Yesterday we started with 113 cars and managed to get it down to 32. Today 16 more are eliminated and yesterday's losers try to regain their dignity.
Winners on top. Losers in front.
Find the bracket version here
In the Day One Recap I took a few issues with the "Digital Speedometer". This time there was none of that (except one issue I'll explain later) as the cars faced off head-to-head.
Now we even have grainy, slow-motion cell phone videos that captured the action:
Verifiable proof!
And, hey, I also created a YouTube channel for Live and Let Die-Cast. Not sure how to link to it, but if you watch that video on YouTube you're on it!
Quick Notes:
A few wrongs, or possibly flukes, seemed to get righted as cars like the Homer fell and the Porsche 928 Superfast (which was the only car claiming to be faster than an average model that made the top 32) won handily.
The only original Redline in the group, a Silhouette ranked 10th coming in, lost in probably the most lopsided race to the MR11 (rank 22). The Silhouette of course being a sentimental favorite as one of the original 16 Hot Wheels and the MR11 being unloved and probably unlovable.
Ugh.
The 2014 Twin Mill lost to the 2014 Twin Mill 3. Not sure what that means.
Very glad I found the "slow motion" feature for the video as many of the races were tight, and my son and I both picked opposing cars as the winner in real time. How is this possible? Especially since we were playing with the Hot Wheels Starter Set which features a Finish Line where both cars cross the line and the flag indicates who won? Could it possibly have anything to do with Hot Wheels quality control?
I believe that video was recorded at quarter speed. My son thought the Cadillac won and he had the flag in his favor, while I was not so sure. Let's review the videotape...
Yep the flag went to the loser. Hey, even in that first video with the Supra the flag goes to the loser!
But that wasn't the only way it went wrong of course. In this 1/8 speed video we get the correct winner, but:
And, hey, why not combine them?
Remember that these are slow motion videos and that Hot Wheels Digital Speedometer was reporting speeds of over 500 "speed" for yesterday's times.
So we ignored the flag entirely (it was probably 50/50 whether it got it right or not) and immediately went to the slow motion replay after each race.
The top 32 of the tournament was almost always extremely close and in most cases we needed to see the video to verify a winner. However, we also decided to send yesterday's losers in the Time Trials against each other.
These sometimes had a slightly clearer winner. Here is a Chevy Airport Van blowing the doors off (if the doors opened, which they do not) a Mazda Miata:
To be fair, the Miata does have the off-road screaming wheels for some reason.
Finally, just to prove how poorly the premium series with real rubber tires have performed, a Johnny Lightning DeSoto against a Matchbox Volvo C30 with plain plastic tires:
Yes, the Volvo won travelling backwards.
But, hey, at least the flag worked.
Up next in Round 2:
(1) BMW Z4 GT (HW)
vs.
(16) Fast Fish (HW)
(25) '82 Audi Quattro (MBX/Lesney)
vs.
(9) Toyota Supra Falken (HW)
(29) Lambo Gallardo Police (MBX)
vs.
(20) Jaguar XJ220 (HW)
(5) Scion xB - Color Shift (HW)
vs.
(21) Mazda RX-7 (Tomica)
(2) VW Split-Window Single Cab (JL)
vs.
(18) Mercedes SL (RealToy)
(26) Lambo Estoque (HW)
vs.
(23) MR11 (HW)
(30) Porsche 928 -Superfast (MBX)
vs.
(19) Scion FR-S (Tomica)
(6) BMW 2002 (HW)
vs.
(22) Twin Mill 3