Jun Imai studied at Art Center College of Design before joining Hot Wheels in 2004. From 2004, until he left Mattel in 2018, he has designed hundreds of cars for the diecast lines.
In 2012, he left diecast to lead HW Innovation and RC Design, and returned in summer 2014 as Manager of HW Diecast Design.
A few of his favorite designs include: Mad Manga, Nissan Skyline GT-X “Hakosuka”, Nissan Skyline 2000GTR “Kenmeri”, Datsun 510, ’71 Datsun Bluebird Wagon, Mazda RX-7, Toyota 2000GT, Datsun 620, BMW 2002, ’66 Dodge A100, ’69 Mustang Boss 302, ’77 Pontiac Firebird T/A, ’83 Chevy Silverado, Porsche 935/78, Porsche 911 (993) GT2, Driftsta, Datsun Fairlady 2000, Custom Datsun 240Z “Fugu Z”.
Aside from HW’s, he enjoys spending time with his family, running 5K’s, skateboarding, and tearing up L.A. streets with his modified Datsun 510 Wagon, 260ZG, and Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2.
Hot Wheels #Halloween cars have always been fun to collect. It seems just about every year we have at least one series designated for them. This year, we got The Nightmare Before Christmas series since it was the 25th anniversary of that movie. To tell you the truth, […]
The Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary celebration is coming to a close as the #2019 Hot Wheels have just started showing up at retail. Among those 2019 releases is the brand-new, #Super Chromes #Custom ’77 Dodge Van. As of the last few years, any time a vehicle is “chromed” […]
From a collector’s standpoint, the focus of the 2018 #Walmart Exclusive, #MOPAR Series is on the all-metal, ’70 Dodge Power Wagon. Its a great truck casting that I admit buying my fair share of when I saw a couple sets on the pegs one night. The other casting […]
The folks over at Borla must be grinning from ear to ear over their licensing deal with Mattel and Hot Wheels. Their brand was placed on the one of the hottest castings in the #’83 Silverado, in the hottest adult collector line: #Car Culture. And, just before that […]
It may very well be the best trio released this year in the #2018 Hot Wheels mainline. The #HW Hot Trucks Series release of the #Datsun 620 started out with a bang, and momentum never really slowed down. Months before the first 2018 mainline cars were first seen, […]
With the first ever Target Kids & Collectors Event this Saturday, collectors have been finding four-sided displays loaded with 2018 “C” and “H” case cars, complete with the #Target Exclusive #Red Edition series vehicles. Among those #2018 Hot Wheels Red Edition vehicles from the “H” case assortment was […]
What more can be said about the Hot Wheels #Datsun Bluebird 510 and its meteoric rise to collector favorite? The casting has achieved so much in seemingly a short amount of time considering it was introduced less than 10 years ago. For the first 4 years or so, […]
Year to year, its always fun to see what mainline series Hot Wheels collectors gravitate to. There are segments like #Muscle Mania and the #Night Burnerz that are perennially collector favorites. However, its always that new “underdog” segment that fascinates me. I have a good grasp on what […]
Raise your hand if you’re loving these personally licensed Hot Wheels cars that have been appearing as of late. So far we have seen cars owned and driven by #Magnus Walker, #Sung Kang, Hot Wheels designers #Jun Imai and #Brendon Vetuskey, and even, Hot Wheels collector Roy de […]
How has your luck been with finding the #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona from the Hot Wheels #Retro Style Series? Considering how well stock moves at your local Target may have been a factor as this series was a #Target Exclusive. However, that wasn’t the only factor that limited […]
ORANGE TRACK DIECAST 