These niche fashion/Hot Wheels collaborations are so gosh-darned welcome. First came the Illest VW Van, and now the Period Correct Mercedes-Benz 190E. Depending on the paths you walk, or the streets you skate, or the cafes you loiter, you may or may not have heard of either brand. But let’s be honest, the only time Hot Wheels Collectors and Fashion has ever been mentioned in the same sentence is if there happens to be meetings for both at the same hotel. And my guess is neither mistake one for the other.
So this is a cool path Hot Wheels is forging. Hot Wheels are cool. And seeing what is being done with these brands takes that further. I have loved these two collaborations, and I hope we see more. Now let’s talk about this Mercedes-Benz.
First off, if you haven’t heard of Period Correct, hopefully looking up this car has brought you to their website, and you can see how NOT off the path this collaboration is. Period Correct is rooted in car culture, and when you pick up the vibe, a car like the 190E makes a ton of sense.
Period Correct announced the model a week before selling it, and yeah, it sold out quickly. The online store sold out rapidly, and it went fast at their actual store as well.
And for good reason. It’s a stunner. The third release of the 190E by Hot Wheels, which has done this model right. I started in stock black with Modern Classics, and then went with a DTM-tribute Project Cars livery in Euro Speed. (It’s the Euro Speed model that is WAY underrated, with its greyed-out Aero wheels and racing deco. I need to revisit that one.). And now we go with another DTM-inspired livery, with its own unique touch. The teal colors and checkmark design signal the era its from, with a few more touches to give that much more style.
We all have our opinions, of course, but calling this ugly, as some of you have online, is just plain wrong. It is next-level cool. And even if you aren’t as keen on the look as you should be, you can at least appreciate the execution. Look at the checkered pattern. It runs top to bottom, front to back, side to side. If you think about the tampo process, aligning this pattern is incredibly difficult, yet it got done. It is worth having for that alone.
I would have bought this model even if I hated the deco, as the 190E has quickly become one of my favorite Hot Wheels castings. Thankfully I love the deco, and am thrilled to have this beautiful trio.
I think the white window frames are what detract from it tbh. If the window frames were colour matched blue or black it would look totally different, and for the better imo.
I like it, but I sure as hell ain’t payin’ $100 for one.
“We all have our opinions, of course, but calling this ugly, as some of you have online, is just plain wrong.”
Nothing wrong with people voicing their opinion. If you don’t agree with them, there’s no need to say they are “plain wrong”. I personally think this design is dumb. Those lines make it look too busy.
Agreed. Few things annoy me more than people telling each other that their opinion is “wrong”. It isn’t right or wrong. It isn’t set in stone. That’s what an opinion is.
I don’t like the way they are doing headlight tampo on 190. These stripes are way too thin
I love the casting, probably my favorite hot wheels casting since it was realeased. I really enjoy the design. It’s cool that hot wheels is venturing out and doing unique pieces like this. Would have loved to have gotten my hands on one release day; don’t think I’ll be paying aftermarket prices for it though. They are in Tarmac Work/Ignition price range.
Yes please keep calling it dumb and all that other nasty business so it’ll drive the price on the model down. I’m kicking myself for missing out on this and just can’t fathom the latest asking prices on ebay for it. So maybe if more people hate it the prices will mellow out some and make it a reasonable purchase. Because this easily reminds me of the old ART Cars and the DTM racers of that period.
“If you think about the tampo process, aligning this pattern is incredibly difficult, yet it got done. It is worth having for that alone.”
Can we PLEASE get over this nomenclature for the current crop of premium vehicles? These are NOT done by a Tampo Pad Printing Machine.
The current process used on the cars is akin to an inkjet printing process. Each car is individually calibrated, and “sprayed” by fine dots of ink. If you take a look at any of the recent Car Culture era cars (since they started going full details) under a magnifying glass, you can see the individual dots of color from the ink jet process. You can even see some color mixing for certain shades. Where as a true Tampo will be a single pantone color, and have solid, sharp, crisp line, where as the printed lines will be a big fuzzy as a result of the inkjet dots.
This process is also why the newer full detail cars have this glossy look to them. Because the printing must be protected by a clear coat, or it would wear off easily, because it is so thin, unlike a true Tampo.
Long story short, these are NOT Tampos, they are not the same old process, and honestly, for me…they arent that impressive, all things considered.
While most premium models do use the inkjet process you’ve described, some cars do occasionally use actual tampos. Models that come to mind are the Porsche 993 and the Alfa Romeo Giulia from Eurospeed and cars from the 50th favorites. It hasn’t been completely phased out, but it most likely will be.
That being said, I still much prefer the tampo print over the inkjet. A big example of why the inkjet is worse is the Skyline R32 from Open Track (coming in 2019 proper). You certainly don’t need a magnifying glass to see the problems with that thing. With a tampo print, it could’ve been one of the best models of the year, but they ruined it by using the inkjet. The colors bleed through each other, it looks more like polka dots than decals and the headlights barely show. I would honestly like it better if they went back to the $3 price if it meant they would start using tampo prints again. Some cars look god awful without it.
The deco on this car reminds me of the “Art Cars” in the mainline series that I generally leave on pegs. I’d debate long and hard about picking up this one for $5.49 if it were part of a premium series I much prefer the original black version of this casting than this one. Apparently there has been quite a bit more demand than supply so it appears my view is not in the majority.
White window frames = fuglies. Period.
Somehow,someone,somewhere has gone in a new direction what was once family fun.
it is very unfortunate,…
same problem plagues the 1:1 world, with prices of modern classics like the E30 M3, E28 M5, air cooled 911s of any kind, Toyota Land Cruiser FJ4, and so on going up into oblivion…Baby boomers (and some older Millenials) are sitting on piles of cash and don’t know what to do with it, too much money chasing to few assets