Top 10 holy grilles of collectible Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys
When I was 10 years old I remember staring at the Matchbox, Dinky and Corgi diecast cars in the neighborhood hobby store. My buddy and I had ridden our one-speed bikes to the shopping center, drooled over the glass showcases in the shop and then schemed a pitch to ask my dad for some money. We sped back to my house and begged “Please, please, please,” with promises to be model children. We weren’t.
We biked back to the shop and bought a cap gun instead. My dad was livid, I was ashamed. And now Matchbox is celebrating 65 years of causing youngsters to make failed promises. And Hot Wheels just turned 50.
No matter to me, I don’t have any of the many Matchbox cars I did manage to collect and not one would be in collectible condition, anyway, unless patinated paint and missing wheels were desirable — and I certainly didn’t keep the boxes.
But there must be a few polite and considerate grownup boys and girls who might have some valuable pot metal in storage — or on a bookshelf. (Though the artwork on the boxes was more detailed than the crudely manufactured Matchbox toys.)
Nor did I learn any lessons in collecting Hot Wheels, which hit toy shops 50 years ago. These psychedelic ’60s and ’70s cars were cultural mile-markers. To many of us, these speedsters with redline tires blew the old-school Matchbox cars out of the toy box. A friend and I bought yards of vinyl track and tortured the cars through twists, turns and paint-scraping crashes. Toys had a short life in my hands.
In tribute to the fascination that many baby boomers have for toy cars, the U.K.-based car-insurance company GoCompare.com enlisted the help of a leading toy car expert to value the most collectible Matchbox and Hot Wheels models. Neal Giordano, founder of the North Carolina Hot Wheels Association, has been valuing diecast toy cars for more than 20 years. He has written two books on the subject and his price guides are used worldwide by collectors. (While once a British brand, Matchbox is now owned by Mattel, as is Hot Wheels.)
The holy grille for Hot Wheels collectors is the rear-loading 1969 Volkswagen Microbus Beach Bomb, which was an unreleased prototype. It is so rare there isn’t even a photograph of it, but Giordano sets its value at $100,000 to $150,000.
“Rear-loading was unique to this Beach Bomb, which is what makes it so rare,” Giordano said in a release. “This model was never released because its high center of gravity made it prone to falling off the track.” (The body was widened for production and there are other colors available, which sell for high prices, Giordano says.)
The 1969 pink Beach Bomb leads his list of the top 10 most valuable Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. Here are the other nine:
- 1961 Magirus-Deutz Truck, Matchbox (tan-orange): $11,822
- 1966 Opel Diplomat, Matchbox (sea foam green): $6,682
- 1965 Dodge Wreck Truck, Matchbox (green-yellow): $5,911
- 1971 Olds 4-4-2, Hot Wheels (purple): $4,682
- 1969 Custom AMX, Hot Wheels (blue): $4,357
- 1971 Bye Focal, Hot Wheels (purple): $3,849
- 1968 Mercury Cougar, Matchbox (cream): $3,803
- 1968 Mercury Station Wagon, Matchbox (Yellow): $3,700
- 1971 Evil Weevil, Hot Wheels (purple): $2,913
Collecting Q&A
Does color affect price? Most certainly, says toy-car expert Neal Giordano. For example, pink Redline Hot Wheels are often considered a “premium” collectible color, simply due to the fact that it wasn’t the most popular color among boys and was issued in fewer numbers than standard colors. Many might’ve been painted over or destroyed during hard play.
But not all pink models are entirely valuable. Much depends on the model itself. Also, there are some colors that were simply rarer than others in certain models. During the late-1970s, Mattel issued “alternate” colors that were much harder to find, thus, increasing value.
What are the rarest models for Hot Wheels and Matchbox? One of the rarest (and most valuable) Hot Wheels models would be the rear-loading Beach Bomb. The pink version is the most valuable, but there are other colors that sell for very high prices. This was a prototype that had to be modified in width for it to function with the launchers. A good number of them are now in the public sector, but they were never released commercially. The rarest Matchbox was likely the Magirus-Deutz Crane in tan.
Is it worth selling now or holding onto them? It’s best to observe the market, as prices and values tend to rise and fall. It seems the values are highest around the end of the year, when the holidays are upon us. Things tend to settle down in the early months of the new year.
How much does unboxing diminish value? Hardcore collectors put a premium on antique models that are still in their packaging, especially if the packaging is in excellent condition. It’s difficult to ascertain how much opening or not opening may diminish value, as some models would fetch far more than others. For example, because a Hot Wheels Redline Olds 4-4-2 is a very popular model it would garner a major premium if it was being sold in a good package. But a Beatnik Bandit still in the package wouldn’t be valued at nearly as much.
What makes these toy cars so collectible? A lot of collectors have fond memories of playing with Hot Wheels and Matchbox as kids, and to pick up collecting them again as an adult can often bring back feelings of nostalgia. Many of us don’t have our original diecast cars, so we strive to find them again after years have passed.
Info: https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/wheeler-dealer/
Also https://matchbox.wikia.com and https://hotwheels.wikia.com
