Reviews of Hotwheels 1:18 Ferraris?

My Hotwheels Enzo looks good, but the doors dont stay open and the interior is not great. And the 612 Scaglietti looks cheap from the front, but the rest is good I think, so it seems that some of the models are good in places and bad in others...

 

It really is subjective. Some people are happy with them and others refuse to buy them. I have all of the HW 1:18 and 1:43 road and F1 cars and I like them all. They are not $500 quality models, but the price is fair, especially on the secondary market, sometimes as low as $10 (at Big Lots).

With the Kyosho/Hot Wheels branded models (Kyosho model, dual branded box) the quality is higher.

Hot Wheels are great for most collectors, but recieve a lot of criticism from purists. But like you said, they are the only game in town, so if you want it, you get Hot Wheels.

Another aspect is the customizing. Some members here and one of our sponsors customize them, sometimes correcting "flaws" or creating a color/model that is not available.

I collect diecast airplanes, too, and like cars, some people will find fault. The engines are the wrong shape, the logos are wrong, the landing gear is too far forward, etc. I am talking fractions of millimeters. Still, I am amazed at the detail in a 1:400 plane or a 1:18 car. You have to make your own judgement on if you like it. They come in clear boxes, so you can see it before you buy it.

 

Hot Wheels is "hit & miss" on some of the cars they offer. Some are quite good (288 & 250 GTO, F40) and the rest are OK (F355, 512M, 456M , 360, F50, Enzo, 250LM, 250 GT CA Spy,etc) . IMO, the worst of the HW Ferraris are the Daytonas, just spend the extra money for the Kyosho.

Most of the HW Ferraris are just existing molds (with some modifications) from other manufacturers.

 

that's the rub, for the most part HW are the only game in town. i collect only 1/43 and have each f1 ferrari from 99 on since in diecast form that is all that is available. fortunately there are other manufactures in 1/43 who offer a wide variety of ferraris. problem with HW is that they are for the most part catering to the masses and not your dedicated collector or i am sure their quality would improve. compare a MINICHAMPS f1 car to a HW f1 car and you'll see what i am talking about.

 

I´m not very much in scalemodels, so I cannot comment on all HW models. For what I have seen, I think the 550 Barchetta, 575M and 612 are not that bad for this price range, but I would not buy one. All the others are pretty crappy, take the 360 as an example: the form and dimensions are nowhere near the shape of the actual car. Same goes for the Stradale. HW thinks that by adding a couple of BBS wheels, painting the mirrors and the area around the taillights black, it is a Stradale. No way....

 

Ok, folks... Without trying to go full blown conspiracy theorist on you guys, let me just say that the Hot Wheels models i've purchased FROM Exoticar's physical store location, in Manhattan are great quality - the Hot Wheels models i've purchased from any other stores, aren't in such great condition... Coincidentally, one Hot Wheels model at Exoticar costs more than filling up my car with gas...

i know, i know, it sounds too far fetched, but that's what i noticed...

Oh, the doors on my NNOs don't stay up, either... (Of course, if i had a real NNO, such would also be the case as i would be too busy driving it to put the doors up...)

 

I have the Hot Wheels F2002 displayed next to three of Exoto's F1 Ferraris. While the HW model does not have the fine detail of the Exotos, it's hard to beat the price. All the shapes seem to be right and the driver figure is good enough.

Of course there is no engine but at least with modern F1 cars you can get away with that! The biggest omission is (of course) the Marlboro markings but I anticipate being able to get those on the aftermarket.

One thing immediately apparent is how different the color is from the traditional Rosso Corsa!

 

I will probably make a few peolple mad when I type this but oh well...
I truely get so tired of people complaining about the Hot Wheels Ferraris. I constantly see the "Oh they suck" or "That's not right" or "____ is better". What one needs to do is step back and look at something. Mattel/Hot Wheels is carteing to the masses. They are making these models so that a lot of peoplr can get them at an affordable price. They usually are in the $20 USD range so for the price of a $200 Exoto, a person can get 10 different models instead of 1. I don't know about you, but I don't have money coming out my arse. When I buy something, I do it wisely. I will go for quantity over quality in this department. But yes I do have my limitations on that. If the quality is truely that poor, then I will not buy it.

The last thing I will add is this. Ferrari awarded Mattel the contract to produce their line in 1:18 scale. I truely believe they would not have done that unless Ferrari themselves as a company believed Mattel would do a good job of representing their product. I know I would not chose someone who would duck it all up for me.

So to wrap up my rant, with Mattel/Hot Wheels Ferrari line, I feel it is a very fine product for the price you pay. Were they to be in a higher price catergory then I would expect the detail to increase. (As has been done with the Kyosho co-branding's)

 

i agree that they are catering to the masses. that's clear from their price-point.

but shame on ferrari if they haven't carved up the license a bit smarter. or if they aren't compelling HW to do a high-end line.

i don't have a prolem with $29.99 MSRP 1:18 models - that's great stuff! but i'm happy to pay more for a good model. and i'm not alone in that thinking, for sure.

some of the HW stuff is fine. but, for example, the 360CS stinks to high heaven. but there's no other option available, as far as i know.

is their license worldwide? is there a chance some other manufacturer is making stuff for another market that we can import?

doody.

 

Doody,
Mattel signed a worlwide five year license with Ferrari in 1998 to begin in 1999. I believe it is for diecast only (Fila, Acer, Parker pens, etc still make Ferrari stuff - look at the Exoticar catalog). Though BBR models still made some diecast legally, maybe because they were kits. The "black market" and countries with weaker trademark laws never really jumped on the diecast cars. In the diecast airplane world there are a few not neccessarily legal models that are very high quality. But you pay a lot for the quality and the scarcity.

So, this may be the year it is over. Kyosho may be the test of letting others back in slowly. I don't think Ferrari will go back to the "old" way of anyone can make something with Ferrari on it, but maybe there will be more than one diecast company. Unfortunately, I don't think a new company will go back and do all of the cars Mattel did. Too bad.

 

Wouldn't it be cool if HW offered two versions, one the $20-30 for the masses and one for maybe $45-60 with higher quality and better detail in limited numbers for the freaks

 

I'm certainly willing to pay for higher quality models. I want to start a collection of F1 cars but so far, haven't been satisfied enough with what I've seen to hand over any $.

 

I have found that the hotwheels cars tend to have very poor/cheap interior. Take for example the 612 S and 360 CS that have recently come out..
On the whole though...they are good value for money and 'most' of the diecast they produce are in proportion relative to the size..
They did a wonderful job on the 288 GTO, I believe this is now no longer available and has been discontinued..

Jaz.

 

hotwheels are TOYS, BBR are models.

 

Mattel is very well aware that the Ferrari models were panned when they first came out.

At first the Ferrari F1 were compared for the worse to Minichamps..and in some fairness, it was kinda undeserved. Since then I have spoken to different Mattel people including some designers. Part of the intial problem was that each model had it's own team designing it. Case in point the Eddie Irvine Jaguar. It's front nose was a disaster and placed far too high.

When one of the Jaguar F1 Team Engineers came into our store..we even made a point to show him this...just to see that it wasn't us being overly critical. He laughed and agreed that was just wrong

On the other hand, the Ferrari models have received quite a bit of attention for the better. This also includes the willingness to issue the limited editions of Formula 1 cars over the years...ie.."King of Rain", KoR2, 52wins...ect. The King of Rain Series was done by their German arm and has been a great success

As it stands now, personally, I think Mattel is doing a great job fitting their models into a certain price point with a good level of detail and quality

..anyone want to pop open an old bBurago and see the bare metal by the dor sills??

 

here is what I understand it to be

Up till now, BBR models have been made out of resin and white metal, not diecast. They will actually be doing a 1/18 diecast Enzo end of this year and it will be distributed through Minichamps

BBR's 1/20 scale & 1/43 scale models carry a license not because they are resin, but because they fall into a certain price. This is the same reason Kyosho can make the 308/328, as the retail price for those are about 2x the Mattel.

 

I have to make this point.

Hotwheels produces very good models, when compared to Maisto,Guiloy, BBurago, Eagles Race, Jouef, Ertl,and Anson when you compare apples to apples. Plainly put, compare Hotwheels to models in the same category and price range. The companies mentioned above have all mass produced some model ferrari at one point or another. I have found that the Anson 328 GTS is a piece of Crapp, especially for the price that it was going for 1 year ago. The Ertl 275 GTB is also another piece of Crapp in my opinion for what ebayers and other hobby shops are selling it for today. If you want to make a comparison Let's compare Exotos' new 250 GTO per say to Kyosho's 328 GTB or 308 GTB. These are higher end models, yet Exoto will win because of Kyosho is still not in the same price range as Exoto, the pieces won't be limited, because it isn't mass produced. Even Kyosho limited the number of Ferraris' in each color to 5000 pieces each, to keep the quality high. Mattel is pushing out 30,000 pieces of the 360 Modena, 360 Spider, so on and so forth. This equates to having a subcontractor to help produce these models, as well as making an expected deadline for collectors like u and I alike. We all get pretty pissed when we can't get the advertised model at the time that it should be available. We all complain, and most of us go out and buy the model regardless of how late Mattel shipped it out. Mattel's strategy is to make these models available to everyone, this is why you can find them in Walmart, Target, Big Lots, and so on . I am yet to find a Kyosho Ferrari in Walmart, or a Target. I can barely find one at a Hobby Shop, and still haven't seen a high end model a Ferrari of Houston, and Houston, Texas is the third largest city in the United States. Use some common sense when making a comparison. If Ferrari mass produced its' cars, do you think that they could charge the prices that they do? Have you seen the maintenance bill for a tune up on a 1996 F355 , not to mention a break job. I'm telling you right now, you would have to get a home equity loan, and I'm talking 80% CLTV.

 

I'm not complaining about HW detail/quality (my 550 Barchetta is horrible)
but I wish Mattel exclusivity ends soon, thus we could be able to find different models by different brands, for instance what if Bburago would release a "Breadvan" model whereas Maisto launches a 400i that would be great. I can't wait for more vintage models to come.

 

I love Ferrari's, but damn I will not put out 25 bucks for a model that I would find in my next door neighbours kids sandbox. I really don't want to put a sandbox toy in my displaycase along side real models of value. Hotwheels models do not represent Ferrari auotmobiles as they should be. All these models represent is a cash grab to Ferrari enthuists everywere.

 

End the HW agreement and let AUTOart produce Ferraris... Now that would be nice!

To put it very simple: it is just a matter of how much you would like to pay for a model and how much attention you give to details that will decide you what make of models you buy. That´s up to everyone. I´m more of a detail freak so I will pay more for a couple of models instead of paying less for many models of a lower quality. It´s just what you prefer more.

 

AutoArt would be a great choice too

A good way to see how good the AutoArt really is, is to compare the AutoArt Corvette C5R with the Action Corvette C5R. Identical cars, 2 different model companies

 

One of the dealers at the Historics said Mattel signed up for four more years with Ferrari.

 

The contract was to end this year, thanks for the update. Maybe the quality wil get better.