20 GF11 Howlin Heat

Howlin’ Heat

Fantasy Castings are a big segment of Hot Wheels. Some take the shapes of Dinosaurs, some take the shape of movie characters, some are just fun castings. But some have a dark side as much as the fun they bring! Howlin’ Heat fits into many of those categories.

Originally released in 2010 (the release shown here) in 2 colors, one in brown and one in black. This casting can go 2 ways, it is either the big bad wolf looking for the 3 little pigs or it is a Werewolf. I prefer the Werewolf as I was named after a TV series Werewolf from the 60s. The gnarling teeth for a grill, the sleeked back ears for fins let you know this hot rod means serious business.

This casting is also very fast on the orange track. My Grandson and I get out the track every now and then and have some my collection vs yours races. I haven’t tested this version yet, but it will definitely get some track time when we do. The big wheels in back give it some stability while the light weight of the casting (plastic base) give it some agility and speed.

Most Fantasy castings don’t get much attention, the adult collectors gravitate toward real cars. What I wouldn’t give up making this into a real-life car. The horn would be a howling wolf. A shaker hood and a growl from the supercharged V8 and 3” tube exhaust would be soooo much fun. Back to reality, this is a great casting that has about 10 variations to find so a Howlin Heat collection would be something to create. Think I have set a mission in motion……..to be continued when the moon rises full!

Thank you,

Collector Quentin

I now own the actual diecast pictured in this post. However, all packaging artwork, Mattel or Hot Wheels logos, paint descriptions and wheel descriptions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.

#20-11 Bone Shaker

Bone Shaker

The Bone shaker. The latest flagship car for the Hot Wheels brand. Hot Wheels has always embodied and celebrated cool hot rods and custom cars. Flagship car – a car that Mattel / Hot Wheels has actually manufactured into a real-life car that tours to chows and collector events around the United States. In an episode of Jay Leno Garage, a Hot Wheels designer noted that there are 14 such cars. The Bone Shaker is one of those additions. Darth Vader is the latest.

     The Bone Shaker casting has been featured in the Xbox Forza Motorsport video game and is the only car in the id series app to have a different paint job for the app car than the physical casting.  

The Bone Shaker was designed by Larry Wood and was first released in 2006 [1]. Bone shaker is the embodiment of the rat rod styling. A huge skull for a front grill, the skeleton hands holding the headlights in place. No frills interior, just seats and pedals are all you need. There have been a couple different versions of the casting. The main casting has an open roof. There is also a casting with a closed roof. There is a 1:48 scale release. 2018 collectors were treated to a limited run chase version with rubber tires painted like the real-life car and there were only 10000 pieces made, making it extremely rare and expensive when found for sale.

Bone Shaker has been in the main line every year since 2006 and has been featured in most of the Premium line including the 2020 Boulevard set which is a collector favorite (the boulevard sets have premium liveries and real riders with special wheels). There is also a special Batman 5 pack release that has not appeared anywhere else, the Joker Bone Shaker with purple paint and green wheels. Bone Shaker is a simple casting with not too much detail, but it doesn’t need a lot of detail, it is a true rat rod and that is how rat rods are meant to be. Bad to the Bone!!!

The real car is an exact replica (not sure which came first) of the 1:64 version. If you are curious about the specs and more images, check out this short article for more information:

https://hotwheels.mattel.com/explore/HW_50th/en/2011-bone-shaker

(photo courtesy of Google - labeled for reuse)

Take note that the real car is the open top version! There is no doubt that the Bone Shaker, weather in real life or on the pegs, will be sure to entertain and amuse all ages of Hot Wheels fans for many years to come.

Happy Peg Hunting,

Collector Quentin

       

I own the actual diecast pictured in this blog post. However, all Hot Wheels packaging artwork, Mattel logos, Hot Wheels logos, wheel types and paint descriptions in regard to the Hot Wheels versions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.

[1] Casting information gathered from:

https://hotwheels.fandom.com/wiki/Bone_Shaker   

#20-12 Rodger Dodger

 Rodger Dodger

Its all in the name sometimes. The Rodger Dodger is a great piece of Hot Wheels history. The casting continues to be featured in the mainline including 2020 releases. With some stints out of production, the casting has been around for 21 years! (excluding the out of production years)

     The casting was first released in 1974 [1]. It had a short run up to 1979 and then was re-tooled and re-released in 2000. The re-tooling just brought it up into the new century. However, in 2015 it was re-tooled again and brought the casting closer to reality as the exhaust was relocated from the hood to behind the front wheels and now exits below the front fenders [2]. The versions with the exhaust pipes on the hood is really cool but not sure if I can even imagine being able to see past them!

     Rodger Dodger is another fantastic creation of Larry Wood [3].  The latest release in the mainline (2020) is a gorgeous steam punk livery with gold and silver accents on a matte black paint. This release also has Grey wheels, something fairly new but really adds to the look of the steam punk look. 2019 also saw Rodger Dodger get released in the new id series line up (see my feature in the id series). It is an Amazon exclusive release and has another gorgeous livery in white, black and gold.

  From a collector’s angle, this is a gem. The first releases in the flying colors line are very difficult to track down and there is a very rare blue version of the first release. Rodger Dodger has been featured in several collector convention releases and the coveted treasure hunt line in 2001 and again in 2005 [4].

    

                    

    I personally owned a 1973 Charger SE with a 318. It was a fun, big car. It was no where near the pavement bruiser that the Rodger Dodger represents but I do wish I had though to invest in recreating the Rodger Dodger. I imagine the powerplant would be a 426 or 440 big block. Reminiscing, I remember a lot of fun with this car even though it wasn’t much on power. 70s era chargers have gained a lot of popularity in the real car collector market and seeing one at a car show is always a treat.

                  

Happy Hunting,

Collector Quentin

       

I own the actual diecast pictured in this blog post. However, all Hot Wheels packaging artwork, Mattel logos, Hot Wheels logos, wheel types and paint descriptions in regard to the Hot Wheels versions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.

Dodge and Charger are copyrights of Fiat FCA LLC.

[1] Casting information gathered from:

https://hotwheels.fandom.com/wiki/Rodger_Dodger

#20-08 Solar Reflex

Solar Reflex

Solar power. A seemingly unlimited source of energy (at least for most who read this) and with all the electric and green movements going on, why not have a hot rod / race car to fit into this genre? And who better to make it cool than Hot Wheels?

There is no real car to compare to, so I will attempt to analyze this one up close. It also has not been around very long. Solar Reflex was first cast in 2007 (the gold version in the pictures is the first edition) and has had a light showing since its arrival. Solar Reflex is a race car style car with a major portion of the top of the car covered in solar tiles. A minor re-tooling in 2018 added a square to the back half of the car in the solar tiles, my best guess after inspection with a magnifying glass is that it represents a charging port for an electric version of the car. I had assumed that this would be considered an all-electric car but the charging port addition finalized that for me at least.

It is a pretty cool casting and is really good on the orange track. The wheel choices so far have been some of the more exotic looking wheels but they all seem to fit the look properly. Traditional 5 spokes would be odd looking on such a modernized vehicle.

With all the crazy cars popping up at the big car shows like Geneva or the from the Tesla studios, it is not out of the realm of possibilities for this casting to someday surface as a real car design. The only hard selling point would be the split cockpit (or maybe not). It is cool for a race car, kind has a rallye / co-pilot style. Not sure which side is the drive side though – maybe this is to be an autonomous driving car. Because of the way this casting makes you dip into your imagination just like the previous musings, it is a really fun casting and with the scarcity that it pops up in the mainline, this might be one to keep your eyes on if you are a longevity collector. Right now, there are no premiums on this casting and there are not many versions to collect. The red version shown here is a mid-2019 casting and is still easy to find.

Thank you,

Collector Quentin

I own the actual diecast pictured in these posts. However, all packaging artwork, Mattel or Hot Wheels logos, paint descriptions and wheel descriptions in regard to the Hot Wheels versions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.