As a kid I remember Hot Wheels introducing "Speed Demons," a sub-line of creature or monster-inspired cars that proved so popular, most of them are still in production today in new colors. Sharkruiser came out in the second year, but you can still get one in a 5-pack right now if you check a couple of stores. There's also one called "Shark Bite" which has a jaw that opens and closes when you roll it, but it's not as fast and doesn't roll quite as far.
Last month I bought about $6 worth of track to connect to an old launcher, and this is one of the best performers. #1 was a "Faster Than Ever" Shelby GT500, but this guy is a close second - and supposedly the engineering on the 1980s original release of the Sharkruiser is even better. (I'll buy one if I see one.) I like this one a lot just because it's nice and weird.
The original release was almost all gray except the chrome bits and painted black eyes. This one has gray painted metal, blue molded plastic, and some silver chrome bits for the seat and "SHARK" engines. And the orange wheels, it should be noted, have silver trim - but the painted eyes were lost, and instead we got a "1" and some orange and blue flames. It's a little silly, but not bad - I'd be perfectly happy with a simple one like the original.
The cartoonish creature has massive silver teeth and its tail is wrong, probably for trademark reasons. You can't copyright nature, but you can change it. G.I. Joe in 1964 had his thumbnail relocated under the digit, so it's distinct and a company couldn't just copy the mold exactly. The Sharkcruiser has a horizontal tail like marine mammals, not a vertical one like sharks and fish. This makes it distinct from an actual animal, and the driver's seat would go where a dolphin's blowhole might go. (Sharks don't have blowholes, they have gills - just like this car, or a vintage 1972 Dodge Charger Rallye Coupe.
The reasons I picked this car this week are twofold. One, it shows something Mattel does well that Hasbro doesn't, and that's to keep the same exact product in circulation (with packaging and deco tweaks) for decades. Mattel has dozens of cars that are either unchanged or changed about as Theseus tweaked his ride for quite some time, which helps a lot with the bottom line - kids love it, it's tested and proven, and it lets you invest in other areas to grow your company. There's a new Sharkcruiser (or two) almost every year.
The other reason is because this particular release soars on tracks. With my old launcher, connected to about 20 feet of track, it's one of very few cars to consistently clear the entire track. I don't know if new releases also go quite that far as of yet, but I'll say I'm incredibly impressed by how smoothly it rolls, and how far it goes beyond the long track without grinding to a halt.
This is a largely worthless car, but a great performer with snazzy orange wheels. I bought it just because I remembered seeing it as a child and going "hey, I want that." It's effective in marketing to adult collectors - don't give us something too new, you can make money selling us the exact thing that we saw as kids and mom or dad said "no" to. The colors are close to the original, and it's goofy enough to be endearing and arguably a real hit. Get yourself a Sharkcruiser of some sort if you are the kind of person who owns any tracks.
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