Hot Wheels Bone Shaker

Once again, breaking the rules!  Even though this is a fantasy custom from Hot Wheels, this is one of the most popular for collectors, and I can see why with it's fearsome look on a custom 1920's-era pickup hot rod.  Now I could go on-and-on with the various recolors of this casting, including the Baja version from last year that didn't impress me, i'll focus on the two best versions of this model.

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2006: The beginning

The start of Bone Shaker occurred in 2006 when this black version with metal base, chrome interior, engine, and exhaust; and skull and cross-bones on the doors.  Chrome OH5 wheels were standard, but even more cool is the new FTE wheels in gold.  FTE is know as Faster Than Ever wheels, noted for it's nickel-plated axles that make the wheels spin as smooth as glass, thus allowing these vehicles with FTE axles to roll faster down the orange track.  These wheels in 2006 was limited to the first 10,000 units.  The front has a skull grille, with headlights mounted to the sides held on by creepy fingers.  The engine is a brass big-block V8 with eight throttle cups coming out of the hood, and quad exhaust headers to the sides.  The cab becomes recognizable as an item from the past with the squared-look topped by a lowered roof, windshield visor, and an open roof.  The rear has a fender-less bed with tailgate details, and a raised rear-end with visible suspension and rear differential.

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The base was made out of metal and featured a Hot Wheels logo as part of the interior piece in the early versions.  The bed features a round gas tank and battery locations.  The interior is even a nicer place with a metal floorboard with large transmission tunnel, chrome seats, shifter, and simple dash layout with steering wheel.  I can imagine how fast this vehicle would be in real life with a loud and strong V8 and little weight to hustle around.  After the first versions the Bone Shaker was still neat, but loosing a bit of its cool in the abundance of variations.  The Baja version was a raised version with a roof and covered top with spare tire in the rear bed.  Never had the same cool effect as the first.

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2014: Back to Basics with a new look

Finally the Bone Shaker goes back to basics!  The introduction of the red version with flames in 2014 harks on a new body with closed-roof and a plastic base with a revised Hot Wheels logo now not part of the interior, along with a rear rivet instead of the tab mounting point in the tailgate.  Still looks like a Bone Shaker!  The latest release in black with flames and 5-sp. wheels is now my second favorite to the first, and even looks more like the first version!

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Update 12/1/19: To celebrate 50 years of Larry Wood working for Hot Wheels Mattel released a ten car set for Wal-mart in 2019 selecting 10 of his best works and putting them on blister cards with artwork designed by Larry himself.  The stand out in the set is this gold Bone Shaker, almost all of the truck is gold except for the metal base and black on the tires.  Larry Wood 50th badge is on the doors and is also gold to blend in with the gold paint.  Things to note here is the return of the metal base version and also this is not the retooled version where the metal rear bed is now part of the chrome interior trim.  So not only is this a nice tribute to Larry Wood, but it also celebrates with the original tool released in 2006: