Best Motorcycle 2014: First Look: Hot Wheels Then & Now '92 and '07 Regular/Super Mustangs...

There are models that grow on you.

And there are models that grow on you the way the beanstalk grew when Jack tossed the magic beans.

Let's document how quickly I took to the '07 Mustang Super Treasure Hunt once I had it in hand:

When our Brazilian friends at T-Hunted broke the news on the '07 Mustang Super, my response was "bleh". Literally. Bleh. Not "meh", not "eh", but "bleh". That means more on the "ewwwwww" side than the indifferent side. What I saw was a Super of a bland car that a looked a lot like the Shelby Super Snake that was released earlier this year.

I think that was less about the actual model, and more about the fact that I was not a big fan of the Super Snake Super TH in green. I love the casting, but thought the color was bland. So I clearly had decided that Mustang + Green + Super TH = bland.

To quote the movie Prometheus, I was wrong. I was SO wrong.

As I saw more pics, the model started growing on me. I have never owned a version of the '07 Mustang, because I (regretfully) didn't collect Modern Classics, where it debuted, and didn't buy either of the 5-packs that contained the model. So the Super TH, which I found in a dump bin on Monday, was my first real encounter with it.

By the time I was leaving that West Phoenix Walmart I was sold. The green is more bright than forest, the wheels work perfectly with its low slung, boxy style, and the deco is nicely done. It is a case where I prefer the model to the real thing. I think this is another Jun Imai casting and it shows.

So this Mustang has gone from "bleh" to my second favorite Super TH in 2013, right behind the Toyota 2000GT.

And its basic counterpart ain't too shabby either. Both of these are out of the superb "Then & Now sub-series that Hot Wheels created this year. So far we have seen Camaros, Mustangs, Chargers, and Challengers sporting the same deco on models that are years apart. I have liked every set. (And hint - I will like a JDM set as well, Mattel.)

But this one probably edges out the black Camaros as my favorite T&N set this year. The '07 paired with the '92 Mustang is a great move. Neither car is as iconic as other Mustangs, but Hot Wheels has been doing more models from both eras, and these epitomize that new coolness of soon-to-be-classic cars.

Plus, how fun is it to have a Super in this set?

(Find the '07 Mustang in all its forms on ebay