Hello Kitty and 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34)

Made By:

Jada Toys

Scale:

1/24

MSRP:

US$24.99

Overview:
Packaging (Design):	8/10
Packaging (Durability):	8/10
Casting (Body):	8/10
Casting (Interior):	9/10
Casting (Chassis):	8/10
Casting (Engine):	8/10
Paint (Exterior):	7/10
Paint (Interior):	N/A
Paint (Trim/Graphics):	7/10
Overall Panel Fit:	7/10
Total Score:	7.8/10

 

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Background

Founded as the Yamanashi Silk Company in 1960, Sanrio founder Shintaro Tsuji expanded the business to include selling rubber sandals in 1962. He quickly found that sales went up when fun designs were added to them, and began adding cartoon characters such as Snoopy from Peanuts. The idea was a success, but Tsuji wished to avoid licensing fees going forward and so hired designers to create more characters following the same "cute" aesthetic. The first of these was Coro Chan, introduced in 1973. The following year saw the creation of Hello Kitty, designed by Yuko Shimizu. Hello Kitty has since gone on to become a marketing juggernaut, appearing on everything from clothing and accessories to a fleet of aircraft operated by EVA Airways in Taiwan.

Packaging

The box follows Jada's current design, with a a solid black background and hot pink accents. An outlined silhouette of Kitty in white with a pink bow and the text "Hello Kitty" appears on the bottom corner of the front panel, top, and window flap. The other end flap just has the text, and the back has the text above a photo of the Skyline and figure. Inside is a bright cartoon drawing of a race track, with a black road surface, chain link fence along the edge of the track, and the grandstands behind it next to another loop of track. A small town with a ferris wheel is in the distance, under a bright blue sky with puffy clouds, a rainbows and smiling sun. The right side of the insert has a thick burnout cloud obscuring the background. The car is held in place with two screws with a plastic tray around the tail and plastic bands around the doors and hood. The figure is near the front of the car, also held in place with two screws.

Casting/Paint

This tooling has been around for several years now, first appearing in Jada's Dub City and Import Racer lines before being adapted for their Fast & Furious series. As such, it's pretty tired at this point and much like their Robotech Toyota Supra it falls short in many places.

First, the good: it's a striking design, and the overall look of the BNR34 is exactly what you'd want. The body is entirely diecast, including both bumpers, with black plastic used for the mirrors and spoiler. The headlights, taillights, third brake light, and reverse light are all clear plastic parts painted for their respective locations and are generally seated nicely.

Then we get to the not-so-good. Neither front bumper light is correctly installed, with the right one being wildly out of alignment; a rough casting mark is on the front left corner where the bumper meets the fender; both doors step out from the rear fenders, the right door more so than the left; and the trunk seam is a mess. Its worst point is where it tries to fit around the left taillight, hitting in some places and gapping in others with a general shape that is more angular than the light housing, but the whole thing is asymmetrical with gaps, rubs, and a trailing edge that droops in the middle.

The paint is good insofar as having a good gloss and even coverage - no problem with thin spots or shifts this time around - but the black panels have a slightly gritty texture and there's a good-sized chip along the left edge of the hood. The graphics are excellent, nice and bright with good coverage and registration, but the window surrounds have a great deal of pink showing through the black.

Under the hood is a decent representation of Nissan's RB engine, complete with a "Nissan GT-R" badge on its red valve cover. A few hoses and lines are cast in place, and a separate chrome tower brace crosses the bay. Everything looks good inside, with separate seats, pedals, levers, and auxiliary gauges. Most everything is cast in clean black plastic, with chrome used for the gauges, pedals, and shifter. The floor is untextured, but given the race nature of this car the carpet delete is appropriate. A sticker is used for the instrument cluster. The chassis has basic but sufficient detailing, with the bottom of the engine/transmission, all-wheel drivetrain, gas tank, and exhaust system all included in the casting. A chrome muffler with dual tailpipes is fitted under the rear bumper, and the tires are vinyl rubber bands over huge five-spoke wheels over equally massive disc brakes. The wheels look good with black-painted spiders and chrome edges, but the tires have a hard time staying on them.

Features/Accessories

The hood, doors, and trunk open. Most of these work just fine, but once again the trunk is the letdown with weak hinges that insist on drooping (this has been an issue since the earliest release, so at least this is not a case of mold rot). A 1/24 Hello Kitty figure is also included, decked out in a racing suit and helmet painted to match her car. The paint on her face and helmet are good, but goes completely off the rails when it gets to her body: white paint from her left hand is smeared all over her sleeve and side, her bow tie misses the mark, and her black shoes go from not quite covering them to drifting up into her pant cuffs.

Accuracy

This is not based on an existing design, but is instead a "character car" that simply uses an existing tooling with a new paint job to evoke a persona.

Overall

Jada continues to have great ideas but struggle with their execution. The casting is pretty worn out at this point, and while that could be countered with an exceptional paint job Jada just didn't deliver. From any distance it looks great, but it suffers from myriad small problems. Considering how cool the packaging looks with its simple clean exterior and full scene interior, this may be one to keep in the box.