Description
The Head Starter is a Hot Wheels original model designed by Ryu Asada. It looks to be based on a vintage Honda race car. It has a large chunk of metal for the engine and a metal base, giving it a good weight. Next to that it bears some similarity to the Hot Wheels Farbs series. Ryu, though, based its design on miniature Japanese toon kits, confirming this on Instagram: “since those old school kits are hard to find, we just made [our version]”.
The Head Starter's driver head is designed to have little plastic on the piece holding it, which causes it to wobble a bit during racing down the track.
Versions
The Head Starter has come out in the following 1/64 scale versions:
Col # | Year | Series | Color | Tampo | Base Color / Type | Rider Color | Engine Color | Wheel Type | Toy # | Country | Notes / Variations | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
145 / 365 | 2017 | Tooned 1/10 | Red | White stripe on top, '11' & various logos on sides & top | Black / Metal | Gold | Unpainted | Gold 5SP | DTX05 | Malaysia | New Model Base code(s): J51, K04 | ![]() |
269 / 365 | 2017 | Tooned 1/10 | White | Red stripe on top, '11' & various logos on sides & top | Black / Metal | Red | Unpainted | Gold 5SP | DVB33 | Malaysia | New Model Base code(s): K17 | ![]() |
14 / 365 | 2018 | Legends of Speed 1/10 | Green | Yellow stripe & '5' on sides & top | Black / Metal | Yellow | Unpainted | Yellow 5SP | FJW05 | Malaysia | Base code(s): K31 | ![]() |
N/A | 2018 | Costco Multipack Exclusive | Blue | Orange stripe & '28' on sides, Skull and Lightning Bolts | Black / Metal | Orange | Unpainted | White RA6 | Malaysia | Base code(s): | ![]() | |
125 / 250 | 2019 | Experimotors 10/10 | Yellow | Blue & White stripe & HW logo on sides & hood, circle flame logo on hood | Metalflake Dark Blue / Metal | Red | Unpainted | Chrome Blue 5SP | FYF93 | Malaysia | Treasure Hunt Base code(s): M03 | ![]() |
60 / 250 | 2020 | Tooned 6/10 | Black | Red, Orange & Yellow stripes around nose, White '22' & HW logo on sides & hood | Black / Metal | Yellow | Unpainted | Yellow 5SP | GHD45 | Malaysia | Base code(s): | ![]() |
2017 card
From the back of the 2017 card:
Born: 2017
Birthplace: El Segundo
Designer: Hot Wheels ®
Specialty: Zooming onto the track with a 3-liter V8 engine, there's nothing old fashioned about this vintage racer. Dominating the track since the 1960s, the Head Starter™ can go so fast it'll make your head wobble!