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.
Just three months ago, Hot Wheels collectors from around the world converged upon Los Angeles for the #31st Annual Collectors Convention. There collectors were treated to a series of collector- & kid-oriented events, sneak peeks from Mattel and a variety of exclusive #Convention Vehicles. With the recent success […]
One of, if not the most, popular #2017 New Models was the #Volkswagen T2 Pickup. It should come as no surprise that we are about to see this new release of the popular #Flatbed Hauler, starting with the #2018 Hot Wheels “E” case assortment, in the #HW Hot […]
Arguably the best #2017 New Model is the long-overdue, #’95 Madza RX-7. For the last decade or so, collectors have had this popular rotary sports car at the top of their wishlists and this year, the fine folks at Hot Wheels finally obliged as this #First Edition of […]
The Hot Wheels 5-Pack binge continues as I’ve bought yet another. Just like how I bought the HW City Works 5-Pack for the Turbine Time, I bought the #Muscle Mania 5-Pack (2017) because I collect one of the vehicles in it, the #’69 Dodge Charger Daytona. I’ll be […]
October is right around the corner and that means that another great Hot Wheels #Halloween series is hitting the pegs. There have been a few great releases over the last couple of years but this year Hot Wheels stepped it up by creating a new wheel altogether. The […]
Some Hot Wheels collectors believe that the Hot Wheels #Pop Culture line has gotten stale with repetitive themes plastered all over the sides of repeat castings. While that may be true to some extent, its the new, one-off series that are the real test. The freshly released, #MAD […]
Chances are, you’ve seen the brand-new #Mazda REPU at retail already as it was released earlier last month in the #2017 Hot Wheels “M” case assortments. To some, it may just be “another light truck”, but to others its the world’s first and only Rotary Engine Pick Up […]
How cool would it be to have a Hot Wheels replica of your real car? Especially when your real car is a unique street beast like this? Only in your dreams, right? Well, that dream became a reality this year as Hot Wheels collector, Roy de Guzman had […]
Hot Wheels has always found success with #VW castings due to their custom nature, which translates well to the brand. The most expensive Hot Wheels car ever is the infamous rear-loading, pink Beach Bomb. One of the top 5 castings of all time, as chosen by the collectors, […]
The #’70 Chevy Chevelle SS is back again for 2017 in what has become one of my favorite segments, the #Night Burnerz Series. Hot Wheels vaguely describes the lineup of cars as “Super speeders designed for night driving”, but to me, this series is the epitome of the […]
ORANGE TRACK DIECAST 