What the heck is “Trends Hobby?” – FEATURETTE
New challenge incoming
A year ago, a new Chinese die-cast brand by the name of Trends Hobby showed up for pre- purchase all around the world. At first, we did not pay much attention to the announcement. After all, new βpop-upβ brands appear like mushrooms after the rain, trying to take a share of the ever-growing 1:64 scale die-cast market. But then we looked closer, and saw not only great promise in attention to detail but also mentions of multiple official licenses and exclusives, all for a price that sounded a bit too good to be true. Still, we received some models and waited to see for ourselves. We are now in the autumn of 2026 and now, with models in hand, we can confidently say that TH not only passed with flying colors, but that the brand does not show any signs of slowing down at itβs first year anniversary. Today we will look at the entire brandβs assortment, from regular releases to event exclusives and try to see where the future of Trends Hobby lies.
Porsche in 1/64 scale by Trends Hobby
The first brand deal Trends Hobby had ever announced was with the famed German car giant. And they sure went all out on those. They announced and showed multiple variations of the newest 911 GT3 R from DTM (through Porscheβs Mathey Racing), Le Mans (again with an official license!) and GTWCA with the agreement of Absolute Racing. And while some of those were quietly removed without any explanation, some actually got through without issue and the brand nailed the details on them. For a price of around β¬25 we got faithful details, rolling wheels with brake discs, and in the first batch of models, an opening frunk. Not only that, the models feel good and solid in the hand and you donβt feel like they will fall apart if you breathe at them wrong. They are definitely up to par with more established brands for a similar or in some cases lower price. At this moment there are several 911βs available to purchase at around β¬18 mark. While those versions wonβt have an opening frunk, other details should not be affected and TH has only started extracting potential out of this casting.
However, this is not the model that put them on the map. They actually presented and later released multiple iterations of a very special race car: 1998 Porsche 911 GT1-98. This machine was built specifically to challenge McLaren F1 GTR and Mercedes CLK-GTR in the top class at Le-Mans, the now fabled GT1. While it bears the same name as its road counterpart, be assured, dear reader, it has nothing to do with the base 911 of the era. It was a steel tube frame, twin turbocharged flat-six fire-breathing monster, capable of blasting through the Mulsanne Straight at over 320 km/h. At the time, its setup wasnβt the best, with Toyota and Mercedes beating the car routinely. But what Porsche lacked in power it made up for in reliability. That secured (the team) the historic 1-2 finish at the 1998 24h of Le Mans, a record-breaking 16th overall win at this venue for the Porsche. Because of the rules, the company created only one roadgoing version of the racecar for the 1998 homologation, and it now resides in a museum in Stuttgart.
This is undoubtedly my favorite release from Trends Hobby so far, all because of one trick: it has, like a real race-car, fully removable clam shells at the front and rear, giving you an option to see the engineering behind this machine. For its size, this is a mighty impressive function and the details are very good to say the least. You can clearly see the air channels, suspension setup, part of the chassis and of course, the engine with its bits and bobs. Clam shells are connected to the chassis with magnets and when attached, we can confirm that they do not fall off nearly as easily as one would think. And while the first release has long been sold out, we can see that there are 2 new versions incoming, both inspired by the road-going variant.
Those two castings completely overshadowed the last 3 models from the Porsche range, the 918 Spyder, Cayenne Turbo GT and the electric Taycan Turbo GT. All of them have an opening front bonnet, with 918 having an additional removable rear engine cover. All of those models are definitely worth the price and we cannot wait to see any future variants.
Lamborghini in 1/64 scale by Trends Hobby
As of the moment of writing this article, Trends Hobby has 3 castings from San Agata at its disposal. First and definitely foremost is the final racing variant of Huracan: GT3 EVO 2, the fastest and most competitive Lamborghini race car to date. Even though the new Temerario GT3 is already rolling out of the factory, it did not have the best of starts. As a result, teams are unwilling to switch from the proven platform and Huracan still has at least a few good years left in the racing scene. Most of the variants came through the THs collaboration with Absolute Racing. Created in 2010, the team quickly established themselves as one of the top contenders in Asia and now operates across multiple countries and fields cars in almost all of the top championships and events in the region. It is unsurprising, therefore, that TH has a lot of material to work with, so far announcing 4 Absolute Racing Huracans. One of the highlights is definitely the 2026 China GT Championship car, adorned in a striking Ultraman livery as part of a collab between the team, TH and the Ultraman franchise. The model itself is an absolute gem. It comes in an acrylic display and has a removable engine cover. Absolute Racing is not the only team that gave its license for its Huracans. TH also secured licenses for some of the DTM machinery, including the full lineup of Grasser Racing Team. So far there have been announcements for 2024, 2025 and 2023 cars. Will the partnership continue? We will see in the coming months.
As for the road cars, TH does a great job with its newest baby Lambo, the Temerario (meaning reckless). While it lacks the signature drama of its predecessor, Temerario packs a punch and a half. Its hybrid system along with a new bespoke high revving V8, enables it to be a wicked driverβs car, as Jason Cammisa proves in a recent Hagerty Icons episode. TH was one of the first brands to release the model and it set the benchmark high. It is an all around nice die-cast and is elevated by the detachable rear hatch that lets you to see the engine, as well as an opening bonnet. Props to the designer who incorporated suitcases in the frunk. Not sure if someone will ever put them in the real car though. The last car from Lamborghini is its SUV, Urus Perfomante. The casting itself is nothing to write home about. However, its silhouette is great as an art car, and now you can preorder two Urus models that were done in collaboration with the Estate of Jean-Michelle Basquat. Speaking of artistsβ¦
Artists and Special editions
One of the strongest parts of the TH catalog is the collaboration with various artists. Along with Jean-Michelle Basquat, they had also collaborated with the Keath Harring foundation, and as a result, out came a limited edition Temerario art car. Another, more recent collab was with the Japanese lifestyle brand Tokidoki. Most, if not all collaboration models, are reserved as event exclusives and all have limited production runs. Because of that, prices on the secondary market can be quite high, but really it depends heavily on the model and the collab itself. Event exclusives are also the first time you can buy new casting from TH.
New horizons and future plans of Trends Hobby
Given it has only been around for a year, TH built quite an impressive following and they donβt seem to intend to stop. They already announced that they secured the Bugatti license and their first model together will be the newest Bugatti masterpiece, Tourbillion. Additionally, they announced licensing agreements with Audi, Pagani, Nissan, Toyota, Bugatti, McLaren and an artist Matthew Langile. In addition, they were sponsors for the Johor Racing team entry of this yearβs edition of Suzuka 1000km race. It is only a matter of time when their Chevrolet Corvette GT3 will be released as a model. We sure are expecting more news from them and we cannot wait what the coming years will bring us.
Thank you so much for reading! Good morning, good evening and good night to whenever you are!
