Tag: Ryu Asada Designs
Ryu was a Designer at Mattel from 2004 until he died of colon cancer in 2021. Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, he came to the United States in 1997 to attend the University of Oregon. Upon graduating in 2000 with a degree in English and Physics 2000, he pursued a degree at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. This was the same design school where Phil Riehlman, Mark Jones, Bryan Benedict, Jun Imai, and lots of others went to.
Upon graduation in 2004, he started he started his professional career at Mattel as a Matchbox designer where he designed and worked on (what he estimated to be) about 150+ diecast cars, among other things, over 8 years with the Matchbox team (2004-2012).
His very first Hot Wheels design was the Gearonimo (a 2009 New Model), which he design while still with the Matchbox team (working as a guest designer). He went on to produce three more Hot Wheels castings while still working for Matchbox: Formula Street (based on one of his school project at Art Center), Honda S2000, and HW Jump Truck (both full size and 1/64).
In 2012, he joined Hot Wheels team and started to manage basic cars. His very first Hot Wheels project as an official HW designer was ‘67 Chevy C10 (a 2013 New Model). His death in 2021 hit many involved with the hobby hard as Ryu was very passionate about his craft and always great person to talk to. He will be missed as his designs live on. Below are his vehicles we’ve featured on the site.
Hot Wheels of the Day ’17 Ford F-150 Raptor 2021 Collector Edition (Dollar General Mail-In Promotion) RELEASE YEAR: 2021 • CASTING DESIGNER: Ryu Asada With an already impressive family of the Hot Wheels #’17 Ford F-150 Raptor, the collection grew by a couple more in 2021. One of […]
Vehicles from the ’80s and ’90s as Hot Wheels seem to be all the rage these days. Call it the Gran Turismo generation — or whatever you like — but a new wave of collectors that grew up racing rare race cars (in video games) has demanded the […]
Aftermarket manufacturers and Hot Wheels have long had a relationship — its custom 1:64 cars meets custom 1:1 cars. Until recently, however, that relationship didn’t extend past the tampo as far as Hot Wheels are concerned. This car had Edelbrock graphics, this one had Mooneyes, so on and […]
If collecting Hot Wheels has taught me anything, it’s the importance of diversity. Diversity sparks creativity; creativity fuels culture. Without it, I honestly believe there would be no car culture, and certainly no Hot Wheels. For a long period of time, Hot Wheels reflected California’s custom car culture. […]
Remember the #Mazda #Miata back in the ’90s? The Hot Wheels #Mazda MX-5 Miata came in a variety of colors — some of which were neon-colored like this 1992 mainline release. The real car always seemed to be driven by young women. I can’t for the life of […]
Sometimes you just know when a Hot Wheels casting is going to be popular. This is one of them. The #’98 Subaru Impreza 22B STi-Version hit the pegs late last year as part of the #2020 Hot Wheels “A” case assortments. Subaru-savvy collectors knew exactly what this was […]
We’ve seen movie delays before, and thanks to COVID-19, the whole motion picture industry is still scrambling to get a hold of things. Movie theaters are still not opened, and it doesn’t appear they will open any time soon — and somehow drive-in movies became a thing again. […]
What is that old saying? A picture is worth 1,000 words? I will not be hitting 1,000 words on this article today, but I did have a few thoughts based on the image you see below. Occasionally while I am shooting various Hot Wheels to be featured in […]
Looking at what just showed up the on back of a #Team Transport flatbed: the newest addition to the Hot Wheels #’16 Ford GT Race collection. This time, this #Ford supercar from the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is rocking a replica livery that raced in the Rolex […]
Something can be said when a brand continues to evolve, yet it remains true to the concepts that were set forth early on. The #’20 Jeep Gladiator is a brand-new casting design by Hot Wheels Designer, Ryu Asada. Its boxy form represents the new pickup truck by #Jeep […]