Speed Toys Unveiled

February 19th, 2008 | by admin |

Original Post here: Snikkkt!

Mattel unveiled a line of vehicles and costume toys based on the upcoming Wachowski brothers’ Speed Racer movie at the American International Toy Fair in New York on Feb. 16.

Nick Karamanos, Mattel’s director of products, told SCI FI Wire that directors Andy and Larry Wachowski gave the company’s development team unprecedented access to the upcoming film.

“We were able to look at the scripts early, and when they were going through the early animatics and wireframes, they actually shipped them to us so we could take a look at what they were conceiving in terms of races and the way the cars move,” Karamanos said in an interview. “None of us could really conceive of how the cars are going to jump or stunt or battle, so we’d get the [images] when they were building a set for the look. That early inspiration became the Sky Jump Track Set, so it’s been a phenomenal collaboration.”

Considered to be Hot Wheels’ most elaborate track set to date, the Hot Wheels Speed Racer Sky Jump Track Set replicates the film’s final climactic Grand Prix race. Several cars can race through any one of the set’s many tracks before being launched in the air for the death-defying Sky Jump. The set comes with an exclusive Mach 6 vehicle and has a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Other notable Speed Racer toys include the Speed Racer Battle Morph Mach 6, the Speed Racer 1/64th Scale Vehicle Assortment and the Speed Racer Race-A-Round Sound Helmet.

The majority of the Speed Racer toys will be released in March. The Speed Racer movie is slated for a May 9 release.

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