First Look: Hot Wheels The Homer...

I am sitting here wondering why I am still watching the most boring Super Bowl in a long time. (Unless of course if you are a Seahawks fan.)  So instead of enduring more of this (sorry Denver fans), why not write about a little about this model many of you are eager to see.

It is called The Homer, named after, of course, Homer Simpson.  But you don't have to take our word for it.  Let's let our friend and Simpsons nut Derek, affectionately known on HWC as doomus, tell you a little about The Homer:

The vehicle "The Homer" from the TV show 'The Simpsons' was featured in one memorable episode, season 2's "Oh Brother, Where Are Thou?" In it, Abe "Grandpa" Simpson, believing he's on his death bed, let's Homer (his son) know a secret he's been hiding: Homer has a half brother who was given up for adoption. After a visit to the orphanage and some phone calls, Homer finds out his brother is Herbert Powell, CEO of Powell Motors. Herbert has Homer and the rest of the family come to Detroit, Michigan to visit. It's realized that the company's sales are dropping to the Japanese automakers and is in danger of being bought out. After some family time, Herbert brings Homer to the company and offers him a car for free. Realizing they don't make any big cars or cars with "lots of pep," Herbert has Homer meet with the engineers to design a car for the average person, for "all the Homer Simpsons out there." After a slow start and a pep talk from Herbert, Homer forces the engineers to design his car, one that holds his insanely large drink, has old-school styles like tail fins and bubble domes, and an engine that makes you feel the world is coming to an end. Dubbed "The Homer." Herbert doesn't see the car until it's unveiled and is an instant flop. The development costs and fact that retail on it is $82,000 (back in 1991) ruins the company. Powell Motors is bought out by a Japanese company and Herb is out of a job. Lisa (Homer's daughter) exclaims that Herb's life "was an unbridled success until he found out he was a Simpson." Drving home, Bart tells Homer that he thought the car was cool, which was all Homer wanted.

We don't know if this means more Simpsons cars, but if it does, and we had our druthers, we would go with The Canyonero or Mr. Plow's plow.  Yes, Mr. Plow, that's its name.  Its name again is Mr. Plow.

Anyway, you are not looking at this post because of my Simpson's knowledge.  You just want to look at the car.  So we will get on with the pics.  

Enjoy...

(You can find The Homer on ebay, or later this month on the pegs, if you are lucky...)

Hot Wheels The Homer (2014 New Models):

Just Released: Carded versions of the 2014 Hot Wheels Twin Mill Super, The Homer, Alpine White BMW E30, and more...

Ah, the science of Mattel distribution.  I am not a hobby dealer, nor do I play one on TV.  But I know a few.  How some get some models early, and others don't is beyond me.  At least, in most cases, these models will all eventually make it to the pegs.

But we sure love to see them when they are released.  And in our online travels, a few carded models have emerged.

Starting with an upcoming Super Treasure Hunt, the Twin Mill:

We have spent a great deal of time here at Lamley explaining that Regular TH's are for budding collectors (aka kids), and Super TH's for adult/already-in-deep collectors.  That is why Regs are heavy on fantasy and Supers on realism.  Well, the Twin Mill is fantasy, but a one of the most collector-aimed non-licensed models there is.  It is as classic as they come.  And it appears Hot Wheels is releasing one of these every year as a Super, among 14 other licensed models.  Last year it was the Bone Shaker, this year the Twin Mill.  Next year the Beatnik Bandit?  Or Dixie Challenger?  (Yes I know it is a Challenger, but it is more Hot Wheels than Dodge.)

So we here won't get too excited about the Twin Mill, but won't hesitate to snag one off the pegs if we come across it.

Next, several models from upcoming Batch F have emerged on their cards, and we are licking our chops at this batch.  Yeah, everyone wants to see The Homer, which appears to be very well executed, but we here are more interested in many of the other models in the batch.

You can see all of the F models at the link below:

Hot Wheels 2014 Batch F

What are your thoughts on The Homer?

We previewed a few Lamley-esque models in the upcoming Hot Wheels Batch F, but one model we didn't show is getting a lot of attention:

The Homer will hit the mainline in Batch F, and then later in the premium Retro Entertainment line.  We haven't been big fans of the cartoon cars here at Lamley, but we can't blame Mattel for doing them.  They are proving immensely popular.

We happily skip past the Jetsons, Flinstones, and Scooby cars when we hit the pegs, but like any Gen X'er we have a soft spot for the Simpsons.  We might be more inclined to get excited about the Canyonero, but we just might bite on this one.

Will you?