In the early 2000s, there was another brand of toys called Muscle Machines. They became known for their cartoonish muscle cars and hot rods with super wide wheels, bulging chromed engines and an overall funny-looking take on cars that were meant to go fast and look mean. It was awesome! They soon worked on making normal looking cars after the hype in order to keep up with the competition (I’m looking at you Jada Toys). It wasn’t enough until they were bought over by die-cast giant Maisto in 2012.
Slammed in front and Normal at the back
I wasn’t really a big fan of slammed pick-up trucks. If I ever got a truck, I wanted it to be functional as a truck. That didn’t stop people from expressing themselves and dropping their pick-up trucks like cars though, especially not since wheel manufacturers started making big 20-and-over inches big-ass rollers. And while I personally would not have done it to my own truck, the appeal was there for me when these have been tastefully done.
The ’02 Radical GMC Truck is from the Muscle Machines Truckin’ series. A collaboration effort between Muscle Machines and Truckin’ magazine. I couldn’t get much information about the truck, but it seems that it is simply a GMC Sierra that is slammed to the ground with big chrome wheels and low profile series tires. I got this pair just recently (late 2017) because it has been a while since I’ve seen a decent looking die-cast truck for a good price. Sure, the packaging was nowhere near mint, but I had always planned on opening them anyway. And speaking of packaging, I liked how they still came in the old-school blister packs that are sealed all around. Of course, this did bring costs way higher than your normal Hot Wheels blister, but it did give you that extra feeling of security.
Back to the truck. This pair came in slick (for the era) flame jobs. The yellow truck with pink flames is not ashamed of being loud while the dark blue truck with black flames is the quiet type. The paint seems to have suffered a bit due to the age of these toys and probably from being in storage for a long time. They are still shiny, but some paint blemishes on the roofs of both trucks can be seen. The flame job is superb. As mentioned earlier, these are fine for the era, but they would probably be scoffed at by today’s more subdued generation. There is also a good splattering of chrome on the truck. Aside from the wheels, the front grill and headlights are treated in the shiny stuff. If you turn the truck upside down, you even get chrome on some of the undercarriage and the muffler. The interior is finely detailed with a good separation of colors. I’m talking about colors on the steering wheel, dashboard, center console, seats, and even aircon vents. You won’t get that amount of detail on normal die-cast cars (of this scale). The removable bed cover is a nice touch too (although you can’t really put anything on the shallow bed).
The truck also features a nice gimmick they called “SLAM!” (yes, with an exclamation point). These trucks are slammed to the ground with their wheels tucked inside the fenders by design. But press on the wheels (front and back for better balance), and the spring-loaded mechanism lifts the truck by half a millimeter (or thereabouts in this scale) and untucks the wheels. The lift is not by much, but it is a cool feature nonetheless. And it adds to the feel of those trucks with air suspension allowing them to be slammed to the ground, but are able to raise their stance enough to go over humps. The novelty will wear off quickly, but it is still a neat feature.
I’m very happy with these trucks. To me, it brings a bit of nostalgia and also a better appreciation of other die-cast brands. There isn’t really a lot catering to the smaller 1:64 scale compared to the 1:18 scale modelers, and it’s a shame that the choices are becoming more and more limited. But there are high-quality brands in this smaller scale that have every right to call their products as collectibles rather than toys. The Muscle Machines line surely fit into that former category.
Toy Box Garage 