Seared Tuner

Description[]

The Seared Tuner was originally introduced in the 2000 First Editions line-up with the name Sho-Stopper. On the interior piece of this casting is a set of 4 speakers cast into the interior piece. This casting features a chopped roofline, widened bodywork, driver's side air intake on the bonnet, dual exhaust pipes (molded into the base) and heavily modified grille and bumper. From 2005 on, the casting was retooled with the plastic insert on the side removed.

This was Eric Tscherne's first design, created while he was interning at Hot Wheels in 1998. This casting is among the first widely released imported Tuner-type models. The car was also featured on Hot Wheels packaging from late 2000 to 2003. Tscherne says that the car was inspired by numerous tuner cars of the late '90s; not long after first drawing the car, he purchased a Mitsubishi Eclipse, with some lines from said car making it over to this model. The design is also said to be mostly inspired by a Wings West Aggressor-style bodykit. Intended to be "the top of the tuner foodchain", the Seared Tuner is fitted with an AWD drive system and a 2.0L turbocharged inline-4. The original design featured winglets to allow it to "do some fun tricks with certain track pieces".

The name was originally Sho-Stopper, but it was changed to Seared Tuner after legal challenges arose. Over a year after its First Editions release, another toy company producing a line of dolls called Show-Stoppers confronted Mattel, which had the trademark to the name. Mattel changed the name to Seared Tuner (a pun on "seared tuna") to prevent further legal issues; Tscherne called the name "disappointing", calling it "too punny and disrespectful of the culture at the time".

Versions[]

The Seared Tuner has come out in the following versions:

Col #	Year	Series	Color	Tampo	Base Color / Type	Window Color	Interior Color	Wheel Type	Toy #	Country	Notes
087	2000	2000 First Editions 27/36	Light Orange Pearl	Mimicked Carbon Fiber Hood, Red Stripe on Front Fender, HW Logo on rear window	Gray / Plastic	Tinted	Black	3SP	24396	Malaysia	Named Sho-Stopper
								PR5
								5SP
	2000	Avon Super Tuners	Black	Gold & White Tampos with sponsor logos	Black / Plastic	Clear	Gray	3SP	29871	Malaysia
	2001	Washington Auto Show	Gold	Red to Yellow Flames outlines in Blue. Hot Wheels logo on hood	Chrome / Plastic	Clear	Black	PR5	N/A	Malaysia	Came in Baggie. Limited to 2,500.
	2001	Washington Auto Show	Black	Red to Yellow Flames outlines in Blue. Hot Wheels logo on hood	Chrome / Plastic	Clear	Black	PR5	N/A	Malaysia	Came in Baggie. Limited to 7,500.
119	2001	Mainline	Red	Mimicked Carbon Fiber Hood, Yellow Stripe on Front Fender, HW Logo on rear window	Gray / Plastic	Clear	Black	PR5	50649	Malaysia	"Sho Stopper" on base
										China	"Sho Stopper" on base
										Malaysia	"Seared Tuner" on base
										China	"Seared Tuner" on base
	2001	Power Launcher	Red	Mimicked Carbon Fiber Hood, Gray Stripe on Front Fender, HW Logo on rear window	Gray / Plastic	Clear	Black	PR5	47074	Malaysia
	2002	Chuck E. Cheese	White	Various Chuck E. Cheese Tampos	Black / Plastic	Red Tint	Black	Chrome PR5	52698	Thailand
	2001	City Service 5-Pack	Red	Planet Hot Wheels Logo & "Messenger Madness"	Black / Plastic	Clear	Black	3SP	50078	Thailand
084	2002	Yu-Gi-Oh! 2/4	Red	Time Wizard Tampo	Black / Plastic	Yellow Tint	Blue	Gold 5DOT	54363	Malaysia
084	2002	Yu-Gi-Oh! 2/4	Red	Time Wizard Tampo	Black / Plastic	Yellow Tint	Blue	CM5	54363	Malaysia
	2002	Spinnin' Rim	Silver	Stars & Red, White, & Blue Tampos	Gray / Plastic	Black	Gray	3SP	52580	Malaysia
070	2003	Hot Wheels Anime 1/5	Primer Gray	#2 with Various Anime Tampos Kanji Character "速!" Meaning 'Fast' in Japanese	Chrome / Plastic	Green Tint	Blue	Red PR5	57207	China
	2004	Volcano Blast	Black	Yellow to Red Flames outlined in Yellow. Sponsor logos. White square with "Volcano Blast 68" in it.	Chrome / Plastic	Tinted	Red	3SP	B5663	Malaysia
	2005	Spinnin' Rim	Silver	Stars & Red, White, & Blue Tampos	Gray / Plastic	Black	Gray	3SP	52580	Malaysia	Updated tooling
	2007	Clover Cars	Dark Green	St. Patrick's Day & Four-Leaf Clover Tampos	Chrome / Plastic	Clear	Black	10SP	L5733	Malaysia	Wal-Mart Exclusive
	2008	Max Steel 5-Pack	Metalflake Purple	Gray, Pink & Black Graphics, Max Steel Logo	Gray / Plastic	Light Blue Tint	Gray	5DOT	N2086	Malaysia
	2008	Max Steel 5-Pack	Metalflake Purple	Gray, Pink & Black Graphics, Max Steel Logo	Gray / Plastic	Light Blue Tint	Gray	PR5	N2086	Malaysia
	2009	Jurassic Starter Set	Metalflake Yellow	Black, White, Gray & Red Tampos. Dinosaur head fossil, ripped flames	Black / Plastic	Red Tint	Gray	Red Chrome Y5	N4730	Malaysia	Base code(s):