It seems every year Hot Wheels releases new exclusive Halloween themed vehicles, usually at Wal-Mart or Target, and often they are little to get excited about.
Well this year they released two that I simply had to have...and made them exclusive to a grocery store that doesn't even exist in California: Krogers!
LAME!
Thankfully co-Cryptkeeper Shawn of
Branded in the 80s heard my cries and sent over a sweet Halloween care package that included the two Hot Wheels I would have been un-dead without, some Garbage Pail Kids cards, some Wacky Packages cards and a couple other fun toys to appear on this blog in the future (someday!)
But enough about those things, this is 'Countdown to Halloween,' so let's get back to the countin'!
This is the Ghostbusters Ecto-1, obviously, decked out in black with slime green accents!
Number 4 of 5, Ecto-1 (and tomorrow's car) are the hard to find scalper bait of the series. I never thought I'd get my hands on them!
Now usually I don't like themed repaints, as they tend to be gaudy or
uninspired. Especially when they are on specific vehicles that
have essentially one singular look, like a movie or TV vehicle.
But I can not only forgive this one, but I HAD TO HAVE IT for two reasons:
1) SLIMER! Green slime, and Slimer on the hood, are actually natural for this vehicle. Slimer may very well have been run over on the way to a ghostly call!
2) Ecto-1 started out black. Remember when Ray pulled up to the firehouse in the smoking pinging popping jalopy? It was (mostly) black.
Okay, I can't explain away the pumpkin on the side, but I do like how it is almost the exact dimensions of the Ghostbuster symbol, like it could have been perfectly placed over the existing symbol and covered it exactly. So there's that.
Thanks Shawn for the great care package and the ghoulishly awesome Hot Wheels! I owe you big!
Tune in tomorrow to see the other monstrous 'must have' Hot Wheel I received!
Ecto-1 is one beautiful Hotwheel!
All the detail of the modified '59 Cadillac ambulance are there, including all that crazy funky science equipment up top! There's also a lot of detail in the interior including proton packs etc.
Of course to keep it in the $1 price range, there are no paint details on the top component, but I am sure customizers could easily make it look movie accurate. I'm happy with it the way it is. This Ecto-1 has all the charm of a Hotwheel while being a great representation of the iconic Ghostbusters vehicle. I have an Ecto-1 A in 1:64 scale from Johnny Lightning made about a decade ago and it isn't as well scaled as this version. Maybe I can dig it out of storage soon and do a side by side.
What's this, the ghost of Dale Earnhardt?
Maybe. Actually it's another new Hotwheel, the previously released Stockar released for 2010 as part of the Race World sub-series. This version is keen because it's made of clear plastic - even the wheels and interior are clear! It has a few minor silver details and a metal base, and makes the perfect companion piece to the Ecto-1 because it looks like a ghost car. I t would also make a great Wonder Woman-mobile if one were so inclined.
Here's Ecto-1 next to the Matchbox '63 Cadillac Ambulance.
Ecto-1 is lower and longer but the same width as the '63, so it's probably a little more accurately scaled than the ambulance as well. I also love Hotwheels' five spoke wheels, and they look great on Ecto-1.
This Ecto-1 represents the car as depicted in the Extreme Ghostbusters cartoon series of the mid nineties. It's still very cartoony, but less stylized than the Ecto-1 from the Original Ghostbusters cartoon and toyline.
The car has gobs of features. The doors open to allow action figures inside, the satellite dish on top can be rotated by spinning a little dial on the side, and the hood pops up.
There are all sorts of nifty gadgets represented up top too, like a movie camera, lights, and other sciency looking doo-dads.
There are light bars on the front and back of the roof that light up, as well as a couple other random lights up there.
Under the hood you can attach a little launcher, which shoots some sort of ghost catching gizmo.
Another fun feature - the tailgate folds down...
...and a ghost containment unit slides out!
It's removable too...
...and has a lever to open it. I assume a tiny ghost figure would fit nicely inside, but I don't have one...unless he's INVISIBLE! BOO!
The bumper also drops off at the push of a button. I don't know if this is to deter tailgating ghosts or because the Ecto-1 is a jalopy, but it nearly kept this car from being featured this week. It had popped off in my garage and when I picked the car up last week I thought it had been lost! Thankfully it had just fallen behind some junk.