Mattel, Inc. telah memperkenalkan kenderaan die-cast Hot Wheels Flippin Fast, tambahan baharu yang direka untuk menggalakkan pengalaman permainan open-ended menjelang Bulan Penerimaan Autisme pada bulan April. Kereta Flippin Fast ialah salah satu daripada kenderaan Hot Wheels yang paling serba boleh, membolehkan kanak-kanak menikmati pelbagai pergerakan seperti mainan gelisah, termasuk menggolekkannya ke hadapan, ke belakang dan terbalikkannya.
Dengan kerjasama Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), Hot Wheels memastikan bahawa reka bentuk dan ciri-ciri Flippin Fast die-cast memenuhi keperluan semua peminat Hot Wheels, termasuk mereka yang mungkin mendapat manfaat daripada open-ended, menenangkan dan pengalaman bermain deria.
Walaupun sesuai untuk kanak-kanak berumur tiga tahun ke atas, kenderaan die-cast Flippin Fast mempunyai meterai ASAN pada pembungkusan, menunjukkan bahawa ia memenuhi keperluan permainan unik komuniti spektrum autisme.
Mattel mempunyai perkongsian lama dengan ASAN untuk bekerjasama untuk mengesahkan dan memaklumkan pembangunan pelbagai produk dan watak mainan merentas jenamanya. Perkongsian ini bertujuan untuk mencipta produk yang lebih inklusif dan mudah diakses yang melibatkan pengguna dengan lebih sengaja.
Hot Wheels Flippin Fast kini boleh didapati di peruncit di seluruh negara dengan harga $1.25 (RM5.90), memberikan semua kanak-kanak pengalaman bermain yang menyeronokkan dan menarik.
Mattel, Inc. has unveiled the Hot Wheels Flippin Fast die-cast vehicle, a new addition designed to promote an open-ended play experience, just ahead of Autism Acceptance Month in April. The Flippin Fast die-cast car sparks the challenger spirit as one of Hot Wheels’ most versatile vehicles, offering kids a wide range of motion reminiscent of a fidget toy. Children can enjoy rolling it forward, backwards, and even flipping it upside down.
In collaboration with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), a nonprofit organisation led by individuals on the autism spectrum, Hot Wheels ensured that the design and features of the Flippin Fast die-cast meet the needs of all Hot Wheels fans, including those who may benefit from an open-ended, soothing, and sensory play experience.
While the Flippin Fast die-cast vehicle is suitable for children ages three and up, ASAN’s seal on the packaging indicates that it meets the unique play needs of the autism spectrum community.
Mattel has a longstanding partnership with ASAN, collaborating to validate and inform the development of various toy products and characters across its portfolio of brands. This partnership aims to create more inclusive and accessible products that engage consumers more intentionally.
The Hot Wheels Flippin Fast is now available at retailers nationwide for $1.25 (RM5.90), offering children of all abilities a fun and engaging play experience.
For its fourth iteration, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour will return to Malaysia with some fresh content. At the 12th Art of Speed 2023, Malaysian custom car fans will have their submissions judged live for the first time ever by Global Hot Wheels Lead Packaging Designer, Matt Gabe.
The Legends Tour is a global search for a custom car deserving of being transformed into a 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast car sold in more than 150 countries worldwide. Malaysia is one of the event sites along the tour.
Mattel, the American toy and entertainment company, has over a dozen factories around the world which makes its various products, with the Hot Wheels model cars probably the best known. And of its main factories in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand, the one in Malaysia is the largest Hot Wheels manufacturing plant in the world. Malaysia therefore plays an important role in Mattel’s supply chain for the company’s manufacturing, tooling, and commercial operations.
The plant – Mattel Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MMSB) – located in Perai, Penang, was established in 1981 and is also the world’s only manufacturer of Hot Wheels singles, the top-selling toy globally in 2021.
Currently producing around 9 million diecast car models each week for markets around the world, MMSB is aiming for a 20% increase in production capacity by 2025.
‘Texas Toot’, the nickname of an ultra-custom 1992 Autozam Scrum micro truck built by Craig Meaux of Beaumont, Texas in the USA was picked as the winner of this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour recently. The vehicle will be immortalized as a 1:64 Hot Wheels die-cast vehicle for sale worldwide, as well as inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.
Customized in Meaux’s garage and built entirely for fun, ‘Texas Toot’ started life as a stock Japanese import in 2020, before becoming this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour champion. This custom Kei truck features a fabricated 5-foot hydraulic lift, Chevrolet 454 big-block, TH400 transmission, 12-inch drop reverse rotation FTI transfer case, 250 shot nitrous kit, train horns and massive custom welded 30×15 wheels.
Malaysia has been fortunate to be among the countries chosen to host the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. This is the world’s largest travelling car event which searches for a custom vehicle worthy of being immortalised as a 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast vehicle.
In the past two years, one Malaysian entry has been picked for the Global Semi Finals and this year, the entry is most appropriate to represent the country: a customised 2015 Proton Suprima S. The car was built by William Chong, a trailer truck technician from Negeri Sembilan, who was among the 204 entries (a 25% increase over last year).
In 2018, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hot Wheels, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour began as a series of 15 car shows hosted across Walmart locations around the USA. Over the past 4 years, the competition has gone beyond US borders and grown internationally. It now covers 5 continents in countries that include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia and, recently, Indonesia.
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour has been successfully held in Malaysia for the past two years, in spite of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. And this year, it returns for the third time, again in collaboration with Art of Speed Malaysia (AOS).
As a celebration of car culture, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour is a global search for a custom car worthy of being reimagined as a 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast vehicle. The model will then be made available for sale in more than 150 countries around the world.
Malaysian custom car enthusiasts can present their creations which will be judged against local fellow hobbyists and have a chance at greatness. For the 2022 edition, the winner selected from the Asia Pacific region (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia) will not only move on to the Global Semi-Finals in October 2022 but will also have an additional opportunity for their custom build creation to be transformed and reimagined into a one-of-a-kind (OOAK) limited-run die-cast vehicle available for sale. This is the first time that Hot Wheels is offering such a prize.
The 2020 Hot Wheels Legends Tour, also hosted by Art of Speed Malaysia, had to be done online due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that did not permit gatherings.
“After four years and dozens of events, it’s incredible to see how much the Hot Wheels Legends Tour has grown, both in the US and abroad,” said Ted Wu, Vice-President, Global Head of Design for Vehicles, Mattel. “Pivoting largely to virtual events over the past two years, we saw the competition unite in an entirely new community of global garage builders and Hot Wheels fans. We’re excited to continue this growth in 2022 as we return to our live event roots. This year’s competition is guaranteed to be the best yet, and we can’t wait to see which epic builds emerge during the Tour.”
The Malaysian round
Shortlisted entries will enter the Malaysian finals in August 2022 and will be judged by members of the Hot Wheels design team as well as local guest judges. The judging panel will have Tengku Djan, a Malaysian professional drift driver; DEV JBC, an award-winning car builder and founder of BIMMERZ ADVOCATE GARAGE; and Ahirine Ahirudin, a lover of all things motorsports and 2-time podium winner in the Vios Challenge of the TGR Racing Festival.
Ravinder Singh’s ‘Mercenary’ was chosen as the best of Malaysian entries for the Hot Wheels Legends Tour in 2020.
Each submission will be judged on authenticity (how closely the build embodies the Hot Wheels spirit), originality (how well the design stands out from the rest), and garage spirit (how well the design exemplifies the attitude of ‘built not bought’). The top 10 Malaysian entries will be recognised with a certificate, trophy, and exclusive merchandise, and the Top 3 will also receive a limited edition Legends mail-in car.
Abdul Wahab’s 1986 Daihatsu Mira van which was the winning entry in 2021 and represented Malaysia in the Grand Finale event.
Global Grand Finale
The Legends Tour will culminate with a Global Grand Finale event in November 2022 which will be livestreamed to the world. A winner will be chosen from the finalists and the winning build will be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends. It will join previous champions including the 2018-winning 2JetZ, 2019-winning 1957 Nash Metropolitan, 2020-winning 1970 Pontiac Trans Am, and 2021-winning 1969 Volvo P1800 Gasser.
The global winner of the 2021 Hot Wheels Legends Tour was this 1969 Volvo P1800 – named ‘Ain’t No Saint in homage to the original ‘The Saint TV series. It was built by Lee Johnstone of JD Racing, with Steve Wright and Steven Spiller, in the UK.
Hot Wheels at 1oth Art of Speed
Incidentally, at the coming 10th Art of Speed event in MAEPS, Serdang next month, there will be a life-sized Hot Wheels Legends Tour blister pack backdrop. Enthusiasts and visitors can have a professional photo taken with their custom car. This opportunity will be offered on a first-come-first-served basis. There will also be a Hot Wheels Legends tour booth where visitors can buy Hot Wheels products and limited edition Hot Wheels Legends Tour products.
A 1986 Daihatsu Mira walkthrough van was picked as the Malaysian representative model to compete against models from other countries at the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Semi-Finals. The Mira, prepared for the event by Abdul Wahab Bahari, was among 163 entries that entered for the 2021 Hot Wheels Legends Tour Malaysia that was held last month at the RWB museum in Johor Bahru.
After being picked as the winner of the country event, Abdul Wahab’s entry went on to be judged in the semi-finals where it emerged as one of the top 5 finalists. This group will compete in the Global Virtual Finale that will be streamed on www.facebook.com/hotwheels on November 14 at 1 am Malaysian time.
From 1 of 163 to 1 of 5
In the Semi-Finals, Abdul Wahab’s Mira competed against 9 other countries. The other competing models were a 1973 Mazda 616 Capella, 1974 Ford Escort, Wenckstern 2018, Aint No Saint Volvo P1800 1969, 1990 Volkswagen Sedan, Yellow Black Lethal Chevrolet Opel Commodore, 4100 1977, 1947 Ford Coupe and 1969 Nissan Cedric 130.
The top 5 finalists who will move from the Semi-Finals to the Global Virtual Finale are from Malaysia, the UK, Mexico, Germany and New Zealand. They will join other finalists from North America.
The 2021 Hot Wheels Legends Tour was the third time (second time in Malaysia) the event, held in collaboration with Art of Speed Malaysia, was held in Malaysia. It is one leg of a global search for a custom vehicle worthy of becoming a Hot Wheels die-cast car. This car will then be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends and turned into 1:64 die-cast cars to be sold around the world.
More entries this year
The judging panel, made up of Hot Wheels global designers as well as local guest judges, shortlisted the Top 12 entries out of the 163 submitted for the Malaysian finals. This year, the Malaysian leg saw more than double the entries that were submitted in 2020. Each submission was judged on Authenticity, Creativity, and Garage Spirit (how well the design exemplifies the attitude of ‘built not bought’.
Models entered by the Top 12 Malaysian finalists were from global brands as well as Malaysia’s own Proton. They included an Audi TT Mk 2; 1969 VW Beetle Vandetta; 1968 Toyota Corolla KE10; 1980 Mazda RX7 1st Gen Savanna; 2008 Ferrari 430; 1997 Proton Wira 1.5 GL; 2014 Porsche Boxster 981; 2012 Honda Accord) and of course, Abdul Wahab’s 1986 Mira from Daihatsu.
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour returns to Malaysia for the second time. Held in collaboration with Art of Speed Malaysia, the event is one leg of a global search for a custom vehicle worthy of becoming a Hot Wheels die-cast car. The winner of the Malaysian finals will represent the country on a global stage, going up against the winners from the other legs of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. The overall winner will see their design inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends and turned into a 1:64 die-cast car to be sold – and played with by kids of all ages – around the world.
163 entries this year
Like last year, the judging panel, made up of Hot Wheels global designers as well as local guest judges, will shortlist the Top 12 entries. This year, 163 entries have been submitted for the Malaysian finals – more than double the number submitted in 2020. The Top 12 Malaysian finalists offer a great mix of cars from across the globe – with representation from Japanese, German, Italian, and even Malaysian car brands. Each submission will be judged on Authenticity, how closely the car embodies the Hot Wheels spirit; Creativity, how well the design stands out from the rest; and Garage Spirit, how well the design exemplifies the attitude of ‘built not bought’.
1987 Toyota Cressida (Elden Schrock)
2012 Honda Accord (Kathires Thanabal)
The finalists are: Lee Ming Hui (Audi TT Mk 2), Sofyan Darmadi (1969 VW Beetle Vandetta), Norsayang bin Ngatiman (1968 Toyota Corolla KE10), Addison Victor Liew Kian Tek (1980 Mazda RX7/Savanna), Jeffrey Teoh (2008 Ferrari 430), Karrthikan Amerudalingam (1997 Proton Wira 1.5 GL), Abdul Wahab bin Bahari (1986 Daihatsu Mira Walkthrough Van), Elden Schrock (1987 Toyota Cressida), Mohd Iltizam bin Mohamad Sokri (1990 Toyota Estima), Tham Kheng Ming (2002 Toyota MRS Spyder), Norman Ng (2014 Porsche Boxster 981), and Kathires Thanabal (2012 Honda Accord).
The judging team
The Hot Wheels designers on the judging team are Brendon Vetuskey, the current lead designer for the Monster Trucks die-cast and the Red Line Club vehicles; Manson Cheung, a Hot Wheels 3D Modeler best known for his sculpting work; and Sam Kok, a Hot Wheels designer currently the key lead package designer for Mattel.
Guest judges from Malaysia
They will be joined by local guests who will also be involved in the judging process. There will be three guests – Christian Coujin, well known in the community for his collection of RWB cars and enthusiasm for all things custom or modified; Tengku Djan, the professional drift driver; and Azrina Jane Abdullah, a skilled drift and circuit racing driver.
The Malaysian finals will be livestreamed from the RWB Museum in Johor Bahru and scheduled for Sunday, October 17, 2021 at 8 pm.
The 3rd Hot Wheels Legends Tour which was run recently saw Malaysia being the first host as well as the first Asian country to be invited to join the event. Art of Speed hosted the event which is normally held on-ground but had to be conducted online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that didn’t see diminished interest and over 1 million Hot Wheels fans across the globe tuned in to watch the livestream of the Finals.
Art of Speed hosted the first leg of the 2020 Hot Wheels Legends Tour which had to be done online due to the pandemic.
67 local entries
Twelve out of the 67 local entries were chosen to be showcased before the panel of the judges made up of respected Hot Wheels designers. After the votes were cast, it was Johor-native Ravinder Singh who clinched the coveted spot in the Finals as one of 13 international entries with his ‘Mercenary’, a modified Morris Minor.
Each entry was judged on three criteria: Authenticity, which is a measure of how well a car captures that genuine Hot Wheels spirit; Creativity, based on how unique the build is; and Garage Spirit, which carries the unmistakable air of ‘built not bought’.
Ravinder Singh’s winning ‘Mercenary’ was created from this old-timer.
Created from the Morris Minor
Ravinder’s ‘Mercenary’ carried a clear inspiration from American hotrods but was created from a British Morris Minor. The build was praised for its use of period-correct tyres and unique choice of parts – most of which aren’t available in the USA – giving it a distinct and memorable silhouette. The motorhead described the Mercenary as ‘built for himself to bring his vision to life’.
Of the thousands of submissions from around the world, 13 finalists were chosen with the winner being Riley Stair from California. His 1970 Pontiac Trans Am will be immortalised as an iconic 1:64 Hot Wheels diecast model.
The winner of the 2020 Hot Wheels Legend Tour
Ravinder Singh’s journey to the Finals of the Tour is not insignificant. For years, Malaysia has been host to a healthy and thriving community of car fanatics who celebrate their hobby at events like Art of Speed Malaysia, now in its 9th year.
Ravinder, an electrical and electronics engineer graduate, is now the owner of The Classic Garage based in Johor and has, for a long time, been a contributor to the community. He shares his own builds as well as provides services to others in the hobby.
Scenes from earlier Art of Speed events
Annual Art of Speed event next month
Those who are interested in knowing more about this aspect of car culture can drop by at the annual Art of Speed even to be held from December 30 2020 to 3rd January 2021. The venue is the 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya, Selangor and admission is free.
