Just Unveiled: Has Hot Wheels created a new off-road wheel?

It looks like it.

A perusal through a nearby Smith's, our area's Kroger affiliate, uncovered some brand new 9-packs, and there were a few things of note.  Some new colors, some new exclusives, but of most interest was this:

Not, not the awesome 240Z above, but the yellowish/orange-ish Mega Duty.  Has anyone seen those rims before?  We sure haven't.  It looks like some new wheels, and they are most welcome.

Until now, we have had two plastic wheel options.  These outdated and way-too-goofy wheels:

And these more modern wheels:

The more modern off-road wheel is very nice, but it doesn't look good on everything.  On the Tundra casting, absolutely, but on a more vintage pickup like the '87 Toyota?  Not so much.

It looks like these new wheels will be a happy medium:

More realistic than the old wheel, and not as modern as the new.  We anticipate we will see these on a lot of new models in the coming months.  It looks like the Mega Duty gets to show them off first...

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Nissans on the way: Silvia Super Silhouette, Prarie, Japan Skyline, Vision Concept all coming to Tomica Limited Vintage (oh, and an Alfa too)...

There is only one thing I hate about Tomica Limited Vintage:

When they unveil upcoming models, they hit you from every direction.  After seeing what TLV unveiled at the Shizuoka Hobby Show in Japan, I was like a kid in a candy store, only when that kid can't make up his mind and figure out what he wants.  He just runs around each aisle grabbing all he can and putting it back.

I don't know where to start.

So let's start with what was just released.  The May batch is now out, and our friends at Japan Boosterhave it.  It starts with a brand new casting, Toyota's Japanese flagship for many years, the Century.  I love it when TLV takes on a luxury car.  No notion of speed (although it did hold a V8), just weight and comfort, and it looks like TLV captures it perfectly:

We cannot wait to showcase these here on the blog.  Alongside the Century are two more Toyota Town Ace Vans (proving very popular), and the GT-R the JDM fanboys have yet to embrace, the Isuzu Bellet.

Lastly, this huge batch (double the size of the April batch) also includes Volume 2 from the new Tayio Series, containing a Mitsubishi Galant Sigma Police car and a Nissan Gloria.

We will showcase all of these models as soon as we get them, and you can find them all right now at Japan Booster:

Tomica Limited Vintage at Japan Booster

So that is only part of the news.  The other part comes from the Shizuoka Hobby Show, where TLV previewed their upcoming models.  We will show the pics, and you can look for these models:

1. Nissan Vision Concept 
2. Alfa Romeo 1300GT Junior
3. Upcoming Honda Civics
4. Hino Car Transporter
5. Toyota Supra
6. A new GT-R Casting and new designs on the N-Attack
7. Nissan Silvia Super Silhouette (!!)

Awesome stuff eh?  The Supras are out next month, and the Civics and Transporter later this summer/fall.  The others we have no idea, but we are super excited to see them.

But let's focus on that last one.  The Nissan Silvia Super Silhouette is the most exciting news of all.  We have showcased the Bluebird and DR30 Skyline Super Silhouettes before, and I have even said that they rank as my favorite TLV models:

And in our features on the Super Silhouettes, we mentioned a third Silhouette that needed to be done, the Nissan Silvia:

And it is finally on its way.  Those wheels!  That deco!  That car!  It will be a blast to finally have this.

There was one more photo from the show, this time of the display, where the upcoming Crown Wagons are visible, as is the Nissan Safari, and the just-announced First Gen Nissan Prairie:

TLV even released renderings of the Prairie:

And included with those renderings was even ANOTHER new TLV, the C210 "Japan" Nissan Skyline:

You see how this can get a little overwhelming?  I don't know where to start!

So we will do this:  I am most excited about the Silvia, but the Prairie is a major surprise, as is the C210.  And that isn't even mentioning TLV's first foray into Italian territory with the Alfa Junior.  That should be a gem.

The next few months should be pretty fun...

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Lamley Case Report: Opening a Hot Wheels 2015 US J Case...

So, yeah, we crossed our fingers that the J Case we got from Wheel Collectors was full of 8 Crate Supers.  Alas, we weren't as lucky as Zack.

But that is ok.  We will settle with the other cool stuff that came in this case.  Of course most of you, at least in the US, have found the J Case, and from what we have seen the Escort has been, not surprisingly, the model most people are grabbing.

And isn't that great!?!  For those who knew the Hot Wheels collecting world 10-15 years ago, how rad would it be to go back in time, and tell all the collectors hoarding '67 Camaros, '69 GTO's, and other muscle cars, that the most sought-after cars today are a Ford Escort and Datsun Station Wagon. They would have told you to get back in your phone booth with Bill and Ted and get the hell out of Dodge.  It is still a trip to hear comments like "Woohoo I got all the Escorts!" or "I am sick of all these Escort-hoarding collectors.  Leave some for the rest of us!"  Escorts!!  FORD ESCORTS!!

Anyway, the J Case has been all about the Escort, but there is a lot more to look for.  And that is why we are doing today's Case Report.  As always, here are all the contents of the sealed case, as we extract the models 3-by-3.  Enjoy...

Hot Wheels 2015 US J Case:

crack.

Reg TH Alert:

Escort Alert:

A very nice case, but you already to knew that.  There were two Escorts in this case, which means there should be plenty on the pegs between Batch J and K to cover anyone who want them.  No Super, but we have exhausted that topic enough in the last couple of days.  You know what it looks like.

Now you have seen it, so go get lucky and find a Super, or an Escort, or whatever.  There is plenty to enjoy...

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