Beautiful Disney “Tribute” Cars Round 2 – Hot Wheels RealRiders

About 6 months ago we got this set of spectacularly painted RealRiders done up in the theme of several Disney movies. You can read all about ’em here; needless to say I was completely enamored by the quality and detail of the artwork. So when I stumbled across “Round 2” a few days ago amidst these Q1 doldrums, I was more than happy to snatch ’em up. Here’s what we’re working with:

• 1 / 5 – Pinocchio – ’66 Dodge A100
• 2 / 5 – Dumbo – Bread Box
• 3 / 5 – Alice in Wonderland – Volkswagen Deluxe Station Wagon
• 4 / 5 – Sleeping Beauty – Super Van
• 5 / 5 – Robin Hood – 3D-Livery

We’ve got a lot of familiar faces here – the Super Van, and A100, the Bread Box, and so on. Why does Hot Wheels keep choosing the same models, right down to the year? (One day I’m seriously going to go through what I have and take a count of each model…should be mildly interesting.) I assume it’s due to the amount of space available for the expansive portraits and scenes. Most of them contain a sizable, uninterrupted rectangle (or square) with ample room for anything from a long, panoramic shot of a landscape, a medium-distance scene of a few character in some sort of interaction, or a nice big closeup of one or two main characters.

Like the previous set, these things are miniature works of art, right down to the cards which are as colorful and detailed as the cars themselves. I actually kinda hate to open them, and if they weren’t a whopping ~$5.47 a piece I’d probably snag 2 of each. The cards are about 1.5 to 2 times as thick as your average back and almost the entire front surface is filled with a fantastical poster from the appropriate time period. You’ve got the dated fonts, a hokey tagline or two, and an absolute flood of color. I think that’s what hits home most with me about these guys: it’s the sheer range of colors in use. I guess “back in the day” these movie posters were treated a lot like paintings and thus there was a lot artistry in mixing and making colors – nothing as homogenized as today’s digital colors. (Obviously a computer display can replicate these colors, the idea is that perhaps a given artist’s “red” was not #FF0000 and this “old red” was used to make pink, which was then used in a purple, etc. …small irregularities in customization that build up over time and between different artists.)

First in line is Pinocchio it the Dodge A100. We’ve got some expected artwork of Pinocchio, Geppetto, and Jiminy Cricket on the sides which is nicely detailed. Even Jiminy, as small as he is, can be seen clearly. One side features (what I assume to be) the moment Geppetto brings the puppet to life, and a closeup of Jiminy can be see on the rear doors. What I like most about this particular vehicle is the blue-purple gradient that fills the ambient space. It creates a dreamy effect and it’s not a shade of blue I’m used to seeing often.

Next is the Bread Box featuring Dumbo; perhaps it’s appropriate that such an outdated vehicle features one of Disney’s oldest animated films. (It was their sixth theatrical animated film.) I never much “got” Dumbo but there’s no point in doubting its cultural longevity and what I assume to be its influence on later works. The entire vehicle is awash in a baby blue with the roof painted to look like the top of a circus tent. One side prominently features Dumbo while airborne; the other showcases a tender moment between our titular character and his mother. The back has some mouse who I’m 100% unfamiliar with… I appreciate what’s going on here but again, Dumbo just doesn’t resonate much with me. I kinda dig the idea of turning the Bread Box into a circus tent though. (And oh god help us – Dumbo is another animated film succumbing to Disney’s live-action curse. I’ll be interested to see how this performs, because it’s not like today’s little kids – or even their damn parents – have much familiarity with the character, let along the movie.)

Here we are at the midpoint with Alice in Wonderland artwork plastered all over the Volkswagen Deluxe Station Wagon. You can certainly interpret Alice in Wonderland (I’m just gonna call it “Wonderland” from here on) in any number of different ways, but when it comes to the visuals, it’s hard to argue against the artistic depiction of and LSD trip. Well ok, scratch that – it’s a convenient way to say things, but I don’t want to spread mistruths about drugs. I’ve taken plenty of LSD and I’ve never see anthropomorphic animals. A “hallucination” can either be a “real” hallucination, or a “pseudo” hallucination. Pseudo-hallucinations are where things like lights and patterns and shadows play tricks on your eyes. You might see trails on moving objects, static lights may appear to flicker, or the tile on the floor may appear to crawl. The point is that you know you’re hallucinating, i.e. your brain knows that the flickering light isn’t really flickering. Now a real hallucination is the same type of shit that “crazy” people experience – you know, your dead grandmother rises up out of a pile of dirty laundry and tells you you’re really a cat – that kinda shit. A real hallucination is indistinguishable from reality. You’re mind can’t tell the difference. You may be able to recognize it as a hallucination later on, but at the time, a hallucination of your friend walking through the door feels/looks exactly like your friend walking through the door “for real.” Obviously these sorts of hallucinations can easily be quite dangerous, and for this reason, most recreational drug users aren’t chasing down shit that gives them “real” hallucinations.

And for what it’s worth, Lewis Carroll, the author of the original Alice in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass was not a recreational drug user and hardly used any medicine at all apart from homeopathic treatments.

I know that was random as hell but I wanted to get that out, because too often are Wonderland and “acid trip” conflated out of ignorance for the sake of convenience. A better description would be a dream, or perhaps as a metaphor for “being high” in a very general sense and/or otherwise “escaping reality.” The truth is that Wonderland is more often a piece that we project ourselves on; our interpretations of the work say more about us than they do the material, and indeed what we’re looking at here is Disney/the director’s interpretation of Carroll. What we do know is that Carroll wanted to create something “dreamlike.” And hell, just how often do our dreams make sense…?

Anyways, this Disney version of Wonderland is certainly dreamy/trippy/surreal/whatever! The artwork is crisp and vivid. And besides the bizarre setting, one of the weirdest parts of Wonderland are its inhabitants. There’s a beautifully colored shot from the “tea party” on one side with the March Hare, Alice, and the Mad Hatter. The colors are all bright and distinct from one another. The opposing side shows us a nice wide shot of the Cheshire Cat in all of his pink and purple glory, and the back shows the nervous little re-eyed White Rabbit with his oversized pocketwatch. The background is made up of a very deep, saturated blue, bordering on a very deep teal. Again, it’s a color we don’t see often on Hot Wheels, and it contrasts nicely with all of the busy and bright color of the illustrations.

Our penultimate entry, plastered all over the body of the Super Van, pays tribute to one of Disney’s darkest films and one of their most sinister villains. Yep, we’re talking about Sleeping Beauty (and Maleficent) which is something I feel like I really ought to watch again as an adult. The story behind how the film came to be is a little chaotic and could’ve easily resulted in a trainwreck, but instead it gave us of the most unique animation styles of any Disney flick. It’s tough to convey all of this stuff on the Super Van but it’s a good attempt. We’ve got an easy-going shot of Aurora and the Prince enjoying some quality time together on one side and a shot of the 3 good fairies on the back. The highlight is on the passenger’s side where Maleficent (in final form – Dragon Mode) squares off against the gallant Prince Phillip. The dragon is shown in her entirety, spitting out an otherworldly streak of green flame towards our hero. The scale is quite impressive and even on such a small picture you can see how enormous Maleficent’s dragon form truly is. I’m also diggin’ the curvy, sort of spiny trees off to the right. It’s as if the forest has a sinister consciousness of its own, with branches appearing to be more like living tendrils than stationary plant life.

Bringing up the rear is the highly unique 3D-Livery motorcycle-carriage thingy celebrating Robin Hood. I vaguely remember this film but it’s not something where a lot specifics are jumping out at me. The way the artwork is done with the “curtains” appearing slightly opened makes it feel like you’re looking straight into the passenger area of the vehicle. It’s a pretty cool effect. One side is a simple shot of Robin plus one of his homies (probably Little John). On the reverse is King John (the lanky lion) and Sir Hiss (the snake). There’s not a whole lot to talk about here because there just isn’t that much going on, but the use of color is impeccable as always. I especially like the deep reddish purple King John’s robe.

And there you have it! Another set full of iconic, high quality artwork. Much like the preceding set, I do wonder why some of the newer classics have been passed over. Maybe that just means more sets are in the works? The Little Mermaid and The Lion King would be my first picks, but I’d be happy to see anything from the late 80’s – 1990’s heyday of Disney feature-length animation; you know, the stuff I’m actually more personally in-tune with…like Aladdin, Hercules, Mulan, Pocahontas….probably a few others I can’t immediately recall.

Anyway, what’s your favorite? Were you exposed to some of these uber-old movies as a child? Even for those of us born in the 80’s, those early flicks were already 40 years old – I doubt many kids these days are watching cartoons from the 70’s. Personally I’m torn between Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty. The latter is such an eerie piece that you really can’t compare other Disney works to, but on the other hand it’s easy to admire the sheer absurdity woven into the former.

Well that’s it for now! Keep your fingers crossed for me – send some good vibes my way in the hopes that I find something in my wheelhouse. It’s been a dry dry toy world lately!

Marvel Studios – The First Ten Years: Concept Art Series (Hot Wheels Real Riders)

Damn, what a mouthful, eh?

What we have here is a weird convergence of sub-series – first of all it’s a Hot Wheels Real Riders set. Secondly it’s part of newish endeavor by Marvel Studios to celebrate their first 10 years, ergo Marvel Studios: The first Ten Years. And to add one final layer of specificity, it wasn’t just “stuff” from the first 10 years of the MCU, it was concept art from the time period! The art on each vehicle is inspired by a film in the MCU and like all Real Riders, the graphics are highly detailed and of the utmost quality.

• 1 / 5 – Iron Man – Volkswagen Deluxe Station Wagon
• 2 /5 – Thor – Combat Medic
• 3 / 5 – Avengers – 3D-Livery
• 4 / 5 – Avengers: Age of Ultron – Super Van
• 5 / 5 – Captain America: Civil War – ’66 Dodge A100

This set seems fairly new. I spotted some of these in passing on eBay, and then last weekend I found most of them out at a Target in Knightdale. It was kinda weird, I found 1, 2, 4, and 5, and there was an additional 1, 2, 4, and 5 on the shelf plus a third 5. No number 3 though. I didn’t see the set anywhere else over the next week, but I decided to scoot back over to that same Target just a couple of days ago and they had plenty of number 3’s on hand. Go figure.

Before digging into the cars I want to quickly draw attention to the cards themselves. Generally speaking the Real Riders make use of amazing artwork for the backing cards and this series is no different. Like so many others, the cards hold some artistic value of their own and I kinda hate to open ’em. But we must!

The first vehicle comes to us all the way back from Iron Man where it all began in 2008. These earlier released tended to be lighter fare than the more built up pieces we’re used to now, but they did – in general – mark a significant upgrade in quality from the previous generation of superhero flicks that proliferated the early 2000’s. Although Iron Man on its own will probably be remembered as more significant than it actual was, it will rightly represent a fundamental change in the way that cinema and by extension the public approached the comic book medium. And it couldn’t be more ironic: in an era where comic book sales are at their lowest, adaptations of comic book material are ubiquitous in the mainstream. Hell, apart from Star Wars, they are the mainstream!

The Volkswagen is decorated simply, with one side showcasing Iron Man’s modern, familiar suit, and the other featuring the clunky, clandestine, almost medieval-inspired suit that he fashioned in an Afghani cave. (Afghani, right? I know it was retconned from the original setting in like a Vietnam POW camp.)

Oh me on my, the good ol’ Combat Medic. Hot Wheels can hardly get through a Real Riders series without one…but I guess I get it. It’s shape allows for lots of graphics-friendly space. This version is covered with a dark, metal-flake teal, a color I’m not too familiar with on Hot Wheels. It does a great job of capturing the essence and otherwordliness of Thor and his mischievous brother, and thus we have this vehicle’s inspiration, Thor from 2011 and the fourth film of the MCU. I appreciate the visuals and setting of the film, but tonally I thought it was confusing and I found the characters forgettable but at least it wasn’t a flat out bad movie.

The artwork centers on Thor and Loki as does the film itself. At first their interactions felt…stilted, to say the least, but I think the on-screen chemistry between the two has grown and matured over the years, and it also plays out a bit better when it isn’t taking center stage. The graphics illustrate them in all their Asgardian weirdness; they almost look like aliens.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 3D-Livery before. Is this new at all? Or just wildly uncommon? It’s got a bit of a Southeast Asian flare to it with the whole “bike” towing a covered “buggy” behind…although this is obviously an updated and modernized concept with a motorcycle at the front and what we can assume is pretty nice cabin/carriage to relax in. (We don’t get to see inside, so we’re just gonna have to use our imaginations.) I love the little details like the Avengers logo on the top and on the bike. I thought it was an odd choice for the first Avengers film at first, but when I saw how the artist had planned it out, it kinda made sense. You’ve got Hulk and Hawkeye on the left, Iron Man and Cap on the back, and then Thor and Black Widow on the right.

And I guess a crazy vehicle like the 3D-Livery is appropriate for such a watershed event in both film and the comic book industry. Avengers represented something that just a few short years prior would’ve been deemed inconceivable, laughable even. I was weary of watching yet another group of folks get to know each other but the payoff was decent if not a tad overhyped. (I think it’s the origin story that I’m getting bogged down with and tired of more than the actual superhero story.) I don’t wanna knock it too much though. It was a major gamble and in the end it succeeded.

Nearly 3 years later to the day we got the sequel to the big ensemble flick that already needed 5 films to happen, and that was Avengers: Age of Ultron. Overall I felt like this was an improvement, but maybe that’s just because I don’t like Hiddleston’s interpretation of Loki…I dunno, maybe I just don’t like Loki as a main character in any context. Ultron wasn’t a great villain but the film was as slick and as polished as one could ask for.

Age of Ultron is commemorated rather oddly in this series, by an olive-green Super Van celebrating Iron Man’s submission of the Hulk via the impressive yet under-utilized Hulkbuster armor. “Hulkbuster” was probably the coolest thing in the whole damn movie, so I’m cool with it, it just seems strange to choose that confrontation as indicative of Age of Ultron. But again, I’m totally a-ok with it personally.

Finally we get to Captain America: Civil War, what I would consider the largest scale MCU flick up until Infinity War. In a lot of ways the inclusion of Civil War as a Captain America movie is a near misnomer. I mean it could’ve just as easily been spun as “Iron Man 4” or, how I like to thing of it, “Avengers 2.5”. They do throw a good deal of focus to Cap and..ugh…Winter…fughdhg…Solider…but Iron Man carries just as much weight if you ask me. And ultimately it is a film about the Avengers being the Avengers: who are the Avengers? What do they stand for? What is their agenda? What are their motives? I tend to like movies with villains that are just as memorable as heroes – a skill which the MCU has failed to master time and time again, possibly intentionally judging from some of what’s been said – but Civil War was a unique glimpse into what made these heroes tick and their existence as actual people first and foremost with their role as heroes being somewhat secondary.

All that being said, I wish we’d gotten a slightly more elaborate offering from Hot Wheels. One side hones in on the final confrontation between Iron Man and Cap (and Winter Soldier, who isn’t in the graphic) which is probably one of the best fights of the MCU so far. The other side features the same graphic but smaller, flanked by Black Widow and Hawkeye on the left and a clash between Winter Soldier and Black Panther on the right. Nothing wrong with it really, I just think it falls short of capturing the immense scale of Civil War, but of course anything short of depicting the scene at the airport would probably be considered “falling short;” that’s just being honest. I would like to draw attention to the aerial skirmish on the card between Falcon and War Machine, which curiously doesn’t make its way onto the vehicle…would’ve been a cool touch to stick it on the roof, right?

So that’s it, right? Well yeah, sort of, I guess. One thing I’m struggling with though is where is the concept art!? All this stuff looks like it was sourced straight from the respective movie. If were talking “concept art” we ought to see lots of stuff that’s recognizable as but not identical to what we were shown in the films. And I’m not seeing it! Iron Man looks like Iron Man should look, Hulk is the right color, Cap’s shield is what we’d expect, Thor and Loki are wearing the same weird outfits…I can’t figure out why such a label was given to this set.

Am I missing something? Is it flying right over my head? Please, drop a comment and set me straight on this issue…