Hot Wheels Boulevard Is Back for 2024 With Five Special Cars

Despite my decision, I will continue to bring you the latest news about Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. I could expand into other brands. But for now, I will channel all my efforts towards finishing my FC RX-7. More updates on that will be coming up in a future story. Today, I'd like to discuss the newest Boulevard set. It's the first one for 2024.

There are five items inside, as usual. And it brings some changes to the series rankings I talked about recently. Until the end of 2023, Chevrolet led the board with 11 cars. VW came in second with nine, Nissan was third with eight, and Toyota in fourth with seven items. It will be interesting to see how it all changes until the end of 2024. But I'll get to that when the time is right.

LB Super Silhouette Nissan Silvia (S15)

The main reason I love this casting is its backstory. Ryu Asada essentially designed a replica of the Liberty Walk four-rotor S15. You'll see several videos of Tetsuya Hibino drifting that thing, which sounds mental.

Naturally, the First Edition of the casting used the same livery as the actual car. It used MC5 wheels, and so did the second iteration of this S15. Most collectors will agree that the third appearance was phenomenal with the John Player-inspired livery and the PR5 rims. Two more Mainline iterations were up next; this is where it gets exciting.

This new Boulevard model represents the casting's Premium debut. We've been waiting for this moment for a while, and it will work great with the Team Transport GT-R with the same livery.

MBK Van

Unlike the previous casting, the MBK Van has been a Premium exclusive model since its debut in 2021. Mark Jones designed this model, and we've already seen four iterations until the end of last year.

Mattel used three different wheel designs for it, which is even better. But the Real Riders 10 Spoke Modern rims are the most successful ones. If you ask any racing enthusiast, last year's HKS Van is the most exciting.

And seeing another iconic livery with the Yokohama Advan black and red theme is excellent. Mattel may be on to something here, and I hope we get to see more iterations like it soon.

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4

Porsche's Cayman nameplate will likely never achieve the same legendary status as the 911 series. But that's not necessarily what the company had planned for it. It has still proven to be an exciting vehicle, particularly for those who have to deal with smaller budgets.

So, the Hot Wheels community embraced this casting from its first appearance in 2023. We saw two variations in 2024, but neither was a premium model. So it's good to see it back with Real Riders wheels on and a different color.

Shark Blue was a good take by Mattel, but when will we see the Racing Yellow variation? Indeed, that's worthy of a Car Culture release later this year.

'82 Nissan Skyline R30

I can't get all excited about this casting for some reason. I would take 100 photos of the actual car if I saw it driving down the road, though. It's the second Ryu Asada-designed vehicle here and has been along for longer than the others.

Following its 2018 debut, we had three more iterations before Mattel decided it was time for an upgrade. The last Premium Skyline R30 in the Hot Wheels line-up was the 2020 Car Culture: Japan Historics 3, which is strange.

The black and gold color combo is just what you would expect from a vehicle like this. But this casting still has a lot of untapped potential. I have a Tomica Silhouette version of the R30, and it's spectacular.

'66 Chevrolet Corvair Yenko Stinger

The last collectible in the new Boulevard set is the '66 Chevrolet Corvair Yenko Stinger. Mark Jones designed this one, too. If you can't recall ever seeing this casting before, there's a good reason for that.

It debuted in the 2020 Car Culture: Jay Leno's Garage set and the last we ever saw of it. It featured a white and blue finish back then and rolled on the same Real Riders 8-spoke wheels. This time, the livery is slightly different, but it all seems like a low-effort execution.

The classic Corvair might have a strong fanbase with older collectors, but it's different with the younger folks. It could become a peg-warmer in no time. But I admit this: I'd rather buy this iteration than the First Edition model.