Hotwheels Gold Bumblebee will be less Rare than the Original Color Release

Hot Wheels is recalling their release of Transformers Barricade. We have word from suppliers that their shipments arrived with Barricade missing from the set of Hot Wheels Transformers cars and a sticker has been placed over the back, hiding Barricade where we see the full set. While the recall is true, the reason is just a rumour, and that rumour is that it's been recalled due to the words "punish and enslave".

Western retailers are now selling the complete set as a pack of 4 and not 5. However, not all retailers are sending theirs back to Mattel, with certain Asian based sellers still selling Barricade online, albeit at higher prices.

We don't know if this toy will be rereleased (with out without the words on the side) but right now this toy has the potential to become a really hot Hot Wheels collectible.

https://www.instagram.com/kenbotbot/reel/DBO1X4ZgFxr/

They're barricading us from getting this awesome toy.

Oh for cryin' oot loud - are we all THAT hypersensitive? Is this to become the new "S" word that nobody dares to use, either in print or by voice? Clutch at thine pearls, mortal insects! Reel to thine fainting couches!

How did this shit circle all the way back to not being able to criticize the cops like it's the 50's?

He's being recalled because BARRICADE IS NOT A FORD MUSTANG (he's a Saleen Mustang). They do not have permission to use the Ford Mustang trademark in this way, and that's why they've blanked out the words "Ford Mustang" on all the other packages in addition to removing Barricade from the assortment.

If it had anything to do with "punish and enslave" or consumer sensitivity, they'd just do a running change to stop printing it on the car.

Poor Barricade is still being bullied by the strange coalition of catholic soccer moms and "progressive" purple-haired wokesters.

I'm glad i got one, kinda wish i gotten the rest of the barricades available at that time.

Good gag, will. One misleading rumor = instant bizarro-bubble thread. Funniest thing I've seen all week.

Hot Wheels collecting is logically TF-adjacent, but every glimpse I get at HW distribution and scarcity makes it seem almost as alien to me as limited edition sneaker fandom. Well, here's hoping they do Barricade in the correct model next year.

Bumblevivisector wrote:Good gag, will. One misleading rumor = instant bizarro-bubble thread. Funniest thing I've seen all week.

Hot Wheels collecting is logically TF-adjacent, but every glimpse I get at HW distribution and scarcity makes it seem almost as alien to me as limited edition sneaker fandom. Well, here's hoping they do Barricade in the correct model next year.

I'd agree if it weren't for the deco change they did to both Studio Series Barricade rereleases. You might be underestimating how dumb corporations can be about this stuff.

Rtron wrote:You might be underestimating how dumb corporations can be about this stuff.

Oh don't worry, no Seibertronian is making that mistake anytime soon, thanks to the thread four news posts after this one.

Whether Barricade's been blanked for both, either, or neither reason, there's a second layer of misdirection that immediately cropped up, which I saw coming thanks in part to, of all things, the Scopes Monkey Trial almost a century ago...and I'll leave it at that. Don't wanna' derail this thread, no sir, just wait for 'em to come down the track, and see if any more magic happens. Place your faith in the orange extensions...

Bumblevivisector wrote:Good gag, will. One misleading rumor = instant bizarro-bubble thread. Funniest thing I've seen all week.

Hot Wheels collecting is logically TF-adjacent, but every glimpse I get at HW distribution and scarcity makes it seem almost as alien to me as limited edition sneaker fandom. Well, here's hoping they do Barricade in the correct model next year.

My source was the instagram video I linked which showed how the cards are being altered. And that was the rumor in the video. Didn't mean to spark anything here, just sharing what's reported and making sure fans get him while they can. But yes, I did have fun with the headline, though I would not have written it if I didn't believe it.

bbird wrote:He's being recalled because BARRICADE IS NOT A FORD MUSTANG (he's a Saleen Mustang). They do not have permission to use the Ford Mustang trademark in this way, and that's why they've blanked out the words "Ford Mustang" on all the other packages in addition to removing Barricade from the assortment.

If it had anything to do with "punish and enslave" or consumer sensitivity, they'd just do a running change to stop printing it on the car.

Thanks, but does this mean he'll just be rereleased with a new card that writes it properly?

I have had no interest in any of the hot wheels bots yet, so why does Magnus intrigue me

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I have had no interest in any of the hot wheels bots yet, so why does Magnus intrigue me

Because he's pretty damn cool. Dammit, this extension into Hotwheels has made me start collecting Hotwheels. I just bought a whole case to see the kind of stuff I get inside.

DeathReviews wrote:Oh for cryin' oot loud - are we all THAT hypersensitive?

The cops? They get pretty defensive at times.

It's a sure thing now, the Hot Wheels world has got themselves a new chase figure. We now know that Barricade has gotten a revised version which will be what is sent out to retailers from here on out and indeed, the words "to punish and enslave" are no longer written on the side. This was also confirmed through an instagram shared below, along with an image of the change in livery.

It's a feeding frenzy on e-bay for those that want the early version, with a current e-bay auction already being over $300 : https://www.ebay.ca/itm/286127721558?_s&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1 ... R86ApL_cZA

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBykmnHv5ec/

It's the nature of the collecting beast. I guess I should be happy that some lucky Hotwheels/TF collectors got this unexpected windfall (if they're willing to sell oc). But who knows how much this "October Surprise" benefits scalpers than collectors though.

Would be evil funny if Toyhax comes out with a sticker set to bring back the "To punish and enslave" slogan and charge $299 for it, and another sticker with the screen accurate "643" for the roof for $1 to even out things.... all in the Halloween spirit!

Truly though, Toyhax should take up the 1st idea and charge a reasonable price for the hassle and call it a day to make everyone happy. Scalpers be damned!

cloudballoon wrote:It's the nature of the collecting beast. I guess I should be happy that some lucky Hotwheels/TF collectors got this unexpected windfall (if they're willing to sell oc). But who knows how much this "October Surprise" benefits scalpers than collectors though.

Would be evil funny if Toyhax comes out with a sticker set to bring back the "To punish and enslave" slogan and charge $299 for it, and another sticker with the screen accurate "643" for the roof for $1 to even out things.... all in the Halloween spirit!

Truly though, Toyhax should take up the 1st idea and charge a reasonable price for the hassle and call it a day to make everyone happy. Scalpers be damned!

I dont really see how the word scalper can be used in this scenario.

william-james88 wrote:

cloudballoon wrote:It's the nature of the collecting beast. I guess I should be happy that some lucky Hotwheels/TF collectors got this unexpected windfall (if they're willing to sell oc). But who knows how much this "October Surprise" benefits scalpers than collectors though.

Would be evil funny if Toyhax comes out with a sticker set to bring back the "To punish and enslave" slogan and charge $299 for it, and another sticker with the screen accurate "643" for the roof for $1 to even out things.... all in the Halloween spirit!

Truly though, Toyhax should take up the 1st idea and charge a reasonable price for the hassle and call it a day to make everyone happy. Scalpers be damned!

I dont really see how the word scalper can be used in this scenario.

This is not a normal case, true, but they always look for rare and/or popular but shortpacked figures and snapped them up for resale immediately on eBay upon news of first sightings. They don't buy with intent to keep but to sell & profit. There ought to have some scalpers got means to get their hands on the initial batch minutes after the recall news/rumours broke.

In 1988, Fleer Baseball Cards made a card of a player named Billy Ripken (Cal's little brother). It eventually became an error card because at the end of his baseball bat, who's cap was clearly visible as he held it over his shoulder, were the words "F**k Face". That very quickly was replaced by 4 variants as they covered up the profanity. I remember that error card pricing at $200 in the late 80's and early 90's. I actually still have that card (along with 4 Barry Bonds Topps rookie cards). Isn't collecting weird?

I still can't believe that they are so overly sensitive that they had to take it off. It's supposed to be movie accurate.

First-Aid wrote:In 1988, Fleer Baseball Cards made a card of a player named Billy Ripken (Cal's little brother). It eventually became an error card because at the end of his baseball bat, who's cap was clearly visible as he held it over his shoulder, were the words "F**k Face". That very quickly was replaced by 4 variants as they covered up the profanity. I remember that error card pricing at $200 in the late 80's and early 90's. I actually still have that card (along with 4 Barry Bonds Topps rookie cards). Isn't collecting weird?

I still can't believe that they are so overly sensitive that they had to take it off. It's supposed to be movie accurate.

Literally no one sane was going to complain, it just the corpos being ridiculously paranoid. I mean, he's the bad guy, of course he's got evil slogans and stuff. It's like a christian hating on Doom.

Rtron wrote:

First-Aid wrote:In 1988, Fleer Baseball Cards made a card of a player named Billy Ripken (Cal's little brother). It eventually became an error card because at the end of his baseball bat, who's cap was clearly visible as he held it over his shoulder, were the words "F**k Face". That very quickly was replaced by 4 variants as they covered up the profanity. I remember that error card pricing at $200 in the late 80's and early 90's. I actually still have that card (along with 4 Barry Bonds Topps rookie cards). Isn't collecting weird?

I still can't believe that they are so overly sensitive that they had to take it off. It's supposed to be movie accurate.

Literally no one sane was going to complain, it just the corpos being ridiculously paranoid. I mean, he's the bad guy, of course he's got evil slogans and stuff. It's like a christian hating on Doom.

In the end, it boils down to the Lawyers. They've made every corporate entity so afraid of everything that they stripped the fun away. The sad thing is that the Lawyers win no matter what because they make money on the defending side AND the attacking side. It's the ultimate no-lose scenario. They used to just be ambulance-chasers. Now, just say ONE WORD that is slightly offensive to 0.00000001% of the population and they are swarming like flies on poo to both sides. In the end, Shakespeare may have been more right than he realized....

First-Aid wrote:In 1988, Fleer Baseball Cards made a card of a player named Billy Ripken (Cal's little brother). It eventually became an error card because at the end of his baseball bat, who's cap was clearly visible as he held it over his shoulder, were the words "F**k Face". That very quickly was replaced by 4 variants as they covered up the profanity. I remember that error card pricing at $200 in the late 80's and early 90's. I actually still have that card (along with 4 Barry Bonds Topps rookie cards). Isn't collecting weird?

I still can't believe that they are so overly sensitive that they had to take it off. It's supposed to be movie accurate.

Looks like prices came down since then with the card going for less than 100$ now

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/276608046107?_s&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1 ... R_yp457dZA

Also, while the words are missing from Barricade, they also fixed the number on the roof, which is now movie accurate.

Rtron wrote:Literally no one sane was going to complain, it just the corpos being ridiculously paranoid. I mean, he's the bad guy, of course he's got evil slogans and stuff. It's like a christian hating on Doom.

You can't sell horror movie figures to kids because parents will freak out, but the best selling Star Wars toy sold to kids is Darth Vader, a guy that's murdered more children with his own hands than any slasher film villain, never mind actual genocide. Soccer mom psychology is bizarre.

Emerje

It really has far less to do with anyone actually being offended or any moral judgement than the legal CYA for "could someone pretend to be offended by this for long enough to sue us"; legal departments will always over-compensate and play it 'safe'. And the likes of, say, police unions tend to have a reputation for being both sensitive and litigious after all.

Glyph wrote:It really has far less to do with anyone actually being offended or any moral judgement than the legal CYA for "could someone pretend to be offended by this for long enough to sue us"; legal departments will always over-compensate and play it 'safe'. And the likes of, say, police unions tend to have a reputation for being both sensitive and litigious after all.

I’m now reminded of the great words from the poet Ice Cube.

bbird wrote:He's being recalled because BARRICADE IS NOT A FORD MUSTANG (he's a Saleen Mustang). They do not have permission to use the Ford Mustang trademark in this way, and that's why they've blanked out the words "Ford Mustang" on all the other packages in addition to removing Barricade from the assortment.

This turned out to be flat out false

It's more likely that the packaging had links to a pron site o.o after that they might as well have kept the toy movie accurate

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gz91pp5llo

... I'm not following how an understandable but incorrect URL appearing on an entirely unrelated Mattel product with a different brand name means it's "more likely" that the same thing happened on this one than any other explanation. Particularly since, last time I checked, neither transformers.com nor hotwheels.com were pr0n sites!

Plastic crack, sure, but not pr0n.

Glyph wrote:!

Plastic crack, sure, but not pr0n.

Arcee has been moonlighting apparently....

Good news for Transformers fans and Hot Wheels fans. The final case assortment for 2024 (the Q case) has made its way to Walmarts in the US. This case includes the Bumblebee release in a gold deco, which fans have appropriately dubbed as Goldbug. It was found at Walmart by Manny. These gold Bumblebees are 1 per case of 72, but they will be repacked and more abundant in the case assortment following this one. It is not a treasure hunt item.
Also, there is a reported error where the wrong VW base is used (the original, rather than using the new base that shows BB’s head) so that’s another collectible to watch out for.

Manny’s post also said that he found Track Fleet Optimus Prime at Walmart, which many fans are still on the lookout for. The original post comes from the Botposting Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/share/19Mnj3bM ... tid=K35XfP

The Hot Wheels 2025 master list had Optimus Prime listed as castings used in the 2025 main line. SO we knew we'd get a solo release of the Optimus Prime cab. And now we have our first look at it. The "2025" highlighted on the card means this is a new casting and not a reuse of the Trackfleet cab. Here's looking forward to more Transformers appearances in Hot Wheels.

Funny to me the package's art have all these silver details when they're missing on the toys itself, and it's even G1 accurate.

And why are the smoke stacks black?

I wonder what the price is

steve2275 wrote:I wonder what the price is

It appears to be a regular release so it should be $1.18 at Walmart.

Emerje

Can anyone recommend a protective shell for the Track Fleet Optimus Prime?

Emerje wrote:

steve2275 wrote:I wonder what the price is

It appears to be a regular release so it should be $1.18 at Walmart.

Emerje

That is a prime price i will gladly pay

Thanks to Y Team Hot Wheels on Youtube, we have in hand images of the upcoming main line Hot Wheels Optimus Prime cab. This is said to be part of the 2025 case F, which is the same as saying wave 6 2025. Waves 1 and 2 (a and b) have already come out so this should be hitting bins and pegs in late February, early March.









https://youtu.be/4Zav_76uXno?si=e1cU9mtpGhJLXu3k

Oh man, looks like this will be a hassle for collectors. While we were supposed to have the movie inspired Hot Wheels Transformers cars much earlier this year, a recall on Barricade meant the set's distribution was now up in the air. While a new version of Barricade has been available for a while for worldwide distribution, the set has finally been found in the US at the tail end of December. However, it seems Barricade is not part of it. So far, we have reports of these movie cars appearing in various states but no sightings of Barricade. Instead, reports say that there is still a sticker in the back of the card removing Barricade. The new Barricade has been found elsewhere in the world though, like the UK.

Aside from Barricade, the other cars in the set are Crosshairs, Drift, Bumblebee and Stinger. The cards have the names of the cars rather than the characters as that is how Mattel operates and the art on the card is generic Evergreen art to bypass extra licensing costs as Paramount own the movie designs.

We thank Budgieking for sharing their finding

It's a real shame they chose to use Evergreen designs for the packaging.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:It's a real shame they chose to use Evergreen designs for the packaging.

Emerje

Thats what happens when you dont own the designs.
And its something many fans forget too. I see discussions online about fans wishing Hasbro would give the movie license to another studio to continue the TFOne film franchise but thats impossible since Paramount owns all movie designs.

HW Prince Hobbies on ebay has been listing dozens of test shots of the new Hot Wheels Optimus Prime with various paints and wheels. It doesnt mean any of these will become real products later but the combos are fun to see. We also get our best look yet at the Optimus Prime head found under this Hot Wheels cab. You can see several of the test shots below along with some of Bumblebee. And from what you can see, sone of these are going for a lot of money, like the G1 Sentinel Prime looking deco going for over $400.

Autobots, DON'T transform. Just roll out, and taste the painbow!

Ooooh, candy flavored Prime.

These are most likely them testing out some paint options for the diecast part and slapping off any random wheels they have around and the existing blue "legs". They are an interesting mix with the obvious "dead", Nemesis and SG along with some that look like BAPE repaints, but what's more surprising is the lack of a white one.

Emerje

We finally have confirmation that the new Optimus Prime Hot Wheels die cast car will be in the F case, coming in a couple of months (distribution is currently underway in Malaysia). Luckily, Optimus is packed 2 per case, so he will be much easier to find than Bumblebee. Below you can see a full case breakdown so that you can have an idea of the other cars in the same case.

We also have reviews of the model. What's cool is someone

Case Breakdown



Review



Easter Egg

Well that's unexpected. Going to all the trouble to make a fully sculpted interior and including a matrix that no-one would normally ever see is pretty cool.

The sculpted seats makes sense in case the tinted windows end up being less tinted and you can see into the cab, but the matrix on the floor is obscured from every angle so is completely unnecessary.

That attention to detail awesome.

I’ve been a Hot Wheels collector for a while now, and this is actually fairly common. There’s a few casting that have engine details completely obscured by the die-cast body

For those anticipating the new Hot Wheels Track Fleet Ultra Magnus, it has been found at Target in the US. It was found by Lody666 in Texas. Speaking of Trackfleet, we now have images comparing the new 2025 Optimus Prime Hot Wheels toy to the 2024 Trackfleet Optimus Prime. As it turns out, the Trackfleet version's cab is much smaller.

The 2025 mainline Optimus Prime also has more details, like vents at the top of the cab. You can check out comparison images below, courtesy of GT2 who got a test copy (hence why it's a different color from the retail release we will get in a couple months).

I've never seen Track Fleet of any kind at Target or Walmart, not even a tag on the pegs. Others have said the same thing...

Emerje

Emerje wrote:I've never seen Track Fleet of any kind at Target or Walmart, not even a tag on the pegs. Others have said the same thing...

Emerje

Did you try over in the TV/Movie merch area near the DVDs? I've found Transformers & other IP vehicles plopped over there instead of with the toys before.

Kyleor wrote:

Emerje wrote:I've never seen Track Fleet of any kind at Target or Walmart, not even a tag on the pegs. Others have said the same thing...

Emerje

Did you try over in the TV/Movie merch area near the DVDs? I've found Transformers & other IP vehicles plopped over there instead of with the toys before.

I scour that section, usually trying to match clearance tags to the mess of stuff thrown on the shelves. I've never seen Hot Wheels over there.

Emerje