Best Motorcycle 2014: First Look: Hot Wheels Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)...

R34 it is nice to have you back.

I am in no way an expert on all things JDM. Actually, I am in no way an expert on much of anything JDM. I am an expert on what I like personally though (and thankfully have some great friends who are helping to educate me on the rest), and I really like JDM cars and their mini counterparts.

But I, like most JDMers, go giddy over the sight of a Skyline, no matter what era it is from. Predictably, I go back and forth on what Skyline I would call my favorite. One day the hakosuka, another the kenmeri (sometimes even the yonmeri sneaks in there), and on others it is the much more modern R34 GT-R. Well, for the sake of this post why don't we go ahead and settle it and say the R34 is my favorite. Congrats, R34. Hold your head high, at least for a day until I change my mind again.

To celebrate this momentous occasion we will have a gander at the brand new deco on the R34 Skyline. I am so glad to see it back in the lineup after going into hiding following its debut in 2010. This is a model that clearly got the attention of more overseas collectors than US collectors (the model is talked about, customized, and hoarded as much as possible), but I imagine its day in the US is due. Go look at the real car. Now go and look at the model. It is done pretty darn well, eh? Low stance, mean grill, boxy yet sophisticated. Now go look at the actual Nismo Z-Tune version the casting is based on. I don't think it is going overboard to say this is one of the best representative castings Hot Wheels has done. It...reeks...of...needed...premium...treatment. And I hope it gets it soon.

Let us relish in the fact that this is one of five (including the current GT-R) Skylines in the lineup. Sadly it is only the third to make a repeat visit to the mainline, but the 2013 lineup has yet to be announced, and I have a feeling good news is coming for the hakosuka and kenmeri. Fingers crossed.

These models will continue to gain in popularity here in the States, and may one day be as popular as they are with our overseas counterparts. I am guilty of hoarding four castings, and three of them are Skylines, and one of those is the R34. And if you missed out, I would go get some HW Skylines