Hotwheels is 50!

[Miatatom]

I still have some.

http://autoweek.com/article/car-life/happy-birthday-hot-wheels-turns-50

[slusher]

I still collect them and still have some old Red lines..

[Greg Myers]

I like the older Hot Rod, Gasser cars, but they don't seen to make many any more. 

[DeeCee]

Got a few too, but not being a collector of them, i don't care about taking them out of the packets..

 

 

[KWT]

Love em... Happy birthday!

[FordRodnKustom]

Cool! I collect the "New Models" every year  and I'll pick up whatever others I like. No trip to any store is complete without checking the Hot Wheels rack! Happy B Day!

[Oldcarfan27]

4 hours ago, DeeCee said:

Got a few too, but not being a collector of them, i don't care about taking them out of the packets..

 

 

Oh, you're a collector! The difference is you collect for yourself and not for some other buyers. Good for you! Enjoy them your way. 

BTW - nice display 

Edited May 19, 2018 by Oldcarfan27

[MrObsessive]

My how time flies! I can still remember my very first Hot Wheels........an Antifreeze Camaro which would have been not long after they were first intro'd around mid '68. School had just let out, and I got that Hot Wheels as a gift for getting a good report card.

I think I ended up with most of those original 16 that came out that year except for a couple, and I have most of those originals now. Not the original ones I had in '68, but I got into collecting them back in the mid/late '90's into the early '00's, and I'm hangin' on to 'em.

BTW, I distinctly remember that Christmas of '68 when I got my first Hot Wheels set...........The "Super Charger Sprint Set" which looked like this..............

My set was complete with the famous orange track, curves and all and I can remember someone got it up and running for me (Probably my Dad) with two new Hot Wheels cars going round and round the track when I came down the stairs Christmas morning. I also got two model kits that Christmas which I didn't like AT ALL as I was disappointed by the pretty box art (IIRC, a '68 Chevelle annual and a '40 Ford) but once opened I saw all these bazillion of pieces. I IMMEDIATELY put them back in their boxes and wanted to play with the Hot Wheels instead! Model kits reminded me of puzzles back then, and I HATED puzzles!

You'd never know that now!

Edited May 19, 2018 by MrObsessive

[Daddyfink]

I must admit, I have been buying more Hot Wheels than models! 

[Daddyfink]

[MrObsessive]

I seem to remember a story years ago that Mattel released photos of the '68 Corvette Stingray Hot Wheels before Chevrolet had the actual car for intro.

While I can remember the '68 Corvette as a kid when it was new seeing them on the streets, I wouldn't know about the behind the scenes action as to why the car was perhaps a late intro into the automotive scene. I thought I read somewhere one of the reasons the car may have been late was due to the front fender peaks being a bit too tall in the original design. Chevy was told to change this at the 11th hour, which might have been the reason for the delay.

Of course, Mattel would have had the blueprints to the change, and it was probably not as difficult to make the tooling for the "toys" as it was for GM to push back the intro of the C3 'Vette. I can just imagine the ruckus raised in the styling offices when the designers were told they had to change what was already pretty much set in stone.

[Snake45]

Never got into 'em. I did buy the '55 Nomad back in the day hoping to turn it into an HO slot car, but quickly realized that the body was FAR too heavy for anything like that. Somewhere along the line I came into possession of the HW version of the Tiger Shark--was it called Python? I don't remember when or where or why I bought it, but I did. 

[cobraman]

I have many Hotwheels but oddly they are all Cobra's.

[Oldcarfan27]

22 minutes ago, cobraman said:

I have many Hotwheels but oddly they are all Cobra's.

Figures.

?LOL!

[Mark]

Still have the Custom Fleetside my older brother bought for me when they first came out, also have a few other early ones (and a couple of original Johnny Lightning cars).  None are in "collector" condition though, all are in "thoroughly enjoyed" condition...

[ewetwo]

I don’t have Hot Wheels but I do have all my Matchbox cars from when I was a kid. All in their boxes in a carry case. And my Matchbox City.  A use to polish them with car wax. Lol. Where they will end up when I’m gone who knows.

[unclescott58]

6 hours ago, MrObsessive said:

I seem to remember a story years ago that Mattel released photos of the '68 Corvette Stingray Hot Wheels before Chevrolet had the actual car for intro.

While I can remember the '68 Corvette as a kid when it was new seeing them on the streets, I wouldn't know about the behind the scenes action as to why the car was perhaps a late intro into the automotive scene. I thought I read somewhere one of the reasons the car may have been late was due to the front fender peaks being a bit too tall in the original design. Chevy was told to change this at the 11th hour, which might have been the reason for the delay.

Of course, Mattel would have had the blueprints to the change, and it was probably not as difficult to make the tooling for the "toys" as it was for GM to push back the intro of the C3 'Vette. I can just imagine the ruckus raised in the styling offices when the designers were told they had to change what was already pretty much set in stone.

Urban myth. Hot Wheels came out in the summer of '68. The '68 Corvette, the fall of '67. I've always wondered how this myth started? So many people believe it, because it's been repeated so many times. 

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, unclescott58 said:

Urban myth. Hot Wheels came out in the summer of '68. The '68 Corvette, the fall of '67. I've always wondered how this myth started? So many people believe it, because it's been repeated so many times. 

Well, I'll tell you for a fact who DIDN'T have the '68 Corvette "blueprints" early. AMT, that's who. 

[MrObsessive]

1 hour ago, unclescott58 said:

Urban myth. Hot Wheels came out in the summer of '68. The '68 Corvette, the fall of '67. I've always wondered how this myth started? So many people believe it, because it's been repeated so many times. 

No. Not according to this. While I no longer have that particular Hot Wheels in my collection, I'm certain that the year engraved on the chassis is 1967, as a lot of the original 16 were. Logic dictates that they would have been market tested many months before they were released to the public (I thought Dave Van on the board here once mentioned he was one of the kids that checked 'em out back then), so yeah..........the kids along with their parents would have seen what the new gen 'Vette would have looked like before the general public did.

And no, Hot Wheels came out in the late spring of '68 not during that summer. I distinctly remember getting my first one very shortly after they first came out. Lets also talk about advertising, toy store selections, distribution, etc. All of that has to be done way in advance before the general public sees it. That could go for most anything that's sold.

[MrObsessive]

26 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Well, I'll tell you for a fact who DIDN'T have the '68 Corvette "blueprints" early. AMT, that's who. 

Seems as though they didn't get a LOT of blueprints for their '68's!

[MrObsessive]

The article I linked to reminded me of who it was that complained of the front fender peaks in the '68 Corvette's design. It was Zora Arkus Duntov that made a stink to styling about that, and how they should seriously be revised. Apparently he drove one of the early prototypes and was not happy about the visibility in the car, from the driver's perspective.

Possibly another reason why the 1:1 car was delayed a model year from '67 to '68?

[Snake45]

5 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

Seems as though they didn't get a LOT of blueprints for their '68's!

They didn't get any from Chevy, who gave the promo contract to MPC that year. They hadn't done any Pontiacs since '65. They did the '68 Riviera and Toronado, and Fords, and Cougar and Continental. 

[Snake45]

3 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

The article I linked to reminded me of who it was that complained of the front fender peaks in the '68 Corvette's design. It was Zora Arkus Duntov that made a stink to styling about that, and how they should seriously be revised. Apparently he drove one of the early prototypes and was not happy about the visibility in the car, from the driver's perspective.

Possibly another reason why the 1:1 car was delayed a model year from '67 to '68?

From what I've read, they had all kinds of trouble trying to translate the Mako Shark II front end lines to the street. AFAIC, they got it right in the end--the '68-'73 Corvettes are better looking cars than the Shark. IMHO, of course. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by Snake45

[unclescott58]

46 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

No. Not according to this. While I no longer have that particular Hot Wheels in my collection, I'm certain that the year engraved on the chassis is 1967, as a lot of the original 16 were. Logic dictates that they would have been market tested many months before they were released to the public (I thought Dave Van on the board here once mentioned he was one of the kids that checked 'em out back then), so yeah..........the kids along with their parents would have seen what the new gen 'Vette would have looked like before the general public did.

And no, Hot Wheels came out in the late spring of '68 not during that summer. I distinctly remember getting my first one very shortly after they first came out. Lets also talk about advertising, toy store selections, distribution, etc. All of that has to be done way in advance before the general public sees it. That could go for most anything that's sold.

Okay, Hot Wheels came out late spring, not summer. Despite that and the article you linked to, I'm not buying that the toy was out before the real thing. Could there have been test shots of the toy late in '67? Maybe? Yet the press was shown the real car that summer. It doesn't make sense that Hot Wheels '68 Corvette was seen by the public before the real thing. Now could I be wrong? It's possible. But I think this is just a wishful myth that a lot of people would like to believe. 

The first time I ever encountered Hot Wheels was on the back on of May or June 68's issue of Batman comics. They have a two-part story, over two issues. "Operatetion Blindfold" I think it was called? The first issue introduced the track. The second issue had the ad shown above. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by unclescott58

[MrObsessive]

One possibility of the "early" makings of the HW '68 Corvette is that Mattel's intention was to make the Mako Shark version of that particular 'Vette (thus the "Custom Corvette" moniker). That car debuted back in '65, and that was close to the time HW's would have been in development (1966?). Someone may have leaked a drawing or even a pic of what was going on behind the scenes at Chevy's styling studio to an employee at Mattel.

Happens all the time in the biz..............people leave and go work for another company, transfers, firings, etc.

Anyway................it's interesting how stuff gets leaked and then no one knows how it happened!

One thing I have to clarify though on my part is not all of those original 16 HW's were stamped 1967 on the chassis. IIRC, there were China made versions (IMO better detailed, and nicer wheels and chassis), which I've seen stamped 1967. There were US made ones as well during that time which had slightly different wheels, "non hole" chassis, and clear glass as opposed to this China made one's tinted glass, and those were tagged as 1968 on the chassis.

Yikes! All this talk about '68 Hot Wheels Corvettes! Now you guys have me searching the 'net for another one after all these years!