Hot Wheels.

[drdave514]

I sold a bunch of childhood toys from the 70's on ebay, including red line hot wheels, about 10 years ago and decided at that time to reinvest some of the money into First Edition Hot Wheels. I have '95 -'01 complete sets plus a few other small sets and a couple '01 scale models. I guess I have about 300 mint on card. Probably the most valuable of the small ones is a 1996 VW Drag Bus, First Edition that's valued at $55. Most of the rest are worth much less.

[Steve Valentine]

Very cool Dave. My son and I started collecting Hot Wheels when he was a lot younger but we only collected Muscle Cars from the 60's and 70's. I have to get them out and take some pictures for you to see if any are worth any money. When I worked at a large grocery store as a manager we would get large displays on Hot Wheels and I would go through them before we put them out on the floor so I could get my pick. There was another guy that worked with me and we would fight over who got to the display first. lol

[drdave514]

Lol, that's funny. There are a certain type, I can't recall what they were now, that were released a few at a time in special cards which store employees were notorious for getting before the public. I recall reading collectors complaining about it, he he he.

I really don't know that much about the more recent ones(80's and newer) and really not that much about the older ones for that matter. I just always liked them and thought that these complete limited sets would be worth the investment. I have watched a few on ebay over the years go for BIG money. Old's 442s from the 60's seem to bring loads of cash.

They kinda bring out the kid in you with. I have fond memories of playing with them as a kid. My kids haven't gotten into them too much with all the new fangled toys they have out but I haven't shown them my collection for fear that any kid under 6 couldn't resist tearing them open.

[Steve Valentine]

I remember when I was kid, and I'm talking about the early to late 60's, every kid in the neighborhood had Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. We also had tons of the yellow track that snapped together and one kid had a nice big back porch and we would set up the track and race the cars all day long. I can't remember if it was Hot Wheels or Matchbox, but one of them had a thing that rotated and as the cars went through it propelled them down the track. We would set one of those up about every 20 feet or so around the track and the cars would go foever as long as you didn't come off the track, which happened a lot.

My son also has a bunch of Limited Edition Napa Trucks that he got from my father every year for his birthday from the his first until around his 12th or 13th. There is everything from Delivery Vans, Sport Trucks, to fully loaded Semis. They are really detailed and really cool. None of them have ever been taken out of the packaging and my wife has them all stored away. Any idea what something like that might be worth? Since they are my sons he might try to sell them so he can some extra cash for college.

I'm going to take some pics tonight at work of the Hot Wheels we have and I'll post them sometime Sunday for you to take a look at. I'll see if I can get the Napa Trucks down and get some pics of those as well.

[drdave514]

I recall and had one of those tracks in the early 70's. Between those and slot car tracks we were constantly playing with little cars.

The best thing I can tell you to do to get a real world guestimate on the value of those would be to watch for ones to turn up on ebay and see what they go for. Somethings you think would go big don't and other things you think are worth $50 go for hundreds.

I sold a Stretch Arm Strong on ebay 10 years ago with the styrofoam packing but no box for $250. It's crazy what people will pay for some things. That's probably what they think about us and our rocks.

Here are two examples of the Olds 442s I was talking about.

RED LINE BLUE OLDS 442 MINT ON THE CARD - eBay (item 380235583435 end time May-25-10 20:41:58 PDT)

HW "Olds 442" Mint In BP - eBay (item 260607180036 end time May-28-10 20:00:24 PDT)

[blueovalfever]

dave....i got you beat....i have over 4000 on card.....now i would like to sell them...lol...i have several variation cars and even some that still isnt listed in price guides...

[Steve Valentine]

Wow!!!

I remember having that same exact car as kid. I remember it because of the red tires, the button that came with it, and the stickers/decals you could put on the car. It's unreal that something that I got at a ten cent store back in the 60's is now worth over $600.

You mentioned Stretch Armstrong. My brother found one at a yard sale a few years back that was still in the box and had everything with it. I think he paid like $5 for it or something around that and he sold it on Ebay for around $400. He aslo bought a Mystery Date Game at the same yard sale that had never been used. The box had been opened but none of the characters or their clothing had been punched out of the cardboard yet. He got for for around $10 and sold it on Ebay to a game collector for over $500. The guy told him it was one of the best examples of one that had been opened that he had ever seen and he would have paid more if he had been forced to by another bidder trying to outbid him. It's amazing what some people will pay if they want something bad enough, like the Cumberland that went for around $67,000 a few years back.

[drdave514]

Yeah, if a fella knew what to look out for you could clean up. There is a show that runs on History Channel called American Pickers which is fun to watch. They go all over the country and find junk that's worth something and turn a profit.

BlueOval, that's awesome. 4000 on card is SICK! Post a pic of the boxes stacked up sometime.

I've seen giant collections like that go up for aution on ebay but they rarely bring their worth in that size.

[blueovalfever]

dave i need to get them all out just so i can get an exact count and make a list....im seriously thinking of selling them all....i dont want to really break them up cause then im stuck with all the unwanted stuff....then i will have to open them and play with them...lol....but i have limited editions and special sets....i have been selling some of my stuff....but not much market right now....i sold off my redlines and some of my loose nice cars from the later 70's.....i use a site called the toy peddler.....its a good site...i also use ebay. i also have a book on toy peddler that covers all the redlines....its a nice hardback full color photos....you should check it out.....im the same name on there as here....now that i mention it i need to go see if i put it on for sale...lol...