Mattel’s Hot Wheels and Nintendo are partnering on a new line of Hot Wheels Mario Kart die-cast vehicles and track sets. It will be introduced at San Diego Comic-Com at the Mattel booth followed by a roll out to global retailers starting this summer.
The mainstream line includes 1:64 scale Mario Kart vehicles that can race, stunt and crash on different track sets inspired by the video game. The cars are also compatible with existing Hot Wheels sets. There will be three new game-inspired sets available, including Piranha Plant slide track set, Thwomp Ruins track set and Hot Wheels Mario Kart track set. When it’s first released there will be cars for Mario, Yoshi, Luigi and Bowser with additional characters coming later such as Princess Peach, Koopa Troop and Toad.
Mattel has been doubling down on Hot Wheels as of late, after the brand saw a gross sales increase of 4% to US$150.5 million during Q1 2019 and fiscal 2018 saw the highest Hot Wheels sales on record. To further capitalize on this growth, earlier this week Mattel announced a new digital Hot Wheels offering that combines real cars with an augmented reality game.