Up until a couple of years ago, Hot Wheels had only done a few BMW models, but since then, it's been a different story and they've picked up the pace. I hadn't noticed until seeing last year's orange & white 2002's, which spurred enough interest to pick some up & see what I could find. It appears that by next year, Hot Wheels & Matchbox will have brought out a combination of 20+ models including variations, since 2011. So - here's what I've found so far: (apologies in advance for any mediocre shots, not the best camera for this) First, 4 variations of the 2002 - the orange & white models with racing decals are '12 cars, this year it's the blue & green Z4 M GT in black & white...
E92 M3 in red & white came out in '11, the M3GT2's in black & white with cool M logo decals, for '12, and '13 are black & blue, same street version as in '11. M1 in the Matchbox "The Hot Ones" series... Matchbox BMW police motorcycles, white, & gray/yellow. There is a green military police bike out that I don't have a picture of yet, and apparently there is a blue one yet to come. Next year apparently a G1200RS will be one of the Matchbox issues. E30 M3 in silver - Hot Wheels card titles it a '92 BMW M3. Also for 2013 is the E30 M3 in blue - these are just coming out, this is the only one I've found so far - Some 850i's from twenty years ago - the blue with the green wheels was a limited issue; these were out in the early 90's.
Matchbox Z4 roadster, in black... The Isetta-based "Whattadrag" - in the Hot Wheels 'Boulevard' series - very nice! This model came out a few years ago and has a few variations, none of which I have; this Boulevard issue is currently available, though. The very cool Canada/international-only E30 M3 from last year, all metal with "Real-Rider" rubber tires (standard Hot Wheels have hard plastic wheels) In addition to the R1200 GS Motorcycle, next year Matchbox is reportedly bringing out an E82 1M Coupe model - should be pretty cool. No idea what Hot Wheels may be doing with any '14 BMW models, we'll see! Just in case you were wondering, the ones on the red cards in the corner are some cheap Chinese diecast from a dollar store that sells those but not Hot Wheels; there was a Z4, and an X3.
Just an update on the Hot Wheels since last year... Here's the red E30 M3 on the typical long card, these were out late last year and early this year - best I can tell, a few may still be hanging on pegs at Walmart, Target, Meijer, & maybe Toys-R-Us. Here's the short-card version... Hood detail... I think there are a couple of rare wheel variations where different wheels were used, but I've never come across any - however, a more common variation is that some of the red M3's have roll bars (like the earlier blue & silver M3's), but the bulk of the red M3's do not have the roll bar interior. Roll bar... No roll bar...
KMart has Hot Wheel collector's events a couple times a year, this February's brought out the exclusive-to-KMart white E30 M3; I think this one also has a rare wheel variation, although it would be lucky to find any with that. Top view... these have a blue interior, obviously - No roll bar in these... Here's the orange 1M - oddly, I never saw one of these in the usual suspects, I've found them mostly at Dollar General or Family Dollar Top view Front quarter... back view... Here's the long-card K 1300 R BMW motorcycle, grey tank - these were out early in the year, and they either got snatched-up quickly, or they just didn't put out that many of them, these have been hard to find in any quantity. on the short card... side view...
and, the version with the orange tank - these came out a couple months ago, occasionally still come across one here & there... these have been easier to find than the grey-tank versions. Here's the red Z8, which is in the Matchbox MBX Exotics 5-pack... The 5-pack also has a gold Lamborghini Miura, a Lotus (Elise?), 'Vette, & a VW , I think the W12...
More Toys!! I've been searching for a pedal car for my grandson, of course, as in the original production count, Atacama Yellow Z4's are not that easy to come by. But with some help from a friend, there is actually light at the end of the tunnel. Anybody had any experience with this outfit?
Not me - looks cool though; google 'em just to make sure there haven't been any instances of them spontaneously combusting or small animals collapsing into convulsions after sniffing Chinese-originated arsenic, lead, or acid-laden paint. Don't know how I missed this last year, but somebody over on Bimmerpost had some fun - very cool! http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=869627
The Baby Bee arrived yesterday... Amazing detail, hard to believe this did not come off a BMW assembly line. Working headlights, horn, turn signals & engine sound. Folding side-view mirrors, filler flap opens to insert charging unit. Everything a little boy could ask for... My wife is threatening to buy me another one for Christmas, as she doubts I'll be able to part with this one
Great pic of your grandson - definitely got a laugh from him in that baby-sized cap! Ok, on to more Hot Wheels, or, in this case, Matchbox - First, here's the police motorcycle from last year - these would be hard to come by, now - Here's the R1200 GS, which have hit the shelves in the last couple of months. It would appear the BMW motorcycles are popular, they're not particularly easy to come across. Last year, it was looking like a yellow version of this was supposed to come out first, but that never happened. I'm guessing we may see it in yellow later this year, or maybe next year. Pic by the Lamley Group: These are _just_ hitting the shelves; first is the silver X5 police, with a light bar - and a 2014 version of the police bike, this time with black bike body, white cowl/bags, text and markings in black & orange - That's it for the moment - soon I'll put up some pics of the Hot Wheels E36 M3 Race, which is white and wavy motorsports colored checker flag decals on the hood & trunk, similar to the E36 M3 Lightweight; I don't think those have hit the shelves yet in my area, but apparently they have in some places.
Some news on some upcoming models - looks like the very cool Matchbox 1M that first came out in orange will have a blue version - apparently this may be out sometime this year, or next year if not this year. Looks good - hopefully will be easier to come across than the orange one. Pic from the Lamley Group: If you're interested in details on some other upcoming Matchbox models, see: http://lamleydlm.blogspot.com/2014/07/july-22-matchbox-ambassador-report-by.html Most importantly, the BMW 5-series police version - but, also some cool models to note, remember the bad-a$$ Lamborghini off-road hummer-like LM002 of years ago? There will be one of those, plus a version of the current presidential Cadillac limo, the Tesla Model S sedan, a current-era Ford cab-over semi-tractor sans trailer, a Porsche Cayman, and Alfa-Romeo 4C. Dang - they had a report with a bunch of pictures of the pre-production plastic 3-d printed 5-series police car but apparently took it down - here's one pic from the above blog post in case that disappears. Ok, looks like google still has it cached, if you want to see more pics - http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...-bmw-m5-police.html &cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us Very cool! some links: on the X5 police version - http://lamleydlm.blogspot.com/2014/07/first-look-2014-matchbox-bmw-x5-police.html Looks like they took down the post about the Alfa Romeo too - here's a pic (from the Lamley Group), but production color/wheels/decals etc. will be different -
Lamley reviews the Tomica Limited Vintage 1/64 (Hot Wheels scale) E30 4-dr models - these are a little pricey at $20+ each from the Japan Booster EBay store, but they're nicely detailed for this size model - plus, how often does anyplace do any kind of regular E30 model that isn't the M3? http://lamleydlm.blogspot.com/2014/07/first-look-tomica-limited-vintage-bmw.html
