Why the Hot Wheels Elite 64 Line is important
Origins…
Hot Wheels is definitely the king of Die-Cast cars, whether you are an avid collector or you just decided to quit because you don’t like their new releases/prices, they are by far, the best-selling brand in the world.
When the “Sweet 16” appeared for the first time in 1968, they took the market by surprise, the design of the cars was bold and different, and they brought the biggest innovation at the time; arguably, THE innovation of all times. They were using wide plastic wheels and a slim metal rod as axel that allowed the cars to roll freely and faster than other brands.
With the release of the “Orange Track”, Hot Wheels hit it off, the type of wheels they were using, reduced the friction on the track and voilà, you have a super-fast race in your hands.
After that year, Matchbox, Corgi and other competitors had to completely redesign their cars if they wanted to have a chance against the new kids on the block, but we know the end of these fights. Corgi became part of Mattel in 1989, only 3 years after the first Hot Wheels release.
Matchbox was a bit stronger, but they were also bought by Mattel in 1997.
Today…
During their 56th year running at the top, Hot Wheels had experimented with different lines, different scales and different themes, and for most of the time, the king has been uncontested. And as of today, they seem to still be handling well their market share, or… do they?
In the latest years, we have seen a tidal wave of different brands releasing high quality castings, that when compared to Hot Wheels, well... you could say they look superior in almost every arena; details, design, quality control…
But, of course, so much quality comes with a bigger price tag when comparing it to a Basic or even a Premium Hot Wheels. Now, on the other side, Not a lot of people are willing to pay 10, 15 or 20+ Dollars and then put their little casting in a track and race it. Scratching these pieces or break them, hurts… a lot!!
So, in terms of resistance and playability (if that word even exists), Hot Wheels is still on top, and if you talk about availability, well, Hot Wheels is EVERYWHERE.
But… yes, the but was coming… things are different now.
The competition
We all probably started collecting Hot Wheels when we were kids, but as we grow old, we start putting more attention in detail, and we start caring about how much money do we spend in our collection, because let’s face it, we would like to buy everything, but life caught up with us and we know we can’t afford it (or at least our girlfriend/wife/partner knows). So, that makes us think a little bit longer about the next casting we’re going to buy.
Also, we would love to spend all of our time racing diecast cars and make some money (talking about 3Dbotmaker and other Diecast Racing channels), but not all of us can, so, fast rolling wheels may not be a priority for all anymore. That’s when new brands like Mini GT, Tarmac Works, POP Race, Schuco, Minichamps, Ignition Model, and *put here the name of any brand you like* come in.
Some of their models are so detailed and such faithful to scale, that the clearance between the wheels and the wheel covers is non-existent, which of course blocks the free rolling, but some collectors don’t care anymore, because the castings are for exhibition and so incredibly well made, that we can spend hours just looking at them without the need to take them out of their acrylic case.
The prices are not cheap, but, for the type of models, they seem suitable, and they have a clear market share already. And sometimes, when you compare a Hobby64 model from Tarmac Works to a Hot Wheels RLC, considering that some RLC releases go for over 30 dollars, you cannot help but wonder… isn’t the RLC overpriced?
Personally, I don’t think so, they are different products, answering to different type of collectors, Hot Wheels has spent years to build the brand they are today, and even though, I agree, some of their releases could be a bit cheaper, I’m still be happy to pay the price for a nice RLC model, and well, let’s be honest, more often than not, the models get sold out, so, there’s that.
Are we going to talk about Elite 64?…
The title of the post says “Why the Hot Wheels Elite 64 Line is important”, and we haven’t talked about that, sorry, I wanted to build the context and I got a bit carried away. So, bear with me… here it comes…
Even though that at the moment, Hot Wheels is still at the top, they see the change in the tide, and they understand that, all of us started collecting the basic Hot Wheels, but as we grow old, our taste changes, and some lucky ones (not my case), get a bit more sophisticated, and a simple Basic line, even an amazing one (yes, I’m talking to you, incredibly sexy new Audi 90 QUATTRO), is not enough anymore.
So Hot Wheels brings this new Elite 64 line, I believe, as a direct competition to these Premium Brands, with a price tag cheaper than the RLC models, I mean, we could consider that as trying right?
However, the releases haven’t come out clean, comments like, “you can clearly see the inserts of the headlights of the Toyota Chaser”, “the backlights of the Audi RS 7 look too fake”, “those laced wheels of the Bugatti Type 59 look awful”, and some others… they might be true for some people, every opinion is respected, however I see something completely different.
As I said at the beginning, Hot Wheels is still at the top, but I want to believe that the high hasn’t make them completely oblivious to the world, I want to believe they are starting to listen to the collectors, I see the king coming down from the throne and saying, ok, let’s try something different, and of course sometimes they will fail, I mean, they are allowed right?
You could argue that they have to do it to keep their market share, and I’m sure that’s partially true, but still, it’s happening, which means they want to do it, the line is important because it shows that they are trying, they want to learn and do better, and they want to give us what we want. It’s true, some of the models are not entirely perfect, but I have faith in the Elite 64 line, and not precisely in its success, but in the fact that the king is listening to the people and they are trying to understand what we want, and I hope they will succeed in finding a balance, because I love to have other brands in my collection, but as long as Die-cast cars exists, I want to have a new Hot Wheels in my hand, every single year.