CB's Die Cast Review: May 10, 1999
Hot Wheels Power Pistons
1996 New York Toy Fair Car
The year 1996 was the first in a while that Mattel put a strong effort into its Hot Wheels
promotion. Mattel chose the Power Pistons, one of the new models from the
previous year, for the project. The design started with the chroming of the body
before the application of transparent blue paint, giving the appearance of blue chrome.
The sides were tamped in gloss white enamel, followed by flame-logo graphics in red and
yellow. The canopy glass was molded in a red-tint transparent plastic, and the interior
molded in bright red plastic. The metal chassis was zinc-plated, and the car rode
on three-spoked Dodge Viper-inspired wheels, one of three new designs issued on the 1996
production models. This car featured the first appearance of this wheel design,
decorated with gold chrome hubs. The car was packaged, along with a short piece of
blue strip track and a form-fitting blister, inside a Park n' Plates box decorated with
"New York Toy Fair `96" graphics. This was the second Toy Fair promotion to be
packaged in this manner. The entire package was heat-sealed in a plastic bag.
Toy Fair cars from subsequent years have been packaged in similar fashion.
This is one of the "reviews" for
those collectors who have entered the hobby within the last couple of years, and have no
idea what some of the earlier hard-to-find pieces look like. One such item that is
rarely mentioned on the newsgroups nor in chat rooms is the Power Pistons
commemorative car from the 1996 New York Toy Fair.
The Toy Fair Power Pistons was decorated and packaged smartly, and was the best
produced since the Super Van from 1995. It also started a run of well-designed
Toy Fair cars that has seen the Deora, Twin Mill and Ford GT 90 decorated in
increasingly intricate schemes. What's in store for the year 2000? If the
quality matches that of the previous four years, it won't matter which casting is used.
