10h41 Hot Wheels Hobby: March 2013

March 29, 2013

Ways of Storing Hot Wheels


  If you have many Hot Wheels and you are planning on making a huge collection, or you want to keep them in the best condition possible, you don't display them, don't like to keep them discarded all over the house and keep them off the dust then storing them is the best solution. It doesn't matter you collect them loose or carded because there are many solutions for both ways. Storing them also allows you to resell them in the future or passing them down to another person. In this post i will present a few ways on what to use for storing your Hot Wheels , these are just a few examples, from here you can always find alternatives that suits you best.


***Plastic Cases***

This solution is very good for both ways of collecting and its the most used. The plastic cases will give the best protection and also they can be found in many sizes. These are not made specifically for storing Hot Wheels, but they are great for this. In US there are many cases , some of them are called "hot cases" for carded castings and "jammers" for loose castings (jammers will store 48 loose cars). Over there they can be found in stores like Wall-mart and Sears . In other countries, even if they don't have the same model cases , there can be alternatives and should be found in any department or container store. Of course the best place where everybody, everywhere can get them is E-bay, but this way you also have to take in consideration the shipping. The prices vary, depending on the area and store, but for the long term and if you care about your collection it's all worth it.


"Hot case" for carded castings
"Jammers" for loose castings




You can also use one of these tool boxes, like i use, for the loose castings and they can be found in department stores, probably everywhere in the world.


Tool box for loose castings



***Cardboard Boxes***


If you find those plastic cases to expensive or you don't have money to spend then the cardboard boxes is the best solution. They can be found very cheap everywhere, or you can just keep the used boxes that came from buying different electronics and other things. This solution is not as reliable as the plastic cases solution because the protection is not as high (it will bend or break easily if you drop something heavy on it or if you drop it from a higher ground). Also this solution is not secure against humidity, so store these boxes in a dry place and somewhere above the ground in the case of a flood. This solution is appropriate for carded cars, for the loose ones you will also have to add some plastic baggies and some ingenuity to arrange them, to prevent them from scratches.


Cardboard box for loose and carded castings

Depending on what solution you have chosen store the box in a closet, sideboard, under the bed (if you have space and the box is small), pantry, storeroom, attic or anywhere safe and this way it will also prevent them from cluttering the room. I use both ways of storing and you can find a video HERE, i don't have "hot cases" or "jammers" in my country so i used alternatives.


Hope you find this post useful and helpful, also if you have different solutions, or better ones leave a comment below.

***What do you use for storing your Hot Wheels ?***

March 21, 2013

Getting Help from Friends

Nissan Silvia , Super Tsunami , Panoz GTR1 , Camaro Special Edition , 13 Ford Mustang GT , Ferrari 512M
Mainline castings from 1997 , 2006 , 2011 and 2013
Mainline castings from 2012 and 2013
Mainline castings from 2013
Treasure Hunts from 2012 and 2013

Sometimes , it's really hard to get your hand on all the casting that you want , it's very hard to complete a serie just by finding all of them by yourself in the stores , flea markets or online shops thus help from another person is needed and always welcomed. In this hobby you should never stay alone , it's always good to make friends and get to know many peoples who are in the same hobby as yourself , especially if they are from the same area , city , country .


Getting connected with peoples in this hobby can help you complete the series or find the castings that you want , you could trade with them or share information related to news about different stores or places where new castings are brought , you could make the collecting much easier for all of you , so DON'T BE ALONE , SHARE the hobby and it will be much more rewarding , satisfying and especially fun .

I am doing so and all the cars you see in the pictures i could never find them by myself in the stores , i got them as a gift from a collector friend from New Zeeland (you can find him on youtube with the name of fyiahflash). He wanted to help me , especially , with the 2012 Treasure Hunts that i wanted to complete and offcourse he added a few extras , all of them being on my wanted list. I'm very happy about them and i know i had alot of help along the way since i started collecting , i appreciate the friends that helped me and the cars and i hope all of you out there feel the same about all the help that you received with your collecting.


How much help did you get with your collection and what was the last package you received ?

March 6, 2013

Strange Hot Wheels Find

 Welcome back everybody. It has been a long time since i went to check the stores for Hot Wheels, i have stayed away since the end of December last year, because i know that in the first months of a new year stores are dry here, they don't bring anything new, not only Hot Wheels but all other die-cast or toys in general. I had free time and i thought i should check a hypermarket close to me .

Being in the middle of the week usually there are not many peoples around and not many have free time to go shopping  and i thought it's the best time to find something, if they actually did brought something new on the pegs. As soon as i walked in i could see the toy isle and from the beginning there were the same toys since last year. I did walk along the isle and just as i expected nothing new and the Hot Wheels pegs were almost empty, only a few 5 packs and some Rapid Transit sets.

I left fast, not very disappointed because i was expecting to be like that. On the way out there is also a toy store, where they have many die-cast manufacturers, figures, play-sets, also Lego products and many educational games for kids of all ages. I thought i should take a look at the Hot Wheels pegs, although i was pretty sure i am going to find the same thing like in the other store, but it was definitely not the case. In my country all the stores brings only short card Hot Wheels and they were  introduced for the first time in about 2003 .


The usual Hot Wheels pegs

 But then i had a huge surprise and it was one of the nicest strange thing i have ever seen in my stores, Hot Wheels related. It was against all odds to find something like this, they are not short cards, not European and they are from before 2003.


American long cards from the 90's

 To see for the first time castings from 1995, 1997, 1998 on the pegs it was strange, but in the same time wonderful, the best surprise i had since i started collecting. They were only about 10 or 12 of them but i was happy to look at them, they were also priced a little bit higher than the normal cars we get, about 1US$ more and they were in a very good shape.


The strange Hot Wheels pegs




 I asked an employee about them, but didn't gave me any details, besides that they are the only ones they have and that were brought in the same day i saw them. I would really want to know the story behind them, i did thought of some stories but i don't know what to believe. I really like how they look along side with the short carded ones. Didn't brought any home with me but, i left very happy and it worth the trip. It's a little history in them ... if they only had mouths to speak!

***What do you think it's the story behind them or how could they have reached these places and lasted so long from their release date in a very good condition ???***
Leave a comment and maybe we can unravel the mystery. Be safe, have fun and happy collecting.