Hot Wheels never ditched Muscle. They just branched out a bit more than they did in the 2000’s. And if the 2000’s were the Golden Age of Hot Wheels Muscle, then there is no reason Hot Wheels can’t draw from it whenever they need to.
Hot Wheels did a TON of Muscle Cars in the 2000’s. 2009 for example might have marked the debut of JDM with the Datsun 510, but that little pegwarmer-that-could sat while muscle car after muscle car came and went. Look it up, there were some amazing Muscle Cars that debuted in 2009. And some just emerged in the new American Steel Walmart-exclusive set.
Lack of Mopar is odd, but the set is great. An all-timer for me, the Gran Torino, is in there, as is a plethora of other classics. I found the set in Page, Arizona while on my holiday travels, and of course did a video:
It is nice to see this range of cars come back. Mopar would be nice but this come at a future date.
Seven to ten years ago I would’ve been saying enough is enough with the muscle, but muscle has really taken a back seat the last few years. As a result, I’m really really liking this set. And for once, there’s not a SINGLE dud of a casting in the whole bunch! Some of the decos are better than others, but the choice of castings is fabulous (MOPAR absence notwithstanding). Some of my favorite muscle castings are here (’64 Galaxie 500, Buick GSX, Shelby GT500) so I think I’ll probably grab the majority of these if/when I find them.
Just to add to something you mentioned in your video, they did do a premium version of the ’61 Impala, though I’m not surprised you didn’t think of it. It was in Cool Classics, which I know got a lot of hate from collectors, but I actually liked some of what came out in that line. It was Spectrafrost Black with silver & red striping. I liked it.
Wow, I never saw that Cool Classics Impala anywhere; will definitely have to add to my garage. Thanks for the tip!
Some of these models are begging for front and rear detailing, but I know the emphasis is on side decos for shelf appeal in the store. All-in-all there are some nice ones in the set.
I can’t wait for the upcoming Fast & Furious Premium set with the Gran Torino and ’61 Impala.
Meh, I don’t like it…. And I freaking love Muscle Cars. The way I see it, Hot Wheels just doesn’t know where to go with their Muscle Car castings. It’s like they feel that they need to do Muscle Cars, but, unlike the JDM and Euro scenes, not much of interest is happening in the overpriced-numbers-matching-trailer-queen-git-off-my-lawn world of the 60+ years old Muscle Car enthusiast, so there go the exact same castings from a decade ago in the same stripes and highlights that have been done a million times before, each time in weirder combinations than the last.