The Lamley Sale at Wheel Collectors just got insane...

The last Lamley Sale at Wheel Collectors was a smashing success.  We have watched as many of you took advantage of the sale and bought many models you may have missed, or a stash of wheel donors for your customs, or just to buy some new sets.

The prices have been fantastic, and we have been thrilled to help Wheel Collectors get the word out.  They have been Lamley supporters since the blog's infancy, and in out humble opinion there is no seller out there better at helping you fill those holes in your collection.

But now it just got crazy.

Wheel Collectors has decided to more than DOUBLE the amount of cars available in the Lamley Sale.  And these are not run-of-the-mill pegwarmers.  These are all premium Hot Wheels models, and most are cheaper than what you can find in the store (if they are even still in the store).

There are a few that actually are finding a little hard to believe they added, like the very-popular '83 Silverado 4x4 from the Off-Road Series, the Boulevard Ford GT LM and Subaru BRAT, among others.  You can see all the models available here:

The Lamley Sale at Wheel Collectors

So go grab what you can, and if we have one suggestion, buy in bulk.  Wheel Collectors combined shipping rates are second to none, and you won't see these prices on these models in the future.

And customizers?  Is there a better opportunity to get those wheels you need for your next project?  Probably not.

Have fun everyone...

Cool is Cool is Cool: Hot Wheels Boulevard Renault 5 Turbo...

It is time to get this one out from among the shadows...

It has only been 17 months since the release Hot Wheels 2013 Boulevard Batch A, and maybe it is time we get over the Datsun 510 Wagon and give the Renault 5 Turbo its proper due.

Actually the Renault is far from a secret.  The amount sold in the Lamley Sale at Wheel Collectors says you guys already know how cool this model is.  (Well at least you know how cool the wheels are.  We think a few of these Renaults will be sacrificial lambs in the name of future customs.)

So considering many of you are buying these up, and because Speedhunters just recently featured a 5 Turbo, we think this mean mid-engine mini hatchback is definite Cool is Cool is Cool recipient.

And maybe this will inspire another mini obsession here at Lamley.  We are always professing our love for wagons, and you also may have noticed more than a few classic pickups gracing our blog lately.  But we also have a lot of love for hatchbacks.  How can you not when you grew up in the 80's and 90's?

Of course the Renault 5 is a child of the 70's, so that is a good place to start, and knowing us many more are coming.  We welcome your suggestions as well.

So we will let the Boulevard Datsun Wagon and Hakosuka take a back seat, at least for a day.  The Renault 5 was as great of a new release as the Wagon, Jeep Wagoneer, and Porsche 993 were in that series, it just was part of the wrong batch.  We imagine we will see this model again, at least we hope we do.  It surely has a bright future...

(Grab the Renault 5 for the cheapest rate on ebay as part of the Lamley Sale at Wheel Collectors...)


Hot Wheels Renault 5 Turbo (2013 Boulevard):

Lamley News: Don't miss the "Lamley Sale" on Hot Wheels Real Rider Models at Wheel Collectors...

We are very excited to be a part of this sale...

Our friends at Wheel Collectors want to clear out some of their inventory, and thought there would be no better way than to offer a huge sale to Lamley readers.  And this is huge.

Matt and the gang have picked a slew of models to put on sale, all at prices cheaper than retail, many UNDER $2.00 each.  There are Boulevard (the good Boulevard), Retro Entertainment, and Vintage Racing all on sale.  And here is the thing.  They are all worth collecting.  Follow the link below to see what is available:

Wheel Collectors' Lamley Real Riders Sale

We all have models that we regret passing on, that are now way too expensive to get.  I personally have a huge list of models I wish I would have bought when they were cheaper.  With that in mind, there are a ton of models here could very well be the next sought-after model once things dry up.

Like the Vintage Racing Toyota Land Cruiser & Sand Blaster:

Or the Retro Entertainment Morris Mini in white:

Or the Boulevard Hurst Olds, Racing Chevelle, & Ford GT (a personal fave):

Or one of the most underrated models from the last few years, the Vintage Racing '40 Ford Coupe in black.  This is a model no one will regret having once in hand:

There are quite a few more, and like we said, some are at or under $2 each.  Follow the link to check them out:

Wheel Collectors' Lamley Real Riders Sale

Once these are gone, they are gone, so be sure to take advantage and get these models at these prices before you regret missing it.  We love sharing our favorite models with our readers, and we are always thankful when Wheel Collectors makes it easy for our readers to get those models.

Also, keep checking back, as more listings are bound to come...

Is it time to retire the HW Drag Bus? We have two very worthy replacements...

Yeah, probably a dumb question.

The Hot Wheels Drag Bus is practically a religious movement for many collectors.  It is also an instant sale for Hot Wheels.  Put a Drag Bus on a card, on a peg, in a store, and it will sell.

So suggesting its best days are in the past is true Hot Wheels blasphemy.  But let's be honest.  It's a very.....tired....casting.  It belongs in a resting home, enjoying retirement, alongside the T1 and Drag Truck versions.  In the pharmaceutical world, drug companies can only hold onto a patent for 14 years.  Maybe that should apply to the Drag Bus.  It doesn't share the great detailing that current Hot Wheels models have.  The front in awkward, and it you are bold enough to open one, don't pull it apart.  It will never fully go back together again.  It is already a legend, and it doesn't need to be released anymore.  It is outdated, and there are some great models ready to replace it.

The obvious model most will think of as a replacement is the Blown Delivery.  Big, heavy, and it turns tough-guy collectors into fluffy cloud muffins as they dream about it.  Like the Drag Bus, it was designed by the great Phil Riehlman, and it truly is a step above the standard Hot Wheels car.  I don't know many people who dislike it.  Even my true of true JDM friends ogle over it.  Frankly, it is so unique, it stands on its own.  It replaces nothing.

So we have two other ideas.  One is big, heavy, and likes to be dressed in drag, like the Bus, and one is a VW, also drags, and happily is a Bus.

Let's start with that heavy casting, the '85 Chevy Astro Drag Van.  City Market in Moab, Utah, yielded the Just Born Mike & Ike version.  While we normally pass over these types of series, the Van begged to be picked up, and we obliged:

This is the second version of this casting, after last year's debut in Boulevard.  It is a great model, partly because it is so well done, partly because it is so over-the-top ridiculous.  The actual Chevy Astro is a bore-fest.  You had to have a screw loose to buy one.  (Then again, Ford had the horrible Aerostar, so options were slim.)  The Astro was ready to vanish into history when some designer at Mattel went on some wicked hallucinatory trip, was told by a three-headed unicorn not only to make the Astro in small-scale, but to make it a drag van.  He returned and shared his enlightenment.  And Mattel said yes!

How great is that?  And they did it right.  Doesn't open, because it doesn't need to.  You can display it without worrying that someone will pick it up, only to watch half of it drop to the ground.

Plus, customizers should a field day with this one.  Yes, the Boulevard was near impossible to find, and the Just Born isn't too easy either, and that is probably the only reason we haven't seen more customs.  But they are sure to come.

Two BITCHIN versions so far:

The other option is the Drag Bus's Mini-Me, the Kool Kombi.  This is an obvious choice.  VW, Bus, Dragster.  But a helluva lot cuter than the Drag Bus.  As obvious a choice as the Kool Kombi is, we see this model having a long and prosperous life in the mainline.  At least we hope it does.

We have already seen it in the mainline in both 2013 and 2014, as well as the Toy Fair model and an RLC exclusive.  It is only a matter of time before it gets the Super TH treatment (our prediction is 2015), and it will always be popular:

We love the Kool Kombi here at Lamley.  It is obvious since we shelled out a few pretty pennies to get the premium versions.  It is truly one of the great Hot Wheels creations.  But you already knew that.

What hasn't gotten its due is the Astro Van.  So yes, it is stupid to ask if the Drag Bus should be retired.  It isn't doing anywhere, nor should it.  But if asking the question highlights how great the Drag Astro Van is, then we did our job.

Count us the premiere members of the Chevy Astro Drag Van Fan Club.  Who else is in?

(Find the Astro Van on ebay...)

2013 Lamley Awards: Lamley's choice for 2013 Model(s) of the Year, the 7 New Tools from the Boulevard Line...

We might be accused of making up the rules as we go along, and we certainly cannot deny that.  When we started the Lamley Awards two years ago, we created several categories and asked our readers to vote.

We are only two years in, and the response has been far larger than we could have anticipated.  Not only did many folks vote, but they asked their friends to vote, and went to their favorite forums and asked them to vote.  It was great.

For example, the winner of the Reader's 2013 Model of the Year is the '55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser.  Some thought that was a bit of a surprise, with Lamley's obvious connection to anything JDM and import.  But the Gasser could not be ignored as one of the instant classics Hot Wheels produces occasionally.  Plus, it has a strong following.  Members of a Chevy forum got behind the vote, and asked everyone they knew to vote.  Some say that might have skewed the vote, but we love it.  There was a group of collectors passionate about a model, and they made sure everyone knew.  That passion should hopefully be why most of us collect.

We considered the Gasser ourselves when it came to our choice for Model of the Year.  The model was clearly popular, and that is one of the things we look at.  When we consider Model of the Year, it isn't just the model we liked the best.  We look at many factors.  Was it popular?  Was it discussed by collectors?  Did it garner strong opinions?  Did it push our hobby in a new direction?  There are a lot of things to look at.  That is why we chose the Mad Manga in 2013, to the chagrin of many.  We stand by it, as that model introduced a segment of the car culture that not many westerners knew about, and it surely was talked about.  A ton.

With that in mind, for us it came down to these models:

1. VW Kool Kombi
2. Boulevard Datsun 510 Wagon
3. Toyota 2000GT Super TH
4. '67 Camaro Super TH
5. '55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser
6. Matchbox BMW 1M

The '67 Camaro is a collector favorite, and it looked fantastic, but it is so widely used, there was fresh ground covered with its release.  The Gasser too is a casting that will always be popular, and executed well, but not surprising in any way.  The BMW 1M is a model we were so glad Matchbox did, and seemed to, along with the Karmann Ghia T34 and Dodge A100, give us a glimpse of why we have always loved Matchbox: unique casting choices executed extremely well.  And it proved very popular, flying off the shelves.

But for us it came down to the Kool Kombi, Datsun Wagon, and Toyota 2000GT.  

The Toyota was unique in that it surprised everyone.  There were rumblings that Hot Wheels had done a 2000GT for the Racing line, but no one knew the casting was done and already in the 2013 mainline as a Super TH.  So because the Toyota was set to debut in a line that was subsequently cancelled, it was not officially a new model in 2013.  Hot Wheels doesn't give New Models the Super TH treatment, but this one unofficially debuted as a Super.  Kind of cool.  Plus, we have to thank the 2000GT Super for helping put the Lamley Group on the map.  We broke the news, and that was the first introduction to Lamley for many collectors.

The Kool Kombi also deserves serious consideration.  When it was first introduced in the mainline, it was literally easier to find Regular TH's than Kool Kombis in green.  Take a VW, which is always popular, and toon it up in such a creative way, and you have a winner.  Giving it a little Brazilian flare doesn't hurt either.  There are a lot of people out there, Lamley included, that love the Kombi and cannot pinpoint why.  It is truly a great little model.  It is also one of our safest bets for some 2015 Super TH treatment.

As great and impactful as those two models were in 2013, we chose the Datsun 510 Wagon.  But when you think about it, the Datsun was only part of the story.  The 510 Wagon was part of the 2013 Boulevard line, which looking back, was an almost perfect collector line.  

And no one could find it.

The diecast gods like to play with us.  We have seen several lines vanish right before the good stuff was slated to arrive.  In the last couple of years, that has happened to the Vintage Racing line, Hot Ones, and Flying Customs, and we are hoping the same fate is not waiting for the Cool Classics.  

2013 Boulevard was the same thing.  2013 was right when Mattel figured out how to do Boulevard right.  The 2012 line had some great models, but it was way too bloated with models no one was interested in, and some batches hung on the pegs for months.  But in 2013, it was different.  Only a few batches, with only a few cars, and all interesting castings.  Muscle, classic, JDM, Racing, obscure, current, unique, it was all there.  We had cars from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's, and today.  All done tastefully, all with real riders, and all for real car lovers.  You could tell there was a lot of each designer in the line.  It was where their car infatuation came through the most.

By the time the 2013 line was ready to launch, no big box stores wanted them.  2012 was still clogging the pegs, and there was no reason to think the next batches would sell.  Unfortunately, they probably would have.  The selection was so much better.

So Batch A, which included the buzz-worthy 510 Wagon and Hakosuka Skyline, was released to dealers in the very first week of 2013.  It was found in a small number of Walmarts in April and May, along with a couple of TRU's, and then vanished.  It wasn't until September that these batches popped up at western-US TJ Maxx stores, some Shopkos, and Tuesday Morning stores.  If you didn't have those stores in your area, you were out of luck.  And even then there was no guarantee that Boulevard would be there.

So in the worst case of collector bad luck, the best premium line we remember never made it to the masses.  Demand skyrocketed, and they are still highly desired models.  And they always will be.  Thankfully all of these castings are appearing in other lines, and those that missed out on the Boulevard should be able to get their mitts on the next version.  But that group of Boulevards will always be gems.

It is because of that perfect storm of circumstances that we decided to not just pick the Datsun Wagon as our Model of the Year, but to give that distinction to all seven new castings in the 2013 Boulevard lineup.  All seven are unique choices, none like the other, and all executed near-perfectly.

The Seven:

'71 Datsun Bluebird 510 Wagon

Renault 5 Turbo

'85 Chevy Astro Van

'58 Plymouth Belvedere

1988 Jeep Wagoneer

Porsche 993 GT2

'85 Ford Bronco 4x4

We could easily write several paragraphs on why each one of these models is fantastic.  They are all different, and epitomize the direction Hot Wheels took with the line 2013.  I don't know how we will see a line as great as this one was.  Hopefully if we do, people will be able to find it...

(If you don't have this set, we suggest you get it...)