As the holiday season approaches, overstock toys of previous years show up in the dollar stores. The copyright notice of 2003 suggests that these Revell Lowrider Magazine series die-cast cars have been languishing in some warehouse for a while...
I spotted seven different cars from this product line at the local Yankee Dollar. While some of the cars are lowriders, others are just regular cars from the 50's through 90's that somehow ended up in this range. According to the package blurb:
Lowrider Magazine is the leading authority on one of the fastest-growing car crazes in the country. It covers the hottest cars and trucks plus the latest trends through high-impact photography, action-packed graphics and cutting-edge editorial.
Our die cast Lowrider Magazine series includes a selection of exciting lowriders in the collector 1:64 die cast scale. Now every enthusiast can bring home an authentic lowrider without sacrificing even a bit of garage space!
The model I picked for this Showcase is the '59 Chevy Impala - a vehicle I can easily imagine in some demolition derby or Mad Max fight.
This car is painted bright yellow with red and silver trim, white roof, chrome grill and bumpers, and black plastic underside. Taillights, door handles, and license plates are painted. Tires have white walls. There are front and back windshields, but no side windows. Interior is red plastic - dashboard and two bench seats.
All of the cars in this series that I've seen have some gimmick, and this car has two - repositionable axles and an opening trunk. The axles snap into the standard positions, or can be pulled down to varying angles (but don't snap into place).
The trunk also opens.
The chassis is more detailed than with most toy cars, and since screws are used for construction, it looks like you could take the toy apart if you wanted to. One downside is that the car doesn't have the usual "name of the vehicle" engraved anywhere, so you'll just have to remember what it is...
As suggested for yesterday's Showcase, I've recruited some of Mongoose's Battlefield Evolution figures to stand next to this vehicle. The car measures about 80mm in length, 30mm across, and 22mm tall in "normal" axle mode.
Other models in the series:
- '58 Chevy Impala
- '61 Chevy Impala
- '63 Chevy Impala
- '64 Chevy Impala
- '77 Chevy Monte Carlo (two versions)
- '81 Cadillac Coupe DeVille (two versions)
- '82 Buick Regal (two versions)
- '96 Chevy Impala SS