Basics of Collecting Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels die cast toy cars have been in production since the late 1960s, and have grown to become some of the most popular collectibles on the planet. Even today, collectors routinely purchase both the standard vehicles as well as special editions and chase vehicles, in some cases sharing their collection with their children, and at other times putting the toys away for investment purposes. There are a number of ways that a collector can go about collecting Hot Wheels cars. Since the cars are sequentially numbered, it is possible to collect them numerically, filling in gaps in your collection by searching at department stores or online. You can also collect Hot Wheels according to a theme.

Themed Collections

When you collect Hot Wheels themes, you might select a favorite car, color or even vehicle manufacturer. Because of the diversity of the brand, practically every car manufacturer in existence has had a Hot Wheels car representative. Of course, if you're a muscle car enthusiast, this becomes much easier to put together a themed collection, because cars such as the Chevelle, Corvette, Mustang and Charger have all had hundreds of different variations made in thousands of different color schemes. Just collecting Camaros, for instance, could take years, as some of the early Hot Wheels Camaros can be quite difficult to find.

Redlines

Some of the most difficult to find and valuable Hot Wheels are the original Redline Hot Wheels, which can sell for literally thousands of dollars depending on their rarity. When you purchase Redlines, however, you have to be careful. There is a booming restoration market for these vehicles, many of which can appear very much like they are in original condition. They aren't, however. They can actually be worth quite a bit less than an original condition vehicle primarily because it is possible to paint the car in one of the rare colors even if it didn't have that rare color when it was new. The process is relatively easy to accomplish and can raise the cost of a vehicle from just a few hundred dollars to many thousands of dollars. Looking at it another way, an ultra-rare Redline Hot Wheels car will always have some damage on it- paint chips, scratched windshield, and so on. A perfect Redline Hot Wheels car is one that you should be wary about purchasing.

Treasure Hunts

A safe venue for collecting relatively rare Hot Wheels cars is the Treasure Hunt Series. These highly collectible toys have been offered since the mid-1990s with an average of about 12 different cars produced every year. Mattel doesn't publish their production numbers, but it's pretty clear to most collectors that there's about one treasure hunt car per retail case, and one super treasure hunt car in every three to five cases. Regular treasure hunts have plastic wheels, but super treasure hunts feature Real Rider tires and wheels.

Whatever your interest in collecting Hot Wheels, you're bound to find something you're interested in in Hot Wheels collecting. The only trouble you might have is the temptation to pull them out of the packages and roll them down a track. Then again- they are toys, right?