Hot Wheels RLC Overdrive- A High Price to Get Over on Bots?
Its been a few weeks since the release of Mattel’s new membership add on for RLC members, Overdrive. This new addition has not gone without criticism and backlash. Many in the collector community are upset that they have to pay an additional membership fee rather than Mattel fixing the problem of bots with bot protection that many other retailers use. For those that aren’t aware, the Overdrive addition is a $99 yearly charge that gives you access to future RLC drops before others. With the add on, you will be given an update on future RLC releases up to 10 days in advance and be given the option to skip the drop should you choose. This is a great way to secure any upcoming RLC drop without having to worry about checking out come release day. For some of the older collectors who may struggle with small bot protection checkpoints like captchas, this seems like a decent idea. For the small percentage of people that took advantage of the RLC Overdrive addition, RLCs should be smooth sailing for the year. However, regular RLC members will now have an even harder time. With some RLC releases having production as low as 30000, having a service that eliminates a possible 10000 units before the drop does nothing for your chances of securing product come release day. This is especially impactful to those collectors outside of the US where Overdrive was not an option. Up to this point, Overdrive has worked for two releases, the Kawa-Bug-A Membership car and McLaren F1 RLC release. While both are readily available on the Mattel Creations site right now, regular RLC members, including one of our employees, had difficulty trying to check out the latest McLaren F1 RLC. While we aren’t sure what is causing the issue, if Mattel can’t reliably perform checkouts on less desirable items, the question becomes; What will happen on a highly anticipated release? With the rise in resellers and bot usage, Overdrive, although a pricey option, is a good option to secure all RLCs worry free. For those that did not take advantage of the program, good luck on future releases. Hopefully Mattel will not have any issues.