Kids are still playing with Hot Wheels, those gleaming toy Camaros, Cougars and Corvettes you got for Christmas or your birthday, years and years ago. But those kids, who are sending new and even wilder-styled cars skittering across the floor today, are your kids, or maybe grandkids, and find the toys as irresistible as you did in 1968 or later. And it's not just the target audience of kids ages 3 to 10 playing with them these days.
It's now adults collecting them, sometimes paying Ferrari-sized amounts of money for rare models. “We like to say that everyone’s first car is a Hot Wheels car,” says Roberto Stanichi, senior vice president, Hot Wheels & Global Head of Vehicles at Mattel. How long does it take to create a Hot Wheels car? Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them.
Hot Wheels sales boost Mattel For 55 years, Mattel's diecast Hot Wheels have not only endured, they've expanded and evolved to become part of American culture. While other toy companies have struggled financially – Hasbro , the maker of GI Joe, Monopoly, and other toys, recently announced layoffs – Mattel has thrived with toys that include Hot Wheels and Barbie dolls, two of the hottest and most iconic items in retail. Worldwide sales have increased over the past five years and Mattel says the company is on track for a sixth consecutive year of financial growth.
50 years later, why are Hot Wheels still so popular? A yearning for the past is a big part. "We live in a world of permanent .