To my way of thinking, the Hot Wheels is nice enough that it isn't worth the extra gelt one would have to spend for the CMC. I think they could have done a bit better with the wheels however.
I agree Eddie, when I did the side by side on their SWB's the niceties that the CMC offers begins to make you question if the upgrades are truly worth 2-4x the price.
Sadly, on the 250's California's they had the best wire wheels but then they made them inferior in later releases which I am assuming is a cost cutting measure. That's a bad move on their part if they want to take business away from Kyosho and CMC.
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Hmm...about the wire wheels on the Elite 250 SWB, I thought it was just me. But it does look terrible. The wire wheels on my older Elite 250 GTO however is super awesome - almost Kyosho level.
To my way of thinking, the Hot Wheels is nice enough that it isn't worth the extra gelt one would have to spend for the CMC. I think they could have done a bit better with the wheels however.
I agree Eddie, when I did the side by side on their SWB's the niceties that the CMC offers begins to make you question if the upgrades are truly worth 2-4x the price.
Sadly, on the 250's California's they had the best wire wheels but then they made them inferior in later releases which I am assuming is a cost cutting measure. That's a bad move on their part if they want to take business away from Kyosho and CMC.
[/quote]
Hmm...about the wire wheels on the Elite 250 SWB, I thought it was just me. But it does look terrible. The wire wheels on my older Elite 250 GTO however is super awesome - almost Kyosho level.
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You can not compare them. Kyosho had the best molded spoke wheels of anyone on their 250GTO. Mattel made their 250GTO with aluminum rims and photo etched spokes. Out of the two I liked Kyosho's better. But then Mattel put out the 250 California with wheels that were molded from plastic and were at least as good as Kyosho's if not better. And this is what is being discussed here. If they had the perfect wheels, why they made new ones for the 250 GTSWB that are worst than the ones they already had. Makes absolutely no sense.
They have done it before too. If you take the 575M it has the correct design on its wheels, but they are just executed wrong, which makes them look smaller and just off. Then they made the 575GTZ which in one of its variations has stock 575M wheels. For that model they made them perfect. Almost a year later they made an Elite version of the 575M and put on it the first wheels that were off. Go figure. But that is Mattel.
Either way I am happy with the amount of new releases that they offer per year, so I am not complaining. Over all they have considerably stepped up their game and they are still affordable.
I just got the red one from that Amazon sale ($45 shipped!). Its a very nice model. I do think the wheels look better in person than in pics, but as mentioned, they're nowhere near as good as the 250 California wheels. The California also has a better steering wheel, IMO.
$45 shipped is an insane deal. It worries me when I see new cars going for this cheap (does it mean no one is interested in it or is the retailer distressed?). Glad you got it Gavin and like it.
Thanks Tony...I'd been wanting that model since it was announced as the CMC was out of my budget. Pre-pro pics scared me a bit, but I'm very happy with it.
I just got the red one from that Amazon sale ($45 shipped!). Its a very nice model. I do think the wheels look better in person than in pics, but as mentioned, they're nowhere near as good as the 250 California wheels. The California also has a better steering wheel, IMO.
Glad you picked it up. I am actually really surprised the seller still has a bunch of $45 (with shipping) Elites left. It's been close to a month now and I figured at those prices, they'd be all sold-out by now. The wheel isn't too much of a concern for me as I rarely actually observe my models up close. The thing that Elite did extremely well on this model is the paint - of all the Elites I have, I think this has the best paint job (the paint is really smooth and luscious).
Here is the new Hot Wheels Elite 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB in deep blue
The paint is very deep, almost zero orange peel (which is a feat in dark colors), and evenly applied (no bleed through).
This by itself would have made my day, BUT….
The engine! In my opinion, the BEST Hot Wheels has EVER done!!!! I know their 250 Cal's were really good but this is even one step above that. Absolutely gives the CMC 250 SWB a good run for the money.
If CMC were to release the 250 SWB today it'd probably cost $400 usd so to get this quality for ÂĽ of that price makes it the deal of 2012. Guys, I can't recommend this car enough.
I compared the two makers side by side (CMC in red, Hot Wheels in blue), you tell me if I am wrong.
I know some people thought that the Elite had "truck tires". They don't look any worse than CMC's imho. Also, the front ride heights are near identical. My guess is that Hot Wheels had the CMC in the office during development.
The rear ride height, is much higher on the Elite, not sure why and not sure who is more accurate.
The interior looks pretty good for the price and at minimum not a step back which is relief. They still need to work on the wood steering wheels.
The exhaust tips are fantastic and look every nearly as good as the CMC's and even have the red band which is found on the 1:1 and missing on the CMC
The front grill is photo-etched and one of the best ever, much better than on the 250 California's. View attachment 62968
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