CB's Die Cast Review:  December 1, 2000

2000 First Editions
The Year in Review

Who possibly could have foreseen what the future held when the thinkers at Mattel were planning and plotting the course for the 1993 Hot Wheels product line?  Did anyone suspect that the success of the 25th Anniversary cars would lead to the Vintage line of castings in 1994, which in turn begat the 1995 Model Series, the predecessor to the First Editions, and (horror of horrors) the Treasure Hunt Series?  How could anyone know for certain the desirability of the product line would explode?  It was impossible to know.  The only certainty is that the popularity of the line has remained high over the past six years, especially so with the First Editions series.

Ever since 1998, Mattel has pumped out at least 30 new castings per year, and "Year 2K" was no different.  Thirty-seven models debuted in the basic line, and one in the Pro Racing line, a slight increase over last year.  Following what is now becoming an annual pattern, some of the millennium First Editions appeared in the twilight of 1999, a pre-holiday tease of what was to come.  Surprisingly, only one late-summer / early-fall dry spell interrupted a steady stream of new casting releases, and all of the cars had appeared by November 1 -- the earliest in any of the last six years that the entire line was available.

	The best FE castings for 2000 included Blast Lane, Surf Crate, Hammered Coupeand Anglia Panel Truck.

The Hot Wheels division of Mattel currently employs a group of talented designers, and they continue to produce quality offerings.  There were some truly exquisite designs issued this year, and some of them contain a surprise or two.  There are actually a number of models based on real-life "stock issue" cars, including the 1964 Lincoln Continental, 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS, `65 Corvette, Anglia Panel Truck, Austin Healey, the two Dodge Chargers and two more Ferraris -- the 365 GTB/4 and 550 Maranello.  A pair of life-sized concepts are represented by the Lotus Elise 340R and the Dodge Power Wagon.  The motorcycle Blast Lane is a nice complement to the 1997 two-wheeler Scorchin' Scooter.  Choosing the top casting would be tough, but among the best are Surf Crate, Phantastique, Hammered Coupe and Greased Lightnin'.  There was no totally outrageous design this year, although Roll Cage would come closest.  Pleasant surprises included the opening hood of the Anglia and the tucked-under wheelie wheels of the `41 Willys.  Special kudos goes to the Mini Cooper designer for its removable body, above-average detail and excellent overall design.

	The Dodge Power Wagon, Ferrari 333SP and Holden were among the few models this year that showed some bark, but no bite.

There were no major duds for the most part, although there were disappointments with certain aspects of some cars.  I wasn't pleased to see another Pro Stock Firebird on the roster this year, on the heels of the 1998 issue.  But the model is all metal and superior in quality to the earlier version.  The chassis of the Corvette is plastic and very visible from the front, and the convertible's interior is void of detail, yet the body looks great.  The `68 El Camino would have been nicer with a torneau cover instead of the extra hardware.  The concept drawing of Cabbin' Fever on the poster was much more intriguing than the futuristic final version that is mostly plastic.  The biggest disappointments are the Holden, bland, nondescript and no improvement over the current Commodore model; the Dodge Power Wagon, missing detail and a poor performer; the `67 Dodge Charger, for quality reasons; and the Ferrari 333SP, which surprisingly is not up to the standards of the previous nine Ferrari models released over the last six years, including the first two cars in this year's series.

	Paint variations, shown here on the all die-cast Pro Stock Firebird, thankfully were few and far between.

A departure from the norm was the near-absence of variations this year, which allowed for less of a struggle to find the cars.  To date, only the Holden has a part color variation (the spoiler can be solid red, transparent red or smoke tinted); the Lincoln Continental and Pro Stock Firebird have second paint variations, and both cars were released early in the year while the variations have appeared recently.  What initially was thought to be color variations on Surf Crate was actually a variance in the batches of the purple paint.  The ratio of all-die-cast to plastic cars dropped from last year, yet 40% or 15 of this year's models have a die-cast chassis and body -- a higher number than any First Editions year other than 1999.

The only non-First Editions casting to debut in the regular line is the `79 Ford F-150.  Originally released as a Wal-Mart limited promotion, it now comes with a camper top and standard wheels.  I suspect it will stay in the regular line in 2001.  The Chevy Suburban sport utility vehicle appeared in a NASCAR Pro Racing segment series, but has yet to appear in any of the regular segments.

Overall, this is another worthy effort from the designers at Mattel.  This six-year period of creativity is rivaled only by the initial five-year run than began in 1968.  Another 36 cars are planned for 2001.  It will be interesting to see how long this run of prosperity will continue, especially with a multitude of new castings every year.  But for now, there are no signs of a slow down.  Expect to see a couple of 2001 cars before the end of the year.