I can’t remember what the initial reaction was to the Hot Wheels ’70 Chevy Blazer. I am sure it was positive. Why wouldn’t have been? We go crazy for the C10 pickup, and the first-gen K5 shares a lot with it, except for the bed.
At the time it was released I was paying a little more attention to Matchbox, and sadly missed some great models released by Hot Wheels. The Blazer was one. I kind of knew it was there, and probably passed them by countless times on the pegs. It took revisiting it to realize that “Run to You” by Bryan Adams was a good song, and that same could be said for the Hot Wheels K5 Blazer.
So awhile ago I hopped on eBay and grabbed this gold one. To me it was by far the best looking one. There were others I liked, like the red Garage version, but I was happy with the version I purchased. It was the closest to stock, with understated wheels and a two-tone design. Let’s be honest, it is a handsome model.
But where has it been? It’s been stuck in the Pop Culture universe. So really nice premium versions, but with Archie and other characters plastered on the side. It’s really a bummer because I could see this model released in a ton of cool looks. It would have been great in Boulevard, or Heritage, and maybe a basic release or two.
But we are in the Car Culture era, and dang this model would fit. Pick a theme. Pre-SUV off-roaders? Sure. Wagoneer, Bronco, Bronco again, Blazer, and I am sure others. Classic Americana? Sure.
But I have an even better theme. Let’s call this Car Culture assortment “Underused Greats”. There are three models that will anchor the line. This Blazer, the Dodge A100 Van, and the VW T1 Panel Van. Three greats, all used mainly in Pop Culture, looking fine in more stock-like designs. Tasty eh? I will let you guys pick the other two models in the assortment. There are plenty to choose from.
Unlike the A100 and T1, however, we do have some cool “realistic” releases of the Blazer. And this gold one is a model I am very happy to have…
Absolutely stunning. I love this vehicle and I love this casting.
I agree, this is a casting I am amazed you don't see more of! I recently acquired the Pop Culture Marvel's Luke Cage variation with an extra to do a custom on. Hopefully we will see more of the 70 Chevy Blazer this year, and maybe a mainline version.
This is a fantastic model, and I agree it's a shame that it's essentially relegated to the Pop Culture series. I only have one example, the red one from the Garage series, and I absolutely love it. It's one of those models I forget about from time to time, and then I'll stumble across it and go “how the hell could I have forgotten about that??”. This gold one really is a looker too. If it just had rear tampos I'd be trawling ebay for it right now.
Who is we i don't go crazy for the C10 pickup
This is a great model. I would love to see it in a fire department livery. As for another addition to the “Underused Greats” line, how about the Hot Bird. This is one of my all time favorite Hot Wheels castings.
This is pure greatness, underrated,underused and frustatingly so. I have the Archie cast and it's my only one. That said it is in line for new paint and stance change. The Dodge Power Wagon is also another great casting that is under utilized. Special releases, only club releases, rediculious! Hot Wheels has multiple gems that only see the light of day in certain marketing ploys. When in fact every collector would love to have one. When there are hundreds of junk castings that sit on pegs and never see the inside of my home. I mean they are so bad I would not buy them for my kids. My main reason for buying die cast for my kids are to teach the history of autos. My kids are grown now. They still love die cast but they lean towards the supercars. Great taste I suppose or the only way they will ever have a model. That is the point though. I tend to collect because these are cars I would love to own in real life but sometimes these minitures are sometimes just as hard to aquire as the real thing. Absolutely rediculious! I mean I'll sound like a broken record but this is just another case of imo Mattel not knowing their customer base. It's really Matchbox all over again. Finally we are see MBX moving in the right direction. However HWs seem to have more models that are taking up space in store. Listen before anyone gose to the, their a childrens toy. I think we all know this but the fact is the adult collector and the buyer is your main consumers and Mattel on many fronts still fail to realize this. For the life of me I don't get it. You opened the topic so again I have to explain why Mattel is out of touch with their market. I would be willing to bet they have no R&D team and if they do their just collecting a paycheck. I was berated for coming down on Mattel before but come on this is not rocket science. They have more than enough info to figure out what works and what dose not or what sells and what don't! I mean the crap yes I said it, that did not sell for MBX is still not going to sell even if you put it in a HWs package. I know over the years both brands would put out crazy castings but it seems they flood the market with stuff that sits on the pegs. Now some may like these models but I'm willing to bet that the realism group far outways the fantasy. Believe me the major consumer is the realist anyone care to debate that?
I have one problem with this casting: It's a dual-post assembly model. I really wish it was a tab-post assembly, because that post in the rear is a GLARING issue for me.
But otherwise, it is a great model.
It's one of my very favorite castings — I have all seven. I'm a pretty casual collector but certain models just resonate with me. Thanks for the article!
Yes, Mattel definitely seems to be putting out a lot of models that no collector would want. I get that they may only want to put out a certain number of licensed models, but they could put out more of the realistic unlicensed ones like Vairy 8 or put more duplicates of sought after models in a case and less fantasy models that will just hang on the pegs.