New Hot Wheels Trend Features Eroded Cars That Cost $70 Each

And that's ok. I don't understand some forms of art either. We all have different backgrounds and ways of looking at life. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? I've seen some diecast collectors frown upon my interest in Hot Wheels cars as they prefer stock-looking machines. Others think of them as toys and would never collect anything smaller than 1/18th scale.

If I were to feel the same, I'd probably have 20 to 30 items in my collection instead of my lonely Solido Porsche 962C. That's one thing I love about Hot Wheels: most basic models will only cost $2 or less. Move up to the Premium class, and you'll have to pay three to five times more. And if you're keen on having a nicely detailed collectible, check out the Red Line Club, where you'll have to pay as much as $30 per one 1/64th-scale item.

I won't talk about recent quality issues with those castings, as I've seen various opinions on the community lately. Today, I'll focus on the Mattel Creations Collaboratory series. We have seen 16 such vehicles coming out since 2021. The 1987 Toyota Pickup: North Shore Edition was one of the first items, as a joint project between Hot Wheels and Evan Mock. That was pretty cool and sold for $30 at the time. Good luck finding one for less than $200 today.

The DeLorean Collector Set was perhaps less popular, but some people will still try to charge you $400. Prices started increasing, and the BAPE X Hot Wheels 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL originally sold for $50 apiece. It was probably one of the nicest cars in the entire series, and prices on the open market start at around $120.

After the Run The Jewels x Hot Wheels x Volcom '87 Buick Regal GNX showed up last year, Mattel started working with Daniel Arsham on several projects. The contemporary artist based in New York City has his style, and I enjoyed seeing the Arsham Porsche 930A. But I have mixed feelings about the Eroded Hot Wheels line of cars.

I already knew contemporary art was slightly beyond my level of understanding. Although I get the jist of it, I'm not sure we needed so many of these in such a short period. The Porsche 930 received this treatment alongside the Rodger Dodger and the Deora II. And now, we're looking at two more items that follow the same trend.

Eroded Porsche Safari

Let's start with the Eroded Porsche Safari. It's the fourth Porsche in the Daniel Arsham x Hot Wheels collection. The 1986 911 Turbo served as a base for this project. If you're a big fan of the German brand, you'll already know that there are multiple castings from which you can choose. For once, there's Larry Wood's design from 20 years ago, but you can also go for Dmitriy Shakhmatov's latest model, which debuted in 2022.

The Porsche Safari may bring back memories of the good old Dakar Rally days, and there's a 959 casting to remind you of that as well. If Mattel had released this collectible as a simple RLC item, I'm sure people would have bought the entire stock in minutes. But raising the price to $70 apiece just because it features crystallized erosions makes you think twice about it.

The silkstone body is interesting, but couldn't we just get a replica of the real car Arsham worked on? Maybe I'm missing the point here. And I'm not sure if it's funny or annoying that some people have already listed the item on eBay for as much as $160 despite it going live on Mattel Creations on May 16, 2024.

Eroded Ford Mustang

From where I'm at, I think most buyers for the Porsche and the Ford Mustang will either be people looking to make a quick profit or hardcore Hot Wheels enthusiasts with no financial constraints. While there's a limit of two items per customer, I haven't seen any information regarding the total supply of vehicles available.

If Mattel had made 5,000 units for each casting, that would have made it more appealing. But I would guess we're looking at more than 30,000 apiece, which kind of takes away the exclusive factor. The Eroded Mustang might bring in both Ford and Bullitt fans, given they don't mind the price tag. Mattel used the silkstone again, but the car's black this time, adding a dose of realism to the equation.

It goes live at the same time as the Porsche and features the same box design that allows you to have it on display without removing the acrylic case. Someone is already asking $180 for this vehicle on eBay. I hope we'll see a different approach to the Mattel Creations Collaboratory series shortly.