​Hot Wheels Barbie Die-Cast Pink Corvette in 1:64 Scale, Toy Car Modelled on the Corvette in Barbie The Movie with Film-Themed Packaging, HPR54

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You know, even at my time at NBC, there were plenty of actors that blossomed, and a lot of that is just their own doing. We haven't hit upon that one yet, but it's not to say that we won't, and it's not to say that you won't see something like that. COLLIDER: Phil, I find the concept of Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge so fascinating because it really flips the script on a lot of similar challenge shows. It was a lot of kind of figuring out which direction was the right way to take this particular brand and this particular concept. The sports car was originally designed by Judy Choi, a designer in Mattel's Barbie division; Kevin Cao later took the design and recreated it in various scales, including this model.

Ted, you've been with Mattel for, I think, two decades this year, which is quite the accomplishment, and I'm sure over the years, you've probably met fans of both Mattel and Hot Wheels—a lot of them—but what was the moment where you realized that your job has a tangible impact on the lives of consumers? If there is any change that we've made, and specific to live-action, is the fact that we're really going after the entire family because we want it to be something that the whole family can sit down for and enjoy together. To see it sort of mirrored back with this show, so pronounced, where these people are coming in, and they've got a story, like, “This is my childhood car, this is the car that I rode in with my dad,” or, “This is the car that…” You know, that piece was so rewarding and fun to see in every episode so far because it just resonated with us as car folks.

And not to say that they were not talented at all, it's just that you just never knew that that was gonna be a launch pad for something so massive. The life-sized car features rainbow-colored five-spoke rims, a holographic glittery finish and synthetic fuzz on the seat headrests. So for us, we really have to find ways to stand out, and the way we're gonna stand out is to connect with them on a level that no one else can.

Because watching the show and seeing how people react so sentimentally to these vehicles, it has to have some sort of emotional response for you as well.And then with how we react to things in pop culture, we've got vehicles, and obviously, we work with movie studios and content creators, and we've got cars that have all types of Disney characters on them. Well, if it's any of the Ken vehicles, I'm very here for that because the Ken vehicles are what I'm looking for! So, all that to say, I think it's really about having a finger on the pulse of what's trending and what's making waves in culture so that we can reflect that and hopefully also drive that forward.