It’s the lady in a yellow dress that has Hot Wheels collectors coming down with a case of yellowbird syndrome. The already tough-to-find, #Hot Wheels Boulevard, has had collectors looking over the shoulders on the way to the pegs at their local Walmart stores here in the United States for a number of years now. A seeming scarcity — combined with rising secondary market values — has everyone grabbing the #Walmart Exclusive Boulevard line off the pegs. Mix 4 (of 5) for 2023 may not even make it to the pegs in some cases as collectors are grabbing these cases right off the pallets and heading to the checkout. This mix is super-strong with a compilation of 3 “hoard-worthy” newer castings, an all-black muscle car, and an increasingly popular livery.

Let’s not beat around the bush though, the bright yellow, #Porsche 911 Turbo (930) headlines this mix for a variety of reasons that we will get to in a moment. In this #Series Profile article we will take a look at each of the five cars in this mix — in numerical order — and examine why each one contributes to the strength of this mix.

#81 – Audi S4 quattro

This is the third release of the #Audi S4 quattro which has yet to appear outside of #Car Culture AND a Deutschland Design segment. After debuting in 2021 Deutschland Design in blue, the casting was released again in 2022 (in yellow) for Deutschland Design II. Those releases are nice and clean. This #Boulevard release takes the casting in another direction with the Audi Sport racing livery.

The Audi Sport racing livery may not be as identifiable — and as replayed — as #Gulf, #Advan, or even the #Ford Drag Team, but quietly, there is a nice livery collection growing. In 2023, the collection not only added this Boulevard piece, but also the ’94 Audi Avant RS2 from Replica Entertainment (Forza) and the Audi 90 quattro from Retro Racers in the mainline. It’s a big chunk of the collection that adds to the previously existing “winter rally” Car Culture 2-Pack ’84 Audi Sport quattro from 2022, and the Car Culture / Eurospeed #Audi R8 LMS from 2018 — both castings of which have had a couple renditions of this livery already. It looks to me that we could be seeing this red/gray/black deco over white on every future Audi casting to come. Now is the time to start collecting it if you’re going to do so.

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#82 – Porsche 911 Turbo (930)

Judging by collectors’ reactions on social media, and at the convention where this one was revealed, the #Porsche 911 Turbo (930) was to be the headliner of this mix. Now that this release has hit the pegs, we know that this one is definitely the first in the mix to go. I can’t tell you other collectors’ logic as some may be grabbing it because it’s definitely the brightest car in this mix, or because the casting is super well-done (and popular already), or because of resale value — likely a combination of the three.

QUICK LINK! Find the Boulevard Porsche 930 on eBay

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My logic however for wanting this one is because it’s striking resemblance to the infamous “yellowbird”. Yellowbird is not a Porsche however. Yellowbird is a 1987 Ruf CTR. By German law, Ruf is considered to be an auto manufacturer instead of a tuner brand. The CTR (Group C Turbo Ruf) gained notoriety for clocking an insane 211 mph top-speed in Road & Track magazine’s top-speed shootout in 1987. Road & Track writer, John Lamm dubbed the unassuming CTR carrying the 930 silhouette as “yellowbird” which also recorded a zero-to-100 time of 7.3 seconds. Hot Wheels doesn’t carry the Ruf license. Not sure why, but this may be the closest collectors ever come to owning a Hot Wheels “yellowbird” — and those that know, know!

#83 – ’70 Dodge Hemi Challenger

The oldest casting from this mix is the #’70 Dodge Hemi Challenger which made it’s debut way back in 2006 in the mainline. The casting has seen it all: basics, premium, ultra-premium releases. The color break the shaker hood scoop gives (as part of the interior piece) has always been a nice touch.

This #Boulevard release of the #’70 Dodge Hemi Challenger comes in a jet black that can have a matte appearance in photos but is actually glossy on the surface. Collectors have obviously become bigger fans of all-black Hot Wheels cars since the introduction of the #Car Culture #Chase vehicles — and this one clearly has already been well-received. The only knock against this one is the casting itself which does show a little sign of age. No, the tooling isn’t messed up, rather, it’s the fact that the car was designed for the mainline and the wheels tend to get tucked under the car versus being more flush with the outside edge. In the picture below you can see what I am talking about. In just about every other angle of the car, it’s flawless.

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#84 – Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16

The Hot Wheels #Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 is straight up beast mode. The minute I saw the Period Correct release, I knew it was a casting I was going to collect. From there I have learned exponentially more about vintage #Mercedes and DTM racing. If you asked me 10 years ago if the 190E would be among my favorite cars and/or Hot Wheels, I would have laughed — now, it’s in both.

For a car that only ever came in black (referring to the 1:1 2.6 liter EVO II), the recolor options seem limited. The Hot Wheels #Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.6-16 casting was initially released in that clean, black attire as part of Modern Classics in 2017. Aside from that, only the “pull-forward” (Mattel lingo) / “money-grab-repeat” (collector lingo) from the 2021 Car Culture 2-pack has features a clean look. We’ve seen DTM-inspired racing liveries to the likes of Project Cars 2, Falken, MOMO, and Period Correct since — and one with a giant ghosted Hot Wheels logo on the sides.

QUICK LINK! Find previous releases of the Mercedes-Benz 190E on eBay

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Finally we see another clean(er) version of this casting, and like that last time, this one is based off a real car. This is 1:1 car customizer, Stan Chen’s creation which was a complete show-stopper at SEMA last month in Las Vegas. Hot Wheels Marketing Director, Jimmy Liu has known Stan for some time now, and got an early heads up about this creation hence why it was released around the same time as the 1:1 car’s unveiling at SEMA — which actually had the Hot Wheels version inside the back window at the event. The Hot Wheels version is most notably is missing Hot Wheels logo on the rear wing which most likely means it was added on after this release went to production.

In an article with Bimmer Life, Stan notes that the 1:1 car is painted Brewster Green and that the car sits on one-off wheels that him and Jon Sibal designed, and cut by Rotiform. Outside of #Elite 64, modern Hot Wheels don’t have one-off wheels so this version sits on a pair of very light gold #Real Riders Exotic Wheels. Even the chrome rims are there emulating the real wheels quite nicely.

#85 – Nissan Silvia (S15 NISMO R-Tune Proto)

Lastly, the #Nissan Silvia (S15) returns to #Hot Wheels Boulevard. The last time it was in Boulevard was in 2020, way back in the 2nd mix (#7) of the line, when it sported a pretty intense Formula Drift livery. This time, the popular drift car is rocking the NISMO Super Coppermix livery which is apparently based on real car and is a very popular RC body kit by Tamiya. You can see the completed model, HERE. The name, “Super Coppermix” is what NISMO brands their competition-level clutches as. This is another Jimmy Liu insertion into the lineup as he is a big RC guy, and Silvia one too! He is credited with a share of the design of this casting.

QUICK LINK! Find the Boulevard Nissan Silvia (S15) on eBay

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The funny thing is — last time the #Nissan Silvia (S15) was in Boulevard — we saw an alternate card design for Formula Drift. Those cards were split evenly in the mixes of Boulevard: 1 standard blister card (Boulevard), 1 variant blister card (Formula Drift). For this release, we are seeing another variant — both card and car! A special #ZAMAC version of this silver car will be available at the 2023 NISMO Festival at Fuji Speedway in Japan on December 3rd.

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This special event ZAMAC version of the car has already climbed to the top of my want list — so much so, that I’ve already reached out to the event organizer and asked to purchase one. Sadly, my request was denied so the hunt continues. The Hot Wheels #Nissan Silvia (S15) collection is coming along nicely, and I hope to add that one to the collection soon!

This whole mix of Boulevard is outstanding. I still stand by my statement that the yellow Porsche headlines this mix, but the other four cars are special in their own ways. I doubt any of you will overlook this fourth mix of Boulevard, and if you did, consider it gone! I’m very thankful for a fellow collector agreeing to sell me his extra set at cost. Otherwise, I’m not sure I would have ever found this mix.