Start your engines. PUMA is tightening its grip on our childhood memories with an exclusive Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary collection. It’s just the latest trip back to the future for the sneaker brand since reviving their ‘80s-era Running System (RS) range and partnering with everyone from SEGA and Ader Error to Polaroid and Roland to breathe new life into the classic line.
It’s been over three decades since Puma’s RS Computer Shoe launched with the impressively fresh “Jog Your Memory” tagline and with their archival revival comes a fitting 50th birthday for Hot Wheels. With Puma x HOT WHEELS, the brand weaved five decades of death-defying stunts and races into the DNA of the collection for an electrifying ode to the die-cast toy cars.
Coming in hot with three colorways, each iteration in the RS-X Toys range is a callback to key points in Hot Wheels history. With the black-and-blue “16,” Puma went all the way back to 1968 for a memorial to the “Original Sweet 16” line of cars that launched the brand and outfitted the sneaker with a racetrack-ready transparent outsole emblazoned with the Hot Wheels logo.
Sliding in with a fiery orange hue, the “Camero” pulls from the custom ‘68 Camaro that was on every kid’s Christmas list that year. Rounding out the trio with a touch of gold, the Bone Shaker reimagines the 2006 casting with pops of blue and gold-threaded laces.
Across all three variations, PUMA’s patented RS tech is pumped into the midsole and fitted with a mix of mesh, leather, and textile up top and stamped with the RS-X branding along the tongue. Rounding out the bold colorways and bulky design ethos that shaped the shoe, Puma stamped the iconic flaming Hot Wheels logo along the heel to bring the fit from the race track to the street.
Not content to bring the fire solely to its RS-X line, Puma’s Hot Wheels collection also launched on November 15 alongside an apparel capsule that includes track pants, graphic tees, and a jacket fitted with a custom T7 insert referencing the iconic cars. If you’re ready to give in to your nostalgic soul, every piece is available online and in-stoors now.
