lambodiecast

I have to admit I am a big fan of the Need for Speed games, I've been playing them for a long time now, and still enjoy them today ... I actually put in a pre-order for the latest title, The Run … but for the Limited Edition version. Why ? Because in the LE version you get the Lamborghini Aventador LP700 as a bonus car … I've already driven the Aventador … not too many people can state that, can they … sure it was only on my PS3, but still.

Back to this model here, Maisto made an entire series of cars for the Need for Speed Underground game, if you buy the model you get a special unlock code in the box, so there is an added bonus anyway, however as these are Maisto models, and the fact I already owned the LP640 from them in orange and yellow I wasn't really looking to add this NFS edition as well, more so as I'm not a big fan of the color scheme on it, it is a bit too bling bling … but also not enough if you catch my drift.

If you take a look at the Whips and Playerz versions, these are so over the top, I like them, this NFS is not a clean as a standard car … and it's not ‘cool' enough to be over the top … so I was always a bit thorn to add this one … until I visited a local Italian car event last weekend, a diecast shop was offering these at 15 Euro a piece, didn't take long to think about it, picked it up anyway.

So how does it stand up to the other Maisto LP640 models ? Well it is a bit of a twofold here too I must admit, sure the silver metallic shade looks good, the dark grey interior suits this shade very well, and then we get the blue stripe with yellow pin striping. This is true to the NFS Underground theme, it isn't my style, but I accept it as being a special edition as a tribute to the game, so I don't dislike it either … it's there, it's part of the model, period.

But then you start to look at it closer you notice the car is a nice, shiny silver metallic while the blue has a kind of satin gloss to it, you wonder what's the deal here … well apparently they painted the model in silver metallic, put a high gloss clear coat on it … and then decided to apply the blue and yellow paint on top of that clear coat. You know what happens next … if you clean the car with wax you'll end up with a plain silver metallic car, the blue and yellow paint have no clear coat protection and gets wiped away easily.

In fact the small rubber band holding the engine cover shut while being in the box already leaves a tiny mark on the paint when you remove it … you know you'll be in trouble when you see this, but hey, only paid 15 Euro for it, so I'm not bothered too much with this, let's call it an oversight from Maisto.

Overall this is a nice model, it's in the usual Maisto quality, don't expect too much and you will not be disappointed, it right up there with the Bburago models but still one step behind Norev … and a few steps behind AutoArt … but then again, this one cost me 15 Euro, normally a Maisto Lamborghini model would be around 25-30 Euro I guess, same for a Bburago model while a Norev is closer to the 50 Euro mark and naturally AutoArt is getting over the 100 Euro mark very quickly these days.

What I did find very impressive on this specific model was the attention to detail on the engine cover : there is a small NFS logo on the metal and the ‘Need for Speed' scripting on the first glass section … that's what makes this model worth adding in my opinion, so I'm glad I did buy it.

our RATING

Overall rating

6/10

Original price : € 15