This time of year is always when it’s nice to take a step back and look at the year that was. With regard to diecasts, this was my first year delving into the Hot Wheels scene. I strayed from the 1/18 path, where I’ve comfortably been for most of the past decade, in a big way. I went to my first KDay, found my first Treasure Hunts, completed my first HWEPs, and generally immersed myself in what I’ve found to be an incredibly interesting, fun, and different side of the hobby that previously was not even on my radar.
Here are a few stats on my year, by the numbers:
- Number of complete sets: 5 (2 HW Porsche, HW Holidays 2015, HW Camo, and MBX Jeep).
- Total number of purchased cars: No count
- Number of Treasure Hunts: 5 (2 Corvettes, 1 Rogue Hog, and 2 Rip Rods)
- Most variations of the same exact cast: 4 (tie between Aston Martin DB5 and Toyota AE-86)
- Number of mistake casts: 1 (68 Hemi Cuda with flames on hood only)
So I’ve spent the past few evenings taking all of the cars I purchased in the past year and attempting to organize them, removing them from the Rubbermaid totes that have been home for the past many months. In the coming days, most of these will leave their cards, to be loaded into $6.75 cases from Amazon. The results, much to the chagrin of the Boss, have taken over the living room.
What did I do wrong this year? Well, I think I bought too many. I didn’t focus my collecting in any meaningful way, and got swept up in what the interwebz said was a rare or otherwise desirable cast. Cadillac Elmiraj in not one but two colors? Not sure what I was thinking there. Every variation of the Batmobile? I’m not a Batman guy at all. Consequently, I find myself going through what I bought and shaking my head more often than I’d like to be. Many of these cars really do not fit my general automotive interests. So who wants some Mustangs or GM muscle cars? (Seriously, I have way too many).
What did I do right this year? In short, learned how to play the game. Developed a system to break down a dump bin quickly and efficiently, and dissect loaded pegs in minutes. Identify a TH and Super TH. Pick out the mystery cars based on the printed numbers on the bags. And perhaps most importantly, connected with some really great people and made some cool trades for cars I couldn’t otherwise find myself (looking at you, scalpers).
What do I want for the next year? For starters, unload all of these cars that I don’t really want in the collection (OK, this is more a “need” for purposes of domestic tranquility!) Update the Google Sheet I’ve had going for months with accurate numbers for trades. Re-focus on my core interests in building a collection. I’m also not buying doubles any more, even of the “special” cards, such as Fast & Furious or Bond. While it’s nice to think that, in theory, there’s a trade out there for all of those, I think I over-estimated interest on that front this time around.
Anyways, those are my thoughts. Wishing everyone on here a happy holiday season and fantastic new year!