Hot Wheels

This article was written by Dustyn

Hot Wheels is a brand of die-cast toy cars introduced by American toy maker Mattel in 1968.

It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys,

then-owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers have since licensed Hot Wheels

to make scale models of their cars, allowing the use of original design blueprints and

detailing. Although Hot Wheels were originally intended to be for children and young adults,

they have become popular with adult collectors, for whom limited edition models are now

made available.

 History/Timeline

The original Hot Wheels were made by Elliot Handler. Handler discovered his son Kenneth

playing with Matchbox cars and decided to create a line to compete with Matchbox. He

suggested the line to his wife Ruth Handler, but she was unenthusiastic, as well as Mattel’s

directors. Hot Wheels were originally conceived by Handler to become to be more like ‘’hot

rod’’ (i.e.customized/modified or even caricaturized or fantasy cars, often with big rear tires,

superchargers, flame paint-jobs, outlandish proportions, hood blowers, etc.) cars, as

compared to Matchbox cars which were generally small-scale models of production cars. He

began producing the cars with assistance from fellow engineer Jack Ryan. ‘’The Sweet 16’’

There were sixteen castings released on May 18, 1968, eleven of them designed by Harry

Bentley Bradley with assistance from Handler and Ryan. The first one produced was a dark

blue ‘’Custom Camaro’’. Bradley was from the car industry and had designed the body for

the (full-sized) Dodge Deora concept car and the Custom Fleetside, (based on his own

customized 1968 Chevrolet C-10 Fleetside). In 1968, the first production line of Hot Wheels

Cars is known as The Original Sweet 16, which is the first of the Red Line Series, meaning

the tires have a red pin stripe on their sides.

 Racing track set

In addition to the cars themselves, Mattel produced a racing track set (sold separately).

Thought it would be updated throughout the years, the original track consisted of a series of

brightly colored orange road sections (pieced together to form an oblong, circular race track),

with on (or sometimes two) ‘’ super chargers’’ (faux service stations through which cars

passed on the tracks, featuring battery-powered spinning wheels,which would propel the

cars along the tracks). An important feature here was Hot Wheel’s use of wide, hard-plastic

tires that created much less friction and tracked more smoothly then the narrow metal or

plastic wheels used on contemporary Matchboxes; Hot Wheels cars were designed to roll

easily and at high speeds, which was a great innovation at the time.

 1969

As it turned out, the Hot Wheels brand was a staggering success. The series completely

disrupted the whole industry for small die-cast car models from 1968 onwards, forcing the

competition at Matchbox and elsewhere to completely rethink their concepts, and to

scramble to try to recover lost ground. Harry Bentley Bradley did not think that would be the

case and had quit Mattel to go back to the car industry. When the company asked him back,

he recommended a good friend, Ira Gilford. Gilford, who had just left Chrysler, quickly

accepted the job of designing the next Hot Wheels modals. Some of Hot Wheels’ greatest

cars, such as the Twin Mill and Splittin’ Image, came from Ira Gilford’s drawing board. The

success of the 1967 line was solidified and consolidated with the 1969 releases, with which

Hot Wheels effectively established itself as the hottest brand of small toy car modals in the

USA. Splittin’ Image, Torero, Turbofire, and Twin Mill were part of the ‘’Show & Go’’ series

and are the very first original in-house designs by Hot Wheels. The initial prototypes of the

Beach Bomb were faithful to the shape of a real VW Type 2 ‘’bus’’, and had two surfboards

sticking out the back window, in a nod to the VW’s perceived association with the surfing

community and the slang term for a person who spends much time surfing - ‘beach bum’.

During the fledgling Hot Wheels era, Mattel wanted to make sure that each of the cars could

be with any of the playsets and stunt track sets. Unfortunately, testing showed that this early

version (now known among collectors as the Rear-Loader Beach Bomb, or ’RLBB’) was too

narrow to roll effectively on Hot Wheels track or be powered by the super Charger, and was

too top-heavy to negotiate high-speed corners. Hot Wheels designers Howard Rees and

Larry Wood modified the casting, extending the side fenders to accommodate the track

width, as well as providing a new place on the vehicle to store each of the plastic surfboards.

The roof was also cut away and replaced by a full-length sunroof, to lower the center of

gravity. Nicknamed the Sied-loader by collectors, this was the production version of the

Beach Bomb. The Rear-Loader Beach Bomb is widely considered the ‘’Holy Grail’’, or

ultimate pinnacle, of a serious Hot Wheels collection. An unknown number were made as

test subjects and given to employees. A regular production Beach Bomb may be worth up to

$600, depending on condition. Market prices on RLBBs however, have easily reached the

five-figure plateau, ranging from $70,000 to 120,000. The Petersen Automotive Museum in

Los Angeles had a pink RLBB Loading Beach Bomb in 2002 as a limited edition.

 Collectors

Through the years, Hot Wheels cars have been collected mostly by children, but since the

late 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of adult collectors. Mattel estimates

that 41 million children grew up playing with the toys, the average collector has over 1,550

cars, and children between ages of 5 and 15 have an average of 41 cars, Most believe the

collecting craze started with the Treasure Hunts in 1995. Mike Strauss has been called the

father of Hot Wheels collecting; he has organized two collectors’ events each year in some

form since 1986. The first event was the Annual Hot Wheels Collectors Convention, normally

held each year in the fall. The Conventions are held each year in southern California. The

Hot Wheels Collectors Nationals rotate among cities outside of California during the spring.

Strauss has also published the quarterly Hot Wheels Newsletter since 1986 and was one of

the first to unite collectors all over the world. He also writes the Tomart’s Price Guide To Hot

Wheels, a book listing history, car descriptions and values, which is used by almost every

collector to learn more about the hobby and their collection. Strauss sold his collection in

2011 and retired from the Hot Wheels Newsletter. There are hundreds, perhaps even

thousands, of web pages dedicated to Hot Wheels collecting. Collectors are seeking

everything related to Hot Wheels, from only new casting to only Red Lines and everything in

between. For the most part it is a relatively inexpensive hobby, when compared with coin

collecting, stamp collecting or Barbie collecting, with mainline cars costing about $0.97-$1.08

(USD) at retail. The price has not changed much in almost 40 years, although in real terms

the models have dropped significantly in price (a Hot Wheels car cost $0.98 in 1969and

costs $0.98 today, in spite of inflation). After the cars are no longer available at retail the cost

can vary significantly. A common car may sell for less than retail, while some of the more

difficult cars can sell for many hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The highest price paid

for a Hot Wheels car was close to $70,000 in 2000 for a pre-production version of a

Volkswagen Rear Loader Beach Bomb (the asking price was $72,000). The Beach Bomb is

a VW microbus with a pair of surfboards poking out the rear window. This design failed initial

testing, proving to be top-heavy and not functional with the power Booster track accessory. A widened version with the surfboards mounted in side slots was designed and released for the 1969 model year, making the ‘’rear loader’’ version a rarity and very sought-after piece.

As of 2018, there are about 50 ‘’rear loaders’’ known to exist.