If you went to GameStop this past weekend, chances are you were seeking out the almighty super treasure hunt, GameStop Exclusive colors, and/or just some new 2020 Hot Wheels. I, like many others, ordered an event exclusive 36-count case online from gamestop.com the week prior but that didn’t deter me from seeking out my local event. Overall, the event was executed well and I was able to pick up some nice cars.

Of the GameStop exclusives, my favorite would have had to of been the orange #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona from the 2019 HW Flames simply because it is a casting that I collect. The last release of it came a full calendar year ago as the 2019 HW Flames black variant came in the 2019 “B” case assortments. What’s odd is that the other three GameStop exclusives were all 2019 “Q” case colorways (repaints), whereas the Daytona didn’t have a “Q” case release — or even a recent one for that matter. Basically, that leads me to believe that there was a good chance this casting was originally scheduled to have three releases this year. How is that for investigative journalism? Instead, we got two releases for 2019. Two releases that look pretty good in the colors that were chosen.

Hot Wheels ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona from the 2019 HW Flames series (both, head-to-head)

When you add the two 2019 HW Flames #Variations to the casting collection for the #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona, you get 12 variants all-together. Many collectors will recall that the casting started out in the 2013 Hot Wheels mainline as a tie-in to #Fast & Furious and was used a couple times in the #Walmart Exclusive Fast & Furious Themed Assortment — we will get to those in a minute. The 2014 mainline saw three releases of the Daytona in red, ZAMAC, and light green; and in 2016, we saw it again in light green, but with a super treasure hunt variant that time around. In 2017 we saw a 5-Pack release (blue) and what ended up being a super hard to find (for me), #Target Exclusive #Retro Style release in white.

Hot Wheels Casting Collection of the ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona (Family Photo, October 2019)

If you collected in the late ’90s / early ’00s, chances are you recall the Hot Wheels #’70 Dodge Charger Daytona casting. While the difference in the casting names is that they are only one year apart, a comparison between the two castings shows differences between two different eras of Hot Wheels design. The #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona came at a time (2013) when having a raked stance (large rear wheels) and track performance took precedence over realistic design. That brand standard lead to some really cool mainline designs during those years, unfortunately, the ’69 would have benefited from that having the lowered stance like the ’70 had seeing how that would have been a more accurate portrayal as to how it was in Fast & Furious 6 (2013).

Hot Wheels ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona from the 2019 HW Flames series head-to-head with the ’70 Dodge Charger Daytona

The #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona is a #Jun Imai Design. With that being said, you have to assume that Jun pushed for the lowered version with same-size wheels since that is more his style, but he must have lost out to either brand standards, a strange Universal Studios request, or that fact that the car would have resembled the ’70 too much — which by legal standards cannot be reproduced again since it was officially final run’d in 2003.

Moving on…

There are three distinct #Variations of the #Fast & Furious #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona. The first came in a dark burgundy, had headlight and wing details, and was part of both the 2013 mainline and the 2014 Walmart theme assortment — as far as I can tell. That release had chrome MC5 wheels, as did the very similar 2016 Fast & Furious Theme Assortment release. That release however, did not have the detail and it came in more of a metalflake brown paint (shown below, in the center).

Hot Wheels ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona Variations among the three Fast & Furious releases

Sandwiched between those releases was the 2015 Fast & Furious release which came in probably the lightest shade of paint. That release had the detailed headlights and wing, but was the only one to feature chrome OH5 wheels (shown above, on the right).

By this point, chances are, you’re trying to figure out what I am missing, right? You’re probably recalling several versions of the very similar #’70 Plymouth Superbird casting. Many collectors have made the mistake of calling certain releases of the Superbird, a “Daytona” — and vice versa. Despite both having the raked stance, the castings do have their differences though. The shape of the rear windows/roof and the wing are probably the most notable differences, however, if you are ever wondering, you can always check for the name on the base. Below, I’ve taken the liberty of having the super treasure hunt version of the #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona (spectraflame green, left) with the metalflake gold variation of the Holiday Rods release of the Superbird (right). To the casual observer, they are extremely similar.

Hot Wheels ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona (spectraflame green, super treasure hunt) head-to-head with the ’70 Plymouth Superbird (metalflake gold)

Overall, the Hot Wheels #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona has been a relatively easy casting to collect aside from shelling out for the super treasure hunt variant that I was unsuccessful in finding at retail, and establishing the differences in the handful of Fast & Furious releases. Winged cars like the Daytona and Superbird are always fun to look at and I’ve always been attracted to MOPAR design, so its extremely gratifying to finally get this collection together. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did putting it together.