Hot Wheels 2016 G and H Case

For a few weeks, New Zealand's biggest retailer The Warehouse had a buy one, get one 50% off on all Hot Wheels. I was able to use the sale locally to get some 2016 Entertainment cars, but the 2016 G, H and J cases that were being found by others were no where to be seen locally.

Until the day after the sale, when G and H cases (sadly no J cases) arrived.
Sticking to my self imposed rule of only getting new models (with a few exceptions), my pick ups were somewhat limited, but still included some nice additions to the collection.

Fingers crossed the J case arrives in stores soon, along with maybe the K and L cases as school holidays are just around the corner.

Transformers from Japan and America

As has been the case for many months, the end of the month sees the release of Transformers in Japan with eventual arrival of those items in New Zealand at the start of the following month - this month was no exception, and the parcel from Japan had a friend in the form of some American Transformers arriving a few days before hand.

From the USA, I decided to spend a touch more than local releases would cost in order to make sure I got my hands on Voyager Onslaught so I could form Bruticus and his wave mate Sky Lynx who (despite his flaws) still looks awesome in all three forms.

Arriving from Japan was the second of the five Masterpiece releases releasing at the beginning of the year - MP-28 Hot Rodimus (Hot Rod) who once again looks amazing and comes with a ton of extra accessories to recreate key scenes from Transformers The Move (1986).

Joining Hot Rod was another Decepticon from the Transformers Adventure Line, Megatronus (or simply Megatron) who is great to add to the small but growing line up of Decepticons (but who is completely out of scale with the much much larger Optimus Prime released in 2015).

2016 Hot Wheels Entertainment

Hot Wheels Retro Entertainment (officially just called Entertainment since 2014) has been one of my favourite Hot Wheels series to collect since its introduction in 2013 and has added many cars into the collection. With the reduced number of waves in 2015, I thought the line was on its last legs but thankfully I was wrong as the 2016 release list was published over at Hot Wheels Collectors.

Sadly, the first two mixes of 2016 were mostly rehashes from previous years (a business decision I can understand) and so my rush to import the cases from the USA was reduced as there was a good chance that with the new case assortment code they would be marketed as "new" to distributors meaning they would be sold in New Zealand - well the first wave anyway.

Reading through one of the posts on a New Zealand Hot Wheels Facebook group, I noticed that someone had posted an image of the first 2016 Entertainment wave being found at "The Warehouse" (New Zealand's version of Walmart), and so I made plans the next day to head to those stores at lunch and after work to see what I could find. Later that evening I also received a text message from a collector friend who happens to work at the small Warehouse store just down the road from home advising they had received a case of Entertainment.

The next day, after making my way through 3 branches of the Warehouse, I had my Mix A requirements - a full set along with an opener of the Batman v Superman Batmobile, along with a set for spankymark72 and a set for another New Zealand collector who is currently out of the country.

*Waits for Mix 2*

Matchbox 2016 C Case

Checking out the stores before work, I was surprised to see that all the toys had once again been moved around and as part of the move, the Matchbox section was larger. Flicking through the pegs I quickly came across a 2016 B case car, and then some 2016 C case cars.

Needless to say, the next few minutes had me checking the pegs looking for cars I wanted and then checking others to see if they could be added to the purchase pile.

Fingers crossed that the D or E cases arrive soon, though the amount of cases on the overstock from 2016, 2015 and even 2014 has me worried that this might be it for the rest of the year.

Hot Wheels Mail In RAOK

A day at work is made even better when an email arrives from my good mate in the capital city advising that a parcel was on its way to me.

On opening the box, I was surprised to see a 2015 Kmart Mail In car. Needless to say, many thanks were sent back to my mate in the capital city, along with a return small parcel that I had been meaning to send for a while.

Now to hunt down the rest of the 2015 Mail In cars ... and the 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 ... you get the idea ...

January Transformers

The end of a month is a special time for the collector of Japanese Transformers, as it typically means a release or three for the ever growing collection. January 2016 saw the release a of bunch of new Q-Transformers, another Deception figure of the Transformers Adventure line and the first of many new Masterpiece Transformers for the year.

Q-Transformers have become somewhat of a drug after being purchased as a filler in order to met store minimum purchase numbers, I now look forward to new releases especially now as they have moved away from the same basic transformation.

Finally the Transformers Adventure line has a new on screen Decepticon Warrior figure to join Steeljaw who was released back in the first wave.

2016 is truly the year of the Masterpiece, with five releases in the first four months of 2016 and at least one more new casting already announced to be released. Ironhide is a great addition to the MP Autobot ranks and one I have looked forward to adding to the collection ever since the first grey prototype was shown.