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Hot Wheels logo

Hot Wheels is a brand name used for many of Mattel's diecast toy vehicle product lines and was introduced to the public in 1968.

Star Trek association[]

Mattel Hot Wheels Star Trek logo

Mattel, one of the world's largest toy makers, announced that it had acquired licensing to produce merchandise based on the Star Trek franchise in 2008.

Including repaints, a total of twenty diecast metal and ABS plastic Star Trek starship miniatures have been released under the brand since 2009. Each ship was said to be in "1:50-scale" (in reference to diecast automobile scales), measured from ten to twenty centimeters in length, and included an adjustable plastic stand.

In addition, six smaller "1:64-scale" versions of the USS Enterprise were released between 2013 and 2019, along with two smaller versions of the USS Vengeance. Thirteen 1:64-scale Star Trek-themed wheeled Hot Wheels vehicles have also been retailed.

1:50-scale Star Trek releases[]

Series 1[]

Released in May 2009

Released in September 2009

2009 San Diego Comic-Con exclusive[]

Hot Wheels released its first Star Trek convention exclusive at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International. Limited quantities were also sold to non-attendees on Mattel's official website.

Released on 23 July 2009

Series 2[]

Released in January 2010

Series 3[]

TrekHotWheelsS3boxedF

Scene It? Ultimate Fan Pack

This series was released as six-ship set bundled with the Star Trek Scene It? Ultimate Fan Pack Limited Edition game and was retailed exclusively by Costco in North America.

Released in September 2010

Series 4[]

Released in May 2013

Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray premium[]

Paramount Home Entertainment's Walmart-exclusive SteelBook Blu-ray release of Star Trek Into Darkness included the USS Vengeance model as a retailer premium. Play.com also retailed the model with its exclusive (limited edition of 4000) Blu-ray 3D SteelBook release.

Released in September 2013

Notes[]

  • When first released, the Series 1 USS Enterprise (refit) had "USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A" erroneously printed on its packaging. This packaging was subsequently corrected for Series 1 wave revisions and Series 2. The Series 3 USS Enterprise-A is correctly identified on the model's hull and on its packaging.
  • The USS Enterprise (alternate reality) prototype was mistakenly produced with red bussard collectors causing a four month release delay for the first production version of the ship. The color was corrected to blue before retail release.
  • The Enterprise NX-01's individual packaging erroneously identified the ship as the "USS Enterprise NX-01". However, the ship is identified correctly on the outer packaging of the Ultimate Fan Pack.
  • Information on the packaging of the USS Saratoga erroneously describes the USS Saratoga seen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The registry number "NCC-1867" was printed on the model's hull but this registry number was incorrect for any incarnation of the ship. The correct registry (NCC-1887) was correctly printed on the packaging.
  • The Series 4 D4 class Klingon patrol ship was packaged as a "Klingon Bird-of-Prey" but this designation for the ship was not explicitly stated in the 2013 film.

1:64-scale Star Trek releases[]

USS Enterprise[]

Hot Wheels USS Enterprise render

Promo and card artwork

Hot Wheels released a smaller version of the alternate reality's USS Enterprise in its 7.5 cm "1:64-scale" mainline "HW Imagination Future Fleet" series in February 2013. A "battle damaged" repaint was released in the same series in June 2013. The first version of the ship was also re-released in the 2015 mainline "HW City Space Team" series, and a version with a slightly grayer basecoat was retailed in the 2019 mainline "HW Screen Time" series.

Hot Wheels 2014 Retro Entertainment USS Enterprise prototype

Retro Entertainment prototype

Another version of this casting with a more detailed paint deco premiered in November 2013 in the first wave of the 2014 "Retro Entertainment" line. A second "premium" version of the ship was released in the second wave of the 2016 "Entertainment" series, but without painted pennants on the secondary hull, [1](X) and was included as a premium bonus with the first time Region 1 Star Trek/Star Trek Into Darkness DVD double pack. Another premium "Replica Entertainment" version was slated for release in November 2017 but did not reach retail.

USS Vengeance[]

Hot Wheels 1-64 USS Vengeance

Promo and card artwork

"1:64-scale" versions of the USS Vengeance were released in the 2014 "HW City Planet Heroes" and 2019 "HW Screen Time" mainline series.

Displaying more contrast than the 2014 version, the 2019 release's saucer detailing was painted in a lighter grey, while the rest of the ship was cast in a slightly darker grey.

Pop Culture vehicles[]

Six 1:64-scale diecast wheeled vehicles were released as part of Hot Wheels' 2014 "Pop Culture" line. These vehicles and their packaging featured artwork based on Gold Key's classic Star Trek comics.

Six more Pop Culture vehicles featuring packaging and vehicle artwork rendered in a more photo-realistic style debuted at retail in February 2016.

2014 releases[]

2016 releases[]

2016 San Diego Comic-Con exclusive[]

Hot Wheels released its second Star Trek convention exclusive, a figure and vehicle in a display case, at the San Diego Comic-Con International between 21-25 July 2016. It was closely based on the iconic photograph of a costumed Leonard Nimoy who was pictured leaning against his then-new car, adjacent to the Desilu Star Trek soundstages. Limited quantities were also made available for sale to non-attendees on Mattel's official collector site.[2]

Notes[]

  • The Mattel Design Center produced SLA prototypes for a 41 to 45 mm-long Hot Wheels starship line in 2003. The company considered selling diecast versions of the ships in 2-packs, alongside their 1:64 wheeled vehicle offerings, but this line was never licensed or produced.
  • Mattel toy designer Neal Smith created Assimilation, a mixed-media Borg cube sculpture with a hull principally constructed from (non-Star Trek-related) Hot Wheels die-cast vehicles, which debuted at the Star Trek: 50 Artists 50 Years exhibition in 2016.

See also[]

External links[]

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