I’m calling them Hot Wheels 2-point “oh wow.”
The little toy cars have been all the rage for, well, pretty much forever. Over the years we’ve gotten so many new additions to the Hot Wheels lineup that it would take a day just list them all, but with its latest update, Mattel just made Hot Wheels smarter than they’ve ever been.
“Hot Wheel id” is the biggest overhaul of Hot Wheels toys ever, giving them a digital makeover with app connectivity, ridiculously cool stat tracking, and other virtual goodies.
The biggest news here is that Hot Wheels id cars can actually, seriously, race. The classic die-cast toys now have built-in NFC tags and work hand-in-hand with the new Hot Wheels id app (available for iOS today, and coming soon to Android).
Kids can the car on a smartphone or tablet to read the imaginary vehicle identification number, and the car gets downloaded to their “garage,” or personal collection. From there, the app you can track the performance of the car including stats on car speed while racing and lap tracking. There are also special challenges to complete and hundreds of races to take part in, with Mattel adding even more soon.
The new Hot Wheels Race Portal turns classic hot wheels track pieces into app-enabled race courses, but if you’re looking for a serious upgrade, the special id Smart Track is equipped with the most powerful car booster Mattel has ever made, pushing cars to their ultimate limit. Older Hot Wheels cars that don’t have the NFC tech built-in don’t work with the Hot Wheels Smart Track Kit (at least the ones we tried with it).
If you want in on the Hot Wheel revolution, Apple (yep, that Apple!) has you covered. Hot Wheels id vehicles ($6.99), Race Portal ($39.99) and full Hot Wheels Smart Track Kit ($179.99) are available for purchase starting Friday, 6/14, exclusively at Apple stores and on Apple.com. Next month, the new id series will be available at Target and Amazon too.