Mike McKittrick talks about his long career at Mattel that started in the in May of 1968. It was his job straight out of High School and he found himself on the factory floor in Hawthorne, CA. Come hear stories about the earliest days of Hot Wheels and his career at Mattel that spanned all the way to Malaysia in 1995. Hosted by Bruce Pascal, Mike also answered questions for the select few chosen to attend the zoom conference. This is great for anyone who wants to learn what it was like at Mattel in 1968. Mike McKittrick started on the Hot Wheels factory floor in May of 1968…that was his clai ..read more

For Eric Elrod there is nothing cooler than Hot Wheels. You know, those miniature die-cast customized cars that Mattel began making for Generation X-ers back in 1968? The company has produced more than 6 billion of the 1:64 scale toy cars over the past 53 years. And you could be a lucky grownup if you hung on to some of those from the early years. “The Hot Wheels community has taken off,” says Elrod, who operates Elrod Stud Welding in Lebanon, Tennessee. “Their maker, Mattel, is really great at keeping the love for Hot Wheels going and does a really good job of creating and encouraging co ..read more

Howard Rees: Mattel’s Marvelous Redline Designer! Howard Rees was born in 1941, and went to the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, where he earned his Bachelor in Fine Arts Degree in 1964. Later he accepted a position with Ford Motor Company in England. After leaving England he continued to work with Ford in Detroit, designing the ever popular Mustang line. Cold, long, Michigan winters drove him back to California. In 1967, Howard was driving past the Mattel Headquarters in the city of Hawthorne, and decided to stop to visit a friend who was working there. While visiting his friend ..read more

For Eric Elrod there is nothing cooler than Hot Wheels. You know, those miniature die-cast customized cars that Mattel began making for Generation X-ers back in 1968? The company has produced more than 6 billion of the 1:64 scale toy cars over the past 53 years. And you could be a lucky grownup if you hung on to some of those from the early years. “The Hot Wheels community has taken off,” says Elrod, who operates Elrod Stud Welding in Lebanon, Tennessee. “Their maker, Mattel, is really great at keeping the love for Hot Wheels going and does a really good job of creating and encouraging co ..read more

If there’s one name synonymous with Hot Wheels, it’s Larry Wood. Nicknamed “Mr. Hot Wheels,” Larry spent five decades with the company as Chief Designer and consultant, innovating such diecast classics as the ‘49 Merc, Ramblin’ Wrecker and the Boyd Coddington collector set. We’re excited to share that our sister site hobbyDB will be unveiling five of his never-before-seen designs entitled “The Ones That Got Away”. Want to see them?? You’re going to have to wait until April 19… Until then, follow hobbyDB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for potential sneak peeks! The ..read more

  From the Desk of  Willy WashingtonWilly is a longtime Hot Wheels collector and historian. Today he shares some history and details on the little-known early 1980s Steering Rigs series from Hot Wheels. When I was a kid, I remember my sister buying me the first six Hot Wheels Steering Rigs before she went into the Army. She told me if I couldn’t take care of them she wouldn’t buy me any more, lol. This was back in 1982. The first Steering Rigs came out in 1981 and there were a total of 12 different truck and trailer sets (not counting variations). These truck models ..read more

Selling on hobbyDB, PPG and The Toy Peddler works like on a Classified website, you pay for the listing and then there are no further charges from us — the buyer pays you directly. Because we do not receive payment on behalf of our Sellers, we do not issue 1099-Ks or any other tax documentation.     If you receive a payment via PayPal, then PayPal will issue a 1099-K when tax time comes around. The post Tax Information for Sellers appeared first on The Toy Peddler Blog ..read more

“AUTO” BIOGRAPHY   Hello……. My name is Bruce Kalapach. I am known as “Redliner” on most sites including ebay, sometimes “Iamredliner” and sometimes “Father Time”.  I am about to turn 65, but I am still a kid and always will be.  My childhood association with the VERY FIRST Hot Wheels shipment to the Chicago area in May of 1968 was pure accident.    I got my first Hot Wheels for my birthday in June of 1968. Me in the wheelbarrow with my dog Holly.  That’s my brother Jeff with his new bike…  I still have his bike too!  This picture is from about 1963 in H ..read more

            ADAM GRAPES Auburn-Cords-Doozie HISTORIAN     A second resin/acetate Classic Cord has also been found. This one features a fully painted body in white, a black roof and silver windshield/sidepipes/bumper details. The body details are slightly different than the raw version showing continued work on the final concept ..read more

hobbyDB hits the bit 200K mark with the the 1960 Facel Vega HK500 made by Pathfinder Model thanks to the current migration of the Brooklin Models Official Archive and many others! THE hobbyDB blog for more information!     CONGRATULATIONS TO HOBBYDB!   Look for more and more in 2022!     The post HobbyDB hits it’s 200,000th model car added to the database! appeared first on The Toy Peddler Blog ..read more