I’m a Hot Wheels collector and consider this argument mostly bs. Yes, some mainline cars (cheap 1$ ones) do get flat bases, but some still get very realistic details. Also the cars kept their 1$ price tag for like 50 years, while looking better than ever when it comes to the castings, we have bigger variety and very nice decos, still at a damn dollar. And for us collectors, they have a Hot Wheels Premium line, which cost about 9$ and in my opinion, are the perfect sweet spot between a detailed collector’s item and a toy. They look great, are hefty and are pretty sturdy, so i’m not afraid to take them with me to work and stuff, which I can’t do with the more expensive 1/64 brands, because they’ll probably break a mirror or something. Also, Hot wheels in the 1970s used to cost a dollar, which nowadays equals to about 8-9$, so if you want to compare the older castings, compare them with the premium line of today, not mainline. Yes, a lot of stuff enshittified, but not Hot Wheels imo
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u/Vaclavj 12h ago
I’m a Hot Wheels collector and consider this argument mostly bs. Yes, some mainline cars (cheap 1$ ones) do get flat bases, but some still get very realistic details. Also the cars kept their 1$ price tag for like 50 years, while looking better than ever when it comes to the castings, we have bigger variety and very nice decos, still at a damn dollar. And for us collectors, they have a Hot Wheels Premium line, which cost about 9$ and in my opinion, are the perfect sweet spot between a detailed collector’s item and a toy. They look great, are hefty and are pretty sturdy, so i’m not afraid to take them with me to work and stuff, which I can’t do with the more expensive 1/64 brands, because they’ll probably break a mirror or something. Also, Hot wheels in the 1970s used to cost a dollar, which nowadays equals to about 8-9$, so if you want to compare the older castings, compare them with the premium line of today, not mainline. Yes, a lot of stuff enshittified, but not Hot Wheels imo