Character Cars

Hot Wheels has produced Character Cars since 2010.  These sets offer unique castings that represent characters or objects from movies, cartoons, etc. in the form of a car or some vehicle.  Sets have represented Star Wars, the Marvel Universe, DC Comics, Minecraft, Looney Tunes, SpongeBob, Ninja Turtles and so many others.  I'm also including Star Wars Carships here as well.

Some racing details and organization:
  • I race on a two-lane, 27 foot Magic Derby track (equivalent to about one-third of a mile).  The Derby track is 22% wider than a typical Hot Wheels orange track, allowing me to race more car sizes/scales.  
  • I've applied graphite to the cars, which really brings out the speed potential for diecast.  I'll go into more detail on that in the future.  Graphite really helps a number of Character Cars reach their speed potential.    
  • 5-star performers are my most elite and there are only 84 of them out of all the cars tested as of April, 2024. 
  • See the home page for more details on track design, testing, weight classifications, etc.
My top 5 Character Cars.  All 5-star performers.  The Iron Man Mark, the 97 gram K-2SO, Han Solo in Carbonite, Snoke and Storm.  The middle three are based on Star Wars vehicles or characters.  Note that the K-2SO is too wide for the standard orange track.
Rankings 6 through 10 includes the Creeper, the Elite Praetorian Guard, Zombie, Hawkman and the Enderman.  Creeper, Zombie and Enderman are from the great Minecraft series.  All of these are strong 4-star performers.
11 through 15 includes the 4-star Taskmaster plus the 3-star Jedi Luke Skywalker, Wolverine, Nightwing and Two-Face.
16 through 20 consists of Skeleton, The Flash, Road Runner, The Riddler and Moloch.  
Rounding out the top 25 is Star-Lord, Lando Calrissian, Valkryie, Robin, Soldier: 76, Wolverine and Man of Steel.  Note that this Wolverine is different from the one ranked 13th.  
Top 50 Character Cars
Results Summary:
  • There are many outstanding Character Cars with 5 cars at the elite 5-star level and 6 cars at the 4-star level.
  • The three 5-star heavyweight Star Wars cars (K-2SO, Han Solo in Carbonite and Snoke) can be somewhat tough to find.  Note that K-2SO is too wide for the standard orange track.
  • Most of the top 50 cars come from DC, Marvel or the various Star Wars releases.
    • 15 from DC Universe
    • 12 from Marvel 
    • 10 from Star Wars
    • 5 from Minecraft
    • 2 are Star Wars Carships 
    • ​7 from other series
  • The 27th ranked Man of Steel is a top 10 Featherweight car
  • Iron Man Mark is tied for the 15th fastest overall car and tied for 4th as the fastest Middleweight car
  • The monster K-2SO is tied as the 24th fastest overall car and is in top 10 among Heavyweight cars

Mario Kart 

The Mario Kart series features a variety of Super Mario characters placed in numerous karts.  They are sold in single and multi-car packs and also packaged with a glider.  They were first released in 2019 and new versions have been released annually since.  

I believe there are 13 different karts available, with hundreds of combinations of karts and characters.   I have about 15 of the cars, so I certainly don't have a comprehensive assessment, but enough to get a sense for their potential.  

For the most part these cars are so-so for downhill racing.  They are limited by their compact size and relatively modest weight.  Still super fun to have and race.  

If you know of any specific kart/character combinations that are especially fast, please share your feedback.
My top Mario Karts.  Sports Coupe (with Donkey Kong), Flame Flyer, Pipe Frame, Mach 8 and P-Wing.
My fastest karts are listed below.  I have several Standard Karts and a Sneeker, but they were not fast enough to qualify.
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