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 off the assembly line is the brand-new, Super Treasure Hunt ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona from the 2016 Muscle Mania Series. This hot ride is first starting to show up at retail however that hasn’t stopped Malaysian online sellers from distributing these for a premium. Its unclear as […]
Trucks have long been popular in the Hot Wheels line. These days, any truck with Real Riders seems to fly off the pegs. I’m sure some people wonder why Hot Wheels trucks are so popular considering the Hot Wheels brand was built around the “fastest metal cars in […]
Although it shares the same name as the Hot Wheels ’70 Chevelle SS casting (an all-time collector favorite introduced in 1999), the Hot Wheels ’70 Chevy Chevelle SS casting (introduced in 2013) bares no resemblance. In casual conversations its referred to the “’70 Chevelle Racer” versus the “’70 Chevelle […]
There is a lady taking Hot Wheels by storm in 2016…a “Fairlady” some will say. When Hot Wheels designer Jun Imai teased collectors with some photos of his real 1:1 1974 Nissan 260Z project car in October 2013, many of those collectors started to drool because they knew there was a […]
In the latest mix of Redline cars from the Hot Wheels #Heritage line came the Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R which is based off of a C110 Skyline that Datsun/Nissan produced from 1972 to 1977. The GT-R run of the C110 Skyline didn’t even make it a full calendar year before […]
Walmart continues to churn out these exclusive Hot Wheels series vehicles. From the Fast & Furious cars to Avengers to even Porsche and James Bond, these lines have consisted mostly of licensed vehicles/designs and are found in exclusive dump bins at Walmart. As of late 2015 we have started to […]
No, its not a Treasure Hunt! Okay, so since we have cleared that up, let me explain why I led with that. See that black, circular “flame logo” on the side of the van? This logo has long been circulating in the Hot Wheels Graphics Department. It has […]
“News Team, ASSEMBLE!” If you came here thinking this article was going to be quote-laden with Anchroman quotes, you are correct! “Great Odin’s Raven!” this is a good piece. While the Hot Wheels Custom ’77 Dodge Van may not be the best representation of the actual van from the 2004 movie, […]
With the release of the Ant-Man movie today, its fitting that we received an Ant-Man Hot Wheels in this current wave of Marvel cars in the Pop Culture line. For some reason, Hot Wheels likes to use the old comic graphics versus the new movie graphics for its Pop Culture line–they do […]
Some Hot Wheels grab all the headlines. The hobby, more often than not, is about the next “new” thing when sometimes all we need is to go back through our own collections to have a further appreciation for the cars we already have. That was my mind-set when creating […]
ORANGE TRACK DIECAST 