Hotwheels - Key differences between child collectors and adult collectors
When Elliot Handler, Mattel's founder with his wife Ruth Handler (Mattel's co-founder who went on to make Barbie dolls for girls) designed the greatest boys' toy ever made- Hotwheels, he would never have remotely imagined how famous it would become not just among children who were incidentally his main audience but also among people of all age groups including grown-ups. In this blog entry, I will give not just the key difference between child collectors and adult collectors of Hotwheels and what sets adult collectors apart from children.
Hotwheels as toys have an innate charm to them, whether those looking at them are little boys who experience the most pleasurable moments toying around with their collection - something which we adult collectors can understand very well and relate to because we were all little boys who grew up playing with our Hotwheels, loved gazing at them in wonder and glee, took immense pleasure in rolling the cars on surfaces from flat tops of walls to scaling vertical walls themselves with our hands clasping onto them tightly or adults who, much to the chagrin of some as well as the disdainful words, condescending looks and acrimonious criticisms of others, have not let go of our childhood hobby for reasons we will get to see below from the least important to the most important in ascending order -
i) Difference in knowledge of the hobby:
For this, I will use myself as the example because when I was a kid, I did not know a fraction of what I came to learn in the course of keeping abreast of the tiniest bit of nitty-gritties about this hobby as an adult collector of Hotwheels. As a kid, I could only tell the difference between a hotwheels car and a toy car of any other brand by looking for the circle flame logo of Hotwheels as well as by looking at the 5-spoke BW wheel rims which at times had white walls in some rarer castings. I instinctively knew from experience that Hotwheels cars mostly had metal chassis and metal bases with pieces of plastic interiors sandwiched and welded between them while some had a plastic base and a plastic interior welded to a metal chassis. All of the above are details that can be inferred to by merely observing a Hotwheels model by people of all ages. Then there are variations in paint colours for instance cars with minute variations in their tampos, some of which are pretty rare aside from rare errors in castings for which there are collectors too!
Nonetheless, there are words, terms associated with the hobby and the cars themselves apart from the finer details of the toy cars which I came to know as an adult collector which I never knew as a little boy and these entail terms like pegs, peg warmers, castings, blister packs, cards, treasure hunts, super treasure hunts, premium castings, hot ones, redlines, mainlines, case codes etc which I came to know about only as an adult through my research and association with other collectors in the fraternity as well as finer details about the castings like wheel types and in these there is a plethora of wheel rims from the BW (Black Wall Wheels), WW (While Wall Wheels), HO (Hot Ones Wheels), UHO (Ultra Hot Ones Wheels) to the more modern wheel rims like the PR5 (Phil Riehlman 5-spoke), Y5 (Y 5-spoke), 10SP (10-spoke), FTE (Faster Than Ever), J5 (Japanese 5-spoke), FC3 (Fraser Campbell 3-spoke), RA6 (Ryu Asada 6-spoke), FTE (Faster than Ever 2), TRAP 5 (Trapezoidal 5-spoke), LW (Lace Wheels), 5 DOT (5 Dot wheels), 5SP (5-spoke), 3SP (3-spoke), E10SP (Exotic 10 spoke wheels) and Aerodisc wheels inter alia. Each of these wheel rims translates into a difference in roll performance which is because of the metal alloys used in making these wheel axles - very technical, right?. Indeed, this is something the likes of which people who look at the hobby of collecting Hotwheels as a mere children's fad and mock adults who are into the hobby will never remotely begin to fathom because their self-imposed ignorance grounded in vanity masquerading as maturity, has cut short their chances of learning something scientific even in what they consider as a boy's toy!
ii) Difference in knowledge of cars and automobile engineering in general:
A little boy will at most be able to tell the difference between a vintage car, a super/hypercar and a normal car based on what he/she comes to know about fast cars and slower ones on the media or hears his elders tell him. When I was a little boy, I only knew how to differentiate between different vehicles like a bus, a van or a car and among cars, I could tell a vintage car apart from a modern one.
Whatever I learnt as an adult about cars as an adult collector of Hotwheels is nothing to be sneezed at because I have come to know more not just about different types of cars from vintage cars, muscle cars/pony cars, super/hypercars, tuners, internal combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles, off-road vehicles as well as being able to identify cars of various brands and their actual market names besides knowing about finer details like the kinds of engines, suspensions, top speeds, types of drives and engines, body types as well as aerodynamic features about cars like spoilers, diffusers, venturi tunnels, material engineering involved in making cars' chassis, power-to-weight ratio, regenerative braking etc, in addition to my background in automobile engineering translation. Overall, my hobby as an adult Hotwheels collector has played a huge role in improving my understanding about cars and automobile engineering in general which people who see all cars the same way like those who criticise adult Hotwheels collectors like ourselves will never be able to grasp because their thoughts are at spinal level like most who parade their benightedness in the name of maturity and are swift to slander those who nurture the child in them at all ages with ignominy.
iii) Diecast photography:
Back when I was a little boy, I was merely interested in Hotwheels and in the sheer joy of playing with the toy cars themselves. Photography was not a hobby of mine, let alone Diecast photography which involves taking photos of what I love - Hotwheels.
As an adult Hotwheels collector, I got interested in Diecast photography which is a specific type of photography involving Hotwheels cars (or ones of other diecast brands) in various settings (from outdoors to dioramas), in various types of lighting (with or without flash, focus on the foreground or background etc.). This has widened my knowledge of photography overall - a domain in which I had very less experience as a media professional and an engineer from a media background at undergraduate level. Earlier, I was only into food and nature photography but now I have found another new hobby which is diecast photography. Zooming in on these toy cars and taking stunning pics of them is a refreshing experience for me and I am floored at how realistic these pictures look!. Imagine all the cars you can take photos of, from vintage cars to modern hypercars without ever having to venture in search of all these types in real life!
iv) Feasibility of owning copies of real cars as opposed to Hotwheels models:
Only millionaires and billionaires can own collections of real vintage cars and even most billionaires who own modern supercars can own hardly 2 to 3 except those who are exceptionally well off and are rolling on gold like kings and emperors. For the rest of those who wish to own these cars, a more feasible option would be to own diecast models of them and HWs makes it possible for any car enthusiast to admire the beauty of a downsized version of their most favourite cars from yesteryears to the latest super/hypercars that have hit the market which would cost a fortune in real life but anyone can afford the Hotwheels versions of these models. Hold them in your hand, admire their looks, roll them on a surface or a track, you can afford to own copies of any kind of car out there provided it is released by Hotwheels or any other diecast brand out there of your choosing like Maisto, Majorette or Matchbox.
As an example, I would like to take a supercar - the 2005 Ferrari Fxx. Anyone who knows about this car in real life would know that only 30 of them were produced and the crazy part about this car is that anyone who had the financial means to buy 1 of them in real life could never keep it with them all the time because Ferrari would keep all the cars in its factory at Maranello, Italy and would transport them to a race track where the people who supposedly bought them can use them on the track for a day before Ferrari takes them back to the factory again. In short, this is a car which even its owners cannot keep in their personal garages but Hotwheels made it as a 1:64 size model which means that the ones owning the downsized diecast model can own a copy of the model without any issue, even if it is not the real car!. This is the magic of diecast models which cannot be matched by real-world cars, they exude an unparalleled charm by virtue of their small size that only their connoisseurs can appreciate.
v) Size and how that translates into ease of organisation of space:
Contrary to what most people think, Hotwheels collectors would have no issues organising space for their cars in their homes without any issues because the 1:64 size ratio means that if they get themselves compartmentalised plastic boxes with partitions, they can allot space within them for all their models also based on the category of cars from vintage cars, muscle cars, tuners and super/hypercars to off-road vehicles. Of course, there are those who collect recolours of specific castings or castings of a specific category like pop-culture vehicles - NFS, F&F, Batman etc. Some collectors even have separate rooms for their collections or would make wooden grids wherein they would place each of their hotwheels models in separate compartments that they can watch and enjoy!.
vi) Being able to meet some amazing people who are collectors online or in real life:
In the course of the past 5 or more years as a collector, I have met and made some friends who are really wonderful people who are into the hobby themselves and have introduced me to others I have had the pleasure of meeting. In many countries, adult collectors get to meet others at shopping malls where they go on a hunt (a word meaning "search to buy new Hotwheels") and at Hotwheel meet-ups in some common places like cafés and halls where they meet and share information about cars as well as exchange cars themselves or purchase hotwheels models.
I made a friend from a neighbouring state in India through another common friend in the Hotwheels community who shared with me that the person whom he introduced me to in Kerala was suffering from cancer. For me personally as a Christian, I had the chance to meet another Christian of another denomination with whom I had the honour of sharing words of encouragement every time I spoke to him. I saw not just a fellow collector and a brother in Christ but someone who was suffering and that was an opportunity to speak to him about God's power and strength to turn his situation around and turn him into a testimony time and again. I thank God for the opportunity that he gave me to meet that brother through this hobby, if not for the hobby itself or my collection which can eventually fade away into the sands of time but the honour of meeting someone who was in dire straits and being able to speak life into him when he was distraught and strung out with desperation at what was happening in his life, is truly a pleasure and an honour. That brother may not be with us in person but I believe that he is with the Lord and is watching me type this about him, till we meet again in God's kingdom, brother!
In short, hotwheels nowadays have become a far cry from what Elliot Handler had envisioned them to be but in a positive sense with a wider array of audience across all age groups!. Collecting them is a pleasure, an experience, a journey of epic proportions in the course of which we gain knowledge even if the models themselves are just collectables like other things in life, hotwheels are no longer the exclusive property of children, generations of collectors have had fun with their children through the hobby and by playing with the children in their own families in many countries across the world especially in the US but in others too. The hobby now caters to the demands of a wider range of audience beyond just children reminding us yet again that as people, we need not necessarily fit into the mould that society in its most elementary form, has made for specific hobbies by setting age limits for those involved in them. Some delude themselves by fitting themselves into that age-based hobby-related template and hence lose out on a lot of things that they can learn and enjoy from whereas others like ourselves prefer to forge ahead with our own path on what it means to be happy and what brings smiles to our faces and joy to our hearts in the small things of life, be it enjoying the rain or enjoying with children!. We cannot help but be ourselves when others are judgmental of our tastes, we are different from those who mock and deride us for our interests but we ought to take pleasure in being ourselves instead of trying to let society define what we ought to love and like as our hobby!, besides there are more people like our distasteful critics with their obnoxious criticisms (who lecture us on acting our age) out there in the world but few like ourselves which makes us truly special and unique!. If they have a problem with our hobbies, passions and interests, we cannot but give two hoots about them and their two cents!
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