I’m intrigued by this: even in 1990, when the magazine was very far from the BMX scene, Hot Wheels still saw it as a means to try to keep their flame alive. And they were right.
It reminds me of the days when Alpine Action tried to use BMX Action Bike to keep the spirit of skateboarding going. Action Bike were not at all keen on the idea of skateboard adverts at the time.
I recall an advert we dreamed up in the Sun in Splendour, based on the Winston cigarette adverts of the time, which were themselves having a dig at the clamp-down on tobacco advertising.
It was going to show a picture of a stuffed bird tied on to the saddle of a BMX bike with the copy “We wanted to show you a picture of skateboarding, but they wouldn’t let us. So here’s a picture of a tit on a bicycle instead.” But that wasn’t acceptable either.
In retrospect I have great respect for what Hot Wheels were doing.