Ladies and gentlemen, remember when I told you when the Most Epic HAWL Ever Made was bought? Well, it arrived on christmas eve! But I only had time to take pictures today. Let me start with something inconspicuous, something I was wanting but not finding. A bit of history after the jump
Well, before I post the reasons I'm calling this The Most Epic HAWL Ever Made, a bit of history. In december, 2009, Mattel do Brasil announced they would be opening a branch of the Red Line Club in Brazil, and called all the collectors to join it. The club opened in 2010, with a decent amount of models to be sold exclusively to members, akin to the original RLC. Albeit a bit pricey, costing between R$50 and R$70 each ($18.5 and $26 USD, respectively, in today's exchange rate), for me it was very nice to be part of such an exclusive club, and I didn't minded paying that price for some models. I didn't bought'em all, because I didn't had the money, but I got my hands on a good amount of models. In the same year, 2010, the Brazilian RLC hosted the Official Annual Convention, in Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with the presence of Phil Rhielman himself! He autographed some of my models, including a Drag Truck I'll repost soon. In the RLC-only area, more autographs.
Everything was good, everything was awesome (referencing The Lego Movie, you can thank me later about the music beign stucked in your head). But, mysteriously, in january 2011, Mattel announced the end of the club. The sold the remaining stock for half the price and, because of a problem with their servers, I could buy the brand new Blown Delivery for R$30 (something like $12)
Well, life moved on. Earlier this year, I was surprised to found some RLC membership kits in a toy store in my city, Florianópolis. Florianópolis is the capital city of the state of Santa Catarina, and sometimes the locals call this island "lost island", because absolutely nothing comes here. Someone artist is doing shows in every state? It jumps Santa Catarina and goes from Paraná to Rio Grande do Sul. Some nice exposition is travelling Brazil? It jumps Santa Catarina and goes from Paraná to Rio Grande do Sul. Hot Wheels batch Z was released even in Antarctica? Santa Catarina stores still have the batch C. So, I was completely blown away when I found those kits. I bought 5: one for me and 4 that were traded with many people here.
But, again, life moved on. I was wondering, how bizarre and lucky was to found those kits, since the RLC had that massive clearance sale. Everyone imagined they sold everything, and finally closed the warehouse. Well, it appears the gods of chance smiled to me again, because I found something more a few days ago.
I was browsing an online toy shop catalog, searching for the Lego Architecture Fallingwater House to buy for my mother for christmas. She's an excellent architect, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater is her favorite house ever. I did found, but it was obscenely priced, so I just lurked a bit more on their catalog, when I found a category called "Hot Wheels Collectors", written in plain english in a Brazilian site. Well, Brazilians love to use foreign words and expresions, so it wasn't a big deal, but I clicked anyway. There, I found a myriad of RLC only models for a very good price. So,
5 RLC exclusive models - R$99.5
Shipping - R$ 12
Beign able to buy long sought models, which shouldn't be on sale - Priceless
I got my MasterCard and made that HAWL shown on the above picture! Enough story, let's go to the pics!
I just love the NeoClassics models. Dem wheels, dem redlines, dat weight! This little beast weights almost as two 2014 mainlines!!! And the colors, what a great model.
Again, an incredible color choose. The photos don't show even 5% of the sheer beauty of this spectraflame apple/cherry red paintjob.
I have a real soft spot for those retro models. They aren't even from my times, because I'm a 90's kid and those models are from the 70's, but dang, this thing is awesome!
The Ford J-Car!!! Another retro model, and inspired on the Ford Racing cars of Le Mans!!! This color is incredible, and the retro wheels are the cherry of the cake!
And, finally, a model I picked for iHWEP. I already had one of these, and it's incredible. I love every model Hot Wheels ever made with this blue, red, yellow and white Real Riders livery. The card is intact, with one of those plastic card protectors.
If you are interested in trading this Blast Lane, I would like one thing in specific:
I checked prices on eBays and their prices are compatible. I don't know american stores do have this on stock, but I really want one of those in exchange. If nobody can find one, we'll work out a trade with something else.
Brazilian stores didn't received any Amiibos. We don't have an official Nintendo representation here, so the only place we can find them is Mercado Livre, a sort of Brazilian eBay, for obscene prices. An online game store had some Amiibos from batch 1 in stock, which sold out in minutes. Lucky me I could grab Mario and Donkey Kong models. I know these costs around $12 or $13 USD on american stores, so I think it's a fair trade for a RLC model.
So, this was my HAWL! It may not be, indeed, the Most Epic HAWL Ever Made, but it was certainly The Most Epic HAWL I Ever Made!!