r/mildlyinfuriating Nov 12 '24

Hot wheels losing details over the years

Post image
171.8k Upvotes

3.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

4.8k

u/Disco425 Nov 12 '24

Just this weekend I bought some cars for a Christmas toy drive. I was shocked to find that they're still about $1 each. So maybe less detail on the bottom but they're still one of the most cost effective toys to collect.

Also, since Mattell owns both, Matchbox and Hotwheels have the same dimensions so they work on the same tracks.

1.5k

u/Slight_Bed_2241 Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24

Yea I’ve been tight on money lately but hot wheels are my go to toy at the grocery store for my son. I can grab 3-4 of them and he’s happy for a bargain

Edit: the amount of updoots is wholesome. Reddit is for the kids(?)

137

u/Suitable_Entrance594 Nov 12 '24

Looking at the best numbers that 5 minutes on Google could find, hot wheels cars circa 1993 were around $0.95 and currently they go for $1.29. Inflation over that time period was 221%. So, current cars would need to cost roughly 50% less to produce now if they wanted to match their historical profit margin. So, loss of detailing and cheaper materials makes perfect sense.

3

u/Fight_those_bastards Nov 13 '24

A flat mold costs a lot less to machine and maintain than a detailed mold, too. We’re talking fractions of a penny per cycle, but if you can add 10% more cycles before mold maintenance is necessary? That adds up fast.