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First Look: 2015 Hot Wheels ’70 Chevy Chevelle SS (and a little chat about spoilers):


Let’s talk about spoilers.  


Kevin Spacey IS Keyser Söze!  Bruce Willis is dead himself!  The Titanic sinks!

Or…

Let’s instead talk about all these metal spoilers popping up on Hot Wheels castings that once had plastic spoilers.

It appears that all plastic spoilers are going metal.  We have seen the conversion happen on quite a few models, some that have been around forever and others that have been released only in the last couple of years.  Mattel is doing this in order to eliminate that additional plastic piece and incorporate the spoilers into the casting themselves.  Assembly steps eliminated, costs cut.

And collectors don’t like it.  That may seem a little counterintuitive, as most collectors take to the streets to celebrate when something plastic goes metal, and conversely take to the streets to riot when something metal goes plastic.

But in the case of spoilers, plastic to metal means crisp to clunky, proportional to way too big, and clean to paint chip city.

There are definitely exceptions, but for the most part the switch has not been great for collectors who care about this stuff.  And it will come up again when the 5th Super TH is revealed a little later.  (Clunk City on a truly great model.)

Now why are we talking about this while showing the latest version of the ’70 Chevelle SS?  Well, because it is has an awesome metal spoiler:


Of course this casting, which debuted in 2012, has always had this spoiler, but it is as clean as any spoiler on any other casting.  

It seems that Mattel could look at this one, plus a few others (Hakosuka, the recently converted Mustang Mach 1) to get an idea of how to make the plastic to metal conversion better.  It seems it would have been better to start from scratch and see how to better incorporate a spoiler into the casting, or just eliminate it entirely.

The Chevelle SS is such a great casting, and has benefited from such stellar racing liveries (including this brand new 2015 version), so that may be a detail missed.

But its got a great ass. 

(Find the Chevelle and the rest of Batch B at Wheel Collectors…)


Hot Wheels ’70 Chevy Chevelle SS (2015 Mainline):

The family:

2013 Mainline

2013 TRU Exclusive

2013 Recolor

2014 Mainline MC5

2014 Mainline PR5

2014 Super TH

2014 Walmart Zamac Exclusive

5 Replies to “First Look: 2015 Hot Wheels ’70 Chevy Chevelle SS (and a little chat about spoilers):”

  1. I want to build this car in real life and take it racing. The Gulf livery finishes it for me. Fantastic casting of an American car, but not quite American look.

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  2. Glad you mentioned the Mustang Mach 1 as an example of the plastic-to-metal switch gone right. That's the only one I've really paid attention to during the switch, and the new version is much better than the old. Perhaps that is because the plastic spoiler on the old one was not a piece unto itself, but was incorporated with the rear window treatment.

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  3. LOVE the 70 Chevelle, for sure a great piece to collect! Have to open one of each to really enjoy the car! Hope to see it used in some premium castings soon!

    Reply

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