My dad found the loose car pictured above -- a Custom '64 Ford Galaxie -- at a street vendor's booth during the Ohio Swiss Festival in Sugarcreek, OH recently and gave it to me upon his return home. He thought it must have been a special release, considering its fancy paint job and shiny red wheels, and he was quite pleased with himself for only paying 50 cents for it. But beyond all that, he also bought it because he and my mom once owned a '64 Ford Galaxie. No, it wasn't custom or decorated with flames. I'm pretty sure that my dad could have been voted least likely to ever own a car of that sort. But his buying it for me was a very kind gesture, and I know I will cherish this car always because of it.
As it turned out he was both right and wrong about the car being special in some way. Obviously he isn't very familiar with Hot Wheels. If he was, he'd know that the flashy detailing isn't that unusual. This car wasn't part of some rare, hard to find series. It was, in fact, a 2009 Mystery Car. But looking down the list of every version this casting has produced, this is by far the flashiest. And the best news of all is that because it is a Mystery Car, no one would expect it to be in an unopened package. In 2009, Mystery Cars didn't have so much as a peep hole in the back, so you really had to open them to see what they were. Other than the fact that it is loose, it is in mint condition, so there should be no strikes against it in that department in the future.
Unfortunately, the outlook isn't as sunny for Mystery Cars in general. Hot wheels recently announced that they will be discontinuing the series after 2010. This may come as a surprise to parents of children who love Mystery Cars. Yes, kids loved them. Not only have I heard people say that Mystery Cars are their child's favorites, but I've witnessed it as well. A few weeks ago I was in a Walmart, going through the pegs of cars as usual when a mom walked up with her young son. Apparently she had promised to let him pick out a car. Without a second glance at the other vehicles, she grabbed the lone Mystery package from the display. "Ooooo! Look! A Mystery Car! It's the only one, too. Would you like this one?" The boy immediately signaled his approval. She handed him the car, and off they went. As they rounded the corner, I heard him coo, "It's YELLOW!" to which the mom quickly chided, "Don't peek!" I felt sorry for that little boy, knowing that this would be one of the last Mystery Cars his mom will ever be able to buy him. Ironically, I'm pretty sure it's that "peeking" part that did them in. Before 2010, Mystery Cars came in a sealed package with few clues to indicate what was inside beyond overall weight and how large the car appeared to be when rolled back and forth. Needless to say, people took to tearing them open to see what was inside. Buy one, and it isn't a problem. Buy five, and you begin to get annoyed if three or four of them turn out to be exactly the same car. In 2010, Hot Wheels came up with a solution that should have worked -- the peep hole in back. Unfortunately, no place on the package was the peep hole mentioned, and let's face it, even with the tiny preview, most people still didn't know for sure what they were buying. So they continued to tear them open. I seriously doubt that the stores appreciated that, and I'd bet the Sweet 16 in mint condition that they complained about it. So now the Mystery Series is no more, and all we have left to remember it by are some really cool, loose cars like the one shown above.
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