Every year, Hess Corporation—the one behind creating everyone’s favorite annual Hess Toy Truck—heads to the North Pole and talks to the main man in the shop who gets his elves right to work on creating the beloved annual truck, or so you’d think.
“The design concept itself is one that can take years,” said general manager Justin Mayer of Hess Toy Truck on the planning process of how each Hess Toy Truck is made.
This year’s truck is the innovative Hess Tow Truck Rescue Team, which includes a flatbed carrier that transforms into a heavy-duty tow truck and a separate speedy rescue towing teammate.
“I think this year’s truck is probably been the longest discussed from the most iterations around about how and when we should do a tow truck,” Mayer said. “Sometimes, it takes a breakthrough and for this year, we had a breakthrough a couple years ago on how we can design a tow truck that would also allow a secondary vehicle to be packaged with it, which has this cool transformative ability.”
This year’s powerful pair of roadside-assist vehicles is an extraordinary, multipurpose duo that is packed with rich features including triple towing action, four realistic sounds, more than 60 LED lights and a speedy push-friction motor.
The big rig is a mighty flatbed carrier that transforms into a heavy-duty wrecker outfitted with two different towing options. Embedded in the carrier bed is a rugged, two-tier extending tow arm with a double-hook that is tough enough to manage the biggest recovery jobs. A separate, wheel-lift tow extends out from the rear chassis as well.
In order to activate the sounds, there are three roof-mounted buttons that produce an engine, a horn and backup alert sounds. An additional sound is unlocked when you pull out the ramp on the back of the big rig activating an authentic hydraulic sound. This, innovative, multi-function tow truck is strikingly styled in a white and green color palette and sparkles with brilliant chrome-looking accessories and 45 LED lights that work in flash or steady mode.
The nimble towing partner is powered by a speedy, rev-up, friction motor and is equipped with a three-tier telescoping tow arm with a double-hook end. In coordinating white and green colors, the compact, cab-forward designed tow truck also has 21 LED lights that work in steady mode.
“The tow truck has been asked for since the ’70s, which is why I joked that it was the longest one in planning,” Mayer said. “There’s been discussions about how to design something like that probably for that long.”
Fans of the Hess Toy Truck can also look forward to a brand new tradition that is launching early next year, although details are under lock and key for now.
“I can tell you that it’s going to be very exciting,” Mayer said. “The first folks who will find out is if you sign up for text alerts and follow us on social media. You’re going to want to stay tuned.”
Hess Corporation has also incorporated a free STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum guide as more parents are concerned about the type of activities their children are involved in including physical play.
“We have a new STEM education guide that is free to download on our website so parents who are interested can create learning exercises,” Mayer said.
The 2019 Hess Tow Truck Rescue Team is sold exclusively at HessToyTruck.com for $35.99 plus tax. Six Energizer batteries and free standard shipping are included. For more information on Hess STEM, visit HessToyTruck.com/stem.
