Hot Bird

From Hot Wheels Wiki

Description

This Firebird was introduced in 1978 as the Hot Bird in the Flying Colors series in Black and with Blackwalls, (bw). It was available in the Thundershift Roarin' Raceway. In 1979 it was Gold-plated as part of the Golden Machines 6-Pack. In 1980 it was changed to Brown in the basic line for a short run and then changed again to Blue. In 1982 it was changed to Black again and joined the Hot Ones series. The Captain America also uses this casting. Several paint and tampo variations followed from "glitter black" to Mtlflk blue. There are also SEVERAL tampo variations over the years. Bases vary from origin= The original Hot Bird was made in Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. In 2006 a completely new casting was made and produced in both Malaysia and Thailand. This new casting was used from 2006 on. Although very similar to the original, the dimensions of the car differ. The 1st noticable difference is the size of the shaker scoop on the hood. The new version's shaker is slightly longer than the old. Also, both bases are different. A few other differences are the detail of the rear tail lights and the hood bird tampo. One constant similarity of both models through the years is they have both ALWAYS been all diecast.

FUN FACTS

All hood bird tampos of the original Hot Bird have the head facing to the driver side of the car. The collector #469 hood birds are the only ones that face the passanger side.

The very last of the original Hot Birds was produced for the 50' track set. Although it is a Hot Bird, the name on the base says Pontiac Firebird.

Versions

The Hot Bird Has been released in the following versions:

Col. #	Year	Series	Color	Tampo	Base Color / Type	Window Color	Interior Color	Wheel Type	Country	Notes	photo
	1978		Black	White	Unpainted Metal	Green Tint	Tan	BW	Hong Kong	Prototype
			Blue Metallic	Yellow	Unpainted Metal	Blue Tint	Tan	HOG	Hong Kong	2nd Prototype
2014	1978	1978 Flying Colors	Black	Yellow Firebird on hood, Yellow and Red stripes on roof	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Tan	BW	Hong Kong	Prototype has White instead of Yellow tampo
	1979	Heroes	White	Red, Blue, Stars & Stripes "CAPTAIN AMERICA"	Unpainted / Metal	Blue tint	Red	BW	Hong Kong	named Captain America for this issue
	1979	Heroes	White	Red, Blue, Stars & Stripes "CAPTAIN AMERICA"	Unpainted / Metal	Blue tint	Orange	BW	Hong Kong	named Captain America for this issue
	1979	Heroes	White	Red, Blue, Stars & Stripes "CAPTAIN AMERICA"	Unpainted / Metal	Blue tint	Red	GHO	Hong Kong	named Captain America for this issue
2014	1979	Golden Machines 6-Pack	Gold plated	Blue Firebird on hood, Blue and Red stripes on roof	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Tan	BW	Hong Kong	Golden Machines 6-pack only
2014	1980	1980 Hot Wheels	Brown	Yellow Firebird on hood, Yellow and Red stripes on roof	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Tan	BW	Hong Kong	Short run on color
2014	1980	1980 Hot Wheels	Blue	Yellow Firebird on hood, Yellow and Red stripe on roof	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Tan	BW	Hong Kong
2014	1982	1982 Hot Wheels Hot Ones	Black	Yellow Firebird, Yellow and Red stripes on roof	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Tan	GHO	Hong Kong
2014	1982		Blue	Yellow Firebird on hood, Yellow and Red stripes on roof	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Tan	BW	Malaysia
2014	1982	1982 Hot Wheels Hot Ones	Black	Yellow Firebird on hood, Yellow and Red stripes on roof	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Tan	GHO	Malaysia
			Dark Blue	Yellow eagle, Yellow and Orange stripe on roof	Unpainted Metal	Clear	Red	GHO	India
			White	Red '80s Firebird tampo	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Red	GHO	India
			Black	Yellow Firebird on hood, Yellow and Red stripes on roof	Unpainted Metal	Blue Tint	Brown	Silver HO	Malaysia
	1989		Met. Dark Blue	Gray and Orange tampo	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Gray or Tan	GHO or UH	Malaysia	Double Barrel Stunt set only
1451	1989	1989 Hot Wheels Collector #37	Met. Blue	White Firebird, Red and Yellow flames on side and hood	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Tan	GHO	Malaysia
1451	1989	1989 Hot Wheels Collector #37	Met. Blue	White Firebird, Red and Yellow flames on side and hood	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Gray	GHO	Malaysia
	1990	1990 Hot Wheels Collector #37	Black	Yellow firebird on hood, Yellow and Red stripes on roof	Unpainted Metal	Clear	Red	GHO	Malaysia
	1990	1990 Hot Wheels Collector #37	White	Blue or Turquoise (1991) and Red stars and Stripes, ALL AMERICAN FIREBIRD in Blue on sides	Unpainted Metal	Clear	Red or Tan	GHO or UH	Malaysia
	1991	1991 Hot Wheels Collector #37	White	Blue or Turquoise (1991) and Red stars and Stripes, "ALL AMERICAN FIREBIRD" in Blue on sides	Unpainted Metal	Clear	Red or Tan	Gold UH	Malaysia	International line only
	1990		Met. Silver	Yellow Firebird on hood	Unpainted Metal	Clear	Tan	GHO	Malaysia	Hot Wheels cereal
0462	1992	1992 Hot Wheels Collector #178	Glitter on Black	no tampo	Unpainted Metal	Pink tint	Pink	UH	Malaysia
	1996	1996 100th Anniversary of the Automobile Set	Yellow	Black firebird on hood	Black	Clear	Black	PC6	China	100th Anniversary of the Auto gift pack
	1996	Pontiac Power Collection Set	Black	Yellow Firebird on hood	Unpainted Metal	Blue tint	Beige	Gold 5SP	China	K Mart Exclusive, 70th Anniversary of the Pontiac set LE7000
469	1996	1996 Hot Wheels Collector #469	Met. Gold	no tampo	Unpainted Metal	Gray tint	Beige	5SP	China
469	1996	1996 Hot Wheels Collector #469	Met. Gold	Black Firebird on hood	Unpainted Metal	Gray tint	Black	5SP	China
469	1997	1996 Hot Wheels Collector #469	Met. Gold	Black Firebird on hood small Purple HW logo	Unpainted Metal	Gray tint	Black	LW	China
G5509	2004	Hot Wheels Lost Cars of China	Met. Red	Black and Gold Firebird	Unpainted Metal	Clear	Gold	RLBW	China
G5509	2004	Lost Cars of China	Mer. Red	Black and Gold Bird	Unpainted Metal	Clear	Gold	BW	China
H6975	2005	50ft. Track Rolls	Red	Black and Gold firebird	Unpainted Metal	Clear	Gold	RL5SP	China	Track Set
J2780	2006	Hot Wheels Classics Series 2 24/30	Spectraflame Black	Black & Gold phoenix on hood.	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Tan	BFG5SP	Thailand
J2780	2006	Hot Wheels Classics Series 2 24/30	Chrome	Black & Blue phoenix on hood.	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Gray	BFG5SP	Thailand
J2780	2006	Hot Wheels Classics Series 2 24/30	Spectraflame Dark Blue	Black & Gold phoenix on hood.	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Tan	BFG5SP	Thailand
J2780	2006	Hot Wheels Classics Series 2 24/30	Spectraflame Red	Black & Silver phoenix on hood.	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Black	BFG5SP	Thailand
J2780	2006	Hot Wheels Classics Series 2 24/30	Spectraflame Gold	Black & Red phoenix on hood.	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Black	BFG5SP	Thailand
J2780	2006	Hot Wheels Classics Series 2 24/30	Spectraflame Green	Black & Yellow phoenix on hood.	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Tan	BFG5SP	Thailand
198	2006	Hot Wheels Collector #198	Black	Yellow and Orange flames	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Red tint	Gray	7SP	Thailand
198	2006	Hot Wheels Collector #198	Met. Purple	Yellow and Orange flames	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Black	5SP	Thailand
54886	2007	2007 Exclu Hot Wheels 10-Pk	Pearl White		Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Blue	5SP	Thailand	10 pack only
54886	2007	2007 Exclu Hot Wheels 10-Pk	Flat Black		Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Red	5SP	Thailand	10 pack only
54886	2007	2007 Exclu Hot Wheels 10-Pk	Pearl Yellow	Black and Red stripes on top, Firebird on hood	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Black	[5SP]]	Thailand	10 pack only
L2843	2008	Since '68 Series	Met. Blue		Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Beige	RLBW	Thailand
N4608	2008	Since '68 Top 40 Set	Black			Smoke	Blue	RLBW
M0543	2008	40 Years of Hot Wheels Set	Met. Brown	Gold Firebird	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Red tint	Dark Gold	Gold BW	Thailand	Wal-Mart Exclusive
M6971	2008	2008 Treasure Hunts	Met. Gold	Black Firebird on hood, Black stripes on roof, sides and trunk	Unpainted Metal or Silver painted, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	clear	black	5SP	Malaysia
M6971S	2008	2008 Super Treasure Hunts	Spectraflame Gold	Black Firebird on hood, Black stripes on roof, sides and trunk	Unpainted Metal, reads "Pontiac Firebird"	Clear	Black	RR5SP	Malaysia
	2009	Connect Cars - Arizona	Metalflake Gold	Orange, Yellow & Black graphics. "ARIZONA", "48", "GRAND CANYON STATE", Black hood with Cattle Skull.		Clear	Black	5SP
210	2010	Race World Volcano Series	Metalflake Blue	Red, orange, yellow, and blue flames on sides and hood	Unpainted	Red Tint	Gray	Red 5SP	Malaysia

Gallery

		Lost Cars of China	First Edition of this casting