The price has not changed a lot in nearly 40 years, although in actual phrases the models have dropped considerably in value (a Hot Wheels automobile cost $0.ninety eight in 1968 and prices $0.98 right now, in spite of inflation). After the automobiles are now not available at retail the price can differ considerably. A widespread automobile could promote for less than retail, while some of the more difficult automobiles can sell for a lot of hundred or even thousands of dollars. The highest value paid for a Hot Wheels car was close to $70,000 in 2000 for a pre-production model of a Volkswagen Rear Loader Beach Bomb (the asking value was $72,000).
The blister card said “Treasure Hunt” or “T-Hunt” on a green bar, generally with an illustration of a treasure chest. Since 2013, Treasure Hunts don’t have the green stripe anymore; as a substitute, the cars are recognizable with a “flame in a circle brand” on the vehicle and behind it on the cardboard. The automobiles have been embellished with flashy designs and special hot wheels garage “rubber” wheels earlier than 2007. For the primary time, there are chase automobiles in the classics collection. A few fashions included are Copper Stopper, 1970 Pontiac GTO, and Hammer Sled. 2013 saw the discharge of 250 cars including Stunt, Racing, Imagination, City, and Showroom, all of which include sub-series.
In 2008, all the sequence and automobiles had been relatively just like 2007’s automobiles. Also in 2001, Mattel issued 240 mainline releases consisting of 12 Treasure Hunts, 36 First Editions, 12 Segment Series with 4 cars each, and 144 open inventory cars. Popular fashions that debuted embody the HyperMite and FrightBike. In 1974, Hot Wheels launched its ‘Flying Colors’ line, and added flashy decals and “tampo-printed” paint designs which helped revitalize sales. Hot Wheels is a partner and sponsor of the Australian stunt rider Matt Mingay’s Stuntz Inc staff, and in addition sponsors him in the Stadium Super Trucks.
Hot Wheels additionally launched a number of collector-focused lines for that year, together with Favorites, which was a sequence that consisted of 11 highly-detailed automobiles , all with steel our bodies and rubber tires. For this 12 months, Hot Wheels additionally launched a display case, which might maintain as much as 48 automobiles, and could either get up on its own (via attachable “toes”) or be mounted on a wall. Eric Tscherne and Fraser Campbell together with former designer Paul Tam’s son, Alec Tam, joined the design staff. Tscherne’s Seared Tuner (formerly Sho-Stopper) graced the mainline packaging from 2000 to 2003. The Deora II, certainly one of solely two Hot Wheels concept automobiles ever made into full-size, functional automobiles, was additionally released this 12 months. Handler discovered his son Kenneth playing with Matchbox cars and decided to create a line to compete with Matchbox.
The Beach Bomb is a VW microbus with a pair of surfboards poking out the rear window. This design failed preliminary testing, proving to be top-heavy and not useful with the Power Booster track accent. A widened version with the surfboards mounted in facet hot wheels collectors slots was designed and released for the 1969 model year, making the “rear loader” model a rarity and really sought-after piece. As of 2018, there are about 50 “rear loaders” identified to exist.
In 2006, a Series three line of Classics was launched, once more containing 30 fashions with multiple colours of each automobile. Models included the ’69 Pontiac Firebird, a Meyers Manx dune buggy, and the Richard Petty ’70 Plymouth “Superbird”. This automobile was designed by the workers of Car Craft Magazine in 1961.