Grass Hopper

Grass Hopper
Debut series	1971 Hot Wheels
Produced	1971, 1974, 1975, 2010 (as Mountian Goat)
Designer	Larry Wood
Number	6461

Description

The Grass Hopper is a Hot Wheels casting designed by Larry Wood which debuted in the 1971 Hot Wheels range of vehicles. It is based on the tried & true Willys MB US Army Jeep. It is a modified 'hot-rodded' version with not one, but two blown V8 engines. One in the front and one in the rear bed. It features a removable white plastic roof and an assortment of tools cast into the side of the vehicle: pick, shovel, canteen, gas can, tool box etc.

Its initial release was only manufactured at the USA production facility and all came with a black interior and a light-gray tinted glass. It came packaged with a metal or plastic 'collectors button'. 

It was painted in a variety of Spectraflame colors. Due to shade differences in the Spectraflame painting process, the existence of Spectraflame Olive and Spectraflame Brown versions receive skepticism by collectors. It is unknown whether they are separate colors rather than darker shades of Spectraflame Yellow and Spectraflame Red.

In 1974, the Grass Hopper was re-tooled without the second rear engine and removable roof, and in 1975 it was re-tooled again without any engines. Both the 1974 and 1975 versions also had the tools removed. The 1975 version was released in Italy by Mebetoys in a small cardboard box.

In 1975, a modified version was released called the Gun Slinger. This vehicle was modeled after the 1975 version with no blown motors, except this time it had an enormous machine gun mounted in the rear.

The Grass Hopper was re-tooled and re-released in 2010 for the HotWheelsCollectors.com Series 9 Neo Classics. It was modeled after the 1974 version with only one motor and renamed 'Mountain Goat'.

1971 Versions

The Grass Hopper has come out in the following 1/64 scale versions:

Year	Series	Color	Stickers	Base Color	Window Color	Interior Color	Wheel Type	Toy #	Country	Notes / Variations	Photo
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Light Blue		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA	Hard to Find
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Blue		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Aqua		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Green		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Light 'Apple' Green		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Olive		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA	Speculative
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Yellow		Unpainted / Metal	Smoke tint	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Red		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Rose		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Pink		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Salmon		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Purple		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Magenta		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Brown		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA	Speculative
1971	1971 Hot Wheels	Spectraflame Yellow		Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Black)	Black	RL	6461	USA

1974 Versions

The Grass Hopper has come out in the following 1/64 scale versions:

Year	Series	Color	Tampo	Base Color	Window Color	Interior Color	Wheel Type	Toy #	Country	Notes / Variations	Photo
1974	1974 Flying Colors	Enamel Light Green	Orange Stripe with 'Grass Hoppper' on side	Unpainted / Metal	Tinted (Blue)	Black	RL	7622	Hong Kong

1975 Versions

The Grass Hopper has come out in the following 1/64 scale versions:

Year	Series	Color	Tampo	Base Color	Window Color	Interior Color	Wheel Type	Toy #	Country	Notes / Variations	Photo
1975	1975 Flying Colors	Enamel Light Green	Orange Stripe with 'Grass Hoppper' on side	Black / Plastic	Tinted (Blue)	Black	RL	7622	Hong Kong

2010 Re-tooled 'Mountain Goat' Versions

The Mountain Goat has come out in the following 1/64 scale versions:

Col #	Year	Series	Color	Tampo	Base Color	Window Color	Interior Color	Wheel Type	Toy #	Country	Notes / Variations	Photo
2/6	2010	HWC Series 9 - Neo-Classics	Spectraflame Anti-Freeze Green	Green 'Mountain Goat' graphics on sides	Chrome / Metal	Tinted (Light Blue)	Black	NCRL	R8393	Thailand	5,000 Produced

See also

• Grass Hopper (1974)
• Gun Slinger (1975)

Gallery