The world of diecast is moving faster than ever, with drops, collab announcements, new castings sneaks, and events being shared all over the internet — but keeping up with them all is a hobby in itself. So for 2025 we’re going to try something new and break-down the five biggest diecast stories of the week in one convenient location: the Weekly 5-Pack.
Is the name permanent? We’ll see as it’s still a work in progress, but hopefully we’ll be able to keep up with the latest diecast news all year long and turn this into a weekly reading staple of diecasters everywhere.
So without further adieu, let’s get to it!
- The Italian Stallion Comes Galloping Back to Mattel
What a day to launch the 5-Pack, because Hot Wheels dropped probably the biggest diecast news story of 2025: the Ferrari license is back!
Hot Wheels quietly snuck in the announcement via their IG account at roughly 2:15am EST, and it set Monday ablaze with news collectors have been waiting a DECADE for. The entire day was filled with Ferrari buzz and I saw that Rosso Corsa announcement graphic more times than I could count.
Collectors were clamoring about what models might be made first, how the value of the old Ferraris might be affected, and which lines we’d see Ferraris in first, but at this point it was all guesses.
Hot Wheels themself were pretty hush-hush on what the new collab will bring, but a Business Wire article had the full press packet that gave a lot more info, including teasing the first release being a Creations drop — along with hints of a full 1/64th scale line, RC cars included.
We’re sure more details will follow soon, but until then Hot Wheels has launched a special Ferrari sign-up page so you can “get the latest info on the Hot Wheels & Ferrari partnership. Plus, we’ll give you the scoop on upcoming exclusives, collectibles, and more.”
More here: https://creations.mattel.com/pages/ferrari-email-sign-up-page
BONUS DROP: John covers Ferraris of the past and touches on where the line is headed in new Youtube video
2. Hot Wheels Formula 1 Drops a Gear — and then Disappears
What would have taken the top spot if it wasn’t for the bombshell of a Ferrari announcement, but Hot Wheels dropped a line of 16 premium F1 cars on Creations, which caught many by surprise….
…but not as surprised as people were when the pre-order product seemingly sold out in a matter of about two hours. All 16 cars sold out quicker than an F1 pit stop, leaving many collectors wishing they would have acted sooner than later (myself and other Lamley writers included). Hopefully the same cars will show up in retail, but it’s too soon to say. What is not too early to say is how popular the Hot Wheels F1 product is going to be in 2025 — like hot, fire hot. It could be the only license that may give Ferrari a run for their money this year.
HWs also teased more basic F1 cars, two track sets, and also put up another Ferrari-like sign-up page so you can keep up with whatever else they have up their sleeves.
One thing to note was that the Team Ferrari cars were noticeable absent from the F1 drop, so only time will tell how the two newest licenses will collide.
3. Vive La France!
New year, new look for diecast manufacturer Majorette who recently redesigned their company logo. The 64-year old French-born diecast company has some good connections with a few of the Lamley writers, and more from the brand will be teased in next week’s 5-pack.
It’s always cool to see diecast companies evolving their brands and products, so it will be fun seeing what Majorette has in-store for 2025.
4. Live from Germany with Mini GT
Mini GT Director Glen Chou will be posting updates from the 2025 Nuremberg Toy Fair this week over on Mini GT’s social pages. It’s always fun to see what the various toy shows bring and Mini GT has already set a nice pace with a preview of Senna’s 190E and the entire grid from the 1984 Nürburgring Race of Champions.
Follow along with Glen’s adventures on their IG account here
5. Live from the Tarmac
Tarmac Works did a live stream on IG today to preview some new and upcoming drops, both in diecast and card form. It was cool to see a more structured type “show” release in IG, and we’re on board with it.
The preorder Honda CRX Pro in white and the future release Ferrari 348 Challenge in yellow were especially cool. Check out their full stream below:
And we couldn’t wrap-up the Pack without some Lamley updates as well, in the form of Tilley’s Matchbox Monday featuring the last wave of the 2024 Matchbox Collector’s Series, and John’s video unboxing of the new Hot Wheels Silhouettes II series — which features the insanely-hyped RWB Porsche 930 in white.
Awesome new feature! Personally, I like the name, though I’m curious to see what you eventually go with.
Hot Wheels getting the Ferrari license back is probably some of the best news we’ve had in years. Enough of cruddy Bburagos gathering dust in bargain bins in toy stores; it’ll be nice to see both physical and virtual marketplaces filling up with wonderful new pieces (before they’re all snapped up, of course). That said, I have a few thoughts:
1. I hope Mini GT/BBR and, to a lesser extent, Tarmac Works/IXO get to keep their sublicenses. The stuff we’ve gotten from them is exceptional and I’m fairly sure there’s nothing in Hot Wheels’ present catalog that would measure up to it.
2. I hope Matchbox gets some Ferrari love too, even if it’s the less “prestigious” stuff or the older stuff. Their mainline is head and shoulders above most of the HW mainline and they deserve a shot at producing Ferrari models.
3. I accept that there will plenty of overpriced RLCs and those ludicrous “Elite 64” models, but I am looking forward to the lovely Car Culture/HW Premium models.
4. I wonder if we’ll get other scales, too?
love this. wish comments were through disqus so I could see replies.