MEGA Hot Wheels HW 5-Alarm Monster Truck and Mod Rod Sets Review

The HW 5-Alarm Monster Truck, is 284 Pieces and will take you an hour or less to build. The process is nice and easy, great for young beginners who want to build something a bit more complex. After it’s done, you get a small off-roader, the convertible Fire / Monster Truck, and 2 miniature figures. These figures have some basic poseability at the head, shoulders, waist and legs, but printed detail is where they really shine. The Monster Truck has an easily removable cabin hood so you can seat a figure inside, and a rotating extendable ladder. You can pose the figures securely in the driver’s seat of either vehicle no problem, but on the ladder, there’s no grip besides at the very top, which is better than nothing! You can finagle a mid-climb pose if you pull the clever trick of slipping their arm through and rotating the hand. Last but not least, both vehicles roll nicely on their real rubber tires. The Monster Truck Mode in particular is super fun to turn.

Now let’s look at the Mod Rod. This set is more than double the piece count at 641 pieces, and will take you more than a couple hours to build at a leisurely pace. The build is full of enjoyable moments where it’s satisfying to see how everything comes together. The exterior is predominantly done in a nice, even pearlescent cool gray, which looks great on all of its curved edges. Just like on the Monster truck set, the detailing on the bricks is all printed and decently resistant to scratching. The tires are real rubber, and although smooth, they have a good amount of grip on the ground, preventing it from sliding around too much. The best parts are in the play features, The roof comes off easily to reveal a full interior with simulated leather seats, a dashboard, plus a gearshift and a steering wheel which are both poseable. That’s not all! The hood is nice and sturdy, but can remove without too much fuss for a closer look at the engine block, and the trunk opens to reveal a canister of nitro. The one nitpick we have is that the trunk doesn’t stay open on its own! A very small blemish on an otherwise perfect set.