Are Your Hot Wheels Worth Money?

The question I get asked most often when initially discussing someone’s childhood collection of old Hot Wheels, “Are my Hot Wheels worth money?” My textbook answer that I normally default to is, “Some are valuable Hot Wheels and some are not so valuable.” Basically, it all comes down to what I call the “3Cs,” which are, in my humble opinion, the main factors in determining value when appraising the old original Hot Wheels:

CONDITION
CASTING
COLOR

I get approached, on a fairly regular basis, by owners of these special gems called Hot Wheels asking me through email, text message, and direct phone calls, “Are my Hot Wheels worth money?”

Individuals will sometimes reference a Redline price guide or recent listings on eBay expressing that they know the value of their cars and overall collection based on their research. Unfortunately, more times than not, they do not factor in the 3Cs when researching their Hot Wheels collection. They typically place a value on their individual cars being factory fresh or minty, which is rarely the case.

Redline Archeology Hot Wheels 3Cs for determining how much a Hot Wheel is worth

The Redline Archeology 3Cs for determining a Redline’s value.

The most rare, valuable, and most expensive Hot Wheels cars in the hobby are basically prototypes or limited release cars like the Purple Olds 442 and the infamous Rear Loading Beach Bombs. They are extremely rare and are almost never discovered in original childhood Hot Wheels collections.

There are all kinds of Hot Wheels identification guides online and in print. Everyone has their own opinions on value, so, in essence, nothing in this hobby has ever been written in stone when it comes to each car’s individual value. Most price guides are out of date by the time they go to print anyway. They are typically used as a reference for a car’s true existence and its value years ago. I rarely look at any price guide online or in text. I’ve been at this for over three decades and can basically tell a car’s approximate value in the first thirty seconds of seeing a car.

The oldest Hot Wheels cars were produced in 1967 and had this date stamped on their bases. Hot Wheels were officially released to the public in the Spring/Summer of 1968. Many of the original 16 cars released in 1968 are still being reproduced to this day and express the year 1967 on their bases. This has proven a bit confusing to the general public and novice Hot Wheels collector.

With the hundreds of collections I appraise each year, educating the owner/seller is a very important aspect of my process. Educating them on what cars are the most valuable in their collections seems to be most important, and they really appreciate this particular information. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been sincerely thanked for taking time, being patient, and offering up a lot of information most others in the hobby just won’t do. Trust me, it goes a long way and is the most responsible thing you can do as a collector/buyer for the owner/seller.

So, are your Hot Wheels valuable? Are you holding onto one of the rarest and most valuable cars ever seen in the hobby. Chances are the answer to both questions is YES! I have unearthed over 40,000 cars in my career and so many cars that were never known to exist in the hobby over the last 32 years. Some skeptical collectors still question some of the cars to this day. Mainly because they do not own them. 😉 Many of my incredible discoveries are out there just sitting in someone’s collection as I type out this blog. Chances are, that you – as a collector of the redline era Hot Wheels – own cars that I brought to the hobby through my diggin’. That’s a FACT!

If you’re considering dusting off your old Hot Wheels from the Sixties and Seventies, and want to possibly sell them, you certainly need to look no further:

REDLINE ARCHEOLOGY is “The #1 NAME in HOT WHEELS COLLECTING”

Until next time… Happy Diggin’!

If you have the old REDLINE Hot Wheels and are thinking of selling them, Look No Further!

You now ask yourself the age old question, “How do I sell my old Hot Wheels?”

Here at REDLINE ARCHEOLOGY, we will appraise your collection, at NO COST and NO OBLIGATION, and make the highest offer in the hobby for your cars, if they are from the years we are looking for, 1967 – 1977.

With almost 30 years of diggin’ up original one owner childhood Hot Wheels collections from the sixties and seventies, REDLINE ARCHEOLOGY is the only place to have your old Hot Wheels appraised by one of the most successful collectors in the hobby, Bob Young. Bob has now authored two books: