MINI GT have launched a new line up to their ever-expanding portfolio. From just doing 1/64 cars they progressed into the fantasies of JUN IMAI with the release of his brainchild KAIDO HOUSE. And now today they launch QUBE CarZ with pre-orders starting from Friday the 8th August 2025.
First impressions from the community have been overwhelmingly supportive specially from the MINI GT Community which is a massive fan base in Asia and South America. This style of casting joins the genre of tooned cars that have been gaining quite a bit of popularity in own right.
CHORO Q cars by TAKARA TOMY were one of the first of these cars to hit the market, then TINY HK released a line called TINY Q taking advantage of the trending drift diecast scene that was just beginning and dropped JDM Drift cars in pop liveries like ADVAN and JCCS.
Then the guys over at MAISTO said hang on! And re-introduced with much success their Mighty Muscles line in 1/64 which gave the industry a big boost prompting Luiz Tannahara to team up with MGA Toys and launched an art styled version of tooned cars that, like Muscle Machines had low rider roots in colours and car design.
Today MINI GT drops their addition to the party and from what we see so far, we can expect 6 models and a full extension of the LBWK license. This must really drive the owner of POP Race off the deep end specially with all the effort made to undercut MINI GT and their LBWK license.
Will this make MINI GT king of the mountain in 1/64? It is really hard to say with these sorts of experiments. No one has really crossed the divide successfully and hardcore model car collectors still prefer to have their models closer to the real thing. MINI GT will certainly have sales within their existing market share, but I worry they may have lost track of what makes MINI GT so great. The regular 1/64 line up is getting a little predictable and there are still thousands of wonderful cars that we would like to have in 1/64 MINI GT quality.
The BIG Q. Is this going to be fame or folly for MINI GT? Your thoughts.
