A funny thing happened when I was at a nearby grocery store in the last days of July 2010. I saw a $1 bin next to the check-outs filled with toy cars -- mostly Hot Wheels, but also a few Matchbox offerings. I glanced through them almost without thinking and noticed a few classic cars strewn in amongst the modern day speedsters. I had recently become acquainted with some members of a local car club, one of whom was about to celebrate his wedding anniversary. While I couldn't afford a proper gift and wasn't expected to, it occurred to me that it might be a nice gesture to get the happy couple some classic Hot Wheels cars to display in honor of their shared hobby. I only bought one that day, a purple '56 Merc, but on the way to their party, I went back for three more. Of course this got me thinking back to the "good 'ol days" when I was a little girl who raced Hot Wheels cars with her brother, back when all was right with the world (even when it wasn't). I wondered what had happened to my old cars. No doubt my parents had long since gotten rid of them, though there was always the faintest of hopes that they were still buried in a box somewhere. I surfed the net and discovered just how collectible Hot Wheels cars had become over the years, especially those early models. I looked up the car which had been my favorite, a Mercedes Benz C-111, in hopes of getting another and was stunned to see how much people were asking for it today. Even loose with flaking paint, its price had increased exponentially. And that was nothing compared to the going rate for some of the cars my older brothers owned. "Hmmmmm," I thought, "Maybe I should be picking up some Hot Wheels for myself!" Granted the cars being released now will probably never be worth much compared to those from the Hot Wheels "Red Line" era, but at a mere $1 apiece, it's hard to go wrong. But of far greater importance than any potential price they might fetch down the road is their value on that grand, ethereal concourse known as Memory Lane. I may never see my beloved Mercedes Benz C-111 again, but the Hot Wheels displays are still right where I left them, and $1 will still buy me an instant smile. Can't beat that deal.
That 1 dollar price tag is what kept me collecting How Wheels. Pretty much the cheapest toy you can buy nowadays and they're even still metal. Other toys have gone up so much in price.
ReplyDeleteHot Wheels are also wonderful little pieces of pop culture. You can have anything from the Batmobile to the DeLoreon Time Machine in a fun, tiny scale you can display on your desk. :)