Short Cuts: Mattel's Hot Wheels!

Redartz:  Hi folks! For a couple of generations now, kids have been racing, trading and wrecking Mattel's Hot Wheels cars. From their debut in 1968 on up to today, these cars have been flying off store shelves and down tracks, building a huge collector's market. The first cars were the 'redlines', so named because the wheels had a thin red stripe . These were phased out in the later 70's, replaced with black tires, and gold hubs, and still other variations. There were electric "Sizzlers", motorcycles, "Heavyweight" trucks, and countless other types over the years.Their popularity grew, and even generated a Saturday morning cartoon and a DC comic series!

Racing in our bedroom, c. 1970

Many kids had the tracks as well as the cars, providing a source of competition among friends and siblings. There were racing sets, stunt sets, and adventure sets (my  youngest had a set with a hungry giant crocodile). Of course, many of these cars were raced down sidewalks, across floors, down stairs, and into walls. Hence the frequency of banged-up cars you find at toy shows and flea markets. I, however, was pretty careful with mine (as I was with my comics). Thus most of them lasted intact until I sold most of them some years back (for a decent premium). I did keep a few, though, for 'old times' sake'. After all, the 'Red Baron' was so cool, with the silver helmet and twin machine guns!

A few old favorites

 How about you, any other Hot Wheelers out there? Let's hear about your favorite cars, racing stories, trading deals, track layouts, etc, etc, etc...