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How to Tell a Vintage Hot Wheels Track

Hot Wheels were released by Mattel in 1968 as a way to try and surpass the popular Matchbox toy cars. Hot Wheels were attractive, sporting new, eye-catching designs and portraying muscle cars that would snag the attention of any future hot rodder. In time, Hot Wheels released the plastic track pieces you could use to send your cars speeding in loops or along courses. Figuring out whether these tracks are vintage can be hard, but worth the work for a collector.

Things You'll Need

Hot Wheels box

Instructions

- 1
  Examine the box. The first place you should look to determine authenticity is the track packaging. The box will give you the name of the set and it will have an illustration of the set on the cover. As time has progressed, the art work has changed, growing and changing with computer editing technology, whereas older boxes will be simpler, with older-looking art techniques. Check the fine print and look for a year that the product was manufactured. Check the instructions that come with the box if they're still there to confirm what you find on the box itself for a time frame.
- 2
  Take a close look at the tracks. Hot Wheels tracks were originally orange, but colors have changed over the years in some sets. Other colors, or newer plastics, means that the track is definitely newer. Check for printing on the tracks to see if copyright information or a product name is stamped into the plastic.
- 3
  Contact Mattel and ask for the information you have to be verified. For instance, if you have the name of a particular track set, but you don't know when that set was released, give the customer service division a call. Once you have the information, you can match it up with what you're looking at and then you'll know just how old the Hot Wheels track you're looking at is.

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