About Classic Hot Wheels

History

• Hot Wheels were first created in 1968 by the toy company Mattel to compete with the original die cast toy cars created by Matchbox. The first car that Hot Wheels created was blue custom Camaro.

Types

• Hot Wheels has created over 10,000 different models of Hot Wheels. The first sixteen models created in 1968 are called the "Sweet Sixteen" among collectors. This batch includes models of the Barracuda, Camaro, Mustang, Firebird, and T-Bird.

Hot Wheels vs. Matchbox

• When Mattel created Hot Wheels, its competitor was Matchbox up until Mattel bought Matchbox from Tyco in 1996. The main difference between the two brands of toy cars is that Matchbox cars were very accurate replicas of cars, but Hot Wheels were exaggerated to look "cooler" to kids.

Innovations

• Just a few of the many innovations from Hot Wheels over the year were low friction wheels, cars that changed colors in hot or cold water, and cars that showed damage when they ran into something

Merchandise

• Over the years, Hot Wheels has sold more than just toy cars. Many other Hot Wheels products have been sold--including t-shirts, video games, movies, and there was even a single about Hot Wheels recorded in 2003.

Real Hot Wheels

• Hot Wheels have become so popular that some of the Hot Wheels have been created into real cars. Some of the Hot Wheels that have been created include Twin Mill, Deora II and Whatta Drag. There is also a Hot Wheels monster truck.

Retail Models

• Hot Wheels often teams up with other retailers to create special model cars that only be bought through those retail companies. Some of the companies include Chuck-E-Cheese, Toys R Us, JC Penny, Avon, Kool-Aid, Tony's Pizza, McDonald's, General Mills, Wal-Mart, and Target.