Colin's Toybox: Hot Wheels Chevrolet Vega

I'll say this; Hot Wheels has been on a freakin' roll this past few years. Just five, six years ago, I thought all hope was lost. Hardnozed cars, Fatbax cars, hoards and hoards of unwanted fantasy cars sure to whet the appetite of four year olds everywhere-- not really a good time to be a Hot Wheels fan if you desired replicas of real cars, classic and otherwise. But, apparently, in 2009 and 2010, Mattel seeked the actual gearhead audience back-- and it shows. Recent efforts to tool new classic cars has worked tremendously. I remember writing on a diecast board back in 2007 that I would love a Hot Wheels Vega and/or Ford Maverick.
Welp, last week, I showed you my Maverick collection. This Sunday, I bring you this; okay, so this rendition isn't exactly stock-- and Hot Wheels knows that. It's formally called the "Custom V8 Vega", I think. The color choices are pretty neat, too. I have a maroon one which is not shown here, and I honestly think that's the one I probably like most. The yellow and black one is pretty awesome, but.. yellow and black is a rather cliche color scheme, especially on a GM muscle car of this era. The blue scheme is decent, too, save for a little shortfall; the wheels are.. not quite what I'd want on a Vega of any sort. I much prefer the standard five spokes on the yellow car.
After looking at the back of a Vega, and then comparing it to the 2010+ Camaro, I realized something; I'm starting to think the Vega was the inspiration behind the newmaro's taillights, and not the '69 Camaro. Overall, the detailing on this little replica is quite good, and about what I would expect from Hot Wheels; sure there is a lack of grille and overall fascia detailing (the plastic is molded into the interior/chassis), but honestly in this scale, I think exquisite detail would just result in clutter. I'm extremely happy that these Vegas exist, and but I am more thankful that enough people inside the company wanted these made to warrant building it. Surely, this is one of Mattel's better decisions.