Time to vote on the Best release from Hot Wheels’ most Premium line. There are lots of opinions about the Red Line Club, good and bad. Everyone has an opinion on how many models Mattel produces, how much they cost, and how long we have to wait to get them. I share many of those opinions.
But ultimately no one would care if the models weren’t so great. Once again, in 2022, the Hot Wheels RLC Design Team, let by Brendon Vetuskey and Steve Vandervate, released a super diverse group of models. Hot Rods, Classics, JDM, Euro, it was all there.
Which has made collectors join the club in droves, and has pushed production from about 5-10000 each model a few years ago to over 30,000 now.
So demand is high, opinions are mixed, and the models supercool. And we should decide which on is the best.
These are the models that ARRIVED in 2022, not all the models we purchased. Because some are built after collectors purchase, like the sELECTIONS models, I think it is only fair to include the models that actually arrived, instead of trying to guess what upcoming models look like. And for RLC, we include EVERY model, new casting or existing. Just to make it a little tougher to decide.
So here they are. Watch the video, check out the photos, and vote. Good luck.
For me, the 3 that stand out miles above all the others are the E30 M3, Mustang Cobra R and the SS 454. The execution, proportions, wheels, all the little details – and most importantly the car choice for the latter 2 – on these is damn near perfect.
The Cobra R and SS 454 are prime candidates for a future Car Culture Modern Classics mix and I hope these 2 (along with that RLC Porsche 959 they’ve done) – with no casting changes other than the deletion of opening/ extra parts – make it into the normal premium series sooner rather than later.
As for which one gets my vote – the E30 M3, because it goes that one bit further by having side mirrors on an already perfect casting. I the Mustang had them, I would vote for that one; shows how important they are on a visual level. But mirrors aside, imo there really isn’t much between these 3.