Review: Hot Wheels Ride-Ons Tanknator 119/250

I'm sure you're wondering why I'm reviewing a non Brick Ride Hot Wheel.  This model dates from 2024 and is a part of the "Ride-Ons" sub-set.  Apparently the idea behind this sub-set is that a "minifig" rider can be attached to the car in some manner.  When I initially looked at it I thought it might be fun for use in a game of Funderdome as it looks like a modified tank.  But it turns out that there are multiple Bar sections that can be used to attach different things to the model.  I haven't had the chance to build anything yet but I'm looking forward to the attempt.  There is an alt-color version of this in Military Green.

Package. I paid $1.50 at Stop & Shop for this.

Back of package.  If you read that big text

box you'll figure out why I purchased this.

"Assembled."

Action.  The turret can 

rotate a full 360 degrees.

Attachment Points.  There are eight attachment points for Clips on this model.

Also a 2x2 Round Brick fits in the turret.  It's fairly snug but you can fit eight

Plates underneath that brick just in case.  Which makes the distance from

the bottom of the cavity to the top of the turret roughly three Bricks deep.

Size Comparison.  

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Zero. (-5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: 0 (B).  It's a neat looking model, cheap, and a complete blank slate to build on.  But there's only two different colored versions and you'll need a stockpile of parts to turn this into a game-ready Frame.

Review: Mega Bloks HKF93 Hot Wheels Audi R8 LMS GT2

It's been a while since I've done a regular Mega Construx review but I grabbed this the other day in Wegman's so let's take a look.  For some reason this is part of the Canadian Hot Wheels line, not the American.  Weird.  Probably good that I grabbed it then.  This is the first Medium-sized(?) Hot Wheels set I've reviewed specifically based off a real world car.

Box.  I paid $12.99, for a $0.18 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  Rounded Tile w/Studs, Printed Wedge w/Cutout, Windscreen,

 Printed Tail, Inverted Slopes w/Cutout, Bracket, Printed Double

 Studless Slopes, Panel w/Studs, Modified Plate w/Projection.

Parts 2.  Vehicle Base, Printed Mudguards, Wheels, Plates, Mudguards, Bricks, Door Rail Plates, Steering Wheel, Axle Plates, Triple Curved

Slopes, Wedge Studless Slopes, Wedge Plate, Slope, Studless

Slopes, Bar Plate, Tiles, Jumper, Brackets, and Slope w/Cutout.

Package.  This is the bag for the second set of parts.  A little overkill.  Speaking

of parts -- including the instructions and the minfig -- I only count 70 pieces.  ??

Build. IO Cruiser.  I just had an idea on how to make this a little better.

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Above.  (-10)  (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +5 (B+).  I find the number of parts with odd dimensions in this set interesting.  I'll have to keep an eye out for more copies.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides Review & Postscript

This was just going to be a postscript look at the Brick Rides/Experimotors sub-sets from Hot Wheels and how they relate to Rapid Attack but I found another car from an old release so I turned it into a review as well.

Package. I paid $1.50 at Stop & Shop for this.

Disassembled.  Body, Windscreen, and Engine.

The Windscreen piece could represent

Defense or Spotting. The Engine piece could

represent Artillery, Movement or Spotting.

Assembled.  These models don't have an attachment point on the front.  A

Stud will fit in to the negative spaces but there isn't enough clutch to hold it

in place.  There's also a "blank" spot on the left side of the chassis common

to all of the HW/MB models.  I figure that's the injection point for the mold.

Size Comparison.  This seems to have a similar volume to a Chub.

Build.  So this is what it looks like with the engine piece swapped

out and a few Lego pieces added in.  Soldier archetype: 2Rd

[gun] 1B [armor plate] 1G [supercharger] 1Y [antenna].  All

Systems are White and consist of two pieces.  Flickr page.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Two. (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  All the things I've said about the previous models holds true here.  I think this model is a little less useful than the others with only two attachment points on the sides of the car but it makes up for that by having six possible variations that I've seen online.

Now that I've reviewed all of the base models for the Brick Rides, I want to look at all of them together.  Of the 21(?) alternates available ten of them can be found in the "Experimotors" category.  The Custom Small Block has the most variations.  I've managed to find all of the ones from 2022 and 2023, but I'm betting the remaining two from 2021 will be harder to find.  It'd be awesome if they released two more in 2024, that way you could put together a squad of eight with just one car design.  There are four Bricking Speeds, four Bricking Trails, and four Brick and Motor so a combination of those three could get you a full squad of eight if you manage to find them all.  There are three Brickin' Delivery so far.  Hopefully there will be another in 2024 to round out the selection.

I think the tail piece from the 2023 Dark Red Bricking Speed, also

the jets, and skull plate from the Brick and Motors are the most 

useful parts in terms of looks and color.  Although engine piece

from  the 2022 Bricking Speed, the tire from the Bricking Trail

and the engine from this review all come in Bright Light Yellow

so you could have matching System pieces with a little bit of work.

All in all using these depends on which cars you have access to, the extra pieces you have access to, and how much work you're willing to put in to get them table ready.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 7

I was alerted to the existence of this model by Shades Corvid on one of the Discord serves we hang out on.  This is new for 2024.  As you can see by the package this isn't part of the "Brick Rides" or "Experimotors" sub-groups.  According to the Hot Wheels wiki all the models in the "HW Metro" sub-group haven't been released and/or discovered, so I don't know if an alt-color version of this exists.

Package. I paid $1.19 at Target for this.

Disassembled.  Wind Screen, Box, and

Base.  The Box could represent Defense

or Movement.  The Windscreen could

represent Defense or Spotting. Or, you could

use these pieces to represent White Dice.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.  These seem to

have a similar volume to a Chub.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Two. (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  The parts in this set are kind of big and bulky.  The base could make for a good Movement system for another Frame though.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 6?

While shopping at Wegman's I came across one of the 2024 Hot Wheels/Mega Bloks crossover vehicles, the Dark Blue one.  I found the other one at Target almost two months later after seeing hints of its existence on the Hot Wheels wiki.

Package. I paid $1.29 at Wegman's for one of these.

Disassembled. Body, Engines, and Skull Tile. The

Engines could represent Direct Fire, Artillery, Movement

or Spotting. The Skull Tile could represent Defense.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.  These seem to have a similar volume to a Chub.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Two. (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  All the things I've said about the previous models holds true here.  I really like the attachments it comes with.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 1

I finally tracked down the last of the base models for this Hot Wheels subset.  Shades Corvid brought the whole thing to my attention over on Discord back around October of last year.  The number in the title refers to the first of the numbers in the (#) of (#) on the side of the package rather than the iteration of the review.  This is not the first time Hot Wheels has crossed over with Mega Bloks.  They are owned by the same company after all.  One good thing about this release is it seems that each one has two different color palettes, which is bad for collectors but good for army builders.  Anyway.  I'll be doing these out of order as I track them down.  I'll also be using the non-building block rating system for these as I feel like that's the best fit.

Package. I paid $1.89 at Playnow for these.  (Which is

the highest price of the five locations where I've

purchased these.  The average price is roughly $1.40.)

Disassembled.  Body, Windscreen, and Spare Tire.  The

windscreen could be Melee, Defense, or Spotting.  The spare

tire could be Direct Fire, Defense, Movement, or Spotting.

Assembled.   There are attachment points

on three of the four sides of the body.

Size Comparison.  These seem to

have a similar volume to a Chub.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Two. (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  These are inexpensive and can be found in multiple retail outlets.  They're only a small handful of pieces but should an easy access point for people new to the game or with limited resources.  You'll need some polybags -- or Bricklink/PaB orders -- to make Systems and depending on where you get these that might be an easy additional purchase.  I guess what I'm trying to say is the score doesn't really represent the potential utility of these items.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 2

Shades Corvid brought these to my attention over on Discord.  The number in the title refers to the first of the numbers in the (#) of (#) on the side of the package rather than the iteration of the review.  This is not the first time Hot Wheels has crossed over with Mega Bloks.  They are owned by the same company after all.  One good thing about this release is it seems that each one has two different color palettes, which is bad for collectors but good for army builders.  Anyway.  I'll be doing these out of order as I track them down.  I'll also be using the non-building block rating system for these as I feel like that's the best fit.

Package. I paid $1.50 at Stop & Shop for these.

Disassembled.  Body, Windscreen, and Engine.  The Windscreen

piece could represent Defense or Spotting. The Engine

piece could represent Artillery, Movement or Spotting.

Assembled.  These models don't have an attachment point on the front.

Size Comparison.  These seem to have a similar volume to a Chub.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Two. (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  All the things I've said about the other models holds true here.  I think this model is a little less useful than the others but it makes up for that by having six variations that I've seen online.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 5

Shades Corvid brought these to my attention over on Discord.  The number in the title refers to the first of the numbers in the (#) of (#) on the side of the package rather than the iteration of the review.  This is not the first time Hot Wheels has crossed over with Mega Bloks.  They are owned by the same company after all.  One good thing about this release is it seems that each one has two different color palettes, which is bad for collectors but good for army builders.  Anyway.  I'll be doing these out of order as I track them down.  I'll also be using the non-building block rating system for these as I feel like that's the best fit.

Package. I paid $1.19 at Target for these.  As you can see there are older

versions from 2022 that have either a different base color or secondary 

markings that make them slightly different from the ones from this year.

Which would allow you to assemble a squad of four of these models

with the same base and put them on the table at the same time.

Disassembled 1.  Body, Tail, and Engine.  The Tail piece could

represent Melee, Defense, or Movement.  The Engine piece

could represent Direct Fire, Artillery, Movement or Spotting.

These are also the first attachments to feature plain Studs.

 

Disassembled 2. Body, Tail, and Engine. The Tail piece could

represent Melee, Defense, or Movement. The Engine piece

could represent Direct Fire, Artillery, Movement or Spotting.

Assembled 1.  As you can see the Tail piece fits on both ends of the Body.

Assembled 2.  2Rh/1G (left), 1B/1Y (right).

Size Comparison.  These seem to have a similar volume to a Chub.
 

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Two. (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  These are inexpensive and can be found in multiple retail outlets.  They're only a small handful of pieces but should an easy access point for people new to the game or with limited resources.  You'll need some polybags -- or Bricklink/PaB orders -- to make Systems and depending on where you get these that might be an easy additional purchase.  I guess what I'm trying to say is the score doesn't really represent the potential utility of these items.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 4

Shades Corvid brought these to my attention over on Discord.  The number in the title refers to the first of the numbers in the (#) of (#) on the side of the package rather than the iteration of the review.  This is not the first time Hot Wheels has crossed over with Mega Bloks.  They are owned by the same company after all.  One good thing about this release is it seems that each one has two different color palettes, which is bad for collectors but good for army builders.  Anyway.  I'll be doing these out of order as I track them down.  I'll also be using the non-building block rating system for these as I feel like that's the best fit.

Package. I paid $1.18 at Walmart for these.

Disassembled.  Body, Engines, and Skull Tile.  The

Engines could represent Direct Fire, Artillery, Movement

or Spotting.  The Skull Tile could represent Defense.

Assembled.  There are attachment points

on three of the four sides of the body.

Size Comparison.  These seem to
have a similar volume to a Chub.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Two. (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  These are inexpensive and can be found in multiple retail outlets.  They're only a small handful of pieces but should an easy access point for people new to the game or with limited resources.  You'll need some polybags -- or Bricklink/PaB orders -- to make Systems and depending on where you get these that might be an easy additional purchase.  I guess what I'm trying to say is the score doesn't really represent the potential utility of these items.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 3

Shades Corvid brought these to my attention over on Discord.  The number in the title refers to the first of the numbers in the (#) of (#) on the side of the package rather than the iteration of the review.  This is not the first time Hot Wheels has crossed over with Mega Bloks.  They are owned by the same company after all.  One good thing about this release is it seems that each one has two different color palettes, which is bad for collectors but good for army builders.  Anyway.  I'll be doing these out of order as I track them down.  I'll also be using the non-building block rating system for these as I feel like that's the best fit.

Package. I paid $1.25 at Dollar Tree for these.

Disassembled.  Wind Screen, Box, and Base.  The Box could represent

 Defense or Movement.  The Windscreen could represent Defense or

 Spotting.  Or, you could use these pieces to represent White Dice.

Assembled.  There are attachment points on three of the four sides of the base.  You can see this in the next picture.  This is something I find odd.

Size Comparison.  These seem to

have a similar volume to a Chub.

The Questions:

Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? Two. (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? No. (-5)
Score: +5 (B+).  These are inexpensive and can be found in multiple retail outlets.  They're only a small handful of pieces but should an easy access point for people new to the game or with limited resources.  You'll need some polybags -- or Bricklink/PaB orders -- to make Systems and depending on where you get these that might be an easy additional purchase.  I guess what I'm trying to say is the score doesn't really represent the potential utility of these items.

Review: Mega Bloks GVM30 Hot Wheels Muscle Bound

I know Mega Bloks isn't a company that has long shelf life for some of their products but it looks like this set has already been discontinued from the Hot Wheels line.

Box.  MSRP was $9.99, for a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  Mod. Plate(3x4/5x5/3x4 w/2x5 indent).

   

Parts 2.  Wheels, Printed Double Triple-Curved Wedge, Printed

Studless Slope, Transparent Modified Plate 2x5 w/Studs

on Side, Transparent Windscreen, and Printed Panels.

Parts 3.  Axle Plates, Bricks, Plates, Triple Curve Slope,

Steering Wheel, Inverted Slopes, Inverted Slopes w/Cutout,

Studless Wedge, Clip Plates, Slope w/Cutout, Brackets, Bars

w/Panel, Corner Plates, Wedge Tile, and Double Jumpers. 

Parts 4. Wedge w/Cutouts, Mudguards,

and Modified Plate 2x5 w/Studs on Side.

Parts 5.  Plates, Jumper, Tall Cheese Slope, Tile, Transparent Corrugated Tiles, Cheese Slopes, Transparent Slope w/Cutout, Slope w/Cutout, Large Cheese Slopes, Plates w/Angled Wedge, Plates w/Wedge, and Brackets.

Build.  IO Cruiser.  This might actually fit in with my 13th Fleet.

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  At.  (0)  (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +15 (A).  The Metallic Olive Green parts are what sells this set for me.  I think the only other one with that color parts is the Aristo Rat.