Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) hits theaters worldwide today and with that comes the annual inundation of toys licensed by the #Star Wars movie franchise. While the Hot Wheels aisle has already been laden with Star Wars vehicles — Carships, Starships, Character Cars and Pop Culture — a new Star Wars Themed Assortment arrived in dump bins at local Walmarts, just in time for the movie’s worldwide debut.
There is a #Star Wars movie dropping just about every year now and the Hot Wheels lines have caught up with the madness — remember when there was no Hot Wheels / Star Wars partnership? This is the fourth year in a row that features a #Walmart Exclusive Star Wars Themed Assortment Series, with this year’s theme being Masters and their Apprentices — both Jedi and #Sith are well represented here.
Hot Wheels Night Shifter from the 2017 Star Wars Master/Apprentice Series (side view)
Buyer beware, if you are not a fan of #Unlicensed Hot Wheels, the #Star Wars Master/Apprentice Series may not be for you as the series consists of all eight vehicles being of the “fantasy” variety. For those of us that really love these Star Wars themes or a particular model, buy away as the other collectors will thank you for making more room for mainline cars. Maybe you’ve already indulged? I have…
The Hot Wheels #Night Shifter is one of my favorite new castings and I was delighted to see it appear in this series. If not for the really cool graphics — more on that in a minute — the fact that I really wanted to see this casting in black made it seem like my prayers had been answered.
Now aside from the fact that the #Night Shifter looks great in black and is as good as any car for a Sith lord, I think the collectors that have purchased this car (and the other cars in the series) have been pleasantly impressed with the graphics on this one. The car was manufactured at Hot Wheels Thailand plant and the tampos are seemingly flawless. So instead of spending all that time in the dump bin trying to find one with decent tampos, you can really admire how badass #Snoke and #Kylo Ren look on the side of this vehicle.
RELEASE DETAILS: Gloss Black Body (metal). Red-Tinted Windows. Chrome Interior. Red-Chrome Open-Hole 5-Spoke (OH5) Wheels. Black Base (plastic). Made in Thailand. Toy# DWD86. Released in 2017 as #8 of 8 in the Walmart Exclusive, Star Wars Master/Apprentice Series.
As a collector of the Hot Wheels #Night Shifter, its worth noting that this is now the 6th variant of the casting which was released just last year (2016). Since its the holiday season, I figured what better than to take a “casting family photo” of all six … Happy Holidays and enjoy Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), in theaters now! Take a friend (or six)! 😉
Hot Wheels Night Shifter Family Photo (December 2017)
Categories: Showcase
ORANGE TRACK DIECAST 
I’ve always liked the casting, but not any of the liveries so far. I like this one, so it probably won’t show up at my local Walmart. I also like that the wheels match on the most recent releases. It’s supposed to be inspired by military planes. They ought to do a livery that makes that fact more obvious.
Great suggestion Trevor. Hot Wheels graphics guys… are you reading this?