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In 2008, Hot Wheels released 40 New Models. 12 Treasure Hunts, with Super Hunt variants and an assortment of Team Cars and other mainline releases.
In 1996 Hot Wheels released one of the hottest surprise castings to ever come out of Mattel's factory. The Volkswagen Drag Bus designed by Phil Riehlman. if you look on the bottom, at the rear differential, you'll see see his initials P R. This casting is the heaviest casting made to date. The Island Hopper is a generic helicopter used as the basis for the helicopter used in Magnum P.I..Hot Wheels introduces its first line of Character Cars with the launch of Toy Story Character Cars that year. Since the launch, Hot Wheels has created tons iconic entertainment characters. Some limited editions produced in 2006 include a Honda Civic Si sporting a Dropstars logo that was only available at the 2005 SEMA convention and the CUL8R with Faster Than Ever (FTE) wheels which was only available by mail. 2006 is also the year that Sizzlers were re-released as Target Exclusives. All sixteen of the cars featured 'Spectraflame' paintwork, bearings, redline wheels, and working suspension. Because 'Hot Pink' was considered a "girls color", it was not used very much on Hot Wheels cars. For most castings, it is the hardest color to find, and today can command prices ten times as high as more common colors.
What happened in the 1980s for Hot Wheels sent them in the path of what they are today. In 1981, Hot Ones wheels were introduced, which had gold-painted hubs and thinner axles for speed. In 1983 McDonald's first released Hot Wheels in their Happy Meals and the same year the Hot Wheels production plant was moved to Malaysia. In 1983, A new style of wheel called Real Riders were introduced, which had real rubber tires. Despite the fact that they were very popular, the Real Riders line was short-lived, because of high production costs. Mexico and France begin production of Hot Wheels. Ultra Hots wheels, which looked like the wheels found on a Renault Fuego or a Mazda 626, were introduced in 1984 and had other speed improvements. Hot Wheels started offering models based off of 80's economy cars, like the Pontiac Fiero or Dodge Omni 024. In 1985, Hot Wheels first appeared in Kellogg's cereal boxes. In the late 80s, the Blue Card was introduced, which would become the basis of Hot Wheels cars still used today. Also, the first Hot wheels collector's convention was held in Toledo, Ohio. Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel, decided to produce a line of die-cast toy cars for boys. His idea was to capture a portion of the huge market for small car models dominated at that time by the British company Lesney Products with their Matchbox cars. Although his executives thought it was a bad idea, the cars were a big success. There were sixteen castings released in 1968, eleven of them designed by Harry Bentley Bradley, with the first one produced being a dark blue Custom Camaro. Although Bradley was from the car industry, he had not designed the full-functioning versions of the real cars, except the Dodge Deora concept car, which had been built by Mike and Larry Alexander. Another of his notable designs was the Custom Fleetside, which was based on his own heavily-customized '64 El Camino. Mattel also released 2004 First Editions cars with unpainted Zamac bodies. These "chase" pieces were sold exclusively through Toys 'R' Us and were made in limited numbers. Also saw the end of an era. Chief Designer Larry Wood retired after 40 years, effective January 2nd. It was largely ceremonial to have him reach the number 40 but Larry continues to be involved in the hobby and consult with the Designers. 40 years seemed fitting coinciding with the brand celebrating the same milestone the year previous.The Splittin' Image, Torero, Turbofire, and Twin Mill were part of the "Show & Go" series and are the very first original in-house designs by Hot Wheels. Altogether, 24 new vehicles were released.
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