Art & Inspiration Happy 50th Birthday, Hot Wheels!

Some people get it, some don't.

 

I still have mine. Here is a pic. Some of these are from the original issue. Also have the drag strip and the oval track with the power house. My grandsons like playing with them. Heck, I still like playing with them.

 

Most of mine are from the 80's as that is when I was old enough to not eat them but still young enough to play with them.

I recently found a tote at my mom's place that looks to contain most all of them that I ever had and I was delighted.

I actually still buy Hot Wheels so I guess I'm still young enough to play with them... When I see one I like, be it a car I love, an alternate version of one I had as a kid, or just something neato, I usually treat myself. Target & Walmart are dangerous.

The only pics I grabbed were of some of the more wild ones I had from probably the early 90's when they were just putting wheels and engines on animals, like ya do.

 

So is American Graffiti , Two Lane Blacktop & Vanishing Point but they are referred to often.
Just wonder if the 65 cutoff will ever be extended, as time marches on even Muscle Cars will eventually be traditional.

 

here is a more recent Hot Wheels story. my good buddy Jim passed away in 1993, some time around 2007 or so I drove by his mom's house and she was going to have a garage sale. she had a bunch of things out in the garage getting ready for the next day.

so she pulls out a Hot Wheels case and says these were Jims. I open it up and look inside and there were 48 cars in there, wrapped in tissue with the badges. I told her there is $1,000.00 worth of cars in here... she replied that she was going to sell them for $1.00 each.

I took them home and sold them all on ebay and got $1700.00. she gave me $200.00 for my efforts.

 

somewhere in my house, I still have all my first year hotwheels. I was given most of them for Xmas in '69. I also have some track, etc. They are even stored in a Hot Wheels branded/themed carrying case. I was a car crazy kid and these helped fan those flames, along with slot cars, model cars, car magazines, etc...

Gotta56forme/Scott

 

Good on you for being a stand-up guy!

 

I actually had a guy ask me why I told her what they were worth. we were buddies since we were 12. I saw his mom a couple times a week for 20 years. bet I ate dinner there 100 times.

 

I was talking with a guy at Hershey one year and he told me he had been an engineer for G.M. for years but had recently been hired at Hot wheels. he said the job was so much better and when I asked him why he replied: "at G.M. I would design a part of a bracket, or a small hum drum piece of the car but at Hot Wheels he worked on the whole thing"

 

I had a large qty of original Hot Wheels in the 1960's, along with all that orange track. It was the lack of space that prevented the large, long and long lasting track to be set-up for an extended period of time that ended the Hot Wheels experience for me. Also, I was growing up. Sometime around 1970 I instructed my mom to take all the Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and my other "toys" to her church, which she did and I don't regret. Now, nearly 50 years later, I may try to acquire some of those Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, just as token memories.

 

Yes, I'm a Hot Wheel collector. Go to monthly Hot Wheels shows and have attended national conventions. Love em! These are original redlines and accessories.

 

I actually wrote letters to Hot Wheels and asked them to make the cars that I liked. It was probably ‘69-‘70, I was 11-12. Now I’m to old to remember if they ever even answered.....Mark

 

Being born in 69, I collected Hot Wheels as well. The red lines were not in production by the time I started collecting. All the other brands as well. My 2 older brothers had a few red lines. Always admired them. Had the track mounted high and would see who could go the farthest. Started in the bathroom, Down the hall way and then the distance of the living room. Got into collecting 1/64 farm toys as well. Went to a toy show and bought a bunch or red lines in about 93. Then they started making really cool Hot Wheels. The Mercs(Purple Passion) and the chopped 41 Ford Taildragger. Then the larger scaled cars as well. And the collector editions. Fast forward to 2018. Found a project for sale, the owner mentioned he liked Red Lines. I showed up, made the deal. $6oo. Then I pulled out my Red Lines. He ends up knocking off $180 for 7 not so good cars. He was 75 and was a major collector. My buddy couldn`t believe I got that much for little toy cars. Have some boxed accessories as well that I bought at a swapmeet. Pure sickness. But it makes you feel young again. Don`t buy much these days.

 

yep still have mine from the first issue's......but I'm not that old......think I was 2 when I bought the first one......

 

Got my first one in late 68 or early 69, the Deora If I remember right. Next one was the 67 Camaro, green. Took it to school and some bastard stole it. Knew who did it, but couldn’t prove it. I ended up getting the Baracuda and the Cougar, but I wanted the
Mustang fastback but never could find it. My first track was the simple loop the loop one, it was ok, but I was a big shot when I got the Snake and Mongoose drag strip with the flip top funny cars and parachutes!
My first cousin had one of the first issue VW vans.....yes,the high dollar now one. No telling what became of it, he probably buried it or destroyed it with a hammer, he was weird like that!
I gave all mine to another of my cousins when I outgrew them. When my boys were young, I bought them bunches of them. Every once in a while, one turns up when we move some furniture or clean out a closet. Nothing valuable, just good memories. I’ve already started buying them again for the grandson, can’t start too soon!

 

I crushed a few of the ugly ones for my junkyard until the vise landed on my toe. That stopped the crushing.

 

I was 10 years old when they came out. Along with the multitude of car models and slot cars, they were a huge part of my formative years. My earliest Hot Wheels memory is my dad searching all over town for the "Hot Heap". I don't even recall if he ever found one, but the memory of him having a favorite stuck with me. As a product of the Great Depression, to say that my dad lived vicariously through my brother and I would be an understatement Made for a great childhood.

 

I got quite a few when they first came out. My Dad passed away in Feb. of 69 so The "new" hot wheels were few and far between after that. But My kids liked em so we collected until they married and moved off.
1 more story. I have a couple of friends who are very serious collectors, , has every single Real Rider still in pac .Raw castings. Every thing hot wheels. Goes to all conventions. I also work with a man who was a machinist, for Mattel in Cal. in 65-74. He and his son both swear they have prototypes, raw castings, new cars still in pacs from 68-69. I asked them if they knew what those were worth. The son and i were close friends. He told me that yeah they knew what they were worth. But dad was going to keep it all for grandkids.

 

Yes hot wheels are post 65 but probable responsible for alot of kids getting involved with cars and being part of the hamb community today. I was hooked on them as a kid. We were not well off growing up so I played with other kids and their cars. I do remember getting a few new ones from the local shell station when they had a promotional event. When the various reproduction sets started to come out I bought them all for my son. We had track running all over the house. Super chargers kept the cars flying. I think the coolest thing they ever made were the parachutes that popped out of the track. Here is a new car I'm partial to. It resembles my avatar. A closer look shows a 10 cylinder hemi.

 

They make great Christmas tree ornaments. My tree is full of them.

 

Got my ass lit up by the principal's paddle in 1968 after I liberated my blue camaro from the teacher's desk. Yes they used the board of education back then.

 

The first hot wheels I had was the Camaro flip out from the 80s. It had a spring loaded flap on the bottom so when it got something it would flip. I got it for Christmas I don't think Grandma was to happy with me driving it into her baseboards.

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Here’s my Hot Wheels club member stuff from 1970


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A display stand has a 1968 copyright on the bottom.


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I have to dig out my cars but here is one of my more unique size ones.


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31A, very cool stuff. Thanks for sharing!!

 

Hmmm, I don't remember being in the club, but somehow I came to have (and still do) two of those Boss Hoss Mustangs. I was 7yo in 1970...

I also remember those water slide decals. I put mini waterslide decals on a few of my hotwheels, to dress them up like the drag racers did...

Gotta56forme/Scott

 

@31Apickup - I gots to know.... Did Bob ever send out the special BOSS HOSS Mustang Hotwheels?

 

Yes he did it’s always been my favorite one. I’ll have to dig out my cars and take a photo to post.


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Wasn't there also a rechargeable Boss Mustang and a T/A Firebird, or am I really slipping?