Are hotwheels or matchbox cars better to collect ? Also what is a good way to keep an inventory of them ?

Question

We started a hotwheel collection for our 19 month old son. We are wondering if it's beneficial money wise to collect Matchbox or other brands aswell. Which is more valuable in the long run. Is there any website that allows me to download an inventory sheet so we can keep track of the models he's got so we dont purchase dup's. ?

Answer 1

There are  a couple of issues here that you need to be aware of.  Matchbox and Hot wheelss are now both made byMattell.  It's been a while since I seriously collected them so others may have more up to date info.  These cars are most valuable when they are left in their original mint packaging. The most sought after are a Hot Wheels spin off called Treasure Hunts.  These are limited editions.  There are usually special paint jobs on currently available issue.  In 20 years I've only seen one on sale in a store.  Most of the store people know what these are and they never get to the sales floor.   At toy show these are the ones that bring the highest prices.   Mistakes and errors are also sought after.  I'm not sure now but each brand used to have a club you could join and get a poster or other info to keep track of what you had.  Check the Mattel website. There are a lot of groups online too.

If youre looking for something as investment this is not it.  If you want something that you and your son can enjoy doing when you go shopping and not spend a fortune then you could do a lot worse than this.  I used to buy collector cases that would hold 48 cars and put all mine in there.  These were available at wal mart and they are clear so you can see the car.  This will keep them clean and the paint from chipping and makes it easier to keep track of them.   At a about a buck a peice I wouldnt worry about duplicates too much.  You could always leave those in the package and save them for later or trading.

I used to use a lot of mine on model railroads so I usually would buy multiple versions of fleet type vehicles anyway.  As my wife alway tells me," You really need another (fill in the blank)" police car, fire engine, jeep, tank. etc/

Good luck and hope this helps.  I  still have some Matchboxes from 1964 that I bought with my first allowance