That said, the car models themselves are simply gorgeous, and every one I’ve collected so far is an unflinchingly faithful recreation of the miniatures they represent, down to the tiniest details: the texture differences between plastic and lacquered metal parts; the subtle mould lines left from the assembly process; the broad range of paint finishes; the stamped text beneath the chassis carrying the model name and production year. I’m still finding myself just rotating them around, stopped in my tracks by how fantastic they look. As impressive as they are out of their boxes, they look even better after some doorhandle-to-doorhandle action out on track. Here’s where they really start to resemble the toy cars strewn around my youngest son’s room: chipped, scratched, and play-worn by the demands of their seven-year-old automotive overlord. The most striking thing is that damage hasn’t been applied thoughtlessly or randomly; cars correctly lose paint on their vulnerable corners and raised edges, faint scratches appear on larger flat surfaces, black plastic is revealed under the silver coating, and printed tampos are partially rubbed away. Under the right light, child-sized fingerprints can be observed – especially on windscreens – and even their plastic tyres become ringed with the kinds of gouges a pristine Hot Wheels car will pick up after an afternoon of pounding the pavement. Milestone’s success in making the cars look so credible is a huge part of what makes Hot Wheels Unleashed so joyful to play.