“Alert” may not be the best word to announce this thread, as anyone who is really into variations already knows about these three. But we finally have all three in hand, ready for proper photos, and it seems like the logical time to post them.
We won’t ever be the definitive location for Hot Wheels variations. There are just too many. Plus, 1.eyed.jack and the fellers over in the HWC variation forum have things pretty well covered. But we love variations here at Lamley, and there are always some significant “Lamley” variations that we will think are appropriate to show here.
Today we have three, and it appears they all came from the same batch. Shall we take a stroll through each one of them?
Pagani Huayra with 10-spoke wheels:
This variation was first reported in Australia by a couple of HWC members who found them in Kmart 20-packs. There is a magic combination Down Under in the form of Kmart 20-packs and the keen eye of variation guru and HWC member tranqv. The variations seem to show in droves in Kmart 20-packs, and Vinnie (aka tranqv) seems to find them. That was the case with the Pagani.
Soon a couple were reported found carded in the US, and the hunt was on. They have not been found in great numbers, and from what I can tell most of the carded 10sp Paganis have been found on the East Coast of the US. Go figure.
I was lucky to acquire this Pagani from one of our Lamley friends, Chris Pribyl from Maryland. We worked out a trade and the Pagani arrived yesterday.
As Chris mentioned in our email correspondence, the 10sp really look nice on the Pagani, and maybe even better. I am not a J5 wheel hater like some, but in this case I will go with the 10-spokes as my preference.
What do you think?
’92 BMW M3 with MC5 wheels:
Of the three we are showing today, this appears to be in the smallest numbers. But then again, who knows? I am sure there are a handful that have been passed right over. Chrome-rimmed MC5 and PR5’s don’t really stand out unless you are actually looking for the differences.
This one came from a member on HWC via trade, and is one I am very happy to have. It was found at the bottom of a picked-over Walmart dump bin in Texas. The first reported was found at Target, and I have seen some Lamley readers report others as well.
The E30 is easily one of my favorite “non-JDM” castings of the last few years, and it is a model that turns me into a completist. So as soon as the MC5 vari was found, it went to the top of the want list.
It is the second variation this year, the first being the “full roll cage” vari on the silver version (which actually is the Nissan Skyline interior erroneously placed in the BMW:
There are no MC5 M3’s on ebay, but I did find this mismatched wheel error and one of the full roll cage variations
…
’70 Toyota Celica with OH5 wheels:
Clearly the most common of the three, but not found in droves. I found two, both in Walmart bump bins. And yes, finding these is hard. It is so easy to look right past an OH5 variation when the normal model is MC5. But after 10 years of looking for variations I am getting pretty good at it.
When you find two, you get to open one:
At the moment, there is one OH5 variation on ebay…
I'm not a fan of MC5 wheels – it's one of my most hated contemporary wheels, but it looks significantly more appropriate on a '92 M3 than the PR5. The latter gives it a sport tuner look, but the MC5 makes it look more fitting in its time.
Thanks for the info! I'am a variation collector!
To me the Pagani looks WAY better with the 10 spokes. Never cared too much for J5's, on any car. The 10 spokes just gives it a much more elegant stance.
I actually found three of the big-rollcage vari's, before it was reported. Only bought one though, and destroyed it trying to get the front end to sit lower. As you can see on your variation, the big rollcage vari's front end sits too high.
I found 2 error Celicas today. One had the OH5 on the back only, and the other has it on the front only haha
The Pagani for me is just better with the J5's on.