When I first got serious about collecting, Hot Wheels was about one thing and one thing only: Muscle. Sure, they have been doing Camaros, Mustangs, and Corvettes forever, but in 2005-2006, Hot Wheels had gone deep into American Muscle. Between Chevy, Ford, and Mopar, the designers were covering all bases. Muscle was to 2006 what JDM is to Hot Wheels now.
And it isn’t that Muscle went out of style. Things just expanded further over the years, and now we are seeing the Japanese and European cars taking their deserved place in the Hot Wheels lineup. But Muscle really hasn’t gone anywhere.
The new Walmart-exclusive Detroit Muscle set is not only American Muscle-focused, but it seems to be an homage to that mid-00’s era. The models are all from in and around the Muscle Golden Age, and the decos look similar as well. They may not have been the intention, but I sure see it.
So, as part of my showcase on the set, I pulled out some old favorites as well. This was a fun showcase to do:
love the card art…my oh my…
If only Mattel put as much effort into the cars as they did in the card art. Terrible wheel choices and no headlights or tail lights. Why should we want these?
I have mixed feelings about this set…I’m not a fan of a couple of these castings (the Camaro and Challenger have never been favorites of mine) but the card art is gorgeous. I did find three of these in the wild, but no sign of the single one I really want…the Mustang Boss 302.