Teutonic Tuesday: Hot Wheels gegen Tomica

Illustration for article titled Teutonic Tuesday: Hot Wheels gegen Tomica

Obviously neither Hot Wheels nor Tomica are Teutonic - but the Mercedes AMG GT and GT R certainly come from the land of Bratwurst. And so we pitch the Hot Wheels GT against the Tomica GT R.

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Illustration for article titled Teutonic Tuesday: Hot Wheels gegen Tomica

And a few things become immediately obvious - both make a more than decent impression of the real thing, considering that these are essentially toys. The other thing that is apparent: the Hot Wheels is way ahead when it comes to tampo. It has more of them, and they are sharper looking - if sometimes a bit wonky, like one of the headlights on the orange version.

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Illustration for article titled Teutonic Tuesday: Hot Wheels gegen Tomica

The paint on the Hot Wheels is also a little unevenly applied - thicker at the back, thin and lighter at the front. By contract, the Tomica could perhaps do with a little less paint, and the metallic green is a bit too grainy, as so often with Tomica.

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Illustration for article titled Teutonic Tuesday: Hot Wheels gegen Tomica

From the side, the wheels are where these models do look very different. No point debating that - Tomica won’t change theirs in a hurry. But surely they could just enlarge the diameter a little and still keep “the look”?

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Illustration for article titled Teutonic Tuesday: Hot Wheels gegen Tomica

The door lines on the Tomica are good - if you like opening features - but a bit too large. On the Hot Wheels, they almost disappear under the paint and look fuzzy. It’s a matter of personal preference.

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Illustration for article titled Teutonic Tuesday: Hot Wheels gegen Tomica

Tomica remembered to keep the roof black as it should be. Bonus point. But the Hot Wheels gets a Bonus point for the side mirrors, though I have seen them better executed on other models.

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Illustration for article titled Teutonic Tuesday: Hot Wheels gegen Tomica

So who’s the winner here? Who cares. Just get both. You know you want to.