Review – Hot Wheels Firestorm
I mentioned this Hot Wheels Firestorm toy car in my recent Jet Threat 3.0 review and earlier this week I just happened to come across Firestorm. Odd timing, but all I did was snatch it off of the pegs and then proceed with my walking through Wal-Mart. (Why the walking? See 5 Steps to Turning Your Constant Hunt for Toys Into Exercise for a peek at the madness behind my Wal-Mart visits.)
A Lot of Plastic
This is another one of those Hot Wheels cars that has a high amount of plastic in the design. But since the body shell is mostly a smokey, translucent plastic I think we can forgive the low metal content because of the car’s appearance. And since it’s from the Thrill Racers – Volcano series it’s got the same cool translucent orange tires as the Jet Threat 3.0 (review here) which is a lot of what sold me on this color scheme.
Sleek and Dangerous
The Firestorm’s got an incredible design, with an almost missile-like shape and a massive jet engine-like system crammed into the back of the toy car. It’s unfortunate that the rear of the car shows the turbine/exhaust as two colors — gold plastic and black metal — but this isn’t an uncommon situation with Hot Wheels cars and I suspect it won’t change unless the price dramatically increases. (Someone would have had to have paid for gold paint to complete the design on the car.) The flame tampos on the red plastic just help tie the car into the Volcano theme and the orange, red, and smoke color combo looks great. The only problem is that the gold should have been silver; that would have connected it to the Volcano Jet Threat 3.0.
I’ll Have to Seek Out More Volcanos
After getting two in the series it’s time I keep my eyes open and watch for more of the Thrill Racers – Volcano toy cars. The red and black with translucent orange tires looks fabulous, and I’m starting to see the appeal of collecting entire subgroups of Hot Wheels toy cars.
If you see this car in stores I suggest that you run. It may only cost about $1, but the long-term cost of Hot Wheels cars is far greater than that first buck.
Philip Reed is stunned at how many Hot Wheels cars he has reviewed in July. He blames the new display in the living room.