Is there still a market for Hot Wheels?

[sloar]

I have a bike on craigslist for sale, its been on there for about a month with only a few bites. I'm only asking $160 and it is a very nice bike worth every bit of my asking price. But, I had a weird offer this morning. Someone emailed me if I'd be interested in trading the bike for 300 unopened newer Hot Wheels. I immediately wrote back with a no thank you. I later started to think about it and got a little curious. Are people still collecting these things? I know it would have to be an ebay sale, and I don't really want to sale all 300 as a lot and have to ship them, but maybe lots of 50. Even at a $1 a piece I'd be a head. I just don't want to be stuck with 300 toy cars, I'd rather be stuck with the bike.

[Tickdoc]

Funny, I read hot wheels and thought "stolen wheels". I can be a bit slow at times.

No to the little toy cars, for me at least.

[mistermo]

I went through a purging of sorts about 5yrs ago. I had about 50 Hot Wheels leftover from the 70s and put them on ebay. To my astonishment, there was a HUGE market and some went for upwards of $100, while others went for nearly nothing. I have no idea what collectors seek, but think you might do well to put them individually on ebay and let the collectors market sort them out.

As an aside, I had one where the plastic top kept falling off. I found a way to glue it on, so that it wouldn't fall off and the glue wouldn't show. I sold it to someone who cried foul. Apparently, all of them had tops that fall off and my gluing of it back on degraded it's collector value. Lesson learned: just list them as they are.

[Uncle Jam's Army]

One of our forumites is gainfully employed by Mattel to design new Hot Wheels and works with a team to do so. So yes, Mattel seems to think there is still a market for Hot Wheels. They have a cool Hot Wheels Factory Racing cycling kit, too.

[Louis]

All I know is that well over 40 years ago my fast Matchbox cars were usually faster than my fast Hot Wheels cars when I ran head-to-head competitions on my track.,,

[Jaq]

Well, on the Hot Wheels site, you can get a 9-pack for 7.50, while a 50-car pack runs 55.00. So it's probably a decent trade.

The Hot Wheels club/team does have a fun kit (http://hotwheelscyclingteam.com/hot-wheels-cycling-team-accessories/).

[texbike]

"A Hot Wheels unopened is a dream not realized". -Me, c2015

I LOVE Hot Wheels and play with them with my son somewhat regularly. However, I wouldn't trade a bike for a bunch of them unless you could choose which ones they were.

Here are my favorites from our house...

Texbike

[unterhausen]

Hot Wheels collecting is a sickness with some people. I still have mine from when I was a kid -- from the first years they were made. People were collecting them, and unfortunately Mattel noticed and came out with exact replicas of the original cars. Why not, there was money there. I suspect it's like beanie babies and other fads and it's not a big deal any more

looking on ebay, it's not too dire, but not so high that I'd feel stupid keeping them. I would have been better off putting my $.50 in a savings account though.

[pdmtong]

Take the money unless you have time to manage multiple eBay transactions in hopes of breaking even or getting ahead

[Louis]

Take the money unless you have time to manage multiple eBay transactions in hopes of breaking even or getting ahead

Agreed.

If they are as valuable and liquid as the current owner says he would have sold them himself and could pay you in cash.

[rugbysecondrow]

I have a bike on craigslist for sale, its been on there for about a month with only a few bites. I'm only asking $160 and it is a very nice bike worth every bit of my asking price. But, I had a weird offer this morning. Someone emailed me if I'd be interested in trading the bike for 300 unopened newer Hot Wheels. I immediately wrote back with a no thank you. I later started to think about it and got a little curious. Are people still collecting these things? I know it would have to be an ebay sale, and I don't really want to sale all 300 as a lot and have to ship them, but maybe lots of 50. Even at a $1 a piece I'd be a head. I just don't want to be stuck with 300 toy cars, I'd rather be stuck with the bike.



Ready made gifts. I would jettison the bike in favor of the cars. I am always down for a good barter and that one is interesting.



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[bewheels]

Like anything that people are interested in collecting, there is money to be made (filter by highest price http://www.ebay.com/sch/Diecast-Toy-Vehicles-/222/i.html?Brand=Hot%2520Wheels&_sop=16).

But collectables are like playing 'hot potato', sooner of later someone ends up holding onto the potato. Then there are those who truly enjoy whatever it is being collected...they like potatoes.

If it wasn't for the fact that I would have 300 little cars to have to deal with, it would be an interesting trade.

...I am sure there is a thread on a collectables forum somewhere where they are trying to understand why anyone would ever spend more that $200 on a bike (kids toy).

[oldpotatoe]

Seen on PawnStars..fasten yer seatbelt..

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/04/03/pawn-stars-see-a-hot-wheels-car-worth-more-than-a-porsche/21161028

[unterhausen]

...I am sure there is a thread on a collectables forum somewhere where they are trying to understand why anyone would ever spend more that $200 on a bike (kids toy).
you can't go to Target and buy a Madone for $2. I have a friend that goes out to the store every time Hot Wheels releases a new style of vehicle and buys a couple. The market for these things would collapse if it weren't for people like him, some people buy 10 and pack them away.

[krhea]

To answer the question directly, "yes, there is a market for Hotwheels", however, the "real" market is in cars with red stripes around the tires called "Redlines".
I've been a very serious collector of Redlines for 25+yrs. So serious that for a couple year stint I put on a collectors show/event called "The Redline Jackpot" in Vegas. Serious collectors of Redlines from the US and around the world gathered for a weekend of selling/trading and seeing incredible cars from 1968 up to 1973, when the Redline era stopped.
The gentleman with the pink VW bus shown in another post is a good friend of mine, Bruce Pascal, with the most impressive and valuable Hotwheel collection in the world. The story behind how he found that one little toy is pretty amazing. I've held it in my hand, watched guys offer him incredible amounts of cash to purchase and seen grown men get weak in the knees as it's the holy grail of rare Redlines, thought to be a myth for years and years until unearthed by a collector in Kansas.
The Hotwheels you can buy today in Target, Kmart, grocery stores, Toy R Us etc are worth exactly what you pay for them and will never have the value of an "original" Redline from the late '60s/early '70s. in 1995 Mattel hit upon the brilliant idea called "Treasure Hunts". They made 5,000-10,000 "special cars", inserted them randomly into cases of cars and collectors went crazy looking for them. Due to the limited number and the fact they used very popular car models they became "valuable". A couple of the '95 Treasure Hunts still sell for $100-$300 per car mint in the package. Remove the cars from the package and it's worth maybe $25. Since 1995 and maybe '96 the hobby leveled out as spectulators jumped on board and things changed dramatically. There are probably hundreds of thousands of "new" Hotwheels, still in the package sitting in plastic storage bins in folks homes and they can't give them away, even at pennies on the dollar. Meanwhile, the value of a good "Redline" increases every year.
As with most high end collectibles the "real" deals are done out of the public eye as all transactions are cash and usually in very large amounts. I can tell you this, cars from my Redline collecting have "purchased" me a number of very high ticket bikes, vacations, couple cars etc over the years.

Usually a collector focuses on a specific element of the Redline era, be it a particular car, a specific color, perhaps just 1973 cars etc. Condition is everything as it is with any collectible in terms of value as well as the color. Pink is always a huge color in terms of value as pink cars in mint condition are very hard to find. Not only did us boys either put firecrackers in them and blow them up because they were pink but the pink paint was extremely thin and fragile. That $100k pink VW Bus is virtually the same bus I have in blue and mine is worth maybe $200, why? Mine is called a "side-loader" and the pink is a "rear-loader". Mattel realized the rear load design didn't work with the 'Superchargers" and changed the design to a rear load with wider sides so it would get caught by the spinning Supercharger wheels and throw the car down the track. There were only a handful of rear load buses made as prototypes and then the mold was changed to side load.
My interest was in any and all mint condition purple, pink and olive colored cars, The Mighty Maverick model and what's called "The Original 16" or "Sweet 16" in the package which consisted of: Custom Cougar, Custom Firebird, Custom VW bug, Custom Eldorado, Custom Fleetside, Custom Mustang, Custom T-Bird, Ford J-Car, Deora, Hot Heap, Python, Silhouette, Custom Vette, Custom Camaro, Custom Barracuda and the Beatnik Bandit.
For 20yrs+ I had the largest collection of near-mint to mint purple Redlines in the world numbering close to 500 if I remember correctly.

Anyway, it's a weird hobby with great people and the best toy ever made!!!!

Here are some pieces I've recently "moved" after having in my collection for a long time. Most all of these were pretty common cars and I'm sure some of you had them as kids, however, these are some of the most difficult colors to find in these particular models and they're in excellent to near mint condition which makes the value jump:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/KRhea/Redlines2/58714b66.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/KRhea/Redlines2/b5c845e1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/KRhea/Redline%20collection%20for%20sale/9211a7b6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/KRhea/Redline%20collection%20for%20sale/3b7457c1.jpg

[texbike]

To answer the question directly, "yes, there is a market for Hotwheels", however, the "real" market is in cars with red stripes around the tires called "Redlines".
I've been a very serious collector of Redlines for 25+yrs. So serious that for a couple year stint I put on a collectors show/event called "The Redline Jackpot" in Vegas. Serious collectors of Redlines from the US and around the world gathered for a weekend of selling/trading and seeing incredible cars from 1968 up to 1973, when the Redline era stopped.
The gentleman with the pink VW bus shown in another post is a good friend of mine, Bruce Pascal, with the most impressive and valuable Hotwheel collection in the world. The story behind how he found that one little toy is pretty amazing. I've held it in my hand, watched guys offer him incredible amounts of cash to purchase and seen grown men get weak in the knees as it's the holy grail of rare Redlines, thought to be a myth for years and years until unearthed by a collector in Kansas.
The Hotwheels you can buy today in Target, Kmart, grocery stores, Toy R Us etc are worth exactly what you pay for them and will never have the value of an "original" Redline from the late '60s/early '70s. in 1995 Mattel hit upon the brilliant idea called "Treasure Hunts". They made 5,000-10,000 "special cars", inserted them randomly into cases of cars and collectors went crazy looking for them. Due to the limited number and the fact they used very popular car models they became "valuable". A couple of the '95 Treasure Hunts still sell for $100-$300 per car mint in the package. Remove the cars from the package and it's worth maybe $25. Since 1995 and maybe '96 the hobby leveled out as spectulators jumped on board and things changed dramatically. There are probably hundreds of thousands of "new" Hotwheels, still in the package sitting in plastic storage bins in folks homes and they can't give them away, even at pennies on the dollar. Meanwhile, the value of a good "Redline" increases every year.
As with most high end collectibles the "real" deals are done out of the public eye as all transactions are cash and usually in very large amounts. I can tell you this, cars from my Redline collecting have "purchased" me a number of very high ticket bikes, vacations, couple cars etc over the years.

Usually a collector focuses on a specific element of the Redline era, be it a particular car, a specific color, perhaps just 1973 cars etc. Condition is everything as it is with any collectible in terms of value as well as the color. Pink is always a huge color in terms of value as pink cars in mint condition are very hard to find. Not only did us boys either put firecrackers in them and blow them up because they were pink but the pink paint was extremely thin and fragile. That $100k pink VW Bus is virtually the same bus I have in blue and mine is worth maybe $200, why? Mine is called a "side-loader" and the pink is a "rear-loader". Mattel realized the rear load design didn't work with the 'Superchargers" and changed the design to a rear load with wider sides so it would get caught by the spinning Supercharger wheels and throw the car down the track. There were only a handful of rear load buses made as prototypes and then the mold was changed to side load.
My interest was in any and all mint condition purple, pink and olive colored cars, The Mighty Maverick model and what's called "The Original 16" or "Sweet 16" in the package which consisted of: Custom Cougar, Custom Firebird, Custom VW bug, Custom Eldorado, Custom Fleetside, Custom Mustang, Custom T-Bird, Ford J-Car, Deora, Hot Heap, Python, Silhouette, Custom Vette, Custom Camaro, Custom Barracuda and the Beatnik Bandit.
For 20yrs+ I had the largest collection of near-mint to mint purple Redlines in the world numbering close to 500 if I remember correctly.

Anyway, it's a weird hobby with great people and the best toy ever made!!!!

Here are some pieces I've recently "moved" after having in my collection for a long time. Most all of these were pretty common cars and I'm sure some of you had them as kids, however, these are some of the most difficult colors to find in these particular models and they're in excellent to near mint condition which makes the value jump:



Kevin,

You never cease to amaze!!! Thanks for the education. :)

Texbike

[rugbysecondrow]

Very cool read.


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[bikemoore]

I'm not a fan of barter. If there is sufficient market value in those 300 HotWheels cars to be a fair trade for your bike, the owner of the cars should use them to raise the cash for the bike instead of forcing you to turn the toys into $$.

[Louis]

I'm not a fan of barter. If there is sufficient market value in those 300 HotWheels cars to be a fair trade for your bike, the owner of the cars should use them to raise the cash for the bike instead of forcing you to turn the toys into $$.

+1

And to those who say "Do it - maybe one or two of the 300 cars is a super-valuable pink bus," assuming that the guy on the other end of a trade may be an idiot is always a bad sign.

[rugbysecondrow]

It's not about assuming somebody is an idiot, it is looking for value.

To be frank, it is a $160 bike you haven't sold in over a month. Take the trade for unopened matchbox cars, then donate them at Christmas time to needy children. Write off the retail value of the new cars from you taxes, you get rid of the bike, guy gets bike, kids get toys. Win, win, win, win.

See, barter works.


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[Louis]

In that case, maybe the OP should have the buyer send you the cars, you can send the OP the $160 and he sends the bike to the buyer.

That way even more people are happy. ;)