Stock #B2198
 

CB's Die Cast Review:  June 30, 2003

HWC™ Series Two - Super Chromes™ #3
Whip Creamer®

Well, hello everybody!  Some time has past since the last review, but the latest limited releases from the Hot Wheels Collectors’ Club have inspired me to take pen in hand.

A few months back, I reviewed Alex Tam’s Whip Creamer II, the next generation rendering of the casting it took its name from.  Now, the first HWC release for 2003 has brought us full circle.  Paul Tam’s original Whip Creamer has been resurrected into the HWC “Series Two” line.  The little-used Vintage casting from 1995 has been utilized, with the chassis modified for the “torsion bar suspension” axle system.  The model is finished in a hypothetical scheme, as if it were in the original Super Chromes segment from 1976.

Instead of following last year’s pattern of predominantly-Spectraflame in the “Series One” line, the HWC has decided to split “Series Two” into three segments, with Flying Customs (nee Flying Colors) and the revived Super Chromes joining the “Neo-Classics” Spectraflame category.  The dominant theme regarding the use of Vintage and retooled classic castings this year is “what if,” as in how would the vehicles appear if they had been released in segments other than they actually were?  Whip Creamer is the first of four “old time” castings featured in this theme to be released.

I don’t remember if the original Super Chromes had chromed bodies over nickel-plated chassis, or if they were all-chrome.  Regardless, the current rendition of the vehicles in this series features mirror chrome-electroplated die cast metal all-around.  Whip Creamer also features a chromed die cast turbine housing as well as a chromed plastic turbine that still spins when a stream of air is applied to the rear of the vehicle.  The interior is molded in bright blue plastic while the canopy is molded in clear plastic.

The tampos are of a design reminiscent of the mid-1970s Hot Wheels era.  The twin columns of blue flame on either side of the hood are outlined in red and fade from light to dark.  The modern Hot Wheels logo is tamped in red, white and two shades of blue on either side of the body behind the front fender well.  The indentations on the nose and rear of the chassis are masked and painted flat black enamel, duplicating the masking on the original model 33 years ago.  A California vanity license plate is tamped in four colors and centered on the chassis rear panel – well-done in what I think is the Golden State’s scheme circa 1970, yet continuing the vainglorious practice of recognizing HWC staffers while ignoring the HW designers of that era who had a major impact on the development of the product line.  The car rides on the retooled RSWs introduced last year and was manufactured in China.

While the design is one of my favorites from the Spectraflame era, I didn’t have high hopes for this model based on the pilot model pictures posted on the HWC site.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it firsthand, as the full chrome plating and the two-toned tampo design were not evident in the original pictures.  All in all, the HWC Whip Creamer is a solid rendering of an old Spectraflame favorite.