Like many of you, I spend an ungodly amount of time searching eBay for diecast cars. Old cars, new cars, Redlines, prototypes — basically anything in the 1/64th realm that catches my eye. EBay listings are usually filled with gobs of the newest releases, often already teased right here on Lamley, but every once in a while eBay throws out a nice diecast surprise…and this was one of those surprises.
Enter the second wave of the Hot Wheels Fast & Furious Spy Racers cars.
I was searching eBay for some Hot Wheels Fast & Furious wheel variations and this new 5-car set popped up under the related items. Oh eBay, you know me so well, ha! This new set is the second wave of moving-parts Spy Racers cars we’ve gotten this year – with the first wave containing only four cars. I covered the first wave in detail in a previous post, as it has the four main character cars from the series: the Ion Motors Thresher, Astana Hotto, Rally Baja Crawler, and the Hyperfin. The new set contains recolors of each car and introduces us to another new Spy Racers car: the Macalister Motors Superfin.
Before the comments get all “ItS jUSt ReCoLOrs”– the recolors of the four main character cars is due to the series launching its second season, Spy Racers Rio, where *SPOILER ALERT* each car receives upgrades, and the Ion Motors Thresher gets a complete rebuild. So it’s not just some cheap ploy to get you to buy more cars, it’s a change that actually goes along with the show.
We’ll start by taking a look at the newest casting, the Superfin. The car is driven by first season antagonist and leader of the SH1FT3R organization, Shashi Dhar. The Superfin is a mash-up of modern hypercar design, or for the older kids, the kind of hypercar car you could score in GTA, like the Tezeract. The side profile reminds me of a Mclaren P1, the rear deck and wing shouts Jesko, and the front looks like a Mclaren F1 and a Gumpert Apollo had a carbon fiber love child. Wild and fast looking to say the least.
Like the other cars in the series, the Superfin has an action/moving part. Its moving part is an extending rear boost-style exhaust that moves in and out via a switch on the chassis. The action is very similar to the Ion Motors Thresher action and is very easy to operate.
The Superfin may steal the show, but the four other cars in the series have received fresh paint, with some models get updated wheels as well (the actions remain the same for the four returning cars).
The Ion Motors Thresher has proven to be a fan favorite this year. The casting debuted in the 2020 mainline series, and then got moving parts in the last Target exclusive four-car series. This release expands on the show’s changes for the second season version of the car. Gone is the metallic purple from season one – the car now sports a new gray paint job, split by a wide blue stripe. It now rides on darker gray 10-spoke wheels, mounted on a metallic gray chassis. I prefer the Retro Slotted Wheels on the first release, but the car still looks good with its new setup.
,The addition of a “sunroof” does come into play during the second season too. Look and function.
The taillights also received an upgrade — they now look like aftermarket LED strip style lights as opposed to the classic filament bulb look on the “old” car.
The Hyperfin also gets a splash of color. The first season’s red and orange paint has been replaced by a bold blue over sky blue scheme. The tires go from orange to black, and the wheels remain the same, but gray faces have replaced chrome. This car will hit the 2021 mainline too, but no word yet on if it keeps its folding wings.
The Astana Hotto did a complete 180 for season two. The vintage racing stripes over white paint of season one is gone, and the car is completely black now. The front bumper-mounted fog lights get a metallic sky blue treatment, and the headlights are now gold.
The fifth and final car in the series is the Rally Baja Crawler — and like all the other cars in this second series, the RBC has grown up. The Crawler now sports a matte black paint job, where before it was more flat, and traded its camo for a set of green stripes. The windows and plastic parts, like the bed rails, are now black as well. The chrome bits remain the same, but one of the best changes to the car, and in my opinion one of the best changes in this wave, are the bead-lock style wheels. The chrome bead-locks look spectacular on this truck and turned what looked like a kid’s truck into a serious off-road machine.
I know I’m a Fast & Furious nerd, but I really like this line. Whether you’re a Fast & Furious fan or not, the Spy Racers series introduces car culture to kids, using the most popular car-themed brand in the world, and now they can own those cars they seen on their screens thanks to Hot Wheels — and that’s a win in my book 🏁
Watch the unboxing video below and to check out the actions of each vehicle:
I mean let’s be honest. Probably the main reason they changed the look of the cars in the show is for marketing reasons with regards to selling products like this. Not complaining. I really don’t care. Just saying that’s most likely the reason. Same reason Lightning McQueen and other characters in the Cars movies had so many different looks in the movies.
Anyway, these are definitely some cool recolors. My son is into the show so i’ll be picking them up for him. I really like the look of the new Thresher. Also, that new Superfin car definitely looks like a McLaren with a Jesko type wing. Pretty cool looking. Although the wing is a bit clunky as expected for a car worth a $1.
Thanks for the write up and photos. I enjoyed it.
I do agree with you on the marketing/selling more cars part — it’s hard to think that F&F/Mattel/Netflix didn’t have the whole line of toy releases figured out before the series even dropped.
I will say that the Spy Racers series actually reflects the changes in this second wave, unlike much of the Cars series. I used to collect the Cars when they first came out, but it quickly became apparent that collecting them to completition was going to be impossible. I couldn’t imagine trying to hunt down the complete Cars line at this point. I’ll stick with the F&F stuff any day over that line, ha!