We have reached the pinnacle of Hot Wheels premium thus far. That is a fact! Collectors like to oooh and ahhh over the latest mixes of #Car Culture, #Boulevard, #Replica Entertainment, #Fast & Furious, and sometimes even #Pop Culture. New mixes sell like hot cakes, while older ones don’t even seem to warm the pegs for months on end — yeah, this has been a problem in the past. Gone are the days where there is a #Purple Passion or #Dairy Delivery in every premium Hot Wheels line. Occasionally, we will see #Unlicensed Hot Wheels inserted into the lineups to the likes of the #Bone Shaker, #Twin Mill, and other newer unlicensed castings like the #MBK Van, designed specifically for premium use. And, historically, we even saw a few original designs as HWC/RLC and convention releases…

With the release of the Hyper Haulers series in #Car Culture, we will see our first #Unlicensed Hot Wheels casting released in the line: the Baja Bouncer (note: the deco is licensed by Lucas Oil). This trophy truck looks totally rad and should be a hit with collectors. It does beg the question though: could previous Hot Wheels original castings find their way into premium? Or is the success of Hot Wheels premium, limiting use of Hot Wheels original designs in all the lines?

QUICK LINK! Pre-Order Car Culture / Hyper Haulers now on eBay!

The fact of the matter is that the bulk of these premium lines were designed for real cars. Car Culture focuses on just that, real 1:1 car culture. Boulevard are vehicles that you could see at any given car show. Original designs like the Twin Mill and Bone Shaker have shown up since their 1:1 counterparts are on the Legends Tour. Replica Entertainment are #TV & Movie cars, in addition to vehicles from various video games. It is possible we could see some premium cars from Hot Wheels Unleashed there, but it doesn’t seem likely outside of the Bone Shaker. Fast & Furious has real vehicles from the movie franchise — despite some being in only a couple frames for a split-second. Pop Culture is really the only place for original designs, but even then, they are laden with graphics. 

Maybe there is a possibility for a new, semi-premium line: #Real Riders with full detail. The compromise would be using existing castings which would mean plastic bases. Without automobile manufacturer royalties to pay, it would seem plausible.

Expectations. One word limits those who choose the lines. In a corporate structure, year over year performance is crucial and I expect it to be no different at Mattel. The expectation now is that each mix will be uber-popular with collectors. Chances taken include a limited liability which usually include some reason as to why a choice was made. For instance, the Twin Mill in Boulevard last year. It was a questionable choice despite the popularity of the casting with nostalgic collectors. I believe it was released to help promote the Legends event since it is a car that is regularly on tour. A “plentiful” wheel variation was undoubtedly done to help prevent the release from becoming a mega-pegwarmer. Still, the casting tended to sit longer than the rest of its mix counterparts.

I get it. There are always an overwhelming amount of collectors that always clamor for “real cars”, and “none of that fantasy junk” — as they like to say. For this collector, I believe it’s some of those fantasy cars that distinguish Hot Wheels as a brand versus others who just produced real-life replicas. No, I am not saying that all fantasy cars are great ideas, but there are certainly a few that deserve premium treatments.

Take for instance the #Turbine Time. It wasn’t released in premium, but rather as a convention dinner model. For me, it is one of the coolest dinner models to date! The extra detailing on the turbines probably wouldn’t be feasible in premium, but that shouldn’t negate the fact that this is one cool original design. It appears the way it is constructed no longer allows it to be in the mainline — hence why it hasn’t appeared in the mainline since 2016.

QUICK LINK! Find the Turbine Time for sale on eBay!

So many other Hot Wheels original designs are well deserving of premium treatment. Sadly, most will never get it. Instead, collectors’ hope lies within the Hot Wheels iD line for the chance of these vehicles receiving full-detail, but it’s hardly on par with premium since the line doesn’t warrant Real Riders. Some collectors look to an off-chance that their favorite #Unlicensed Hot Wheels casting becomes selected as a Super Treasure Hunt just for the long shot of seeing the vehicle released with Real Riders. With the latter, even Unlicensed Hot Wheels are supers seem like a thing of the past as we haven’t seen a HW original design as a super since the lackluster Street Creeper in 2019. Elevating an original design to super status allows for collectors to chase down a model some would never consider buying. I remember being turned on to the #Driftsta casting in 2016 after this sweet Yokohama deco’d one was “superized” with spectraflame magenta and the new RR4SP wheels. That is a car that will probably never be released with #Real Riders again, fortunately, we did see it with full detail in #Hot Wheels iD.

Short of having their own dedicated semi-premium line, what this all likely means is that for these original designs to reach their full potential, the task unfortunately falls on the shoulders of the customizing crowd out there to further detail these super creative castings. There is no mass solution to this.

I know the majority of collectors that take the time to read this will most likely say, “good riddance” in regards to the current state of original designs in premium, but to me, it feels like a missed opportunity for the brand to establish a new generation of Hot Wheels favorites to the likes of the Bone Shaker, #Deora II, and the Twin Mill.