Hot Wheels – McDonald’s DC Cars (2016)

Back in 2016, McDonald’s released a series of motorized “pull back” vehicles themed after DC characters (with their Happy Meals). My kid ended up with all of ’em, and now that he’s getting older and we’re purging a lot of the older toys, he passed them on to me. They’re actually pretty nice for Happy Meal toys, reminding me of the stuff from my own childhood rather than the useless (branded) hunks of plastic they usually hand out.

The cars were copies of various Hot Wheels Originals designs, though quite a bit bigger than the regular 1/64 scale of the Mainline and most other branches of the brand. Like any “pull back” toy, you wind the gear by rolling it backwards and then it zooms off upon release. The kicker here is that each car had a distinct special feature that made it operate in a unique way. The bags were numbered:

1. Superman (Driftsta)
2. Batman (Maximum Leeway)
3. The Flash (Epic Fast)
4. Green Lantern (GT Hunter)
5. The Joker (Great Gatspeed)
6. Robin (D-Muscle)
7. Cyborg (Nitro Tailgater)
8. Aquaman (Time Track)

Conspicuously absent is Wonder Woman, though it’s not entirely surprising seeing as how these were specifically marketed as “for boys.” Still, it feels a little strange to omit her yet include a single villain (Joker).

It’s worth mentioning that the paint job on these things is quite impressive for what they are. Multiple colors are used on each car, the logos and graphics are durable, and we even get metalflake on a couple of them. And while they’re “just plastic” (instead of the diecast metal we’re used to) the material seems to be of decent quality. These things have taken their fair share of hits and bumps and falls and tumbles and you can’t even tell. I can’t even begin to tell you how many Happy Meal toys I accidentally broke while trying to assemble them or assess some aspect of their functionality.

Superman’s claim to fame is his ability to ride only on his back wheels. I suppose this is meant to symbolize Superman taking flight.

Batman kind of zig-zags all around and cuts small circles. It’s pretty cool to watch if you have a nice big stretch of floor or a large table. Not totally sure how it relates back to Batman (if at all) but it is a neat trick.

The Flash is just a straightforward pull back – no strings no gimmicks. I guess this makes sense since the Flash is just trying to get from point A to point B as fast as possible.

Green Lantern has a weird little “power” – he starts off going half speed for a few feet before launching off full throttle. No idea where the correlation with Green Lantern is, or maybe there just isn’t one.

The Joker comes with a fifth hidden wheel. The gimmick is that this extra wheel is oblong, which makes the car bounce as it rolls along. It reminds me of those little wind-up chattering teeth so often associated with clowns.

Robin also has a fifth wheel tucked away out of sight, but this one functions a bit different. I’m not sure if it winds another gear or what, but somehow it allows Robin to go forward a bit before throwing it in reverse and moving backwards. He’ll actually do this 3 or 4 times depending on the pull-back.

Cyborg runs with the whole concept of storing up energy and releasing it later. Instead of speeding off as soon as he’s pulled back, it winds the motor. When it’s time to roll into action, push the button on the roof and watch him go!

Aquaman has the distinction of giving us a choice. Via a small switch on the underside, we can make him go straight, to the left, or to the right. Naturally if goes left or right it results in him going in circles. I guess this is indicative of Aquaman just swimming around in the ocean…?

This is definitely a neat little set to have in homage to DC. As simple Happy Meal toys they didn’t have to have pull back motors, but they did! They also didn’t have to have individual features, but they did! That’s about it for now. Got any other cool prizes at McDonald’s? Tell me about ’em below!

Hot Wheels Pop Culture 2022 – DC Comics

OK, so I have been after these for a while now – found 3 of them right off the bat with no issue, the fourth maybe a week later, and then it was maybe another 2 or 3 before I finally got that last one (the Kool Kombi). I always enjoy the level of detail and artwork that goes into these sets and this one doesn’t disappoint. Even the artwork on the cards is beautiful, made all the more striking by running edge to edge. Something in the way that color and brightness is used causes these images to almost glow.

This lineup consists of 5 well-known Justice League alumni plastered across some commonly used vehicles although Hot Wheels has thrown in a couple that are a little less familiar (to me, anyway).

• 1 / 5 – Wonder Woman – Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Tourer
• 2 / 5 – Green Lantern – Kool Kombi
• 3 / 5 – Superman – 88 Mercedes Unimog U1300
• 4 / 5 – Batman – HW Tour Bus
• 5 / 5 – The Flash – Combat Medic

This Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Tourer isn’t a vehicle that’s immediately familiar to me. It’s a very large vehicle – not sure if all that space is for holding people or gear, but it also comes with a massive sports rack on top. The overall shape lends itself well to artwork, providing a nice open canvas to work with.

This van/bus/truck thing is clad in a base-coat of gold, perfect for all the godliness and regality that underscores Wonder Woman’s being. The paint is metalflake, giving it some luster without being reflective. Her logo adorns the front hood, and each side contains a fierce looking Wonder Woman. The colors are bright and deep and a lot of care was put into the lighting and shadows. It’s all too easy to make Wonder Woman’s outfit look super-cheesy, but this artwork casts a darker, armor-like feel to her clothing.

Overall this was a great vehicle for the job and I love how the metalflake stands out without having that reflective chrome look to it. Wonder Woman is portrayed with an appropriate fierceness, and while my reptile-brain kinda wants to see more boobs, I do appreciate how tough she looks while retaining her femininity.

The Kool Kombi is a weird choice for this line, but I guess it’s got enough blank space to make it work. The black and green palette is eye-catching and I like how several shades of green are worked into it. The Green Lantern emblem covers the top.

Somewhat unique to this piece is which Green Lantern is being shown. We’re used to Hal Jordan by default, but this time we get Jon Stewart. He looks to be in some sort of meditative state on either side of the van.

Next up is Superman in the Unimog. This truck always strikes a chord with me because of how light it is. The frame is metal but the big cargo bay is made of plastic and as a result it all has a very off-kilter feel. That being said it does provide a good surface for an image. One side sees Superman looking rather heroic and friendly, yet on the other his eyes are ablaze and he is thoroughly ready to lay down the pain.

In case you’re in the air, the iconic “S” is on the roof.

I can’t say I’m in love with the weird split two-tone red and blue color scheme. It looks a little too much like a cartoon or something. I wouldn’t mind, seeing some blacks and silvers break up that wildness just a bit.

Now we get to the Dark Knight himself, in a vehicle I know I personally haven’t ever seen, the HW Tour Bus. It’s actually quite nice looking, and I’ve love to jaunt around the country in it alongside my band. A midnight purplish blue serves as the background and for everyone with wings or a helicopter, the Bat-logo is on the roof.

As far as Batman goes, well, he’s just sortta leaping outta the shadows at us…but we’ll cut him a little slack because leaping outta the shadows is one of the things he’s best at.

Finally we have the Flash represented by a Combat Medic…somewhat fitting, right? Combat Medic has been used over and over and over again, but realistically it does have a nice, big, squarish space conducive to unbroken artwork so I don’t wanna knock it too heavily. The guys at Hot Wheels have been around a while so I feel like if there was a better or alternate vehicle they’d naturally use it.

This big red van couldn’t be much more obvious. The Flash emblem almost comes across as cheesy and old-fashioned though it also feels a bit a speedy courier. I feel like a bunch newspapers should fall out the back.

Unless you’re a comic enthusiast, I can understand seeing The Flash as a little on the hokey side. (A lot of DC guys are stuck in this goody-two-shoes rut, and it’s unfortunate because most of ’em get pretty damn dark within DC’s wild world of run-away universe-sprawl followed by cataclysmic contraction.) And even if this bright red version doesn’t do much to change your mind, hopefully it’ll give you a sense of just how much power this guy has access to. The left side sports a great illustration of Flash just sort of posing in all his Speed Force essence.

So what do you think? In so many cases these artwork-focused cars feature lots of “classic” artwork from seminal issues that are now decades old. Here, however, we get what I’m thinking are very modern examples of these characters, appearing much less like the heroes in tights of yesteryear.

New DC Character Cars Part 2: “Action Feature”

God, I really hate that term, “Action Feature,” but it’s what Hot Wheels calls it, their “Action Feature Series.” It makes it sound like toys with moving parts are a new thing, like the industry just discovered springs and levers or some shit. Maybe even just “Action Series” would be ok…”Feature” is just too much of a euphemism for “gimmick” and I don’t particularly care for the inauthenticity of the term. Whatever, I know I’m getting bent over nothing, but after seeing how silly the Star Wars “Action Feature” cars were I just can’t help it. (Read about them here and here if you haven’t already. Also take a look at Part 1: Shazam! Character Cars if you haven’t already.)

Right now this looks like the front half of a 5-car subset:

• 1 / 5 – Superman (with Blasting Heat Vision)
• 2 / 5 – Batman (with Lift & Spin Batarang)
• 3 / 5 – Wonder Woman (with Sliding Lasso of Truth)

It looks like Joker and Harley will be rounding out the set at some point in the near future.

First of all I want to quickly address the look of the cars themselves. They’re all familiar designs but a couple of them look a little different than we’re used to. Superman remains more or less what we’re accustomed to…you may could argue for some brighter colors but that’s about it. Wonder Woman, while also quite similar, has never been quite this cartoon-y before. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, I’m kinda glad the whole red-blue-gold gets a chance to stand out.

Batman is the most visually interesting of the lot. It’s his Character Car introduced back in the Justice League (film) era but passed off almost as a sort of Batmobile. Ever since 90’s (or near-90’s) staples of Batman lore like Burton’s 2 films, Batman: The Animated Series, and even going a little further back to Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Batman has been suited up in black black black and maybe some gray, dark gray, and more black. And really you’ll get no argument from most people; after all, bats are black, it fits with his whole theme of fear and the night and all that, etc. But for a while there, and even still persisting in some areas, a recognizable color scheme of blue, gray, and yellow has been adopted. Useful for everything from more kid-friendly material to comics that are less visually dark and dreary, most people are familiar with this scheme – hell, it’s the colors that Adam West sported throughout the 60’s TV series. Anyway, what I’m getting at is that as gimmicky as these fucking “Action Feature” mofos are, I actually really like the fact that we finally have real Character Car with the blue-gray-yellow scheme. Yes, we’ve seen Batmobiles like this, but not Character Cars (until now). And it all jives well with the shape of the car besides.

Alright alright, now let’s move on to these little sliding bits of sliding plastic.

Superman features blasting heat vision. Not a bad idea, and a nice identifiable power to go with…there’s a small lever on the passenger’s side that, when slid forward, pushes 2 red “beams” out of the front near the headlights. I mean there’s nothing really wrong with that…and it’s not as if it’s based on something wildly abstract..it just feels superfluous. I dunno. Call me a grump, I don’t care!

Wonder Woman’s sliding Lasso of Truth is slightly more interesting. For this one the lever extends through to the passenger and driver’s side for some reason. The end result is a closed loop extending from the front, and while this certainly isn’t enough to envelope another car, it could be a fun way to latch onto an extended piece of another vehicle.

Finally there’s Batman and his utterly worthless lift & spin batarang. What is this!!?? It’s a good thing the car itself is relatively unique because not only does this gimmick feel pointless, I’m also fairly sure it doesn’t function properly. See, the little bat-shaped spoiler lifts up off the body by like, 1/8th of a inch. And then…you can spin it in a circle! Umm, ok, but why? Is the car gonna take off like a helicopter…? I don’t understand this at all. To make matters even wore, even if here was some intrinsic value in having a spinning spoiler, the damn thing just slips back down into place when aligned properly. There’s no simple locking mechanism to keep it upright! Why!!?? I don’t even&emdash;

Dear Hot Wheels, if you really want to keep up with this “action feature” malarky I guess that’s ok, but take a cue from LEGO’s exhaustive catalog of minifigs and please quit leaving inexplicable holes like Orm (Aquaman), Steppenwolf (Justice League), the “Children of Thanos” / Black Thorn (Infinity War), and we can just keep on goin’ back into MCU territory (Whiplash, Malekith, Crossbones, Ronan, Abomination, Yellow Jacket, Ghost, Shocker, Hela, Ego…) where are these people?! You wanna bang out a few highly distinct versions of Batman? I got no problem with that. But why the endless variations when we don’t so much as have a Nightwing? Or hell, an Alfred? Take heed, Hot Wheels! Dream up some kind of subscription service. Mail one out every month. I’ll pay; you can even come up with some badass storage/display cases for them!

Alright I’m done with my quick rail against the “action feature” weirdos. Until next time! And if you haven’t already, be sure to go back and take a look at Part 1 where we look at new Shazam! cars!

New DC Character Cars SKETCHED SERIES Spotted!

Well this is an interesting find that I stumbled across on eBay a day or two go. It’s car 1/5 of what’s labeled the Sketchd Series. The “sketched” part seems to refer to the similar paint jobs on all the cars. It’s pretty simple really; the cars start off with a white base and their details are filled in to look like a sketch: short, swift strokes, cross-hatching, maybe some smudging.

I have no idea what the availability of this set looks like right now. Currently there’s a single car on eBay going for $29.99. The seller was conscientious enough to post a pic of the back.

• 1 / 5 – Batman
• ? / 5 – Superman
• ? / 5 – Catwoman
• ? / 5 – Harley Quinn
• ? / 5 – Joker GT

Without any new designs, new characters, and the same paint job carried across all the vehicles, this set definitely leaves me scratching my head a little. C’mon Hot Wheels, you’ve got so much uncharted DC territory – Teen Titans (I would really like to see Starfire and Deathstroke / Slade get some love), lots more Batman rogues (I really want Poison Ivy and Scarecrow), Bat-family (Nightwing, Batwoman, Red Hood, Red Robin), heavyweights from Superman (Lex Luthor, Zod, Darkseid, Brainiac, Bizarro), and any number of other cool characters like Blue Beetle, Black Manta, Gorilla Grodd…but no no, we get…the…Sketched Series. I’m sure they look cool, it just feels like they’re really reaching considering the amount of source material at hand.

How do you feel? Cool idea, novel approach? Or total cash grab? You tell me!