Inside the Hot Wheels 55th Anniversary Set, Black and Yellow Is the Theme for 2023

Hot Wheels will be celebrating its 55th anniversary in 2023, and you know what that calls for. Ever since 2018, we've seen an Anniversary series coming out each year. For the first edition, the theme was set for Black and Gold, and there were six cars and one chase model.

In 2019 you could have bought the Satin and Chrome series, also with six cars and one chase model. The same number of collectibles was set for 2020 as well, but this time, the colors changed to Pearl and Chrome. For 2021 and 2022, the chase model was taken out of the equation, but the number of cars was increased to 12 instead of six.

In 2021, we had the Orange and Blue series, while in 2022, you can still get the Blue and Pink models. Mattel's plans for 2023 will remind you of Wiz Khalifa's hit song Black and Yellow, as those are the two colors that will be decorating all of the items inside.

This move comes after we've just seen the Premium Mattel Brands set of collectibles, and it's amazing to witness the sheer number of different designs coming out every year. Looking at the upcoming set, you'll notice that there's only one car from Japan, three from Europe, and two from the United States of America.

The 1996 Nissan 180SX Type X has been quite popular with collectors ever since it first hit the shelves back in 2015. We've seen nine iterations of this casting so far, but only one of those was a premium model. It looks great with the FC3 wheels on, which were first used on the Nissan Maxima drift car.

But the 180SX will probably be overshadowed by the 1992 BMW M3. You'll often see these mainline castings selling for premium prices, even though they lack the details of the higher echelon models. This car has been around for slightly longer, too, as it first showed up in 2012.

The Volkswagen T1-GTR is one of the most special items in this set, as this marks its first appearance as a mainline casting. We've only seen it twice so far, as part of the Hot Wheels id Series in 2019 and 2020. And it's fun that Mattel switched up the livery on this custom Transporter, as it adds a bit more color to the party.

This almost feels like a chase model, but it would look considerably better with Real Riders wheels on instead. The Range Rover Classic has only been around for a short while, as you could first pick it up in 2021. This marks its fifth iteration so far, and all of them have been using the same Baja5 wheels.

Moving on to the other side of the ocean, we're greeted by the 1966 Chevy Nova. This is the oldest casting here, dating back to 2007! So it comes as no surprise that it has been featured in various other anniversary sets before. Watch out for the 2014 Convention model as that's a rare one. Someone is asking $666 for this item over on eBay.

But let's have a look at the last car inside the 55th Anniversary set: the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT. Seems like this casting is back after a short hiatus between 2019 and 2022. We've already seen a Dark Blue version in the mainline series earlier this year, but it's quite surprising to see that there are no Real Riders iterations of it ever since it was launched in 2015. We haven't found any stores where you can order this new set yet, but something should pop up within the next few weeks, so keep looking for it.