Would like info on "Hot Wheels" cars as to Collectors Groups.

[Anonymous]

My aunt has about 300 "Hot Wheels" cars from the the 1970s in her basement.
How would she get them apraised?

[dwRavenstar]

You could check out:
http://members.aol.com/HWNEWSLTR/

[Anonymous]

You might do a Google search on Hot Wheels Collectors or something along that line.

Bob Boudreau

[KenK]

They're worthless, give them to me immediately! [:D]

[TurboOne]

Hot wheels are interesting. When I was a kid in the early 70's they were selling for $1.00
Today at Wally world you can buy them for $0.72

To bad trains don't go down in price like that.

I still have an old train book. It shows how you can get a steam engine, and 5 cars for the expensive total of $15.00. The cars will take 2-3 hours per car, and the engine should take less than 20 hours to build. A passenger train with Diesel engine was $23.50, but took less time to build. And the people in the pictures were vests and ties while they built their railroad. Boy have times changed.

Tim

[cacole]

Hot Wheels are S scale, so you might check around on an S scale forum. Since they are sitll being mass produced, most Hot Wheels are worth no more than their original purchase price.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

Hot Wheels are S scale, so you might check around on an S scale forum. Since they are sitll being mass produced, most Hot Wheels are worth no more than their original purchase price.

S Scale !!? I beg to differ on that. Most Hot Wheels are for HO scale,though they can be used in ANY scale. Your local library should have some books on the prices for the cars. One word of caution,if your grandmother should want to sell them,I recommend that she do not put extreme prices on them, as most collectors will NOT pay high prices. For "high prices" the item must be in MINT condition,NO scratches,nicks,etc on the cars,in original boxes(if any) and an original production piece. If you look at the wheels on the cars,the "originals" had a red line around the wheels. There are many books that deal with Hot Wheels,and this is just a sample of what they have to say about the value of them. I was at an antique store a few weeks ago,and in did see quite alot of Hot wheels and Matchbox cars for sale,though the prices that the people wanted for them was outragious.The lowest price I saw was $20.00,and the highest was over $150.00. Another example was at the same place,and a guy had some Hot wheels and Matchbox cars for sale,asking $30.00 for each car, then reduced the price to $14.99. Since seeing these cars for the first time 6 months ago,the cars ARE still there,and none of them have been sold. Yes a value on a collectable car can be great,though for what you maybe wanting for it is another.

[bcawthon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cnwfan11
S Scale !!? I beg to differ on that. Most Hot Wheels are for HO scale, though they can be used in ANY scale. ...

You're kidding, right? They're going to look a bit strange in Z, aren't they? "Look, it's Mount Car!"

Most Hot Wheels/Matchbox toys aren't within radio distance of HO scale. There are a few medium trucks that come close, but forget about the cars and light trucks.

Like most "scaled to the package" diecast vehicles, Hot Wheels run the gamut from about 1:50 to 1:200, depending on the prototype.

I borrowed a '68 Cougar from my son's vast collection of Hot Wheels cars and got out the calipers. Comparing the model's measurements to the prototype's published specs, the Hot Wheels car scaled out at just a hair smaller than 1:65.

I then compared it to a $4 Model Power Minis '69 Camaro, which is within two scale inches of exact 1:87 scale (an exercise I recommend to anyone lost in the toy department at Wally Mart). Though there's only three inches difference in length between the prototypes, there is over three-quarters of an inch difference between the Hot Wheels and Model Power cars. That's over five feet in HO scale terms.

Contrary to other postings, genuine 1970s Hot Wheels can bring a nice premium as long as they are not totally banged up. Most of the early models are long gone and only a comparative few have been re-released. If you look at the Hot Wheels rack at your local mass-merchadiser, you'll see most of the current collection don't look anything like the originals.

Easiest way to determine an approximate market value is to check eBay: there are usually a fair number of Hot Wheels being auctioned off.

Hey, if you can average $4 each on auntie's Hot Wheels, you can buy a bunch of the Model Power Minis and have some real HO-scale cars for your layout.

Bill C.