Review – Hot Wheels Mystery Models
While I was in Dallas last week I ran across the new Hot Wheels Mystery Models (first mentioned here), blind-packaged Hot Wheels toy cars that are exactly the same price as the standard Hot Wheels car you can find in almost any grocery store, convenience store, and larger stores out there. At first I thought this was a fantastic idea . . . but then I took a closer look at what Mattel did when bringing these new toys to stores.
Not Blind at All
If you look at the two photos below you’ll see my first two pulls from the Hot Wheels Mystery Models series. And if you click on the images then you’ll see the code stamped on the front of the package; that code includes the car’s number so all you have to do is look at the visual index on the back of the package and compare the numbers to figure out exactly which car you’re holding. Damn. That completely destroys the fun of blind-packed toys.
And to make absolutely certain that the code works as I thought it did I bought a third bag, taking care to select based on which car I wanted. Ripping that bag open revealed that I grabbed exactly the car I wanted to. So what we have here are blind-bagged toys that aren’t really mystery cars at all; just check the codes and you can grab the car you want.
Still, These Make Good Stocking Stuffers
Hot Wheels collectors are probably shouting for joy that they can select specific cars, but with Christmas coming up I think the real value in these Hot Wheels Mystery Models cars is as stocking stuffers for kids. At $1.07/each (that’s what I paid at Wal-Mart) these are cheap enough that parents can buy a handful of them to shove in a stocking on Christmas Eve. And since most parents won’t know or care about the codes printed on the packs it’s probably faster and easier to grab these bags than it is to look through the pegs and try to select specific cars.
Closing Thoughts
I was personally more excited about these toy cars before I spotted the numerical code on the package, but what we have here is still a fun way to sell Hot Wheels cars. The gravity-feed display (photo here) looks great and as long as stores stick the entire display somewhere obvious I could see this being a big seller for Mattel this Christmas.
See the Hot Wheels Wiki for more info and the complete list of the first wave of toys. I’m hoping two things happen with this series:
- Success! I want to see the Hot Wheels Mystery Models idea do well so that Mattel produces more series of cars in the bags.
- Drop the code! I’m hoping that the second and later series of releases are truly blind. Knowing the code is on the package kills some of the fun for me.
Philip Reed now plans to not buy any more bags. Well, maybe one or two more . . . there are some cool cars in the first wave.
Blind bags everywhere these days.