| 07.17.2018 – Just in time for ‘World Emoji Day,” here’s is Hot Wheels version of that expressive character that you use on your mobile phones or when you’re chatting with someone. Mattel’s iconic brand in Hot Wheels has been producing obscure and sometimes interesting cars to keep up with the times. There have probably thousands or even millions of variations of diecast cars that they produced.
For 2017, Hot Wheels has introduced the Emoticar similar to the Emoji, which is an expressive at the same time interesting diecast car. Just like its expressive Emoji, the Emoticar has expression on its own. But you’ll be surprised further why this car needs your affection for anyone who casually find this car interesting. You’ll probably get an idea this is why its named the Emoticar. |
The Emoticar is inspired from the Emoji is ideograms and smileys used in electronic messages and web pages. It was originated in Japan hence the name. Emoji exist in various genres, including facial expressions, common objects, places and types of weather, and animals. They are much like emoticons, but emoji are actual pictures instead of typographics. World Emoji Day is "the brainchild of Jeremy Burge" according to CNBC who stated that "London-based founder of Emojipedia created it" in 2014 that became viral on Twitter the following year.
As part of the 2017 new releases the Emoticar was introduced with two color versions. The first release was a red and blue colored car and then followed with a dark blue with orange tones. The car doesn’t have a driver seat but a face with a rolling function to reveal its expressive emotions. The Emoticar is part of the Experimotors sub-theme, where some interesting Hot Wheels cars were included like a car that has design as a bottle opener or an actual 1/3 wrench to name a few.
This car was designed by Kevin Cao with details and description of the Emoticar can be read below:
The Emoticar is a Hot Wheels original model designed by Kevin Cao with emoticons or emoji in mind. It is designed with a small wheelbase to give it the look of a city car. This car can be used to display your own emotion. A fun feature of this model is the rotatable face. One side of the figure's head has a happy face and the other side has a sad face. Hot Wheels encourages you to design your own faces on the blank sides of the drum (this is also mentioned on the back of the card). Kevin Cao has also hidden some popular emoticons on the car.
There are seven hidden emoticons: happy face with glasses on the front, grumpy skull face on the back, happy face on top of the model, winky eyes on the bottom, squeaky eyes on the bottom, two thumbs up on the bottom, and of course the two faces on the rotatable drum.
This car isn’t entirely made of diecast, the only part that’s metal is its chassis which you can understand why not only for the cost in creating the design. But it’s already common now with plastic as primary material being used on most toys nowadays. The Emoticar would appeal to everyone who are familiar with Emojis based on the description of the car itself and also from Kevin Cao on what went through with its design.
Overall it may not get attention to serious collectors who invest on rare and hard to find diecast cars, but this one is fun for everyone who wants to express themselves with designing with their own Emoji hence the blank parts of the drum. Best idea is use a clear tape so it’s not permanent and can help you replace your previous Emoji expressions.
Currently, Hot Wheels has released a third Emoticar for 2018 in green it features the same idea no running changes aside from the colors. You’ll probably get more interesting ideas if you get all the recent cars and seriously a fun way to celebrate “World Emoji Day.”
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