Hot Wheels Designer Ryu Asada was known for being precise. It seemed as though he could beautifully scale-down any automobile and delivered a finely-tuned Hot Wheels casting. And, as simple as that may sound, it is no easy feat! As skillful as that is, what I truly admired about Ryu was his playful personality. He often leaned on it while creating Hot Wheels original designs like the #Roller Toaster.

When I wrote about the Legends of Speed (2017 New Model): Roller Toaster back in 2017, I explained how Ryu pulled inspiration for this design from the whimsical race cars designed for the 24 Hours of Lemons. In fact, it was him that said, “racing on tracks is for everybody, and inspirations can come from everywhere” — something that is very true when it comes to the Hot Wheels brand. Look at the wide variety of cars showcased at the Hot Wheels Legends Tour events and you can see that Hot Wheels have inspired those in all walks of life. These original designs may not be for everyone, but for those kids and adults that do enjoy them, they are a reminder that cars can be fun and an extension of our personalities.

The 24 Hours of Lemons is a completely satirical race that is clearly a play on the 24 Hour of Le Mans. Teams buy cheap cars for under $500 and race them to death. I know for a fact that there have been several teams that have bought old Scion xB’s and turned them into toasters so this #Unlicensed Hot Wheels design isn’t too far off of the real race cars that compete in the race.

Side note: If you’re looking for an actual replica of a 24 Hours of Lemons race car, check out the Rotsun. If you recall one of the episodes of Roadkill, the guys actually race the Rotsun in one of the races hence why the 24 Hours of Lemons graphic appears on the Hot Wheels version of the car.

The Roller Toaster Collection

I haven’t featured the #Roller Toaster since I did that initial article on the 2017 New Model back in 2017. Since then, I have been quietly building a collection of all the releases of this Hot Wheels casting. All of them had been released in the mainline and only one variant was a store exclusive so none were hard to find. That is, until I learned about a very rare all-white variant done for kids to color on at the 2019 Hot Wheels Collectors Japan Convention. If this sounds familiar, I have also featured a similarly rare Nissan Skyline H/T 2000GT-X done for the 2017 International Tokyo Toy Show which was also given to kids to color on. No production numbers on these were ever revealed as there is very little information about them at all.

To escape an event unscathed — where the intention was to be given to kids of color on — seems remarkable, however, with the #Roller Toaster, more may have been produced than what was needed for the event. In 2020, this Roller Toaster was actually one of four all-white cars to be given out as part of a Japanese lottery promotion. That is actually where I first heard of it. Three years later, this same run (produced at the end of 2018) — thanks, base codes — is still being distributed in Japan courtesy of in-store promotions. That is how I finally got my hands on this release as mine came with a black Hot Wheels 55th anniversary (2023) box direct from Japan.

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I feel very fortunate to have finally tracked one down as the variant has been on my wish list for a number of years. I’ve even reached out to several of you and asked you to keep an eye out for one in your searches at various shows and conventions. Having a conversation piece like this is always the cherry “butter” on top of any casting collection.

The rest of the collection comes in a myriad of colors that are certainly not as vanilla as white. The first two releases in the 2017 Legends of Speed mini collection were blue and red respectively. You see a very “24 Hours of Lemons deco” with the #Roller Toaster name emblazoned on the sides along with the #11 made to look like it is taped onto the car. Even the race gets a nod with the “24 hrs” on top of the lemon graphic.

If you watched Ryu’s video above, he mentioned that the next release would be in chrome to “mirror” the toaster in the design center’s breakroom that inspired it all. The 2018 Fast Foodie mini collection release was the one that Ryu was referring to.

2019 brought two more variants of the #Roller Toaster into my collection as part of the Experimotors mini collection. The black one is apparently a playable car in the Hot Wheels Unleashed video game. The gold-chrome colorway has been the most difficult to find (outside of the white Japan one) due to it being a #Kroger Exclusive.

In terms of graphic design, the 2020 Fast Foodie releases have to be my favorite. The sides feature a Toaster on wheels wearing sunglasses as he (or she) is burning rubber by subsequently kicking up some smoke and flames. A striping pattern connects the personified toaster with the car’s #Roller Toaster namesake seen above the rear wheels. The namesake has a very “band name look” to it given the font choice and how it was created into a logo. Much love to the graphic designer who designed this graphic.

After a 2-year hiatus, the #Roller Toaster once again hit the shelves at retail with the 2023 Sweet Riders releases. Done in red, and then in light green, these “Peanut Butter & Jelly” Roller Toasters cap off the collection (for now).

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A lot can be said about a whimsical car such as the #Roller Toaster as it promotes creativity and all that Ryu was about. I keep circling back to Ryu’s “racing on tracks is for everybody, and inspirations can come from everywhere” quote as cars (and design) are subjective. No person should ever feel like their creation isn’t good enough. The journey is the reward and the creation process is meant to be fun, just like the 24 Hours of Lemons race. The Roller Toaster is more than just a whimsical car in my Hot Wheels collection. It is a reminder to have fun and go at your own pace. Thank you, Ryu!