Oh how things have changed.
The Hot Wheels Datsun Bluebird 510, once the pegwarmer of all pegwarmers, may have singlehandedly saved Kdays.
I cannot overstate how much of a pegwarmer the 510 was when it was first released. It is no exaggeration. So much so there is no equivalent now. Back in the heyday of the HWC forums, the 510 was THE pegwarmer. As in, “The (insert model name here) is so ugly it might hang on the pegs as much as the 510.”
It was just a little ahead of its time, that’s all. Because now the 510 is king. Only the 510, in a somewhat bland deco if we are being honest, can cause ALL the Kmart online cases to sell out in a day, so that collectors can have card backs for the mail-in. Only the 510 can cause collectors to run to Kmart this week and buy hundreds of generic Hot Wheels to have card backs and receipts for the mail in.
I want to go back in time, and tell all the collectors then that the king of all pegwarmers will one day cause folks to spend hundreds on pegwarmers to get multiples of said casting. They won’t believe me. (Of course I will tell them the orange guy from that bad reality show will be president, so there is that too.)
Anyway, it has been an awesome transformation for the 510. And with the frenzied release of the Kmart mail-in, I thought it a good time to do a Cool Car Update. Below is every official 510 release, along with variations. Some of the variations are crazy rare, others were fairly easy, at least at the time, to find. Of course the kings remain the two BRE releases, the Vintage Racing and RLC. I don’t see them even getting topped. Not that Hot Wheels won’t try.
We do know of one other 510 coming, as an RLC exclusive, and already previewed last year at the Hot Wheels Convention in LA. We should see its release soon.
For now, here are all the Hot Wheels Datsun Bluebird 510s, from first to last, followed by a look at the mail-in. Enjoy.
I would like to see it in a normal deco release instead of having a race car theme. The Cool Classics version is the closets to a normal deco.
That thing is a beauty but… unless you have a kmart close to your area and are willing to spend time getting the cards that are specially marked so you can mail it in is a big hassle. Even if that was done I've heard horror stories of collectors who said they followed the rules but was rejected due to one reason or the other. I heard that in Japan, this promotion is in their local ToysRus (no kmart over there I guess) and all you have to do is buy 20 cars and get this Hot Wheels free in an instant.
I wonder if the 510 got popular due to it's connection with The Fast and the Furious. In the Vibe Racer X article that was the inspiration for The Fast and the Furious, Rafael Estevez's first car was a 1972 orange Datsun 510.
I have a general question that relates to this car, as well as other premium series that I've wondered about for a while, maybe someone can enlighten me…
With this car, as well as with many other premium series (mainly the Nostalgia / Pop Culture series but also others), the deco seems to be applied to the cars in a different way from the typical tampos…it almost looks the same as when you artificially enlarge an image and then try to print it, it comes out looking a little grainy and pixellated…just generally fuzzy and not “sharp” like mainline decos are. What is the reason for this? Does it have to do with how big or how much extra deco is going on the car? Is it cheaper to do this grainy printing? Is it more durable?
The K-Mart exclusive is ugly, as are many of the mainline 510 releases.
But I agree with your on the BRE models. Beauties, each. Closely rivaled by the “Track Day” 510 since it closely mirrors the Safari rally classic. Always love when cars sport real, classic livery (or at least direct homages).
It's especially annoying, for example, on the Grand Wagoneer from the Boulevard series…Amazing model, but the wood paneling on the sides is SO grainy (I know, I know, it's wood-GRAIN paneling…hardy-har. You know what I mean…)
Yeah the deco on this thing is hideous. My favorite is still the Real Riders one from last year. The first editions weren't pegwarmers but the other mainlines….yeesh. Especially the red and grey. I've seen people claim the bre was a pegwarmer though, which was absolutely not the case up here. Man I looked hard for that one and never found it.
Don't like the paint/colors scheme but dig every thing else?
EASY- drill out the post(s) separate the body, dip it in stripping solution, tap (thread) the posts for re-assembly, paint it however you like, re-assemble with screws and you've got your own custom.
Why do people people keep saying there are special cards for a mail-in? Other then being the CORRECT assortment number from 2015 to present THERE IS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THE CARDS PURCHASED FROM K-MART!!! Granted, you WILL need a receipt from K-MART for 20 cars, but the cardbacks themselves can be found at other retail sources as well.
All the best,- Steve
just to be safe i made sure the cars are all from 2016+ last time i did it i made sure all the cars were no older than 5 cases from teh kmart ones , mailed in my receipt with 20 card backs and tada!! Got my vette in the mail
It is possible the Vintage Racing mix the BRE was in never showed for you locally either. It was a late series mix, they didn't show up everywhere.
I didn't know that the Track Days 510 was inspired by a real race car. I thought the combo was rather drab, but since it's patterned after real life stuff then go for it.
What I don't understand is that the real car was a rally racer and with that being said, why couldn't HW's depict a rally/0ff-road vehicle when it has a road course type car as the card art?
The Kmart 510 is ok but it would be way more awesome if it had the GoodYear Real Rider 8-SPoke wheels in the bright silver found on the Vintage Racing BRE car.
I think it depends where you live. 510's gained a lot of popularity when JDM became popular here in So-Cal in late 70's-80's. The 510 die cast has always sold well here. On the other hand I traded a WL AMC to a friend in Alabama for 5 BRE 510's that were just warming the pegs there. I was happy to get the BRE. The rest of these revisions just don't match up.
That sounds like a stretch for some reason.
“Bland deco” is in the eye of the beholder, I think it's one of the better-looking 510s, not quite on par with the Vintage Racing or RLC releases but still something I'd be proud to display and much more appealing than the lackluster Track Day or Heritage “premium” releases, but I like cars with Hot Wheels racing decos and you don't see the Hot Wheels logo on green nearly as often as some other colors.
Of course, I'm not likely to ever get this variation as I'm in Canada where there are no Kmarts (and Sears Canada only gets Kmart Hot Wheels cases once a year during the Christmas shopping season) and I won't have the sort of money to buy any full-metal-with-Real-Riders 510 Bluebirds off eBay anytime soon.
I like the appearance of the newish wheel, and the redline stripe. I look forward to that mailfind!