Ok so I borrowed a quote from ‘The Christmas Carol’ and change it slightly but 50 years ago these vintage looking cards appeared in May of 1968 and forever change the die cast collecting world.
It used to be that the British were known for producing a large number of die cast cars with Matchbox being the most well known around the world with their 3" size. Then came Mattel with their Hot Wheels being package in see thru blister pack with collector’s button showing the replica of the car. Not only that, it was also marketed as the fastest metal cars in the world and it seems the design and play value of these little cars were unique and are now sought after by kids.
Here are 4 of the 5 car set for their 50th anniversary Redlines replica.
Here it shows the back of the package. I hunted for these when there was news that Walgreens were getting various 50th Anniversary sets but these never appeared in any of our Walgreens locations. However when I walked into one of our Target looking for the Hot Wheels Euro speed I managed to find 2 of the Redlines and picked the VW bug. After almost 2 weeks I found the rest at Walmart. You’re probably wondering why did I only have 4 out of 5 cars. Was the ‘67 Hemi missing? The answer is there were abundant Hemi castings available but I wasn’t that interested so left it in the store. There were reports that the Camaro is the most sought after among the rest. I wasn’t able to find out any definite explanation yet as to the popularity of this single casting. If anyone has any info please let me know.
Once I get these opened, I will try to provide a review. Thanks for looking.