CB's Die Cast Review: May 8, 1998
Playing Mantis
Speed Rebels
Okay,
these aren't really new releases, they've been around
several months. I'm referring to the ten-car Speed Rebels set by
Playing Mantis. These are available mostly in drug stores, although the set I
bought just showed up at Kay Bee Toys. I didn't know these were by
Playing Mantis until I got them home and read the small print on the back
of the card. I'm not sure why the makers of Johnny Lightning want to
hide their name on these cars. I for one think they are very nice. They
are very basic castings of Muscle cars and are all named such things as
Vicious Villain and Rat Attack so unless you are up on your Muscle, you
might have trouble telling what each car is supposed to be. For
example, I'm not sure which ones are the Judge, 442 or Chevelle, as the
bodies are mostly lacking in identifying marks. I'm quite sure that Muscle
aficionados will have no such problems. The ten cars are:
Nice, nice, nice. Each car is done in one color with no tampos of any kind.
The windows are all tinted orange and the interiors are all white. All
cars have chrome Pro Circuit type wheels. The nice thing about these
other than their plain good looks, is the way they are made. Bodies
and bases are metal, and they roll very well. Nice heavy cars. I just
figured out why I like these so much. They remind me a lot of the
original Hot Wheels redline cars: bright colors, cool castings, neat
wheels. It took me a while to buy them because I didn't want to get just
part of the set and be stuck just a few cars short. And because the drug
stores were selling them for $1.49. Well, last night I found them at Kay
Bee Toys for $0.99 each, and several complete sets. I bought two, one
to hang and one to open. For someone looking for a nice alternative to
basic Hot Wheels, this set of cars might be a good way to go.
