Welcome to the 2nd annual Best of Awards held by Live and Let Diecast! Yes, we made it another year!!! The awards are named affectionately after the original LaLD mascot, Wall-D. As before, each Live and Let Diecast Admin picked their favorite new model, treasure hunt, and super treasure hunt from the Hot Wheels lineup. A fourth category, best New Matchbox also makes it’s debut here. Combined, these will become the nominees for the 2015 Wall-D Awards.
We have also introduced a “Reader’s Choice” award using our Instagram account to determine the winners.
A brief note on why this is actually the 2nd version of the official nominees for the 2015 Wall-Ds, and it all has to do with that brand new category for Matchbox. Perhaps a detail or two may have been overlooked by.....um, 6 guys. For almost a week. In fact, we might have gone on and given out the award to a diecast that shouldn’t have even been eligible if not for a polite comment by a prominent member of the diecast community, noting the error. That’s a little later. Now, though, let’s get to the selections!
Best New Hot Wheels Model of 2015
Back to the Future (Hover)
Simply too cool to ignore. The Back to the Future films are my favorite of all time (see what I did there?!) and the fact that the guys at Hot Wheels actually created the hover version and made it look good as a mainline is really awesome. I know this model is well-loved, so it is probably no surprise that it is my pick for this year.
-BJ (Mycarneverruns87)
Sooo tough to choose. The VW Caddy was worth the wait, and the El Mirage was just so slick and cool. M4 and Huracan were build very accurate and as for my favorite racecar, Corvette C7.R, it was the especially significant because I had the real drivers sign one at Lone Star LeMans. But... given how important 2015 meant to so many us fans of the BTTF series, my choice goes to the hovering DeLorean Time Machine!!! The wheels in flight mode got me extra triple nostalgic.
-ULY
McLaren P1
There were almost too many great new castings this year, but I think the car I was most excited about was the P1. The P1 is McLaren’s follow up to the legendary F1, and the last of the big-three hypercars to be embodied in Hot Wheels form. To me, this car was the most complete release this year. There were tampos for headlights and taillights and it didn’t suffer from up-turned chin disease. The bigger wheels on the back actually worked and the wheel style wasn’t found on 100 other cars. The orange color of the initial release was amazing, while the sophomore silver reissue was kind of a step backward. I’m excited to see if Hot Wheels picks any more lively colors for future releases. I’m also excited to see if this McLaren license opens the door to additional castings from the company, like the MP4 and 675, or even the return of the incredible F1 GTR casting.
-Scott (Sn210)
Nissan 180SX
I know this was gonna be my choice when the first showed it off last year. It was the only new model that got me excited. It wasn’t overdone with flames and hot wheels branding. It was simple, aside from the sleepy eyes and wheels, it looks like a type x would have looked from the factory. Plus the 180 isn’t a common model to find in diecast so this filled a big hole in jdm collections everywhere.
-Ryan (Frosted)
Jaguar F-Type Project 7
Man, is this a hard choice for me... The M4 came out in 2015, one of my new favorite castings. It is more spot on than a lot of new HW have been, and for that I absolutely love it. Never mind that I wouldn’t mind driving an M4 in real life, even in that awkward mustard color.
But my nod to new casting of the year goes to the Jaaaaaag F-Type Project 7. Yeah, the rear wheels are a bit large, but the styling is perfect. More reasons:
- The color is phenomenal. You cannot argue with BRG.
- The tampos are great even if we are obviously missing the rear lights.
- It’s an F-type!! Seriously be prettiest car of the last few years. It’s better in coupe form, which is why my nod for next year’s best new Matchbox casting goes to the F-type coupe! You heard it here first.
-Philip
VW Caddy
Like the Datsun wagon introduced a few years ago (you may recognize it from our logo....), this one kind of came out of nowhere. It was an inspired choice, however, despite it’s sub-100hp power and not terribly gainly appearance, if you grew up in the US in the 80s-90s and and didn’t know someone in high school who had one of these as their first cars I would be surprised. McLaren? M4? These are easy choices. A “ute” that maybe made it to its 10th birthday and has been out of production for 30 years, yet has enormous nostalgic value? Good job Hot Wheels.
-Jeff
Best Regular Treasure Hunt of 2015
Jeep CJ-7
This is a simple yet very cool model that has a vintage Jeep Scrambler look which again is a home run for the cult classic guys. It is nothing fancy but more just fun which is just what a Jeep is all about! I really enjoyed all of the ORAT photos from those who found one!
-BJ (Mycarneverruns87)
It’s not even a question. Now I know what you’re thinking, that I made the easy choice because it was the only non-fantasy Treasure Hunt. Well that’s part of it, but this is a Jeep CJ7. I had a YJ Wrangler for my first car, so these Jeeps will always be special to me. The other factor is that unlike Supers, this THunt was the only way to get this Jeep into your collection. There isn’t a mainline version warming the pegs anywhere. This is it. Sure, it desperately needs a wheel swap, but the orange paint and tampos are killer. Just like the McLaren P1, my mind was made up early on in the year that this was going to be my favorite.
-Scott (Sn210)
Piranha Terror
Hot Wheels has had a great year for fantasy castings. The Loopster is seriously cool, the jetski one, the Tread Air, Steer Clear, love em all.
My favorite regular TH this year was one of those cool fantasy castings, the Piranha Terror. Yeah it looks bonkers and menacing, but I picked it because it was the one car my son picked to take home with him from a hot wheels event at the DC makers fair. Out of all the cars from the (at the time) new case, including the silver Tesla, blue Elmiraj, etc, that it the one he wanted, and it made me realize again what the spirit behind HW really is. I didn’t even know it was a TH at the time!
-Philip
Fast Gassin’
I dunno why I picked this. I guess it’s the one regular th I would’ve liked to find on the pegs. I’m almost disappointed that I didn’t find this one in particular and I can’t put my finger on why exactly.
-Ryan (Frosted)
Tread Air
Hands down my fav was Tread Air. It is just so off the wall and I think overall the most difficult to find. Not a single mention on LaLD and rare on any other diecast sites. Half Jet, half snowmobile. Can’t go wrong there.
-ULY
None
Man, am I a killjoy. Look how excited everyone else is! I almost stumbled into picking the de facto choice (the Jeep) or the mildly interesting Piranha, even the “Not-actual-TH” Bone Shaker and Twin Mill from the “Origin of Awesome” 5-pack were thought about. 2015, however, was the year the regular Treasure Hunt stopped being interesting to me. It started when I found handfuls of the Chicane TH, continued with the Jeep, the Rocketfire....at the moment, seeing a regular TH in the front row of a stack of pegs only brings up the slightest of ‘Oh, that’s a Treasure Hunt’. I think this is the intended reaction Hot Wheels has been hoping for from collectors and I’m finally ready to officially join the “leave them for the kids!” crowd.
-Jeff
Best Super Treasure Hunt of 2015
1969 Boss 302
Again, me being a Mustang nut I felt this car was great as the 1970 model year always seemed to get the most love even though the 1969 cars were better. They looked better and were faster. It was nice to see this as a super after it had been a higher-end Racing Series casting, vintage series casting, and cool classics casting among others before. The orange looks killer and the simple 1969 Boss 302 stripe is perfect. I never found one but was very happy with the mainline version. This car is a home-run in my mind!
-BJ (Mycarneverruns87)
Mastretta MXR
I wish I would’ve found this one. Greatest Mexican supercar ever makes greatest Mexican super treasure hunt ever! It worked great in orange and blue, so following the Datsun 620 pattern, it looks great in red as well! Especially in spectraflame. Does this mean a green release is next...?
-Philip
Delorean DMC-12
Even though I haven’t found one yet, I’m obsessed with the Delorean Super released this year. I was pumped they had the mainline with the Turismo homage livery, and the Super just adds to it. Wearing that same shade of red jewel paint that the legendary Datsun wagon, the tampos just pop off the car. Hopefully I end up trading for one eventually, no way I turn to eBay.
-Scott (Sn210)
8 Crate
I found the ae86 and was very unimpressed. Even less impressed with the Toyota supers of the year and I never bothered to look for the others. But this 8crate. I still double check pegs to see if one is left behind. The color scheme works so well on it. Plus it’s not often that a station wagon gets to super treatment.
-Ryan (Frosted)
Toyota Baja Truck
The Toyota Off-road truck is beyond cool! That famous livery from the late 80’s and early 90’s. The wheels on this Super are killer! Viva la spectraflame racetruck!!!! That is my pick and i’m sticking to it. Though, the competition was on their game. Very good STHs this year for sure. That 599xx was soooo radsaucenessity!
-ULY
Ferrari 599xx
I feel like the only voice of reason with this pick! There were some cool castings granted Super treatment this year, but the Ferrari was the. Very. Last. Ferrari. Hot Wheels may regain the license someday, but c’mon everyone!
-Jeff
Best New Matchbox Model of 2015
Jeep Willy’s 4x4
Just as I chose a Jeep for the Hot Wheels regular Treasure Hunt I will be doing the same for Matchbox! There were a couple Jeep releases but my vote goes to the old Jeep pickup in bright red. This is a very classy model and packs tons of detail in the casting which I love. Just like the Hot Wheels Wrangler, this thing is a cult classic and sure to be loved by many. It may surprise you but this casting actually didn’t catch my eye until I saw what Tinfoil did with his where he simply wheel swapped it for a more vintage style and took some epic ORAT photos! I was hooked at that point! I can’t wait to find one!
-BJ
Lamborghini LM002
I haven’t been able to find one yet, but I know my favorite new Matchbox has got to be the Rambo Lambo. I know this truck is killer just from the pics I’ve seen posted on LaLd. These ones here were posted by JonMallinson the other day; they hit 190 likes on the ‘Gram. Not only did Matchbox pick a legendary SUV to cast, the picked the perfect color for it too. It doesn’t get any more badass than a V12 powered off-road Italian monster. One day you’ll be mine LM002, one day...
-Scott
BMW M5 Police
I picked another car over a BMW for best new HW castings, so to make things right, my pick for best new MBX goes to the BMW M5 police! I had a ton of trouble finding it, so MCNR87 was kind enough to send me one completely by surprise along with the Cayman that I did know about. Best surprise ever!!
It’s such a great casting, too. It captures the 1:1 perfectly, and though it lacks tampos for the lights, the simple Polizei livery looks amazing. And at least it has a roundel on the hood. *ahem! 1M Coupe! ahem*
-Philip
Cadillac One
it’s not often that mbx makes a limo but they really went all out with this one. Very well detailed although it is let down by the whole “fit the blister” scaling. Still, of all the mbx models this year, the Cadillac was the only must have to me.
-Ryan (Frosted)
Tesla Model S
The details on this casting does this modern American Musclecar justice. Tempos are spot on. I feel it also being the bargain of the year due to how well it’s made. I mean, just look at this awesome this beast is! It’s electric!
-Uly
Porsche Cayman
Put simply, as soon as Porsche began offering the Cayman it became my dream car. What initially appeared to be little more than a Boxster with a fixed roof, the Cayman has developed into a legit (if unintentional) rival to the 911. As far as fantasy cars go, however, this may strike one as a very modest choice. It can’t compete with an eye searing lime green Lambo or a bright red Ferrari. If I somehow came into money I would definitely want to drive all those exotics .... on the track. The last thing I desire, however, is for people to be reaching for their cell phones to take a picture (much less police reaching for their radar guns). I love having fun driving. but I don’t need, much less want, people to notice me because of the car I own. For the designers I imagine this presented a bit of an issue when creating a 1/64 Cayman. Cover it in flames? Make a “Fire Chief” edition? Slap a bunch of racing logos on it? Nope. Matchbox went with simple but realistic headlight and tail light tampos. Along with understated wheels, this model came out just right. An awesome job that both captures the essence of the Cayman while managing to showcase how restraint can sometimes be the best option.
-Jeff
The 2015 Wall-Ds will be published soon. Who do you have?
The Nominees
Best New Casting
Back to the Future (Hover)
McLaren P1
Nissan 180SX
Jaguar F-Type Project 7
VW Caddy
Best Regular Treasure Hunt
Jeep CJ-7
Tread Air
Piranha Terror
Fast Gassin’
Best Super Treasure Hunt
1969 Boss 302
Delorean DMC-12
8 Crate
Mastretta MXR
Toyota Baja Truck
Ferrari 599xx
Best New Matchbox
Jeep Willys 4x4
Cadillac One
BMW M5 Police
Tesla Model S
Porsche Cayman
Lamborghini LM002