Department of Hotwheels Security® Four-car Set
Immediately after Hurricane Katrina's August 29, 2005 landfall, the BRR Club® began holding meetings to ask ourselves what we could do to provide relief to the stricken area. In less than a week, we had decided to create and sell a special Limited Edition Hot Wheels® car. It's what we do!
Production of the FEMA Van™ was quickly approved and begun. We thought it would be a fine tribute to a heroic agency.
But within days, public debate arose about the role of FEMA in the preparations for and response to the storm. Criticism was prompted largely by Photoshopped images of visibly shaken and frustrated HWC members, and of collectors who remained in New Orleans without cars, track, or accessories weeks after the storm itself had passed. The treatment of people who had evacuated to cities such as El Segundo, Watkins Glen, and Speed, Kansas was also criticized.
Before our FEMA Vans™ could be distributed, the public outcry against FEMA for its disaster response made our car somewhat inappropriate, and the idea of sending FEMA Vans™ into New Orleans well after the flooding seemed a mockery.
We did, however, distribute nearly two thousand to FEMA staff and workers, and through lax security measures at the local level, hundreds more found their way into the hands of resellers. However, while some collectors began filling holes in their flood-damaged displays, thousands of brand new FEMA Vans™ sat unsold in our distribution centers.
But now, the climate has changed! Three years after Hurricane Katrina turned FEMA into a punchline, many homeowners, politicians and community leaders in the flood-stricken Midwest say that so far, the agency is doing a heckuva job— and they mean it. Up and down the Big Muddy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is being commended for responding quickly and surely.
So, while it's a little slow in coming to the flooded regions in the Midwest, the Blue Real Riders® Club is honoring the third anniversary of Katrina by rolling out the remainder of our FEMA Vans™! Sure, they're three years late, but you can't expect these blue box trucks to arrive quickly— they've got Real Riders™ wheels!
This introduction kicks off our month-long Back 2 Cool celebration with a free event open to the public, featuring life-sized FEMA vehicles, historic BRR Club® memorabilia, kiosks for kids to obtain BRR Club® credit cards, die-cast car races, and many more family-friendly activities, including a raffle drawing in which 100 lucky winners will receive a genuine FEMA Travel Trailer!
For this Back 2 Cool introductory event, the Blue Real Riders® Club will return to New Orleans, LA, the site of the 2005 event that killed nearly 1500 people! Featured activities in "NOLA" include a boat show and performances by the '80s Pop Rock musical group Katrina & The Waves!
In the aftermath of the storm, on August 30th, the FEMA Vans™ will be busting through the levees of our BRR® Shop, flowing out into collectors' hands everywhere! Priced at $16.95 plus S&P (shipping & processing) each, all proceeds from the sale will be donated to flood victims' relief organizations.
But these formaldehyde-laden disaster Vans are not the only things that will be floating through our BRR Shop® on August 29th! Collectors will also be able to pick up the other three cars in our new Department of Hotwheels Security® Series!
Manufactured in extremely limited quantities, the other three BRR Club® offerings include:
- The DEA Truck™. In 1999, Hot Wheels™ issued the Dodge Ram 1500 in a new "Federal Drug Enforcement" deco. Collectors began incorrectly referring to the casting as "the DEA truck" for convenience, influenced by contemporary culture. So we created a real DEA Truck™. With Spectraflame® Government Blue paint, Deep-Dish Real Riders® wheels, and authentic Drug Enforcement Agency graphics, this smokin' new truck will blow your mind!
- The ICE Bus™. Need a ride to the airport? We've got one— if your flight is going to Guantanamo Bay! Our ICE Bus™ (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) comes in Spectraflame™ Government Blue with, of course, blackwall 5-spoke Real Riders®.
- The Border Patrol Hummer™. What better vehicle for chasing coyotes and illegals around the desert than a Humvee™? This one comes with a body cast of ultra hot Perma Frost™ plasticene, showing authentic Border Patrol graphics and riding on Real Riders® new Big Lugz™.
Each of the four cars features special packaging promoting its individual government agency, and ships in a Kar Keepers™ case. Priced at $6.95 plus S&P (spying & patriotacting) each, your Blue Real Riders® Club membership entitles you to ONE of each model on the first day of availability. If quantities remain after the BRR® 24-hour "FEMA Response Time" window, BRR® members may purchase more, while supplies last.
Grab 'em before they're gone, 'cause the Department of HotWheels Security™ has issued a National Fun Advisory, and determined the current fun level is Blue!
