on the wheel variations of the Jaguar XJ220 (I know most of them). I say “most of them” because the one shown below is a prime example of finding one that is essentially unrecorded.

In all of the online databases I use, there had been no wheel or other variations on the standard gold-chrome 10SP wheel release of the XJ220 in the 2003 Flag Flyers 5-Pack. One day, I was searching eBay for cheap, loose cars to pickup for use on Diecast Motorsports and I came across the previously unrecorded gold-chrome 5SP wheel variation (I have since added it to the Hot Wheels Wiki). Suffice to say I was ecstatic and with a “Buy it Now” price of $4-Shipped, I couldn’t buy it fast enough!

I had been aware of some other 5SP wheel variations in that came in later releases of the 2003 Flag Flyers 5-Pack, such as the Nissan Skyline R32 & Volkswagen New Beetle Cup, which both appear to be less common than the common PR5 Skyline and the 5Y Beetle (and prices have dictated so). So spotting this 5SP Jaguar was a true find and its moments like these that make you realize what collecting is all about.

RELEASE DETAILS: Metalflake Light Blue Body (metal). Dark Tinted Windows. Black Interior. Gold-Chrome 10-Spoke (10SP) Wheels. Black Base (plastic). Made in China. Toy# 57054. Released in 2003 as part of the Flag Flyers 5-Pack.

RELEASE DETAILS: Metalflake Light Blue Body (metal). Dark Tinted Windows. Black Interior. Gold-Chrome 5-Spoke (5SP) Wheels. Black Base (plastic). Made in China. Toy# 57054. Released in 2003 as part of the Flag Flyers 5-Pack.