Review – Hershey’s Hot Wheels


Line: Hot Wheels * Manufacturer: Mattel * Year: 2011 * Ages: 8+

Over the weekend I encountered these new Hershey’s Hot Wheels (search at Amazon.com*) while at Wal-Mart and just had to grab two of them. But at more that $4 for each car I’m gonna say that two is enough.

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Reese’s Dream Van XGW

First up is the orange Reese’s Dream Van XGW, which the Hot Wheels Wiki shows as a design first introduced in 1984 and used in ’84 and ’85. Wait, is that correct? Is this the first time the car has appeared in stores since 1985? It’s looking that way; South Texas Diecast shows release between 1984 and 1986 and Hot Wheels Collectors says about this new line:

You’ll find five newly re-tooled castings in the line, including the much-anticipated return of the Dream Van XGWâ„¢. All castings in the series will feature Real Riders wheels and die-cast body and chassis — some for the very first time! Each will feature eye-blistering deco commemorating the brands we know like old friends.

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Awesome! And it is an awesome toy car; really heavy and the rubber tires are pretty neat. I grabbed it because it said “Reese’s” on the side but the overall look and style of the van makes me think that if Mattel uses this again I could be convinced to buy another version depending on the color and tampo design.

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Milk Duds Haulin’ Gas

My plan had been to just buy the Reese’s Dream Van XGW and be happy . . . but then I spotted the Milk Duds Haulin’ Gas and just couldn’t go home without it. Mattel says this is a new tool but for reasons I don’t understand it looks to me like an older design. I’m wrong, it seems, because online searches for “Haulin’ Gas” keep leading to this Milk Duds bus. Well, something about it feels familiar.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

And not at all in a bad way. The coloring and tampos are great, but for this car it’s the sleek, smooth design that caught my attention. It’s a chunky bit of metal with a retro feel and the car’s just great if you like the bigger and heavier Hot Wheels cars.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

A Great Year for Hot Wheels

All of these nostalgia collector lines this year — DC Comics Hot Wheels (first mentioned here), General Mills Hot Wheels cereal cars (first mentioned here), Masters of the Universe Hot Wheels (review here), and this Hershey’s line — are all fantastic and playing with them makes me wish I had a nice display case so that I could show off all of the cars.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

Mattel has done a great job with Hot Wheels for a long time now and seeing these nostalgia waves in stores makes me think that they’re continuing to improve the line. These two new tools are fun and beefy toy cars and I hope that we don’t have to wait too long before either one returns again with new colors.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.


Philip Reed should also open and review the cereal cars that he bought . . . but not these newer cereal cars.

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