After we learned about the interior variation on the Flying Customs Nissan Skyline, we reached out to Mattel Project Designer Steve Vandervate, who has a hand in many of Hot Wheels' premium and collector lines.
We asked Steve about what he knows about the variation, and he was as surprised about it as we were. But Steve was kind enough to do a little research, and we was able to find out a few things.
His answer:
The Basic tool set was modified for use in Flying Customs, adding a DC chassis and single-seat interior. It appears that the Flying Customs pieces that are using the stock interior must have been early-runs that used the basic tool set interior piece, and this was corrected as a running change. There were no plans for a roll cage - if there were, it would have been a live hinge on the interior piece.
Per tool plans:
Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R #X0092 - Basic tool set, ABS chassis, stock right-hand drive interior.
Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R #X8219 - Flying Customs tool set, DC chassis, single-seat right-hand drive interior.
So there you go. The Skyline moving forward has two different interiors. One racing and one stock. We have no idea when we will see the Kenmeri again (hopefully soon), but when we do we will have to see if the variation shows up again...
(Trying to find it? Here are all the listings
. Hard to tell what is what, but I am sure you can ask the sellers...)
(Trying to find it? Here are all the listings
