By Ian Ruder: For Complete Post, Click Here…
In 2018, Hot Wheels introduced its first-ever wheelchair, a slickly-packaged, matchbox-sized WCMX chair. Now, Hot Wheels is releasing a remote-controlled wheelchair toy modeled on WCMX icon Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham.
The RC Aaron Wheelz Wheelie Chair can do wheelies while traveling up to 6 miles per hour and comes with a ramp, allowing users to replicate Fotheringham’s high-flying jumps and death-defying tricks.
Fotheringham says he grew up playing with Hot Wheels and remembers their impact on him as a child. Now he’s been able to relive those moments with a toy modeled on him. “It’s honestly been unreal,” he says. “Out of everything I’ve been able to do, the partnership with Hot Wheels has repeatedly blown my mind.”
As much fun as he’s had driving the remote-controlled Wheelz off ramps, Fotheringham is most excited about the toy’s potential impact on expanding representation and changing the way people think about disability.
“It’s been cool to be able to bring a different light to the wheelchair and disabilities in general,” he says. “It’s cool to see the way people play with the toy and then something clicks in their head and changes their perspective.”
