A Complete Look: Hot Wheels Aston Martin DBS...

We have already done two posts today on the Hot Wheels Aston Martin DBS, so why not a third?

With the Retro Entertainment James Bond version in gunmetal grey hitting pegs soon, and the jet black Mystery model out in Europe and New Zealand, we thought we would give you an update on all versions and variations so far, in case you wanted them all.

Some are still easy to find, others pretty rare, but all together each version makes for a great model to collect.  Many you can find on ebay.

So without further ado, the Hot Wheels Aston Martin DBS, front first to most recent:

2010 New Models

2010 New Models with PR5 (rare)

2012 Faster Than Ever

2012 Faster Than Ever with 10-spokes (found in target holiday packs.  rare)

2012 Faster Than Ever recolor

2012 Faster Than Ever chrome trap-5 wheels (Found in 9-packs.  rare)

2012 Faster Than Ever recolor with 10sp (found in 9-packs.  rare)

2013 Mainline

2013 Mainline recolor

2014 Mystery Models

2014 Retro Entertainment

That is the list, but don't forget the variations:

So, who has them all?

Matchbox Monday Model of the Day: 1954 Jaguar XK120SE Coupe...

We all like to hearken back to the old days of Matchbox, whether that was 2010, 1997, 1979, 1965, or any time in between.  I am an early 80's guy myself, and I still remember my sky blue Porsche 928.  We like to think that whatever we consider our golden age, it was when Matchbox was producing the best stuff.  Maybe so.

But to me, at least aesthetically, the golden age has been the last few years.  Now I agree the specific direction of Matchbox currently may not totally be to my liking, but to me the castings today (not counting good or bad deco) just look better, and are better proportioned.  In fact, to me the models of old were just too wide.  The bodies, the wheels, no matter what the model they had the width of the a stingray skimming the bottom of the ocean.  That is why I like Matchbox's recent crop of cars in the last 5-6 years.

No model illustrates that better than the 1954 Jaguar XK120SE Coupe.  The model was released in 2009, and essentially replaced the Jaguar XK120 Convertible.  And that was a good thing.  The convertible had some nice lines (because it was a 50's era Jag), but looked terrible out of proportion width-wise, especially with the current crop of Matchbox wheels.

So the Matchbox designers went back to the drawing board and came up with a new version.  A leaner, meaner coupe, and it could not be better looking.  I wish I had comparison pics of the two together.  But I don't have even one example of the convertible.  Too ugly for my tastes.

But I do have every version of the "not-used-enough" coupe.  We have seen it three times in the mainline, once in a 10-pack, and once as a Lesney Edition.  Maybe one day we see it reemerge in some sort of classic racing livery.  Until then, we have these five beautiful versions, so let's have a look...

(Find the Matchbox Jaguar XK120 for sale here...)

Matchbox 1954 Jaguar XK120SE Coupe:

2009 New Model

2009 10-pack exclusive (my favorite of the group)

2010 Mainline

2010 Lesney Edition

2011 Mainline

As always, Matchbox Monday is brought to you by our partners at MVE Collectibles.  Be sure to check out their store for the latest Matchbox, Johnny Lightning, Greenlight, and M2...

Complete Look: Hot Wheels Datsun 510...

I have wanted to do this post for a long time.

Anyone who has known me for awhile knows that the Hot Wheels Datsun 510 is one of my all-time favorite castings.  I fell in love with it the second I saw it on the pegs, and it is the model that opened up a whole new world for me when it came to JDM and classic Japanese cars in general.

So as is the case whenever I go gaga for a model, my ultra-completist collecting tendencies kick in, and I go after everything.  My pursuit of the 510 got so bad, and quite well-known among HWC regulars, that I had people sending me customs, errors, and even a 510 poster signed by the model's creator, Jun Imai.

Collecting the 510 has been an adventure.  Like most Hot Wheels models over time, hard-to-find variations do emerge, but with a little diligence and luck, I have been able to acquire them all.  I finally got myself up-to-date last week, when a collector friend of mine up in the Northwest was able to find the very elusive chrome trap-5 variation of the 2012 grey model that was only found in a few Gift Packs.

Well, now that I have them all, why not show them off?

This is everything.  Or at least everything official.  There are plenty of errors, shade variations, and even a small casting glitch that made an extra line appear in the rear pillar.  But here we will focus on each distinct version and wheel/tampo variations.

Those of you who collect the 510, and I know there are a lot, how up-to-date are you?

(If you have a few to add, head here to find what you still need...)


Hot Wheels Datsun Bluebird 510:

2009 New Models blue w/chrome-rimmed OH5 (common)

2009 New Models blue with chrome OH5 (rare, only found in Target 2-pack)

2009 New Models black with chrome-rimmed OH5 (common)

2009 New Models black with chrome 5-spokes (extremely rare)

2009 New Models copper with silver stripe (transition from black version, extremely rare)

2009 New Models copper with white stripe (common)

2010 white (common)

2010 yellow (common)

2011 Vintage Racing John Morton (highly sought after)

2012 red FTE (common)

2012 red chrome OH5 (somewhat rare, found in Target Valentine 5-packs in occasionally on blisters)

2012 grey FTE (common)

2012 grey chrome trap-5 wheels (rare, found in occasional Gift Packs.)

2012 grey with gold J5 wheels (somewhat rare, found in Gift Packs and Target Racing blisters)

2013 '71 Datsun 510 Wagon (Boulevard)

A few highlights:

5 sets of variations:

The rarest vari of them all:

And the two premiums, far-and-away the highlights of this batch: