If Mattel had an FTE wheel pack for sale, would you buy it?

I'm currently looking to resource sets to upgrade some of my cars. I'm not sure that rubber tires are any quicker than the hard plastic... but I'm going to try them out too!

Wow...another older topic.

IMO, Mattel would never release them to the mass public. Doing so would mean an acknowledgment of customization as a fair practice. To them, customization is nothing more than the disassembly and/or mutilation of their products. Also, the wheel and axle assemblies would have to include installation instructions which would basically state "Power drill or Dremel & JB Weld required"...and that's never going to happen.

I would buy some. Save me from cutting uo good cars. Probably have about 500 FTEs still in the package though. About 100 loose. 

I wouldn't bother, there are enough alternates.

Throwing good money after bad. Pass.

I wouldn't waste my resources.  No matter what, the manufacturers will never go to the extent of ensuring every axle's pinhead is formed without any defects.

I'd rather refine my own harvested axles and nickle plate them myself.  But honestly, unless you're worried about rusting, I don't think nickle plated axles are relevant these days.  And if you're understanding what I'm putting down, you likely wouldn't be concerned about rust either.

2 questions. How much? Am I building at the moment? Custom wheels made for performance would be very welcome by many of us, they don't have to be FTE. 

I would buy them, you try finding FTEs in UK without spending silly money on a car  you probably don't want.

Great to read these responses!

FTE made a huge splash in the hobby for a time however it's been demonstrated that picking a good set of shoes for a car along with advanced techniques in modding exceed FTE performance alone. Folks are doing awesome stuff with MarioKart wheels and Hot Wheels ID, the mould for the latter still being used in the mainline series 

There's still a supply of FTE if you're willing to dig for it, I don't see them used often like in the past. Could be less of a headache to source OH5 and use BlueLine Racing Special Sauce instead 

[I'm just a fan, don't take what I say as gospel]

Yes. Definitely. I got lucky and scored 4 fantasy castings with FTE's at an indoor flea market a few months ago for $2 each, but the supply is dwindling, at least in eastern Pennsylania. Pretty soon those cars will be highly collectible and not worth drilling out to harvest the wheels. Some castings already are.