Speed Blaster 1999 Collector No. #959 - Game Over Series #3 of 4 Cars
Hot Wheels 2002 Basic Cars
Item No.: Asst. ??? No. 21307 Manufacturer:Mattel Includes:n/a Action Feature:n/a Retail:$1 Availability: ca. 1999 Other: One of dozens, this one has neat graphics of dinosaurs and game stuff
Before Mattel got religion with licensing, they tried doing their own branded things that I assume were meant to appeal to kids who liked things without paying anybody. This Speed Blaster is part of a "Game Over Series." What does that mean? I think that they know you like video games, and that's why there's a not remotely subtle Nintendo 64 c-button array on the roof. Given this car's release date, it could be a nod to Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, the then-new Dino Crisis, or just some guy going "video games, hunting things, dinosaurs... that ought to hold the little S.O.B.s."
This is another bargain bin find, a car I bought in 2024 for 75 cents at an antique mall. Adjusted for inflation, that means someone probably lost money along the line for me to get a green car with mirrored gold finish and perfectly nice - especially for the time - graphics.
Oriignally debuting in 1993 (with dragons!), this car sold through 2005 andthere are some pretty nice ones. And some pretty bland ones. I didn't pick up this one because of any specific reason other than I was out on the town, found it, and said "OK, I'll take this one." The car itself just looks like some sports car - it's not bad, it has unpainted (or not-raised) headlights, and the wheels have nice gold trim. The shiny gold finish is going to show fingerprints, so try to be careful with this one. Its chassis is metal with a blindingly bright neon green plastic base, which is pretty plain compared to modern releases.
What I found charming about this car is the teeny-tiny artwork that you probably won't notice unless you're a kid with nothing better to do but stare at it. I guess you could also be a middle-aged toy fanatic with a camera, a photo box, and a macro lens, but let's put it on bored children from a quarter century ago.
The main graphic on the hood and doors is a velociraptor-esque dinosaur silhouette in the crosshairs of some hunter. The side says "DinoHunt," "Bonus Round," and "Hot Wheels." There are also some very simple camo stripes and a trio of kill marks, with the aforementioned c-buttons on top. It's very of its era, as the Nintendo64 was the thing that made 1996 worth living if you were in the tank for the video game wars... and indeed, we were.
I'd say it's almost too much given the size of the car. It doesn't look too busy, but you might overlook all the work put into it. I love the arrow-shaped turn signals on the back, but as they aren't painted I don't know that they really matter. It's probably more fun to have the silly green and brown stripes.
This car - indeed, most any main-line kid-aimed car - is pretty worthless. On eBay, you can get one for $6-$9 shipped, and I got mine for less than a dollar. eBay sellers aren't ripping you off, there's the reality of shipping costing them $4 or $5, plus eBay takes a cut, and they have to buy a box, tape, maybe a printer, gas to go to the post office... it's a whole thing. If you luck into it locally it's worth the pennies you're likely to pay for it, and as much as I like it I wouldn't recommend buying one all by its lonesome. If you can get it in a small collection or lot where the average price per car is pretty low, it's absolutely worth picking up and I can't help but wonder if Kmart or some other store sold t-shirts with similar video game and dinosaur livery where no licensing fees were paid to anybody. It's a generic design to pander to kids of a very specific era, and as you can see it completely worked on me 25 years later. That's a quality design.
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