Well I am back from a whirlwind weekend in Los Angeles, highlighted by another fantastic Japanese Classic Car Show on Saturday. I also was able to pay a visit to the Hyatt in Garden Grove and take in a bit of the Hot Wheels Convention.
I will be sure to show what I came home with here in a little bit, and it was nice to finally put a few faces to names. One of those names and faces was Mark Kasimoff, more commonly known as Racegrooves on youtube.
Mark and I had a nice chat on our respective endeavors, and it was nice to get to know him. And just this morning, I got an email from Mark sharing an image that we agreed will excite our Lamley readers.
On Saturday night at the final convention dinner (which I did not attend), Mattel shared some tidbits on what to expect in 2014. Racegrooves filmed the entire presentation, which you can see in its entirety here:
There are quite a few gems to be seen, including (finally) Marty McFly’s Toyota Pickup from the back to the Future Series. But one really caught our eye, and Mark was nice enough to share the image with us at Lamley.
Say hello to the 2014 RLC Exclusive Datsun 510 Bluebird in BRE Racing livery:
From what we know, the model will be released in spectraflame red with the full John Morton BRE deco, and will will roll on the Neo-Classic Redline wheels.
So yes, the obvious first question: Is this exactly like the Vintage Racing BRE 510 that was released a few years ago, and has risen to crazy expensive prices on ebay?
Let’s take a look:
Livery-wise, yes. All the details are there, as they were on the Vintage Racing version. Both have metal bases as well. Obviously the two distinct differences are the wheels and base color. Clearly the model spectraflame red will look quite a bit different, and in that way the model will pay homage to both John Morton and his BRE racer as well as nostalgic Hot Wheels.
I love it. It is great to see Hot Wheels putting more Japanese love into its premium line, and it further solidifies all the chatter that 2014 is the year of JDM at Hot Wheels.
Now how to get it. To guarantee you can reserve one or two on the day it goes on sale (whenever that will be), you have to be a member of the Redline Club on HWC. Memberships are sold out for 2013, and 2014 memberships will become available sometime early next year. They are also reserved for collectors here in the US, which I hope will change someday.
It is our hope here at Lamley that our US-based readers can connect with overseas collectors who want them, and we can all work to get as many as we can to those who want them. I have no idea how popular this model will be among the US collectors, who tend to favor their Drag Buses and Blown Deliveries, or if it will sell out before it is made available to the general public.
But I hope these can get to those collectors, here in the US and abroad who want them. Let’s figure out something when we know more…
I just wished the wheels rolled on mine
Even though I'm just a HWC member, I will buy that Datsun on Ebay.
Gotta re-up my RLC membership for this baby!
Nice avatar Kyle…I own that album. Big Pete Rock fan.
Nice! Glad somebody else in the die-cast community recognizes true hip hop.
I certainly would like one of these sent to Australia – Be good if your comment about 'It is our hope here at Lamley that our US-based readers can connect with overseas collectors who want them, and we can all work to get as many as we can to those who want them.' could be done.