Best Motorcycle 2014: Regular TH

Showing posts with label Regular TH. Show all posts

Lamley News: The latest Regular TH has been unveiled, and it might finally be a licensed car...

As we have said for the last year, Super TH's are for collectors, Regular TH's are for kids. That is why we have seen almost all fantasy castings as reg TH's this year.

So for those of you that still are frustrated about the lack of real car castings in the Regular TH line, your prayers have been answered. The next Regular TH has been unveiled, and it is based on a real car. We aren't going to announce what it is, but we will let you guess.

Here is our teaser pic:

Can you figure it out?

Lamley Awards: Reader's Choice for Worst Regular Treasure Hunt of 2013...

Before we announce the winners, I would refer you to this post to explain our feelings about the Regular Treasure Hunts.

They are not for us, and if it is not a casting you collect, you should leave them for the lucky kids that find them.

Ok, with that said, we still asked for your choice as Worst Regular TH of 2013.

And you voted, and a Top 3 (or Bottom 3, depending how you look at it) emerged. The funny thing? We don't have any of the three, so we had to borrow images from South Texas.

Without further ado, your choice for Worst TH of 2013, with 28% of the vote, is:

Bad to the Blade

To be honest, I am a little surprised this one won. You know, with this one that took #2 with 21% of the vote:

Sting Rod II

C'mon, that is a terrible model. Ok, so is the Bad to the Blade, but at least there is a kind of Gulf theme there. Until this year's Fangster, the Sting Rod was the most pegwarming of the Hunts.

Lastly, there was this one, with 16%:

Carbonator

The funny thing? The Lincoln Continental got 8% of the vote, the Prototype H-24 got 7%, and then no other model surpassed 3%. These three were clearly loathed by the collectors (so leave them!), and it wasn't close.

I don't think we have to explain why these were not liked, especially since there were some really nice Regulars in 2013, like the Challenger and RX-7. The really interesting vote will be for the 2014 Best and Worst, as Mattel has clearly run with the "Silly Rabbit, Regs are for Kids!" angle.

For that reason, we at Lamley are not going to pick a Worst for 2013. We will let the readers speak on this one...

Case closed.

2013 Lamley Awards: Reader's & Lamley Choices for Best Regular Treasure Hunt of 2013...

Get your tuxes and gowns out folks, it is time for the unveiling of the 2013 Lamley Awards...

From now until New Year's Day, we will be unveiling the winners in several categories. There will be two in each category - both the Reader's Choice and the Lamley Choice. The Reader's Choice was determined by voting a few weeks ago, and the Lamley Choice is what we consider the worthy winner.

So check back often, and let us know what you think. Here is what we have announced so far:

Best Super TH of 2013

We have already stood on our soapbox and subjected you to our thoughts on the Regular Treasure Hunts. Simply put, Super TH's are for collectors, Regular TH's are for kids. We hope our "Leave the Regs" idea catches on, and the Fangsters and Speedboxes and such are left for kids to snag.

But there are exceptions. While we think we will see less and less collector-aimed Regulars, there were a few in 2013. The Dodge Challenger Drift Car, Camaro SS Police, and Mazda RX-7 come to mind, and not surprisingly, those three took the top three spots in our Reader's Poll for Best Regular of 2013.

In what order?

Well, the Camaro took 11% of the vote, the Challenger Drift took 23%, and taking 29%, and winning the poll, is the Lamley Reader's Choice for Best Regular of 2013, the Mazda RX-7.

Just like the Best Super of 2013, we here at Lamley completely agree. Would we call it the best Regular, or best model that happened to be a Regular TH? Who knows? All we know is that of the 15 Regulars released, we liked the RX-7 the best. And you readers agreed.

The RX-7 Hunt is a great-looking model. In grey, with hood detailing that distantly pays homage to the 1979 24 Hours of Daytona winner. It sports several side decals as well, most notably the JNC and JCCS logos, which have become quite the common sight on JDM Hot Wheels.

It might be understated, it might just as well be a normal mainline, but it is officially a Regular TH, and it takes the Best Regular prize...

Hot Wheels Mazda RX-7 (2013 Lamley Award Winner - Best Regular TH):

First and Second Place:

Lamley Awards Poll: What was the WORST Hot Wheels Regular Treasure Hunt in 2013?

We have voted on the BEST Hot Wheels Regular Treasure Hunt, so now it is time for something a little more fun.

What was the WORST Hot Wheels Regular Treasure Hunt in 2013?

There seems to be a lot of strong opinions on the regular TH's. Our thought? That the regulars are for kids, and the Supers for collectors.

Look at it this way: Typically (not always), most cases have one regular Treasure Hunt. The castings vary quite a bit, from real cars to full-on fantasy cars. Some collectors like, some they don't. To be honest, the variety of the regulars is far greater than the Supers. BUT Mattel knows that collectors love their real cars, so they make the Supers harder to find, make them licensed models, and have them mirror a regular release.

So a collector knows what to look for when it comes to Supers, while a kid can still find everything to fill his checklist, without coming across a Super, and be surprised that a few of his or her finds are special. Supers are known by real riders, spectra flame paint, and a little TH somewhere on the models. Outside of the card art, there is nothing that signifies whether the model is a Super or not. It is different on a regular. There is a symbol, and that symbol is explained on the card if the model is opened. It tells the lucky kid that they found something special.

So, if you haven't figured it out...

Supers are for you, the collector. SILLY RABBIT, REGULARS ARE FOR KIDS!!!

Hot Wheels mixes in the fantasy models because it hopes us collectors will leave them. Maybe pick up one for our collections, but leave the others. That is why we at Lamley LOVE the regular TH line. We see collector after collector complain about these, completely oblivious to what their purpose is. Both the collector and the kid (the real target) are acknowledged by Hot Wheels with the Super/Regular set-up.

MATTEL WANTS YOU TO DISLIKE THEM, SO YOU WILL LEAVE THEM!! Then a kid will inadvertently pick one up, open it, find out it is special, and the little joy associated with that might move him or her in the direction of collecting.

We hope more and more collectors get this. We never thought it important to spell it out, but after seeing the reaction to the Fangster TH this week, we thought we would share our thoughts.

So, do us all a favor, leave the Regulars on the pegs, and show Mattel that you get it by voting for your least favorite. Mattel needs to know this is working...

Follow the link below to the poll, or just look to your top right on the screen to cast your vote:

http://poll.fm/4ices

As a reminder, here they are, in order of release:

Bread Box