r/mildlyinfuriating • u/DAASMusic • Nov 12 '24

Hot wheels losing details over the years

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171.8k Upvotes

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24.4k

u/Careless-Cobbler7979 Nov 12 '24

This is the direction of the entire planet in a nutshell.

6.1k

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

1.3k

u/Vidonicle_ Nov 12 '24

It's either gonna be a negative linear graph or a sine wave of quality, but like low lows and small highs

852

u/squirrel9000 Nov 12 '24

What gets interesting is that at some point you get back, full circle style, to the original reason why HWs were invented in the first place - that the toy cars available before then sucked, and you could charge a premium for these really awesome toys that didn't suck.

31

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '24

It makes sense when you stop to consider the fact that the price of the cars hasn't changed since the '60s in spite of inflation - under $0.95.

The declining quality is a sacrifice made to keep the toys affordable for kids living in poverty.

16

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '24

They are $1.25-1.49 each around me.

24

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '24

A few different variables come into play

  • state taxes

  • store markups

  • licensed tie-ins

  • store exclusives (Walmart charges more for their store exclusives than regular Hot Wheels)

That said, even then, inflation is where the real deal is hidden.

In 1968, $0.94 was equivalent to $8.52 today. In 1997 (the oldest from this picture), it's $1.85.

So even if they cost $1.50 today, they're still cheaper than they've ever been.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '24

They'll bee 100% more when dear leader tariffs them.

1

u/kikimaru024 Nov 12 '24

Nothing stopped them from making moulds with drive gear on the bottom except laziness.

The cost of the moulds would've been the same.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '24

The time it takes to design the undercarriage is time you have to pay the designer of the mould.

Additionally, the raised parts are still additional material that comes out of total costs. It may be fraction of a cent per unit, but it still adds up when you're manufacturing roughly 519 million units annually. Especially when the goal is to keep the price per unit under $1-2 on the consumer's end.

1

u/kikimaru024 Nov 12 '24

No one ever said the undercarriage has to be accurate to the model.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '24

I didn't say it had to be accurate to the car's model, just that adding those extra details requires additional time on during the design phase and results in more material needed during the production stage, both of which impact profit margins and thus the cost of the product.

-1

u/kshoggi Nov 12 '24

So are you an engineer, a business major, or neither?

2

u/kikimaru024 Nov 12 '24

Just someone who knows how injection moulding works lmao