#lamleydaily – September 24, 2017
Model: Hot Wheels ’76 Ford Gran Torino
Line: Kmart September Event Mail-in Exclusive
Where to get it: The window is open to send in your Kmart receipts and cardbacks. Or eBay.
Why it’s in the collection: Well, it’s a Torino. I love the Torino. It isn’t the ’72, which is my favorite, but it is a Torino. This is only the second time this casting has been released. It was originally made for Retro Entertainment, as the Starsky & Hutch cop car (hence the roof light). That batch wasn’t released to big box stores, so it wasn’t well known. Releasing it as a mail-in doesn’t help the casting’s familiarity either. But trust me, it is nice.
Awesome Kmart mail-in 1976 Ford Gran Torino you reviewed congrats thumbs up. I already sent my stuff in to get one thumbs up.
Looks nice, but as has been posted here before, would look much better with more appropriately sized tires. I know the S&H had big/littles, but those rears are too cartoonish. Nice deco though. Even with the light bubble.
No KMart here. But dang. This makes the other Torino look like bloated Pinto. This is cool. Rerelease the Retro Ent. Starsky & Hutch to big box stores. Never knew it existed and Ive followed this hobby for 50 years.
Then shave the light and release it to the mainline.
I don’t doubt the casting is great, but I actively dislike this deco that they do on the mail-ins. Ugly color and grainy graphics. I’d love to see this released in a more widely-available form though. I can think of any number of Car Culture themes this could fit into. They should totally do a Malaise Era car culture assortment…they could put this in it, maybe the one-and-done Mustang II from Boulevard, etc. etc.
This is really nice and I have the RE version. For this they should of lost the light. It’s out of place and it makes no sense. As for the sentiment of releasing it to the mainlines. Should of been done! This is an iconic car but Mattel has always held great castings from the masses. Just by promoting the resale of anything on ebay is proof Mattel is in the corner of the secondary market. And yes I know it wasn’t Mattel’s statement in the MBX thread but fact is Mattel knows these are being (let’s call it what it is) scalped! I stopped seeing concerts for this same reason. It’s a dam shame dedicated collectors have to be screwed dry if they want them! Sorry if the truth offends but this is one thing that pisses me off most about the hobby. Same as the snatching of certain models from some series just to make the model more sought after. Then posting the model on the web to capitalize on the fraud they created in the first place.
I bought over 20 cars from K-mart and none of the codes match what is listed in the rules? what am I doing wrong. I figured that there was some mainline car in the bunch. Anyone else have this issue or know which cars qualify?