I honestly didn’t know how Hot Wheels Designer Julian Koiles was going to keep topping himself. I am not a designer, but I have to imagine the one downside of totally nailing something is that you have to try and match or surpass it on the next project.
Julian, whose life revolves around packaging and art, and who is responsible for the game-changing card art of Car Culture, keeps dealing with that issue with the yearly Super Treasure Hunt sets he does for RLC. A couple of years ago it was a vintage gas pump. A year after it was a muffler. What he had to come up with next had to be super special, because 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of Hot Wheels Treasure Hunts.
And Julian nailed it. He was able to simplify the packaging and create something memorable all at the same time. He brilliantly recreated the 1995 JC Penny Treasure Hunt set.
I found myself on the patio of my friend Micheal’s house looking at the new set, the old set it was based on, and several sets in between. And of course I filmed it.
And by the way, when I say the old set this 2020 set was based on, it couldn’t be more true. Michael’s set is the ACTUAL set that Julian used. Last year I was asked if I knew anyone with a set, and if Julian could use it to match the color. Michael came through, and Chris Walker was brought in to help match the color, and boom, the 25th set was created.
And clearly he hit the right note, as the set sold out in minutes.
Enjoy the vid: