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they arent lost anymore.
Topic Started: Jan 7 2012, 08:38 PM (782 Views)
Pegers
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Pony Car
lost cars of china..
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JeepXJLover
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Minivan
Wow that Firebird is sweet, great color for that car.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Dan, I recall getting the Firebird from HW RLC club.. They announced the long lost tools were discovered in an isolated area at one one of their former producers. It must be this red one I got. It was a limited run, of course.
I don't recall the Chevy Blazer being made available. Were there other "rediscovered" cars made available??
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Firehawk73
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I have the Firebird too. I think those are the only 2 that was packaged Lost Cars of China. Are there others with different packaging? Perhaps but I don't know of any others.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't know the Hot Bird was ever lost. I know the packaging...those are the only two I ever saw...didn't know the back story. Nice enough, but not to pay a premium...in my opinion.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
I need to acquire both of these at some point...
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Pegers
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the card back that says a run of 12,500 is from the blazer....
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my take on the back story:
the blazer was issued first but did not sell well at all.so the amount was changed to 10,000.
these didnt sell either.and the line died out without a 3rd casting being issued..

note:there is a misleading statement on the card.it says all 1/64 castings where moved to china in 1972.
they where still making cars in mexico,france and i believe italy in 1972.
Edited by Pegers, Jan 7 2012, 10:35 PM.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A bit misleading even in saying "China," as they were made in Hong Kong, at that time a British Protectorate. Considering the Hot Bird dates to what? like 1979 or so, trying to attach a redline era date to it is non-sensical to anyone familiar with Hot Wheels. And the Blazer is even later.

I think this was a marketing gimmick...that backfired. Most HW collectors are savvy enough to see through Mattel's marketing BS when it is clearly BS, and only too happy to pass that info on to any newbies that want to learn.

But I suppose there are some that will bite on anything thrown their way...

Like I said...nice...but not at a premium.

According to So. Tex., these came out in 2004, and the previous issue Hot Bird was 1997...seven years...big whoop. Some of the redline repop castings had been dormant for the better part of twenty years before being resurrected, and its really not unusual for a casting to pop back into the lineup after a few years' absence.
Edited by juantoo3, Jan 7 2012, 10:47 PM.
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Pegers
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Wes,are you peeking over my shoulder???????????????
the bird's base has 1977 and the blazer's has 1983.....

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Firehawk73
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I always thought it was BS too! But it was another Hot Bird for the collection and I did not have to pay the premium for it either. So Mattels screw up is my gain.
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Harvestman
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Captain Slow
I remember reading a conversation with someone who had talked with the "Lost Cars of China" series designer on HWC. If there were supposed to be other models in this series, they never got past the planning stages...although I can see a casting like the Fiero being "rediscovered" like this.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pegers
Jan 7 2012, 10:53 PM
Wes,are you peeking over my shoulder???????????????
the bird's base has 1977 and the blazer's has 1983.....

Ha! No need!

I was there when both of them came out the first time...and quite a while before! I've been around Hot Wheels most of my life. I might not know MBX or Corgi jr or too much about any others, but mainline HW and me go back a LONG way.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HarvestmanMan
Jan 7 2012, 11:07 PM
I remember reading a conversation with someone who had talked with the "Lost Cars of China" series designer on HWC. If there were supposed to be other models in this series, they never got past the planning stages...although I can see a casting like the Fiero being "rediscovered" like this.
This thing is, a casting can be "rediscovered" for any reason, or no reason, and make an appearance in the lineup without all of the hoopla.

Some marketing gimmicks work...look at the redline club. Look at the current crop of Vintage Racing, now in what? its' third iteration in as many years? The Garage series...same thing. Now you got the Boulevard series and the Hot Ones series resurrecting old castings...and I wish them well, and if they keep on the track they've started I expect they will.

But that whole Lost Cars thing was based on a faulty premise that required telling a blatant...hard to believe...line of...unnecessary half truths to pitch it to the public.

Sometimes I hold back, but when it comes to arrogantly foisting turds on wheels on the public and expecting us to continue to buy...and this really was in that same vein of reasoning...I say "no way." Toss 'em anything, they'll buy.

Well, this consumer doesn't buy everything they throw out there anymore. If they serve crap, I eat somewhere else.
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Firehawk73
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juantoo3
Jan 7 2012, 11:21 PM
HarvestmanMan
Jan 7 2012, 11:07 PM
I remember reading a conversation with someone who had talked with the "Lost Cars of China" series designer on HWC. If there were supposed to be other models in this series, they never got past the planning stages...although I can see a casting like the Fiero being "rediscovered" like this.
This thing is, a casting can be "rediscovered" for any reason, or no reason, and make an appearance in the lineup without all of the hoopla.

Some marketing gimmicks work...look at the redline club. Look at the current crop of Vintage Racing, now in what? its' third iteration in as many years? The Garage series...same thing. Now you got the Boulevard series and the Hot Ones series resurrecting old castings...and I wish them well, and if they keep on the track they've started I expect they will.

But that whole Lost Cars thing was based on a faulty premise that required telling a blatant...hard to believe...line of...unnecessary half truths to pitch it to the public.

Sometimes I hold back, but when it comes to arrogantly foisting turds on wheels on the public and expecting us to continue to buy...and this really was in that same vein of reasoning...I say "no way." Toss 'em anything, they'll buy.

Well, this consumer doesn't buy everything they throw out there anymore. If they serve crap, I eat somewhere else.
Thats exactly why I am not as big a Hot Wheels fan I used to be. Sometimes you have to consider on what you really want to collect and the price your willing to pay. HWs like to play the Emperors new cloths bit way too often and the HWs fanatics eat that stuff up. In fact there some castings in their tooling base I would not mind if they did lose the toolings...LOL
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Pegers
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Pony Car
and now you see why i always stuck to mainline numbered issues and variations.
on all the other stuff i only took what i liked and then only if the price was right....
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
I don't care what the story is behind the cars. I see a Hot Bird I don't have. And I like it and I want one. Likewise, I like the Blazer too. I don't care what marketing hype they used to try and persuade people this was the next big thing. Had they taken off we'd have probably seen cars like the Stutz Blackhawk come back...after being a Final Run with some sort of excuse like 'we thought we destroyed all the molds but we missed one' and I'd be so happy to have that casting back in the lineup I wouldn't care what the marketing department calls it. If I like the car, I buy it.

We're bombarded by all kinds of marketing propaganda on a daily basis. I don't believe hype and I tend to hate the latest and greatest as a general rule. I find old & inferior tends to suit my needs better (simple to use and not buried by 20 layers of garbage I don't need but makes the price point go up) new & improved time and time again.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pegers
Jan 7 2012, 11:41 PM
and now you see why i always stuck to mainline numbered issues and variations.
on all the other stuff i only took what i liked and then only if the price was right....
That's not much different than me. I remember some of the early 100% line...nice cars, but the price point was through the roof. Was thinking about that last night, some of the first I remember were the Snake and Mongoose Legends large scale (1/18? 1/24?, not sure) with a matching 1/64, and even the little one was highly detailed...exceptionally gorgeous pieces if you like the Snake and Mongoose...but they were initially released at close to $100 for each big n little set!

The other that came out about the same time was the 4 car speed record set...again, very nice cars, very well done, but they were initially released at about $50 for the 4 cars...$12.50 each!

The Legends sets have held their price point, but not really appreciated. The land speeders have done about the same.

Shortly after the 100% "black box" line was launched in earnest, and I know I paid as much as $10 plus tax for a couple of pieces...pieces I can pick up routinely now for half of that and sometimes less. Mind you, the 100% line has much higher build quality, fit and finish, than any mainline issues, but nobody wants to pay for that. With few exceptions (the hearses come to mind, and a few of the promo editions), the depreciation on the typical 100% line issue is horrible, especially considering the quality.

Of course, the mainline hasn't really fared any better. A lot of cars I bought at full retail 10-12-15 years ago, I can't even give away now. I had some clown try to offer me 35 cents each for a lot of a hundred...shipped! I told him I would take the 35 cents *plus* shipping, that I was already taking a bath on them, and he walked. And I don't care.

Where I have splurged, and for the most part I think has held up well for the dollar spent, is the set cars. Even there though, a guy has to be really picky, not all set cars appreciate well. And that's why I really like the set cars.

But a lot of the hobby as with so much in life boils down to: "you pays your money and you takes your chances."
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Swifty
Jan 8 2012, 02:59 AM
I don't care what the story is behind the cars. I see a Hot Bird I don't have. And I like it and I want one. Likewise, I like the Blazer too. I don't care what marketing hype they used to try and persuade people this was the next big thing. Had they taken off we'd have probably seen cars like the Stutz Blackhawk come back...after being a Final Run with some sort of excuse like 'we thought we destroyed all the molds but we missed one' and I'd be so happy to have that casting back in the lineup I wouldn't care what the marketing department calls it. If I like the car, I buy it.

We're bombarded by all kinds of marketing propaganda on a daily basis. I don't believe hype and I tend to hate the latest and greatest as a general rule. I find old & inferior tends to suit my needs better (simple to use and not buried by 20 layers of garbage I don't need but makes the price point go up) new & improved time and time again.
Hot Wheels though have always had a unique relationship with marketing, unlike any other maker I've ever seen...other than for a very brief time the original Topper JLs. Even the venerated Matchbox in their heyday had no such relationship with marketing.

It transcends commercials and advertising, tv and print ads, racing sponsorship, cartoons that were essentially half hour commercials (info-mercials before they were "invented"), gasoline and cereal give-aways, and mail in offers. Hot Wheels was all of that and more.

Given the gullibility of a sizeable portion of the American consumer public, its no wonder Mattel is so successful even when they are blatant.

I agree...the Hot Bird is a nice one, and I'd like to have one at a reasonable price. But the price point for this series was a lot more than I felt they were worth at full retail, and given the drop in prices of these and in most Hot Wheels series overall, I think I have been vindicated in passing on them.
Edited by juantoo3, Jan 8 2012, 11:31 AM.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Wow, Dan, you sparked a good topic! Not only did we see a lot of personal opinions on purchases, we learned a lot more about the Hot Bird!! (At least I did) :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Billy Kingsley
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The Mad Documenter!
I like them. They look good. If I hadn't been NASCAR-only in 2004, I would have likely purchased these, but I don't even remember seeing them. That wouldn't surprise me, they have ALWAYS been lousy at stocking stuff here, especially once Ames closed. Of course in 2004 I was not yet a member of Ebay, or any diecast related message boards, although I did join a now-defunct NASCAR diecast board in 2005...finally.

The way I see it is...if you are concerned about how much you can sell it for later, then you shouldn't be buying it in the first place. If you love what it is, then you will buy it if you love it enough. Unless they just want so much that you literally cannot afford it...but really, who can't set aside enough for one or two diecasts a month? Even I can do that and I'm constantly broke.
Edited by Billy Kingsley, Jan 9 2012, 02:22 AM.
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