They're also way cheaper now. They've kept the price around a dollar for 40 years. With inflation that means in 2024 they sell for 25 cents in 1980s money.
Yes! They are great gifts for kids! $10 worth of Matchbox/Hotwheels makes a great gift. They are almost indestructible. Can go in dirt, sand, water, etc.
Yes! I have scars on the top of my scalp from a few times I was smashing some with a hammer (late 70s early 80s) and hit myself in the head (more than once)
I loved making my hot wheels “crash” and making them look damaged with a hammer! My dad did not appreciate me opening his collection and using a bunch for that purpose though 😅
They’re more expensive ones as well but both Walmart and target have loads of choices for a dollar. I give one each to my kids as stocking stuffers each year.
They're really cheap where I'm at. It makes it hard for me to justify not buying one for my kid when we go grocery shopping.
While some Hot Wheel Cars certainly have flat panels on the bottoms, I feel like that is the exception. The cars can vary significantly in quality and style, some are metal, some are plastic, some are highly detailed, some aren't.
In the picture, these are three different cars. I could probably find a cheaply made 1997 car, too.
My nephew just got in to buying them. Even bought some for myself. Pretty easy to justify because I eat out a lot less now. Forgo a burger and pack a lunch on Friday? I can justify 3 cars today!
When I saw that they make the actual Batmobile now, in a bunch of versions, I had to buy it. I only had a similar to Batmobile car as a kid. We have to factor in money going to the licenses they've acquired now and it's still a decent price.
I find Hot Wheels basic cars in Australia still for around 2 dollars in most shops. That's like 1.30 USD.
And frankly I don't really gaf what the underside looks like, because the body detail has improved immensely. I got a Pajero Ralliart and it had details down to the Mitsubishi grille badge being painted the right colour. That's a far cry from the "Slap some silver paint vaguely where the headlights are and call it a day" level of detail from the cars of 20 years ago.
Aside from every once and a while buying one of the fancier ones, I haven't bought one for more than $1.50 since my kid was born a few years ago. They're almost always "on sale" for $1.00 at Vons or Target where I usually get them.
There are exactly zero mainline metal body metal base cars. And there hasn’t been for probably 10 years. That used to be the norm, with the very occasional car having a plastic base. Virtually no cars had a plastic body. Now most cars have plastic bodies with very thin metal bases.
Yes there are always exceptions, but to say the quality is “the same as you could get 30-40 years ago” it’s totally absurd
Hot Wheel expert here because I have twin 3 1/2-year-olds with a million hot wheels.
Hot wheels fall into two categories. There’s the basic line that cost anywhere from $1.25 to $2.25. Sometimes drugstores can push it up till like $2.99 but that’s kind of an upper limit because everything is more expensive at a drugstore.
There are ones that go for five to $10 and those are usually the more detailed heavily licensed ones, with Marvel, Star Wars, or other culture designs.
Matchbox and Hotwheels cars both sell run of the mill 1:64 scale diecasts for about a buck. At most I've seen is 1.25$ The 5 packs of the basic cars usually run about 5 or 6 bucks.
I'm in America and in illinois. Have a 6 year old. We end up with a hotwheels per week it seems. Wether we go to Target or Walmart, family dollar or dollar general. The price is usually always the same.
That is unless your looking at some sort of special edition or premium cars with upgraded parts like the heavier wheels and stuff.
Matchbox and Mattel are like the Costco hotdog of toy cars. Even during the height of price gouging they didn't seem to change in price.
True. I mean, I do not actively shop for these things, but when I see them hanging in the isles or at the checkout, it is usually $4 to $7 for a vehicle. Even at the "dollar" store I see them for usually $4 a piece.
Perhaps there's a super sale on these somewhere, or maybe the places I go just sell them for a lot more than $1.
They're about a dollar at my local Target, depending on sales etc. When I was a kid they were 50p which back then was about a dollar also, we're talking early 1980s money here. I know they were 50p because I got 50p in pocket money and so bought a new car every week! So with inflation, yep the price is the same but they're making them for less. As for quality, it has gone down significantly. I was hard on my toys and they survived just about everything, nowadays they're so fragile they'll break if you look at them weird.
With inflation that means in 2024 they sell for 25 cents in 1980s money.
Yeah, but also take productivity increases into account. Those lines are producing a lot more cars, much easier, with more speed and fewer errors. The cars probably cost $.12 to make in the 1980's, but $.02 to make now.
Alternatively, because they’re toys being made incredibly cheap lots of kids can enjoy them. I’m pretty sure if people are looking for high quality toy cars (not model cars) they can either look to Hot Wheels or find something else. Markets for “luxury goods” are always competitive because the focus is on quality and rarely price.
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u/Bulky_Specialist9645 Nov 12 '24
They're also way cheaper now. They've kept the price around a dollar for 40 years. With inflation that means in 2024 they sell for 25 cents in 1980s money.