Dragons and Fangsters and Demons, Oh My!

I'm dedicating today's post to some of the clever creature-inspired cars that Hot Wheels has put out this year. Maybe it's my love of the outrageous or just my empathy for animals, but these kinds of cars wow me every time. I mentioned the Sharkruiser and Hammer Down in a previous post, but I had really looked forward to the release of the above pictured Road Cannibal without even knowing what colors it was going to be. As it turned out, this is by far the best looking incarnation of this casting, which has also gone by the names Grizzlor and Cargoyle in the past. The latter name didn't make much sense to me since it doesn't have wings, but what the heck. I think it looks like a black panther, and the semi-transparent body shines with an unearthly, golden glow thanks to the metallic parts within. It's a real stunner that has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.
On the same day that I found the Road Cannibal, I also found the Double Demon. This one has clearly mechanical joints, so it isn't purely bestial, but thanks to the navy blue, gold and unpainted metal composing it, it is a very sharp car. The dark blue was an especially good choice, as it makes the plastic look less plastic-like. The gold, as above, always lends a touch of class. Once again, this is by far the best-looking incarnation of this vehicle.

This is Fangster, a representation of some sort of lizard-creature. I was disappointed in the overall coloring. The red works, but it wouldn't have been my first choice, in part because the only real red lizard I could find when I did an image search was half red, half royal blue. Don't even get me started on the turquoise pipes and base. It's like they were trying to make it look as silly as possible. But there is one thing I love about this particular release -- the haunting amber eyes. Look into them long enough and you'll begin to see Gollum from Lord of the Rings fame. Previous releases of this car had even worse colors, so I'm hopeful that Hot Wheels will eventually get it right in the future. Might I suggest a dark frog-green with metallic base and pipes?

One of the first animal-like cars I purchased was Howlin' Heat. It was a break-through for me because prior to buying it, I had only planned to add models to my collection that were representative of real cars and concept vehicles. It was my love of dogs and wolves that drove me to get this disembodied head of a car, even though I initially passed it up and had to go back to the store the next day to buy it.

It was also my lifelong love of canines that convinced me to buy the Color Shifters creature car known as Rig Dog. I had no particular interest in Semi-trucks, but one look at those floppy ears and I had to consider it. I especially like the way it looks as if it's chewing on the front tires. I did seek out the version that is red at room temperature rather than yellow. The contrast looks better, but there's also the fact that my first dog was a red poodle and I loved Clifford the Big Red Dog books as a child.
On the topic of Color Shifters, it takes a very special car to make me want to fork over enough money to buy three regular cars. The only other model that achieved this was the Dragon Blaster. Once again, it has to do with my love of fantasy literature and the special place dragons hold in my heart. That and the fact that this is the first time the Dragon Blaster and Rig Dog have been made available in any form (so far). I selected a dragon that is honey gold with green tones at room temperature accented by yellow wings because I thought it looked the most realistic.
And finally, here's a better look at Rodzilla from Target's Halloween 5-packs that I mentioned recently. Like Double Demon, it has what are clearly mechanical joints, but it is still seriously cool. As for the color, the red is acceptable as it was with Fangster, though I still think black would have been a better choice. Of course it is hard to beat the chrome versions that were available a few years ago. Those suckers were sharp.

Oh well. You know, gold metallic hasn't been done yet...