Don’t call it hype. The Hot Wheels RLC Bundle BRE 510 is a gem.

It is most certainly a phenomenon.  Not entirely explainable, but then again most phenomena aren’t.

But the BRE 510 is a thing.  It might create eye rolls from some, but there is no denying the two Hot Wheels 510’s released with Brock Racing Enterprises racing livery are legendary Hot Wheels models.

I have told their histories several times here.  The Vintage Racing release was a notorious pegwarmer, sitting much longer that its Trans Am counterparts in the disappointingly underappreciated line.  Seeing a premium Japanese race car was not something that Hot Wheels collectors were used to at the time, and many had a hard time justifying the $5 price point for it.  I still cringe at the four or five I left hanging at a rural Kmart for well over a year, just gathering dust, thinking I was fine with just one.

The RLC did sell out its first day, but in an era when popular RLC models sold out in literally seconds, the 6 hours this model took was a lifetime.  The Japanese Car Era at Hot Wheels was coming, and both were a little before their time.

Which left collectors scrambling to find them once the Japanese Car Era hit, and as has been well documented, the two BRE 510’s, along with the RLC BRE 240Z, have skyrocketed in value.  The RLC 510 is most valuable of the two, but to me the Vintage Racing, in all its realism, is the true star.

Well the third BRE 510 is here.  The first in the blue #35 livery, it is part of the RLC Car Culture Bundle, on sale today.  Because of what has happened to the previous BRE 510’s, it could easily be deducted that the excitement around this release is due to its potential secondary value.  I am sure that is a factor.  But I’d like to think that even more so it is because this is one stunning model.

I will admit to maaaaayybeee once or twice saying the BRE deco is a little overdone.  Other diecast makers have noticed the cash cow that is the BRE livery, and we have seen pop up over and over.  It has also inspired a billion customs, and we have seen the signature stripes appear on everything from other Datsuns to Chevy Silverados.  A “ghost BRE” even appeared on the Japan Historics 2 510:

Those two diagonal stripes are everywhere it seems, and it may be time to put them to bed.  (Well, after the Datsun Roadster gets them.)  And I can say that BECAUSE the blue has been done.

The Vintage Racing has a tiny bit more detail, like the painted chin spoiler, but the Car Culture gets the 4-spokes, and that wins.  Actually no, the Watanabe inspired Real Riders on the #46 look right too, so they both win.  The RLC #46 can go look pretty elsewhere.  This is the power couple:

Yes, we are in 510 overload.  I’ll let you know when I am sick of it.