I love the World's Smallest line of products, and I wish more of them were available in keychain form. They remind me of the old Basic Fun keychains, with their miniature representations of classic toys. So when I saw a case of World's Smallest Hot Wheels blind box keychains at Target, I was thrilled. I know I stated in a past post that I usually have bad luck with blind box items. However in this case, the blind box factor wasn't something I was concerned about, since it didn't really matter to me which of the mini diecast Hot Wheels cars I ended up with. What really piqued my interest was the 'retro' replica packaging that made up the bulk of the keychain.
Here's a photo of the blind box itself. A sample keychain is pictured on the box, as well as a photo of one of the mini diecast cars sitting on a stack of coins to show the scale.
And here's a picture of the actual keychain I received. In my opinion, the 'retro' packaging is what really makes this keychain. It just looks cool. However, I get the impression that this keychain was designed more as a collector's item than as a functional keychain, since the details on the front and back are printed on stickers. Stickers don't tend to hold up well over time, especially if they're subjected to heavy wear and tear.
The main problem I have with this keychain, however, is the small access panel in the back that is supposed to open so you can remove the car. I had a lot of trouble getting that panel open. I ended up having to use way more force than I was comfortable with, and during the process I was worried the plastic hinge was going to snap. Once I had it open, I decided to just leave the car in there, rather than trying to pry out the small plastic shell that was holding it in place. But when I tried to close the panel again, I had some trouble getting it to go back in and stay closed. As you can see in the photo below, the black plastic at the corners is sort of ragged looking.
The whole access panel feature seems poorly designed to me.
As a side note, the keyring part of this keychain isn't like any keychain 'finding' I've ever seen. It's round, like a split ring, but it actually functions like a carabiner. I've never seen a circular carabiner before. Also, there was something else in the box that sent my nostalgia factor through the roof.
A mini product catalog, just like the ones Basic Fun used to put out back in the day! Unfortunately for me, most of the products shown in this catalog aren't keychains. But on the plus side, this catalog was a lot less tricky to refold than the old Basic Fun product catalogs.
Below is a list of what I see as the good points and bad points about the World's Smallest Hot Wheels blind box keychain, along with my final verdict.
Good Points:
If you miss the old Basic Fun keychains as much as I do, then these World's Smallest Hot Wheels keychains should be right up your alley. For once, the blind box aspect wasn't an issue for me, although it might be a problem for people who are planning to buy more than one keychain.
Bad Points:
While using stickers for the details was probably the easiest and most cost effective option, it might take away from the long term durability of the keychain. Also, the access panel in the back was poorly designed and is difficult to use.
Final Verdict:
Although there were a few issues with this keychain that disappointed me, these issues didn't completely detract from my overall enjoyment of the product. However, the fact that I bought the keychain as a collectible and not to use as a keychain makes it easier to overlook certain things. It probably also helped that the price was what I consider reasonable.
Signed, Treesa
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