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.
The #Baja Hauler is one of the newest Hot Wheels to date. It just started to show up at retail here in the United States as part of the “H” case assortments. At first glance, this #Unlicensed Hot Wheels truck is definitely some sort of #Off-Road Vehicle, then […]
You have to love what the Hot Wheels team is doing with their #Porsches as of late. After not having the licenses for Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari for the last few years, they’ve brought on #Magnus Walker and his brand #Urban Outlaw to give some of their Porsches that #Race […]
In the Hot Wheels mainline, for every realistic car there always seems to be one that is a little wacky. Whether its of the #’Tooned variety, is strictly a “track car”, or just clearly isn’t from a licensed car manufacturer; some of these “Hot Wheels Originals” or #Unlicensed Hot […]
Way back in April, after the 16th Annual Hot Wheels Nationals Convention in Indianapolis, this image surfaced as it was in the finale sneak peek slide show at the convention. The hype for this release has reached insurmountable levels as collectors have licked their chops for just under seven […]
Man, the #Honda S2000 is as popular as ever right now coming fresh off a highly-desirable convention release and now showing up in the latest batch of Fast & Furious cars at Walmart. But back in 2011, when this #Ryu Asada design first appeared as part of the […]
I’ve been a little slow getting this one up, but you had to figure it was coming given the love for the #Hot Wheels Race Team and #Vipers here. For me, I just love when a release encapsulates two segments I collect as I buy multiples (one for […]
Our one-week long #ViperWeek celebration ends with a bonus article on the newest Hot Wheels #Viper casting, the SRT GTS-R. Based off of the real car of the same name, the SRT GTS-R has been a force to be reckoned with at the 24 Hours of LeMans race. […]
On Saturday, June 30, 2012, Tanner Foust and Greg Tracy set a world record at the X Games in Los Angeles by driving two all-wheel-drive rally coupes through a 66 ft. real-life version of the famous Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare Track Set. The feat was amazing as […]
The Raptor is officially a Hot Wheels car! Wahooooo. While some may consider the #Sandblaster as a Ford F-150 Raptor, this #First Edition of the ’17 Ford F-150 Raptor casting is officially licensed by Ford and has collectors hitting the pegs in search of it. Ford hit a […]
When we featured the Track Aces (2015 New Models) ’15 Jaguar F-Type Project 7 back in August, we gave you a run-down of what makes this car so cool. Well this Jaguar is back for 2016. While the graphics have essentially been copied over, the British Racing Green […]