Welcome to the #Casting Profile for the Hot Wheels #Scion xB! In what was seemingly done in essence of another Hot Wheels favorite of mine — the #Mini Cooper — the Scion xB made its debut with a wide-body, chopped roof, and latch on the base which disengaged the body revealing an interior with roll cage. Of course, since this casting was intended for use as an #X-Raycers vehicle, disengaging the body was not required to see those internal features. For the majority of its releases, this plastic-bodied casting featured transparent plastic which showcased said interior, roll cage, and even its engine — that is, when it wasn’t covered completely in graphics.

For me, this was just a fun casting to collect as all of its releases were easy to find and never demanded high secondary prices. It was actually the first casting to be designed completed by an intern. Even though it is considered of the #’Tooned variety, the Hot Wheels #Scion xB looks more like a real Scion xB with slightly under- and over-exaggerated proportions. A lot of the other diecast companies were doing the uber-popular xB at the time, but they just never seemed to translate well to 1:64 scale. This custom approach definitely embodies the Hot Wheels spirit and gives a car that was often referred to as a “toaster on wheels”, a sporty approach.

The basic version of the casting eventually lost its dettachable body feature when it was released as part of the Race World – Earth Series in 2010, however, all three #Color Shifters releases (’11, ’14, ’15) carried on the feature. As a casting intended for #X-Raycers use, it is worth noting that 9 of the 13 variants do feature transparent plastic bodies.

Produced: 2005 to 2016 (believed to still be an active casting)

Hot Wheels Designer: Raffy Gonzalez

Special Feature: Detachable body released through latch on base. 8 of 13 variants have this.

Fun Fact: The Blue variant of the 2005 First Editions release was exclusive to just the third Kmart Collectors Day event on June 18th, 2005. It was the last time the event had exclusive 72 ct. cases — before they switched to the 36 ct. cases they have today. It was one of seven exclusive cars for that event and it was the first time many collectors had seen the casting as both red variants were released around the same time.

Timeline

2005 First Editions – X-Raycers •TRANSPARENT RED

PR5 wheel variation

2005 First Editions – X-Raycers •TRANSPARENT RED

FTE wheel variation

2005 First Editions – X-Raycers •TRANSPARENT BLUE

Kmart Collectors Day Exclusive

2006 X-Raycers 5-Pack •SMOKE

2008 Mystery Cars •TRANSPARENT DARK BLUE

2010 Race World – Earth •TRANSPARENT GREEN

2011 Color Shifters Hypercolor •PURPLE(cold) to ORANGE (warm) to YELLOW (hot)

2012 HW Code Cars Series •TRANSPARENT PURPLE

2013 Multi-Pack Exclusive •ORANGE

2014 Color Shifters •DARK ORANGE (cold) to LIME GREEN (warm)

2015 Color Shifters •SEA GREEN (cold) to PALE YELLOW (warm)

2015 HW Race / X-Raycers •TRANSPARENT YELLOW

2016 X-Raycers 5-Pack •TRANSPARENT ORANGE

BONUS! Early Engineering Pilot “Prototype” •TRANSPARENT ORANGE