{"id":56802,"date":"2021-06-09T19:40:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T19:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/?p=56802"},"modified":"2021-06-09T19:40:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T19:40:26","slug":"collection-update-just-finished-the-hot-wheels-volkswagen-t1-panel-collection-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/?p=56802","title":{"rendered":"Collection Update: Just finished the Hot Wheels VOLKSWAGEN T1 PANEL collection \u2014 for now!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oh, to be able to go back in time and scoop up all the little orange Reese\u2019s Pieces buses from the Hershey\u2019s Pop Culture series in 2012\u2026<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what collectors wish they had done 9 years ago as the once easily attainable\u00a0#Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus<\/a>\u00a0has risen in value \u2014 across the board. As with any Hot Wheels casting that has releases valued in the triple digits, it\u2019s always fun to see what collectors thought of the casting before it was a flipper\u2019s dream. This orange Reese\u2019s Pieces bus didn\u2019t sit long in those grocery store shippers that held the 2012 Pop Culture \/ Hershey\u2019s series, but it wasn\u2019t immediately scooped up either. It was a new casting making its debut in the line collector\u2019s have deemed the \u201cReal Riders donor line\u201d, and most of the reason non-VW collectors even looked at the casting was because of the value the\u00a0#Volkswagen Drag Bus<\/a>\u00a0had at the time. Today, the story is much different as the Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus has been rising up the collector charts, as it is slowly becoming a collector-favorite and a golden goose for Mattel.<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus from the 2012 Pop Culture \/ Hershey\u2019s Series (Reese\u2019s Pieces deco)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I have no idea why I haven\u2019t posted any\u00a0#Collection Updates<\/a>\u00a0as of the last 7 months or so, but it isn\u2019t to say I have been completing Hot Wheels casting collections. Rather, the contrary \u2014 I ramped up my buying in 2020 and have some really cool collections to share in 2021. One of my larger purchases\u2026 the Reese\u2019s Pieces\u00a0#Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus<\/a>\u00a0above.<\/p>\n

See the going rate for the Reese\u2019s Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

At the end of 2019, I found myself really digging this casting despite the fact that all but 4 of its releases have been in\u00a0#Pop Culture<\/a>. Having all sorts of brands and characters and bands on the side have not done this casting any favors, but that isn\u2019t to say there aren\u2019t some cool releases. In the eyes of most collectors, the variants could have been better without.<\/p>\n

Three early releases that I really like (all Pop Culture) are the Super Mario World, Kermit the Frog, and the Wolfman buses. Released in 2013, 2014, and 2015 these came out at a time when the\u00a0#Pop Culture<\/a>\u00a0line had seemingly better graphics without the more \u201cpixelated\u201d look of today. Plus, the colors tend to really stand out \u2014 especially the satin green on the Kermit one, which was actually the last one I received to complete my collection (for now).<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus \u2013 Pop Culture \u2013 2015 Super Mario World, 2013 Universal Monsters (The Wolfman), and 2014 Muppets (Kermit the Frog)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Anything\u00a0#Super Mario<\/a>\u00a0& Hot Wheels related, I am essentially buying\u2026. and The Wolfman graphics on the dark blue\u00a0#Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus<\/a>\u00a0is totally rad. I actually remember seeing that\u00a0it was designed by a contract graphic designer<\/a>\u00a0by the name of Jason Goad back in 2013.<\/p>\n

Of course, we can\u2019t bring up the early releases of this casting without talking about the\u00a0#Grateful Dead<\/a>\u00a0release from 2014. Hands-down it is one of my favorites. The black & gold color combination is killer and \u2014 while I am not a Dead Head \u2014 I could easily envision this sitting outside one of their shows. It was a great point in this line when car culture met pop culture.\u00a0#The Beatles<\/a>\u00a0Abbey Road<\/em>\u00a0release in 2019 was cool, but it surely does not have the presence the Grateful Dead one has.<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus \u2013 2019 Pop Culture \/ The Beatles & 2014 Pop Culture \/ Grateful Dead<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The first non-#Pop Culture<\/a>\u00a0release came in 2017 when Hot Wheels did their first streetwear collab with\u00a0Illest<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Fatlace<\/a>. To this day, this is probably the most realistic design that\u2019s been done on the\u00a0#Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus<\/a>, but I suppose that is because it was modeled after Fatlace founder,\u00a0Mark Arcenal\u2019s real-life T1<\/a>. It is certainly underrated as I don\u2019t often hear too many collectors talking about it.<\/p>\n

Find the Fatlace Bus for sale today<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus from the 2017 Illest drop (Fatlace deco)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Speaking of cool releases, one that quickly became a favorite of mine is the \u201cHot Wheels Convention\u201d release which should have been the finale car at the 2020 Collectors Convention in Los Angeles. Neither convention in 2020 ended up happening because of COVID-19, which is disappointing to say the least as we will simply have to imagine the look and reaction collectors would have had walking into the finale event on that Saturday night in October, and receiving this well-designed tribute piece that gives a modern look to the vintage Flying Colors design.<\/p>\n

Quick Link! Find the Finale release for sale.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus from the 2020 Hot Wheels Collectors Convention (Finale Car)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I mentioned that only four of the casting\u2019s 19-known releases haven\u2019t been released in\u00a0#Pop Culture<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 these are the other two: the\u00a0#Mooneyes<\/a>\u00a0#Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus<\/a>\u00a0from 2018\u2019s Car Culture \/ Cargo Carriers series, and the\u00a0#Urbaw Outlaw<\/a>\u00a0release from 2020 Hot Wheels Boulevard. The Mooneyes bus now has a livery trio as the\u00a0#Kool Kombi<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0#Volkswagen Drag Bus<\/a>\u00a0have been released since, with the same deco. The Urban Outlaw bus has its own livery army as Hot Wheels has done quite a few Magnus Walker collabs over the last several years.<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus \u2013 2018 Car Culture \/ Cargo Carriers (Mooneyes deco) & 2020 Boulevard (Magnus Walker Urban Outlaw deco)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Some collectors may shrug as we get back into the\u00a0#Pop Culture<\/a>\u00a0releases of the casting, but these are certainly not to be dismissed. The\u00a0#Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus<\/a>\u00a0has been released in two separate DC Comics series, with both releases featuring\u00a0#Superman<\/a>. The red one from 2016 features the artwork of comic book artist, Frank Miller, while the seafoam green one features fellow comic artist, Alex Ross.<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus \u2013 DC Comics \/ Superman \u2013 2016 & 2018 Pop Culture \u2013 Frank Miller & Alex Ross<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Unique colors make any casting collection fun to collect as that dates back to the redline days of assembling \u201crainbows\u201d. With the 2016 Star Trek 50th Anniversary release and the 2018 Disney release, this collection checks off olive green and dark purple. The Snow White design on the Disney release has a really cool roof design and looks great in dark purple on gray turbine real riders. And, on the Star Trek release, the fact that Leonard Nimoy is giving the side-eye makes me laugh.<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus \u2013 Pop Culture \u2013 2016 Star Trek 50th Anniversary (Leonard McCoy) and 2018 Disney (Snow White)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As with any Hot Wheels casting collection, there tend to be the releases you just don\u2019t like. It\u2019s probably because they are all in the same color and that has adverse effects on the casting collection rainbow. I\u2019m thinking my critique of these may contain a bit of bias. Either way, The Wasp (from Women of Marvel) and Scooby-Doo! were both released in 2017\u00a0#Pop Culture<\/a>\u00a0so one has to wonder if these were pre-printed in the same color to save money. Of course, that assumption is ludicrous, but that\u2019s what some collectors thought at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus \u2013 Pop Culture \u2013 2017 Women of Marvel (The Wasp), 2020 Rick & Morty, 2017 Scooby-Doo!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Rick & Morty release was the most recent as it was released at the end of 2020. It is cool to see another fan-base exposed to Hot Wheels collecting, but I don\u2019t think it does much for the Hot Wheels collectors who aren\u2019t fans of the show.<\/p>\n

Complete your Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus Collection\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

To complete a casting collection, you must collect them all, and there are certainly a good number of great looking releases of the Hot Wheels\u00a0#Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus<\/a>. We know of at least two more variants that will be released in 2021 \u2014 both Pop Culture, no surprise there \u2014 as there will be a Masters of the Universe one, and a Speed Shop Garage one that has a KONI deco. I love that I made the decision to go back and collect this casting as all the variants of it are making for a nice rainbow of a collection. Plus, it is slowly becoming one of my more favorite\u00a0#VW<\/a>\u00a0Hot Wheels castings.\u00a0What is your favorite release of this casting so far?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Hot Wheels Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus \u2013 Group Shot (January 2021)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh, to be able to go back in time and scoop up all the little orange Reese\u2019s Pieces buses from the Hershey\u2019s Pop Culture series in 2012\u2026 That\u2019s what collectors wish they had done 9 years ago as the once easily attainable\u00a0#Volkswagen T1 Panel Bus\u00a0has risen in value \u2014 across the board. As with any […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[584],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diecast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56804,"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56802\/revisions\/56804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supremediecast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}