Sadly there are some for whom money is no object and scalpers are just another supplier, then there are those who don't like scalpers but will buy from them when they can't find what they're looking for, seeing them almost like a necessary evil for when they can't get what they want. Everyone in all hobbies should hate scalpers, but sadly as long as things like FOMO sales tactics exist, they will unfortunately always have a market.
Personally I REFUSE to buy from any reseller. I buy these little cars for my enjoyment, and to customize as I see fit. I have seen other collectors fall into this trap though. Thet go from "Its just a hobby. I only collect what I like." to "I dont care for this casting, but it is worth alot online" and then they go into the resellers game. It's a real shame that this hobby has went to hell like this in the past years, but Im glad to hear someone calling out the ridiculousness.
Bro but in some countries like India only way to diversify our collection is to buy imports from resellers 😢 we mostly get imports from Malaysia Thailand
The real people to blame are people like Ynon Kreiz, Steve Totzke, Roberto Stanichi, and Katharine Buford at Mattel who refuse to improve product availability via platforms like Mattel Creations. People like Chris Down and Ted Wu get taken advantage of by these types of people in charge.
I usually just buy off mattel creations, but even if I don't like or care for a casting I'll still buy it just to complete the set, but I will never resell
I worked at Target from 2003-2007. There was a gentleman who’d come in and ask to see if there were any unopened boxes of hot wheels in the back. He was a collector, who shared his hobby with his kid. I also was apparently the only one willing to help him that he would actually look for me (toys was never my department) and even request to see me by name. Anyway, he told me not to bother with opened boxes because that meant that a scalper had already gotten to it. So even back then, he was dealing with this problem. He would request a box, dig to see what he wanted, then offer to put up the rest of the stock for me on the peg hooks.
Yeah, I worked Target fm 2003-08, went to TRU, then back to Target 2018-present. Some of the good ones (the true collectors) would neatly stock the product once they were done with the cases. The scalpers on the other hand.... Fuckin vultures is what they are.
I worked there in 2019 & 2020. There were NEVER any good hot wheels on the pegs. My buddy worked in toys and he said that they hoard everything. I was totally unaware as I only picked up a few cars of interest every now and then. Fully into the hobby now Thanks to Covid and the toy dept mafia is real. I have heard stories about Wal-Mart too and I only find gold at the one that has mostly elderly toy dept staff 👍
@@boot_leg_ramen_noodle I knew a guy who was a collector and a Target manager and let collectors look over the unopened cases first. That's a level of collecting that I can't get into. Those extra hoops and back room shenanigans. Forget it.
@@scockery same here bro, no shade to ANYONE but I can’t be at the store outside waiting for it to open and stalking the toy dept employees. If that’s anyone’s thing, do you.
(Nearly) every time I had any duplicates of toys I've been collecting (that weren't primed to be an army builder) I usually gifted them away to kids of my friends.
I have been, am and always will be a collector and will never turn to the darkside like so many others. If I buy extras there for myself, trading or for friends and won't buy more than 3, if someone I run into at a store I will always help them out that is what this HOBBY is all about.
I only take What I need for myself or if I know somebody's looking for that casting Otherwise I just leave them be I have actually left Chase peices I have no interest in or none of my friends
I recently sold my entire Hot Wheel collection, it was close to 9,000 cars, including about 30 super treasure hunts and 200 premiums, over the last 6 years of the hobby I spent more than $10,000. I was in a bad financial situation, and it ended up selling for $6,000, not even close to what I paid, considering the gas and time spent collecting. I don't think there really is any profit for resellers, I live in a major city, and if you go to Marketplace and look at ads for Hot Wheels, they don't sell, they just sit there for months at a time. the real problem is adult collectors like myself that horde all the cars, it's the Desolation of Smaug syndrome, a big bad dragon sitting on its golden treasure.
there is profit, but for the upcoming content, not for the old trash. old trash only appeases the true collectors who fall in live with old trash. the new shit , the new already considered RARE MODELS even before leaving the factory, are the ones on the hype and selling fast. what suckers dont understand is that to make profit you have to live this reseller´s life 24/7.
@@EugenioHertz They will have seen an antiques' show where an unopened vintage toy from the 70's or earlier is worth a load of money because the box and contents is pristine and then think if they collect new toys that one day it will happen to that. The problem is a load of people will have the same idea, buy new toys, keep them in the box and then in twenty years time think that it will be worth money - it won't because it's not rare. They should just buy for their kids and let them play with it. Their unopened toys will most likely end up in landfill when their home gets cleared out because they've died, or have become a hoarder.
I stopped collecting because of scalpers. I still have my whole collection of 15k plus. From reds to mains. My son will one day get them. I do it for the cars and the memories.
If your kid not into cars / diecast himself, first thing he'll do - it to put inherited collection to attic or basement. The second thing - he will sell them in garage sale, when will be cleaning attic / basement.
@Lar.Real.Diecast scalpers and resellers are not the same. I hate scalpers too. But I'm a collector who will resell cause ot is part of any hobby. When I'm ready to move out my house, I resell it. When I buy a new car, I will resell my old one. Reselling is a part of life. Scalping isn't. Scalping is mostly about greed, reselling is getting value out of your collection because it does have a market value whether you like it or not. My two cents.
Why would you leave your son that burden? What makes you think he wants them? He’s gonna grow up hit puberty find a girlfriend and is going to care less about your measly collection. Sell it now while you can put that money towards a college fund, a lot of you collectors act like your collection is going to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future and you’re somehow going to leave your kids with a treasure trove 🤣
I think the surfacing of other brands like Mini GT, Tarmac Works, Pop Race, Inno 64, and many other brands coming from Asia. Collecting Hot Wheels doesn't feel worth it. Why go through all this effort over a diecast that loses on quality compared to mentioned brands and also goes higher in price in terms of resell prices. In my country, there are collectors going to lengths of getting supermarket or store employee or manager contacts to get their supply. It's a disgrace.
@@90heroes Yeah that's the thing also. I have to go through a lot of effort to get Hot Wheels at retail price and most of the time I don't see them at stores and the resell price especially new castings and release are stupidly overpriced.
I know of several scalpers, I can't stand them. When I am at the hot wheels section and I find a bunch of cars that I know the scalpers will take them all. I collect most of them put them in my cart and go hide them in the store and every day after work I will grab a few and put them in the front on the pegs. It has turned into a game of cat and mouse for me with these scalpers. When I run into actual collectors I will ask them what they are looking for. If it is one of the cars I have hidden, I will tell them come back tomorrow and look at so and so place and you will find one there. Good times. !!!
I collect since 2009, long before the hype and never became a scalper; I resell some of my old cars when their value become high in order to buy new ones or other toys that are expensive. I mainly collect since 1991 japanese toys so I started collecting Hotwheels for American Muscle&Pony Cars to add some variety to my whole toy collection so even if I have a JDM collection, it is not my main interest. I refuse to fear of missing certain models so I buy some online some cars when they are release and are around the same price as in shops or have contact of reseller who are not scalpers for Premium sets. But it is more than 5 years that I really find back the pleasure of collecting and "hunting" with no stress and only good vibes with Barbie, I only collect a certain "style" and I only buy what I can display (I buy stands in order to give them the posing they deserve to get), As for the Skyline Pace Car from Gran Turismo, I also refused to buy it only as the prices were minimum 3 times the shop price and I found it 2 or 3 months ago, but I must admit it would have pissed me off to never come across that particular model.
My only beef with gunpla is that some of the new mold was slapped with P-Bandai, especially on the MG kits that I wanted like Gundam MK-V and GM Space Command. I think it’s mostly Bandai’s part of gouging prices on p-bandai kit and then scalpers double or triple it even more.
Yes, but not really. That mainly happens to the kits that Bandai just straight up refuses to reissue after a long while. Other than that, the main issue we are facing today is too many kits now locked up behind P-Bandai pay wall. Great to be in Japan or North America, but everywhere else are pretty much screwed
@@nimay13 I'd say it depends on how you wish to enjoy the hobby. If you are just a regular builder (which most people are), while it does get more expensive by a margin compared to the past, the additional expense can be explained by accounting a lot of factors. And it's completely understandable in terms of financial & technological advancements. However, if you are down for more advanced stuff, especially customizing, then there is no doubt that the expenses just go up rapidly. But it's always an option, not a must.
I don't have a problem with selling older products, the problem is the needlessly 'limited edition' nature of the product - they went to all the trouble and expense of making a special mould and then voluntarily stop using it...why? limited edition anything really piss me off, but especially things that take lots of time and effort to create.
I used to work in a value retail chain as a manager not long ago, and the guys who came in looking for hot wheels were relentless. Had one guy who asked every employee on the floor if we got hot wheels on our delivery, because he didn’t believe me when I said I stocked them already. He also came around back of the store while our delivery was being unloaded, and asked if we got hot wheels off the delivery truck yet, and stood there to watch for a few minutes before he left after I told him to leave. It’s insane, and that was a couple years ago when the reselling was really bad.
I am a collectors and scalpers have made the hobby into collecting undesirable now. Like yesterday, there were 9 boxes of the Hot Wheels boulevard with the 22' Civic Type R sitting on the pallet at Walmart. This was about 8:20pm I asked a manager if I can get any assistance and he told me that the stockers would be there around 9pm to start putting the cars up. I went out to get something to eat and then to return in hope to catch them stocking it up. I come back around 9:10pm and every single boxes were went through. All the Civics Type R were gone. I asked the stock woman, and she said someone already open them up before she got there. Sad world we live in. I feel like I just hang it up. They be selling them at the flea market for $25 a piece and I refuse to buy them.
I work at a Walmart, we have collectors/resellers/scaplers who will open the boxes themselves to get at the cars if the stockers aren't fast enough. I'm only a causal collector(mostly Matchbox) myself, I always unpack them because space for me is limited.
I'm not a Hot Wheels collector. I'm a Godzilla collector, and my friend is a Gundam collector, and I know people who are Lego collectors. All of us have this issue. Issue where hype and rarity, obsession with market value and FOMO, reseller and scalpers, all this became the main drive for most collectors. Everyone is mad when their beloved item got reissued or no longer as rare The price tag and exclusivity became main value to the collectors, not the personal value. It's honestly tiring and annoying, as it pushed everyone in the hobby sphere to scalp and price everything crazily. I personally don't like to use the term "collector" nowadays due to all this characteristic that I dislike attached to it. I prefer calling myself as a "hobbyist", people who truly enjoy the hobby in and of itself. My main driving factor to collect is what I like. I don't care about the rarity and exclusivity, I hate those labels. Heck, even when I do like exclusives and own them, I wish they were regular release so that more people could enjoy it. I also resell stuff, but more often than not it was at a slight loss. Due to me knowing my buyers are fellow hobbyist and I know they'll enjoy those items more than I am now. So I'm willing to let it go at a bargain. I enjoy my hobby, and I hope more people would enjoy it again. Let's forget the numbers and the investment for once, and re-embrace your inner manchild. Play with the damn thing, enjoy it. Walk away from the community, isolate yourself and develop your own strict taste, that is for you and you only. Not the ones that'll please the people at the community, nor the ones that'll please the market. But one that pleases you and your personal enjoyment. It's a hobby, not a job. It's an child-like escapism, not a calculated investment
Why would a person be mad if your favourite piece is reissued? Surely it's a good thing because more people can enjoy this cool thing? Only reason would be if the value was the most important aspect of the piece...in which case the objective was always to sell, and that means they aren't a collector, they're a trader. Collectors don't sell, except to restructure a collection.
At least with plastic model kits majority of people demand for new kits that will sell out instantly, and the brands go 'nah, lets just make another spitfire instead'
I’m a Godzilla figure collector. The most I’ll buy at one time is two of the same item; One to remove from the packaging and handle, another to keep in the packaging for the bookshelf. Even then, this is pretty rare for me. Godzilla collectibles aren’t exactly cheap most of the time, and scalpers are a big problem for them too.
I went to the Hot Wheels Legends tour a few months ago, since it came to my area. They were having a promotion at the Walmart where if you bought $25 worth of Hot Wheels, and brought the receipt out to one of the booths, they gave you a bag of goodies which included an exclusive casting. While I was in line to buy my Hot Wheels (I just picked ones that I liked, no scalping), I watched as one of the Legends Tour guys came out from the back of the store with some cases of the more premium castings to stock on the shelves. This poor guy nearly got mobbed by these rabid, fully grown adults for these cases. It got to the point where the local police had to surround this guy as he stocked the shelves. As soon as he was done, the first few people just grabbed everything and left nothing for anyone else. It was mind boggling and surreal to watch adults fight over childrens toys. I kid you not, I really thought one of them was gonna get walked away in handcuffs. I was just there to meet up with friends, look at some cool cars, and have a good time. Definitely was not expecting that. You are 100% correct. The collectors (scalpers) scene is unbelievable.
I am collector. I understand the pain. I had bought a skyline super silhouette for 16$ loose. Car collecting is a pain as certain cars are never there as they only want the price and not the craftsmanship of making the castings.
I got into Hot Wheels only recently primarily to modify and race them online. I then slowly became attracted to all the details and variety of vehicles. So I’m a collector of sorts and my collection includes both cars I like and modified customized ones that have been raced somewhere. It’s a gas, gas, gas.
I've been collecting diecast for decades, only for me. I have never found a STH. It's frustrating but I stopped caring. Scalpers are irritating. Finding Boulevards? Pretty much gave up on that too
I found 1 and I opened it, I only collect Batmobile's and they are all opened and on display, my son can touch and look at them when he wants to. They are for me and me alone. Won't pay more than few £ for them.
Last time I got a boulevard was 2021, never seen one ever since because the shelves are always empty. They should just start selling all their premiums online.
I still find the joy of finding and appreciating this little pieces of artwork. In my years of collecting Hot wheels and endless hunts, I did manage to have some luck with Treasure hunts, chases when I find them. I really don't look at its market value but its value in my eyes
Hot tip, if you get there before the scalpers, hide/scatter the cars you don’t want around the store. They will slowly be found and returned to the shelves at random times ensuring everyone gets a chance to buy. 😅
this is 99% true. There is a small exit out of that path. You learn how to customize and create your own version. Too many people are lazy and rather become a reseller just to cover the cost of the cars they want.
As someone who just started collecting again 2 years ago, the diecast community in my city was chill. There wasn't a feeling of competition since there were only a few of us; eventually more and more started collecting to the point where they'd start to hoard and eventually resell. This made collecting a hassle and it took away the joy of hunting. Because of this I sold all my HW collection and used the money to buy more premium brands such as MINI GT, Kaido House and Inno64 which did not have any competition. I must say life has been easier knowing that I don't have to be the first to line up when the store restocks and just let them compete with themselves.
Used to be $1 a car, then Hot Wheel made a it $6 with same old cast with different packaging. Limited edition for $30. Having a hobby getting so expensive now.
@@samueld5418 My point was Hot Wheel is selling the same $1 car you find 5-8 years ago to $6. You still can buy a pack of 10 or 12 cars for $10, but you might just want 3 cars in there. I just buy when I see some cool ones and don't even know how people know when they release a good car.
@@samueld5418 Not in the world beyond the USA. Cheapest place that sells mainlines costs $1.94 equivalent here, more often $2.30-$3. Premiums cost the equivalent of $11.83 where I am, Team Transports $24.98. Shit's mad. Lots of places are even worse.
@@samueld5418 It's no longer a $1 car if you can't find it selling anywhere for less than $15. I'd tell you to use your brain, but clearly you don't have one that works.
This video is so underrated. I collect mostly Tomica and there is a line of Nissan cars that I want so much (cars inside boxes of the posters of the old Godzilla movies) and resellers are just reselling them at such a high price, I don't even want them anymore.
EXACTLY! Id give you 2 hearts if i could. I could have the skyline i want but I won't feel the same if i have to pay more. I feel regret to buy from resellers
Tomica, in general, is also more expensive than hot wheels. I thought that was odd. I assumed, with the yen being so weak, everything that was by a Japanese company within Japan itself would be much more affordable. I think that was the only example I found of products that weren’t cheap.
Great video and storytell. New sub. And here’s my small story. I also started as a collector and now am reselling. I don’t like to consider myself a scalper because I believe there is a difference between the 2. Reason being because there were plenty of cars that I used to leave behind and only took for myself. Other friend collectors would tell me what they would be looking for. So I started trading eventually reselling for small margin. That way I help them out but of course to do those favors a lot well gas isn’t cheap so I can’t really be doing it for free. But where I draw the line is abusing of that profit margin. For example I recently found the zamac EG of this year. And yes I left 3. Went yesterday to the local Diecast reunion and someone was selling them for 10 each. Curiously enough they were three, the same exact number I left behind. I was reselling them for 5. Although starting price was 3. I stick to prices I’d pay myself or depending how much I like the cars. But yea I’d say there is a thin line between a reseller and a scalper
It does make me sad to see greedy individuals who ruin the hobby for the rest of us. I’ve got 2 supers to my name, 1 M2 coke chase, and 4-5 errors. I run on a rule to take only what I need (maximum of 2 for ‘high value’ castings). The only way I’d sell anything from my collection is if I was strapped for cash.
i got 1 super and really i lost the hype over looking for one after my first. i learned to just buy wheels from Temu and make my own STH. but yeah people who horde all the cars to resell gets on my nerves. been looking for the current Bumblebee car and the Duck super rig for months and nothing.
I’ve been collecting Hot Wheels since I was around 8 years old, and my very first car was the Brick Cutter - and it still there on my shelf. I still remember sitting in front of the store shelf, carefully picking out the funkiest car I could find. Now, in my 30s, I’m still collecting and every single car I own is loose. I play with them, race them, and enjoy them for what they are. If you ask a scalper what their first car was and they say something like a JDM or Skyline, you know they’re just in it for profit. For me, it’s never been about that. I don’t keep my cars on their cards because I’ve never cared about their "value"-I’m not in this to sell. I refuse to buy at any resellers or resell anything from my collection. Somehow I think I traded once with fellow collectors without adding any money because luckily he has what I want and I have what he wants, it's just a taxi car. Yes, I’ve been lucky enough to find some Skylines on shelves before the storm of scalpers hit, but I only grab one for myself and leave the rest for other collectors. I don’t chase after colour variants, bullshit STHs, or error cards either-I just want one for my collection. This is what collecting is about for me, pure enjoyment, no hoarding, no flipping. Proud to say I’m a true collector!
Yeah I feel you there. Here Skyline got scalped to DEATH. I have to go to another brand to get my R34 (MiniGT). I did obtain the R34 pace car but it was selling as a 5 cars Pop culture set. Fortunately I also like the GT R35 and the MTV van so I did bit the bullet. But for others its a struggle really. Hope those scalpers got what they deserve with price fell out to the window. Hot wheels also began playing with the number of cars in a box, especially in silver labels. For example in FF Dom set, there are 3 RX-7s instead of 2. And in the speed graphic set, Civic EK9 will be 3 cars. Hope this strat works for long terms.
@@spiders_8792 exactly! If anyone wants to scalp, sell concert tickets. Its a way bigger and faster turn around than toy cars. I get that they make 7 bucks here and there, but its just not worth the time and overhead to keep at it.
I recently started collecting hot wheels and matchbox as I was never able to have them growing up. I feel embarrassed looking in stores because you can see the boxes/pegs are a mess. Variant boxes are open. Adults are doing this. I just want some nice cars. I bought and sold nerf for a few months. It's gross. I would buy collections, keep what I wanted, and sell the rest at sometimes a quarter of what others do. I just wanted them going to the right people. Most of them probably went to resellers. I did have a couple that sold for high price, but they were true collector's pieces.
I open all of mine. Make Dioramas. I am terrible at reselling so I don’t do it. The most i did was trade a Ronin Run car crate for a Mountain Drifters car crate. That’s it.
Me and you are the same friend. I've probably spent $6000 on very expensive hot wheel cars. I bought a few on eBay, but I don't mind. I had the money and I decided to build a nice collection within 2 years and spent $6000. It's an addiction, but I don't sell mine. I open up every single car. And set up dioramas, just like you, it's fun. Mcdonald's starbucks, seven eleven shell gas stations, everything and I don't buy duplicates I buy one car of each
It's so frustrating knowing that the shelves will be picked clean of any interesting models, before i even get to see them on pegs. Also Treasure hunts etc are nice but buying them from resellers defeats the purpose of a treasure HUNT 🙄
That also defeats the purpose of collecting pleasure and admiring aesthetics from the castings themselves. If you want the "good ones" (th and sth, looks to me like this is what ppl want, due to the hype from other ytbers) you will need to go to many stores during restock and fight with other scalpers..hence after sometime on doing this you will end up being scalper yourself. It's a cycle where I just realized that i was starting to become part of the problem
I used to be a collector. I had over 4,000 pieces between HotWheels, Matchbox, and the more high-end brands. One Saturday, I saw two guys yelling at each other in a Walmart because one of them had opened a box and pulled out a super treasure. Within a week I'd donated almost all of the pieces I had. Now I collect (read) books and physical media. It's less stressful.
I'm a Ghostbusters collector Last year a local store got in a shipment of action figures , a scalper went in and bought every one in stock (including the unopened cases still in the back) then he bragged about wiping out the stock at another store .🤬
Some action figure sites "How are scalpers still a thing? Stores don't stock anymore enough to matter." The idea now is that collectors order everything online and don't bother with physical retail, yet, the scalpers operate online, too. It's not just collectors getting the sell-out-in-10-minutes online exclusives. And the rats won't leave the ship until its sinking, so scalpers will be around until no adults collect anymore. And toy companies largely don't care. Mattel can have items that sell out in 15 minutes or less and will NEVER OFFER THEM AGAIN. (Or offer a paltry amount at some random time of day unannounced.)
I just got this video recomended recently since I started recently to collect some random hotwheels and I completely understand you... I bought a few cars that were increasing in prices since it was a ferrari (license expired 10+ years ago and valuable) but coming from Portugal its as bad as USA in terms of scalping or even worse since STHs are harder to get here. I actually want a STH of a car I genuinely like but its impossible. Btw I work at a hypermarket so from time to time to bug me if im gonna restock hotwheels or not which is even more annoying since we don't receive even a tenth of what usa receives to stock even in christmas time... its so sad tbf. my luck is 2nd hand online shop for europe (vinted) which some people are nice enough to sell stuff they dont use at good price. i want to sell mines beacuse i dont have any more space and im gonna make sure they are low price just out of morality tbf. shame that anything some adults touch go from entertainment to business
Honestly speaking in my country malaysia you'll probally never gonna find any premium or sometimes mainline (mostly jdm and euro cars doesnt exist) in a regular store. You can find premium but only store like toyRus sell them (not sure if there is any other store tho that sell premium), but they dont have that much in stock. If you want more you gotta go to the resellers store but expect some crazy prices. My advice for the new collectors JUST COLLECT WHAT YOU LIKE. Dont follow any trend and do not care about the future value of the car. If you want to kraken it (crack it open) just do it and learn to customize it the way you want it. Its way more fun.
I only collect from the wild. The feeling of stumbling on the ones I really like is unbeatable. Also the reason I LOVE buying (anything) in the real world. No online shopping unless I really have to, i.e not available in my country. Diecast collecting becomes like TCG now (MTG, Pokemon, etc). And I hate it.
It’s so annoying how people just buy for value now I miss when I could just go to the shops and find a random skyline and buy it cuz I love the thing and along with that I’m scared to open any Hotwheels that I don’t have a duplicate of anymore because I feel like I’m losing too much I feel but I still appreciate them and love them but I’m just scared I was lucky enough to find the pop culture gran Turismo GTR Nismo concept in the wild and 2 R30 skylines but I was so over the moon but I never opened them this video has made me remember who I am and now I have decided I will too leave some for everyone else but if I find another one of the same car that I like in another day I will buy it
A big chunk of the culture thats missing is trading. Your supposed to gather and trade others for your favorites. But adults are looked at as weird if you want to partake in toy trading, especially with kids, and there is the stigma of "your an adult, why not just buy the ones you want?" This creates no "fan favorite" castings and leave only those arbitrary castings valued only because of their rarity.
I was a casual collector of HW diecasts. My focus was on Batmobiles and DeLoreans. It became crazy as I too started to adopt the resellers/scalpers mindset. I quit because I could accumulate anymore. I had to learn to appreciate what I already had.
i have been collecting for nearly 20 years. that scalper in the store in coping hard when he says everyone eventually becomes a reseller. which is why i quit hotwheels and moved on towards more premium brands where the scalper ratio is less.
I recently started collecting Johnny Lightning for this reason. If there is a cool base set hotwheel or premium I’ll buy it at the store if I see it. Otherwise right now Johnny Lightning and Autoworld are more appealing. Especially with the cool limited production numbers. Only problem is it’s hard to find them.
Welp, i miss the days where i can still leave dozens of reality casting cars on shelves and only pick what i want. Nowadays, especially here in the Philippines, resellers gatekeep the reality castings so i had to wait in front of the malls for minutes before it opens.
There is a group that calls themselves the Diecast mafia. If you want it, they have it. They have truckers and Mattel reps in their pockets. It's weird but it's a hustle worth quite a lot of money. To combat that, my friends and I buy up popular models and then return them whenever we see the price has finally dropped back down. You come to my city and there is a real chance of running into last year's cool cars because we do that all the time. It's fun to hear guys brag about finding something they had really wanted and being amazed it was there a full year or so after it should be. We do also pick up multiple to trade amongst ourselves.
I hate scalpers with my soul. They ruin so many hobbies. I am not a Hot Wheels collector, but a Transformers one, and there are some figures that are IMPOSSIBLE to find thanks to scalpers and they are not even special limited editions or something. I have a few Hot Wheels cause I found em cool like the Braille Twin Mill. Neat variant of the Twin Mill. I want to get a Deora 2 and a Deora 2 with the Teku livery but the new mainline one is impossible to find, thanks to scalpers.
I never listen to those who tell the hard truth, I just wanted to buy my favorite die cast cars. Do you think that matters for me if I never get the car I wanted or resell for profit? My sole purpose on collecting those cars from stores is to have it in my collection, and when the time comes I might to give it away, money no object. I wonder why they stuck on the two options where you can get the third one? 🤔
I don’t collect them anymore because scalpers ruined the experience one too many times for me, I just could never find what I wanted. I do still look whenever I’m at the shops though,if I see anything good I put a small rip in the box/cardboard so hopefully they leave it for a kid to buy and play with instead of getting to rip people off.
The only ones who become scalpers, are the ones who only care about money. I've been doing this for 15 years or so. I collect the ones I like, and don't even buy the ones I don't. So no, not everyone becomes a scalper
I've only sold diecast one time and that is because my collection had grown to large and I needed to get a focus instead of buy bulk. So, I went through all of my stuff and pulled out what I wasn't crazy about and sold as a lot locally for a really cheap price. Then my scrap cars were placed in a large bag to take to the nail shop where my wife works so she can let her customers kids play with them and keep some if they want to. I have only one treasure hunt car and I wasn't looking for it. It was just right there in front of me. I only have one RLC car and I bought it at a show because I'm a huge fan of the car. No scalping. Collect what you want and don't be stupid with your money.
Well you have to understand my friend. I don't collect hot wheels but I do collect Yu-Gi-Oh cards. And I can tell you that collecting is a hobby that across the board functions pretty much the same. Some people are knowledgeable and try to make money off it. Others just want a collection. Some people just lose interest in there collection and sell theres to invest in something else. At the end of the day the hunt for the rare item is what collecting is all about. But to say people don't appreciate the models is silly. Obviously if people felt that way, they wouldn't spend ridiculous amounts of money to complete there collections.
@@Lar.Real.Diecast it was a car i really liked though, so i picked it up. i really love mercedes from the 80s so i was really happy to find a ‘89 mercedes benz 560 sec amg. it hangs proudly on my wall
That scalper was projecting his rationalization so hard onto you and everyone. It’s like, brother, your poor life choices are no kind of blueprint for me. Even if they were, that still doesn’t justify them.
Sadly this stretchs further then die cast further then collectables this goes all the way to one time purchases like video games and machine spare parts
It really pains me too when some "collectors" would even have the audacity to ask out store merchandisers to reserve some hot wheels for them, say "they'd buy it later" and then leave the store afterwards. Once I came in, saw the reserved hot wheels, tried getting one from the pile, only to get warned by the merchadiser saying "a collector reserved it, and they'd be scolded out if they'd give the reserves to me. Like wtf? the "collector" you're talking about ain't even in the store anymore in the first place lol.
I have an extra gran turismo gtr I’ll let you have for free. My biggest problem with the hobby is mostly everyone is very greedy and wants to make the most money/trade value
I don't really count myself as a Hotwheels collector as I just buy and look for very specific cars that I like, but as a Skyline fan myself I absolutely find it absured that a kids toy that should only be worth a few bucks has skyrocketed. In relation to that, I have a friend who was a race car mechanic looking for a Toyota AE86 Trueno. He told me that when he was in highschool, he could've found one cheap. But, no thanks to popularity from Initial D (his favorite anime) that car is now absurdly priced. He told me he found one for sale in relatively good condition priced at $57000 USD. Yeah, I think it's frustrating being a car enthusiast or even collector in general. I have some really rare Anime figures that go for the $1000 now, that I'd never ever fathom selling.
I always wanted to find a HotWheels Delorean from Back to the Future,and I only found it at a small little shop in a small town because of my father,two exemplars,but at the big stores,nothing,and I think it's rarer to find because I'm in Brasil and because of that situation
my ex friend had a subaru impreza 22b hot wheel that he bought for 2$, he was flexing it on me like they're so rare and that woudn't get one so i get caught in jealeosy. i started looking for these online and was shocked that they cost 10$. i was so angry, like why didn't i buy earlier, why didn't i care about it when it was available? i was so raged out that i bought a white copy from different collection for 9$, but it had no such detailing neither the original blue metallic paint. i am still full of hatred to that car. and i still think i'm already too late to start, because there's more and more modern DISGUSTINGLY UGLY cars which i despice. I want car models from 80s-2000s which my ex friend has, but when i try to find them online they cost insane money. I am so frustrated and filled with hatred. I always wanted these hot wheels since childhood, but i didn't get a lot because of family's poverty, meanwhile that bastard lived with rich family and could buy one car a day. World is unfair but i can't cope with it, it's eating me from the inside
Collecting Diecasts is like a business now rather than a hobby. Here the JDM cars are scalped to DEATH. Especially the r34. And I can’t really stand scalpers unfortunately. It makes me sometimes to quit this hobby and do something better. Hell I never properly ever found a chase or a STH in the wild, mainly because nowadays collecting in the wild is a waste of time here
this is because you only look for the dirtiest brand called HOTWHEELS. those who made cheap crappy cars filled with hype and overpriced tags. you could have better and even cheaper than hotbulshiet, but you dont want it.
what wild? all the stores are closed anyway, used to be 10 stores i could go to look for games,they all out of business now, might as well shop online, looking for used shit on ebay can be fun, you gotta check every day to get good stuff
I wish they would stop making supers for a while. I can't find the mainlines I collect because of hoarding. Maybe stop long enough for for people to loose interest that don't collect
Lego is going the same way. People buy several copies claiming to be collector's that love lego. But in reality they are scalpers and are only in it for financial gain. I call it greedy and selfish.
Not just these facts, but also the fact that newer stuff just doesn't feel as good as it used too. That's why I collect primarily older hot wheels and diecast, back in the days when they cared about the product they delivered and the product felt special. Nothing today feels like that anymore and its a shame.
@@Lar.Real.Diecast the mf'er had several with him just a few hours with him after restocking at the store I had no other choice, atleast I got for a relatively lower price than other scalpers I know of, besides I sell some cars too, but at the retail price, no markups I understand how annoying it is to overpay for a car, so ig I'm doing smth nice
If you buy a certain line of toys but you never open & play with any of them, you'll become a reseller eventually, because you weren't buying those things for yourself. It's like people who buy sneakers but never wear them.
Gave away my old collection when i hit high school. After rewatching a childhood movie series called Acceleracers, ive started collecting fantasy cars from the 2000s. I never knew about this dark side of Hotwheels collecting, guess ill be careful from now
I don't think this is such a problem here in germany. hotweels and matchbox don't go so well and you find them piled up in stores.. I'm looking for a Ford Escord RS [number], if it even exists... I don't really collect, but saw a cool honda civic a month ago and now I bought a ford GT40 and a Fiat 500, because I drove them in video games 😛 I bought a Mercedes SL whatever for my brother in law and he was so happy about it, that it made me happy, too... didn't even know he liked that car. it was just a joke gift hehe
3:21 🤣 he didn't know what to say when he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Idk how I'm gonna resell these toys when I rip em off the package 🤣
Open everything, greatly takes away the urges to flip things, people don’t like paying nearly as much for uncarded stuff so takes the intrusive thought out of the equation
scalpers definitely bum me out, theres a collectable show out where i live that's only open on the weekends for comic books, anime figures, tcg & hotwheels, i can only get what i want there or online but its like $5 a car, i hardly ever see these things at the store now
In my country hws are very much still for kids so i like collecting the specific packs like for example i got all 5 of the 2024 roadsters collection and just seeing them displayed in my room,brings me joy in high school,i dont like drinking or smoking so i dont have any actual friends.I liked watching this video and it is thought provoking but doesn't discourage me from enjoying the hobby my way 👍
I had started collecting die cast cars in 1996, then I quit in 2005. The main reason, scalpers made it virtually impossible for me to complete sets. I hated the hobby and didn't buy any for years. Then in 2016, I started back up again (mid life crisis 🙄😣😑) and start to build up the biggest collection I could whenever possible. M2s, Greenlights, Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Jada, Majorette, ect ect. I filled 26 - 17-gallon storage bins, I had no room in my own home for other interests. I had some prime stuff in those bins. I was so overwhelmed at just how much money I spent on this stuff that I grew to hate the hobby. I don't like scalpers. So... after much careful thought, I sold 85 percent of my collection for half of what I paid for it. I still have some of my collection, but the obsession with collecting diecast vehicles is over. Go to a second hand store where there is diecast car for sale... and you'll see someone's collection being sold at higher prices then what they originally were purchased at. It makes me sick. The hobby has become a den of thieves. I do project customs now and it is more satisfying than collecting. Not to mention, I no longer have to compete with resellers. They can do what they want but in the long run, they are hurting the hobby. For the record, what I sold was in retail value alone in excess of 4 grand. Never again. As for STH, I own 6 and I did not get them from a reseller, nor will I ever sell them... but you're right, they are overrated.
Great story. The major problem in your case not the scalpers, but the pointless of collecting, since Hot Wheels and similar are pumping out their diecasts in huge quantity and rate. Like baseball cards or stamps. There are too many.
@@AK.__ i find it easier to just collect what you like and stay away from recolors. like do you need that mk4 supra eventhough you already have 1 in a different color? nah you dont.
@@therealZypher You right. Like in every collection, its extremely important what you will collect and what you wont touch. Otherwise it will be warehouse and collector will hate it.
@@commonsensehill372 Their growth caused by increased possibilities to earn the money on reselling. Which caused by increase of "need to get specific car" by collectors, which caused by introducing vast variety of limited editions like STH. This is endless loop, but started by Hot Wheels.
During the Holiday Season in the late 90s, I applied for a job at Toys R Us, and mainly worked unloading the trucks, as well as fetching Big Ticket items such as Sandboxes. Anyways, while unloading the truck, the Manager would want to search the truck for the Hot Wheels and at the time the Furbies, to get those off first, then let us deal with the mess of sorting everything else out while unloading. They would crack open each Hot Wheels case, and sort them before putting most of it out on the pegs, obviously keeping out certain ones. I do collect Hot Wheels myself, but only occasionally do I go out to see what's out there, and sometimes go a few years without looking at the Hot Wheels pegs. Mostly I just get the odd ones and sometimes if I like a certain car design. For decades though I have never understood the resale market for Hot Wheels!
If you are listing it online you are helping kids play with them. If they were sold out and no one were to sell it, keeping them in their box for their collection, then nobody can play with them. Resellers make it so that consumers can easily get what they want.
I have hot wheels which are now 5 years old.the are abit old but i still love them and not willing to sell them but rather keep them for long time and to remind of my favourite cars
I'm pretty sure I won't ever sell my hotwheels, in only all of them as one collection. They're on a wall in my home and the only cars I have in duplicates are either ones I have opened and bought seconds to keep in boxes or ones that I have also put up on another wall.
@@Lar.Real.Diecast Your luck there is like mine when I try to find some car I'm REMOTELY interesting to me, like a Honda Accord or Nissan Maxima, or a Toyota Corolla. Even when I find Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR diecasts, my luck is terrible.
That was soo deep, i started collecting from last year, thank god i saw your video, initially I started collecting cars that i liked not which included fantasy cars. But then I don't know why i started buying cars which will have more value in future. Thanks for saving me from the dark side, i will never sell my cars. Love you bro
I think its is important to decide before hand the scope of the collection you want. If you have decided beforehand you can stop when you have everything and you wont buy stuff to resell or speculate since they are not part of the objective.
I do not resell, and I'm disgusted that these people hoard all the "chase" or Supers and resell and an enormous mark up. IE: Vintage Race Club # 6 The 67 Camaro, $35, $55 on that auction site. ridiculous. I hope these people forever step on Legos in the middle of the night.
If the model/car itself matters to you like you where saying in the video why would you collect hot wheels? There are many other brands that produce far more details models in 1:64 scale itself. For me details are what actually matter so i purely stick to 1:18 models. Hot wheels is basically a kids toy and that's what it is. Not sure why all the grown men are running behind it creating all the unnecessary hype. If you love cars, best get models that represent them best at a decent value and not run behind hyped children's toys.
I will never resell. I go once a week. If I find something cool. If not oh well. I buy to customize.
Same bro
Same here. I customize for my own pleasure or to send it in for mail in tournaments.
There's tournaments?!!
Not all Hero's wear capes , Maybe just not smart ones if you statement is the truth .
Same actually
If everyone in the hobby hates scalpers... who is buying from the scalpers?
Sadly there are some for whom money is no object and scalpers are just another supplier, then there are those who don't like scalpers but will buy from them when they can't find what they're looking for, seeing them almost like a necessary evil for when they can't get what they want. Everyone in all hobbies should hate scalpers, but sadly as long as things like FOMO sales tactics exist, they will unfortunately always have a market.
It was a rhetorical question, but I like your answer.
Rich people i suppose, diecast junkies...(My prrrrrrrecious)
FOMO people and "normies" from my experience
happen on every single case (pun intended) of silver line hotwheels in my country except vintage line.
Everyone “hates” scalpers but will look the other way as long as they give them a hookup
Personally I REFUSE to buy from any reseller. I buy these little cars for my enjoyment, and to customize as I see fit.
I have seen other collectors fall into this trap though. Thet go from "Its just a hobby. I only collect what I like." to "I dont care for this casting, but it is worth alot online" and then they go into the resellers game.
It's a real shame that this hobby has went to hell like this in the past years, but Im glad to hear someone calling out the ridiculousness.
Bro but in some countries like India only way to diversify our collection is to buy imports from resellers 😢 we mostly get imports from Malaysia Thailand
Still only collect Nissans Mazdas & Hondas only 😂
Same dude I collect Johnny lighting and I have massive collection of them I usually buy cars that look cool and nice
The real people to blame are people like Ynon Kreiz, Steve Totzke, Roberto Stanichi, and Katharine Buford at Mattel who refuse to improve product availability via platforms like Mattel Creations.
People like Chris Down and Ted Wu get taken advantage of by these types of people in charge.
I usually just buy off mattel creations, but even if I don't like or care for a casting I'll still buy it just to complete the set, but I will never resell
I worked at Target from 2003-2007. There was a gentleman who’d come in and ask to see if there were any unopened boxes of hot wheels in the back. He was a collector, who shared his hobby with his kid. I also was apparently the only one willing to help him that he would actually look for me (toys was never my department) and even request to see me by name.
Anyway, he told me not to bother with opened boxes because that meant that a scalper had already gotten to it. So even back then, he was dealing with this problem. He would request a box, dig to see what he wanted, then offer to put up the rest of the stock for me on the peg hooks.
Yeah, I worked Target fm 2003-08, went to TRU, then back to Target 2018-present. Some of the good ones (the true collectors) would neatly stock the product once they were done with the cases. The scalpers on the other hand.... Fuckin vultures is what they are.
I worked there in 2019 & 2020. There were NEVER any good hot wheels on the pegs. My buddy worked in toys and he said that they hoard everything. I was totally unaware as I only picked up a few cars of interest every now and then. Fully into the hobby now Thanks to Covid and the toy dept mafia is real. I have heard stories about Wal-Mart too and I only find gold at the one that has mostly elderly toy dept staff 👍
@@boot_leg_ramen_noodle I knew a guy who was a collector and a Target manager and let collectors look over the unopened cases first. That's a level of collecting that I can't get into. Those extra hoops and back room shenanigans. Forget it.
@@scockery same here bro, no shade to ANYONE but I can’t be at the store outside waiting for it to open and stalking the toy dept employees. If that’s anyone’s thing, do you.
Man this sounds like my Dad, we would hit all the retail stores around So cal walmart target toys r us etc and he would always do that
I agree, my friend. Buy them because you enjoy them. It’s a silly investment vehicle!
At 51, I've only ever collected. I've never had interest in reselling, not even my duplicates.
(Nearly) every time I had any duplicates of toys I've been collecting (that weren't primed to be an army builder) I usually gifted them away to kids of my friends.
I have been, am and always will be a collector and will never turn to the darkside like so many others. If I buy extras there for myself, trading or for friends and won't buy more than 3, if someone I run into at a store I will always help them out that is what this HOBBY is all about.
Agreed with you.
I only collect McLarens
Everytime I see a McLaren hot wheels in a Walmart I snatch it if I don’t have that model or variant of that model already
Weeell i guess is okay to give to your friends, but pls pls leave for others tq for watching 👍
I only take What I need for myself or if I know somebody's looking for that casting Otherwise I just leave them be I have actually left Chase peices I have no interest in or none of my friends
@@BreadGood_21 It's a cool looking car.
I recently sold my entire Hot Wheel collection, it was close to 9,000 cars, including about 30 super treasure hunts and 200 premiums, over the last 6 years of the hobby I spent more than $10,000. I was in a bad financial situation, and it ended up selling for $6,000, not even close to what I paid, considering the gas and time spent collecting. I don't think there really is any profit for resellers, I live in a major city, and if you go to Marketplace and look at ads for Hot Wheels, they don't sell, they just sit there for months at a time. the real problem is adult collectors like myself that horde all the cars, it's the Desolation of Smaug syndrome, a big bad dragon sitting on its golden treasure.
Smaug thats a nice "ring" to it 😆
there is profit, but for the upcoming content, not for the old trash. old trash only appeases the true collectors who fall in live with old trash. the new shit , the new already considered RARE MODELS even before leaving the factory, are the ones on the hype and selling fast. what suckers dont understand is that to make profit you have to live this reseller´s life 24/7.
@@EugenioHertz They will have seen an antiques' show where an unopened vintage toy from the 70's or earlier is worth a load of money because the box and contents is pristine and then think if they collect new toys that one day it will happen to that. The problem is a load of people will have the same idea, buy new toys, keep them in the box and then in twenty years time think that it will be worth money - it won't because it's not rare. They should just buy for their kids and let them play with it. Their unopened toys will most likely end up in landfill when their home gets cleared out because they've died, or have become a hoarder.
Sounds like you’re mad you sold your cars. Hate the game not the player.
I stopped collecting because of scalpers. I still have my whole collection of 15k plus. From reds to mains. My son will one day get them. I do it for the cars and the memories.
If your kid not into cars / diecast himself, first thing he'll do - it to put inherited collection to attic or basement. The second thing - he will sell them in garage sale, when will be cleaning attic / basement.
Thats great you have all that collection, but also sad that scalpers are ruining the hobby for us 😞
@Lar.Real.Diecast scalpers and resellers are not the same. I hate scalpers too. But I'm a collector who will resell cause ot is part of any hobby. When I'm ready to move out my house, I resell it. When I buy a new car, I will resell my old one. Reselling is a part of life. Scalping isn't. Scalping is mostly about greed, reselling is getting value out of your collection because it does have a market value whether you like it or not. My two cents.
@@joyh_nt_r8538 Fully agree on it.
Why would you leave your son that burden? What makes you think he wants them? He’s gonna grow up hit puberty find a girlfriend and is going to care less about your measly collection. Sell it now while you can put that money towards a college fund, a lot of you collectors act like your collection is going to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future and you’re somehow going to leave your kids with a treasure trove 🤣
I've been collecting for like 7 years, and idgaf about "treasure hunts", and have never sold anything. I just buy what I like. And exhibit it.
This is the way.
I think the surfacing of other brands like Mini GT, Tarmac Works, Pop Race, Inno 64, and many other brands coming from Asia. Collecting Hot Wheels doesn't feel worth it. Why go through all this effort over a diecast that loses on quality compared to mentioned brands and also goes higher in price in terms of resell prices. In my country, there are collectors going to lengths of getting supermarket or store employee or manager contacts to get their supply. It's a disgrace.
Especially since you can pre-order nearly all the cars you want from them and they show up at your door. No wasting gas and time.
@@90heroes Yeah that's the thing also. I have to go through a lot of effort to get Hot Wheels at retail price and most of the time I don't see them at stores and the resell price especially new castings and release are stupidly overpriced.
no need to tell me where ur from, bc I can tell by that last sentence hahahahaha
Menyala kolekdol. 😂😂
I agree with this comment lol. “Hot wheels collector” are literally blinded by the brand and not by the quality/details of the car.
I know of several scalpers, I can't stand them. When I am at the hot wheels section and I find a bunch of cars that I know the scalpers will take them all. I collect most of them put them in my cart and go hide them in the store and every day after work I will grab a few and put them in the front on the pegs. It has turned into a game of cat and mouse for me with these scalpers. When I run into actual collectors I will ask them what they are looking for. If it is one of the cars I have hidden, I will tell them come back tomorrow and look at so and so place and you will find one there. Good times. !!!
and was everyone there clapping too? and this never happened. lol
@@kinggambino3698 Source "Trust me bro!11!!"
His story is more believable than your short-bus version. Get back in the basement, mutt.
I collect since 2009, long before the hype and never became a scalper; I resell some of my old cars when their value become high in order to buy new ones or other toys that are expensive.
I mainly collect since 1991 japanese toys so I started collecting Hotwheels for American Muscle&Pony Cars to add some variety to my whole toy collection so even if I have a JDM collection, it is not my main interest.
I refuse to fear of missing certain models so I buy some online some cars when they are release and are around the same price as in shops or have contact of reseller who are not scalpers for Premium sets.
But it is more than 5 years that I really find back the pleasure of collecting and "hunting" with no stress and only good vibes with Barbie, I only collect a certain "style" and I only buy what I can display (I buy stands in order to give them the posing they deserve to get),
As for the Skyline Pace Car from Gran Turismo, I also refused to buy it only as the prices were minimum 3 times the shop price and I found it 2 or 3 months ago, but I must admit it would have pissed me off to never come across that particular model.
Same with many hobbies like Gunpla, people would buy limited edition and then selling it at a higher price after a few years later
My only beef with gunpla is that some of the new mold was slapped with P-Bandai, especially on the MG kits that I wanted like Gundam MK-V and GM Space Command. I think it’s mostly Bandai’s part of gouging prices on p-bandai kit and then scalpers double or triple it even more.
Yes, but not really.
That mainly happens to the kits that Bandai just straight up refuses to reissue after a long while.
Other than that, the main issue we are facing today is too many kits now locked up behind P-Bandai pay wall.
Great to be in Japan or North America, but everywhere else are pretty much screwed
With scale modeling, it’s slowly becoming an expensive hobby. Kits now costs a lot. It used to be cheap. I’m sad.
@@nimay13 I'd say it depends on how you wish to enjoy the hobby.
If you are just a regular builder (which most people are), while it does get more expensive by a margin compared to the past, the additional expense can be explained by accounting a lot of factors. And it's completely understandable in terms of financial & technological advancements.
However, if you are down for more advanced stuff, especially customizing, then there is no doubt that the expenses just go up rapidly. But it's always an option, not a must.
I don't have a problem with selling older products, the problem is the needlessly 'limited edition' nature of the product - they went to all the trouble and expense of making a special mould and then voluntarily stop using it...why? limited edition anything really piss me off, but especially things that take lots of time and effort to create.
Seriously a sorry state of the Hobby, I personally swear to myself that I'll never resell, I only buy the cars I love and will keep them forever
Yes!
Believe me hot wheels are only scratching the surface. Collectibles just get worse and worse by the year
I used to work in a value retail chain as a manager not long ago, and the guys who came in looking for hot wheels were relentless. Had one guy who asked every employee on the floor if we got hot wheels on our delivery, because he didn’t believe me when I said I stocked them already. He also came around back of the store while our delivery was being unloaded, and asked if we got hot wheels off the delivery truck yet, and stood there to watch for a few minutes before he left after I told him to leave. It’s insane, and that was a couple years ago when the reselling was really bad.
I am a collectors and scalpers have made the hobby into collecting undesirable now. Like yesterday, there were 9 boxes of the Hot Wheels boulevard with the 22' Civic Type R sitting on the pallet at Walmart. This was about 8:20pm I asked a manager if I can get any assistance and he told me that the stockers would be there around 9pm to start putting the cars up. I went out to get something to eat and then to return in hope to catch them stocking it up. I come back around 9:10pm and every single boxes were went through. All the Civics Type R were gone. I asked the stock woman, and she said someone already open them up before she got there. Sad world we live in. I feel like I just hang it up. They be selling them at the flea market for $25 a piece and I refuse to buy them.
That civic is on my wish list too, i would never buy from them. At least i got one civic type r tomica already. Thanks for watching 🥰
I work at a Walmart, we have collectors/resellers/scaplers who will open the boxes themselves to get at the cars if the stockers aren't fast enough. I'm only a causal collector(mostly Matchbox) myself, I always unpack them because space for me is limited.
I'm not a Hot Wheels collector. I'm a Godzilla collector, and my friend is a Gundam collector, and I know people who are Lego collectors. All of us have this issue. Issue where hype and rarity, obsession with market value and FOMO, reseller and scalpers, all this became the main drive for most collectors. Everyone is mad when their beloved item got reissued or no longer as rare The price tag and exclusivity became main value to the collectors, not the personal value. It's honestly tiring and annoying, as it pushed everyone in the hobby sphere to scalp and price everything crazily. I personally don't like to use the term "collector" nowadays due to all this characteristic that I dislike attached to it. I prefer calling myself as a "hobbyist", people who truly enjoy the hobby in and of itself. My main driving factor to collect is what I like. I don't care about the rarity and exclusivity, I hate those labels. Heck, even when I do like exclusives and own them, I wish they were regular release so that more people could enjoy it. I also resell stuff, but more often than not it was at a slight loss. Due to me knowing my buyers are fellow hobbyist and I know they'll enjoy those items more than I am now. So I'm willing to let it go at a bargain. I enjoy my hobby, and I hope more people would enjoy it again. Let's forget the numbers and the investment for once, and re-embrace your inner manchild. Play with the damn thing, enjoy it. Walk away from the community, isolate yourself and develop your own strict taste, that is for you and you only. Not the ones that'll please the people at the community, nor the ones that'll please the market. But one that pleases you and your personal enjoyment. It's a hobby, not a job. It's an child-like escapism, not a calculated investment
Why would a person be mad if your favourite piece is reissued? Surely it's a good thing because more people can enjoy this cool thing? Only reason would be if the value was the most important aspect of the piece...in which case the objective was always to sell, and that means they aren't a collector, they're a trader. Collectors don't sell, except to restructure a collection.
At least with plastic model kits majority of people demand for new kits that will sell out instantly, and the brands go 'nah, lets just make another spitfire instead'
I’m a Godzilla figure collector. The most I’ll buy at one time is two of the same item;
One to remove from the packaging and handle, another to keep in the packaging for the bookshelf. Even then, this is pretty rare for me. Godzilla collectibles aren’t exactly cheap most of the time, and scalpers are a big problem for them too.
I have a Skyline named “Guaczilla”
I went to the Hot Wheels Legends tour a few months ago, since it came to my area. They were having a promotion at the Walmart where if you bought $25 worth of Hot Wheels, and brought the receipt out to one of the booths, they gave you a bag of goodies which included an exclusive casting. While I was in line to buy my Hot Wheels (I just picked ones that I liked, no scalping), I watched as one of the Legends Tour guys came out from the back of the store with some cases of the more premium castings to stock on the shelves. This poor guy nearly got mobbed by these rabid, fully grown adults for these cases. It got to the point where the local police had to surround this guy as he stocked the shelves. As soon as he was done, the first few people just grabbed everything and left nothing for anyone else. It was mind boggling and surreal to watch adults fight over childrens toys. I kid you not, I really thought one of them was gonna get walked away in handcuffs. I was just there to meet up with friends, look at some cool cars, and have a good time. Definitely was not expecting that. You are 100% correct. The collectors (scalpers) scene is unbelievable.
It's getting waaaay out of hand
I am collector. I understand the pain. I had bought a skyline super silhouette for 16$ loose. Car collecting is a pain as certain cars are never there as they only want the price and not the craftsmanship of making the castings.
Its sad really
Been collecting off and on since the mid-90s. 3K cars and never sold a single one. Trades only. I will never be a scalper
I always try to find Porsche hotwheels and I never find them as well as skylines I hate scalpers
I got into Hot Wheels only recently primarily to modify and race them online. I then slowly became attracted to all the details and variety of vehicles. So I’m a collector of sorts and my collection includes both cars I like and modified customized ones that have been raced somewhere. It’s a gas, gas, gas.
That’s the way to do it 👍
What a great way to enjoy the hobby and steer clear of all this resell mayhem!
I've been collecting diecast for decades, only for me. I have never found a STH. It's frustrating but I stopped caring. Scalpers are irritating. Finding Boulevards? Pretty much gave up on that too
I hear you about STH version's. I have one chase and 2 TH vehicle's! Been collecting since 1999.
I found 1 and I opened it, I only collect Batmobile's and they are all opened and on display, my son can touch and look at them when he wants to. They are for me and me alone. Won't pay more than few £ for them.
Last time I got a boulevard was 2021, never seen one ever since because the shelves are always empty. They should just start selling all their premiums online.
@users4007 Might as well & sorry you have as hard of time as me lol I guess try to stay positive & good luck on future hunts my friend
I still find the joy of finding and appreciating this little pieces of artwork. In my years of collecting Hot wheels and endless hunts, I did manage to have some luck with Treasure hunts, chases when I find them. I really don't look at its market value but its value in my eyes
Yes these castings are art on themselves sadly many ppl are only interested on money 😞
Hot tip, if you get there before the scalpers, hide/scatter the cars you don’t want around the store. They will slowly be found and returned to the shelves at random times ensuring everyone gets a chance to buy. 😅
Better yet buy them & put them in the kids toys donation bins.
buy-go home-unpack the wheels-customize them (optional), this will lower your chance to be a scalper
Open them straight after i leave the store. I collect to takw cool pictures
i love pushing collecter people out of the way and pretending i found a bunch of cool cars and see them get pissed its funny
this is 99% true. There is a small exit out of that path. You learn how to customize and create your own version. Too many people are lazy and rather become a reseller just to cover the cost of the cars they want.
As someone who just started collecting again 2 years ago, the diecast community in my city was chill. There wasn't a feeling of competition since there were only a few of us; eventually more and more started collecting to the point where they'd start to hoard and eventually resell. This made collecting a hassle and it took away the joy of hunting.
Because of this I sold all my HW collection and used the money to buy more premium brands such as MINI GT, Kaido House and Inno64 which did not have any competition. I must say life has been easier knowing that I don't have to be the first to line up when the store restocks and just let them compete with themselves.
awesome!!
Used to be $1 a car, then Hot Wheel made a it $6 with same old cast with different packaging. Limited edition for $30. Having a hobby getting so expensive now.
They're still a $1 a car. Calm down dude.
@@samueld5418 My point was Hot Wheel is selling the same $1 car you find 5-8 years ago to $6. You still can buy a pack of 10 or 12 cars for $10, but you might just want 3 cars in there. I just buy when I see some cool ones and don't even know how people know when they release a good car.
@@samueld5418 Not in the world beyond the USA. Cheapest place that sells mainlines costs $1.94 equivalent here, more often $2.30-$3. Premiums cost the equivalent of $11.83 where I am, Team Transports $24.98. Shit's mad. Lots of places are even worse.
@@samueld5418 in europe their at 6€ and 19€ for premium
@@samueld5418 It's no longer a $1 car if you can't find it selling anywhere for less than $15.
I'd tell you to use your brain, but clearly you don't have one that works.
This video is so underrated. I collect mostly Tomica and there is a line of Nissan cars that I want so much (cars inside boxes of the posters of the old Godzilla movies) and resellers are just reselling them at such a high price, I don't even want them anymore.
EXACTLY! Id give you 2 hearts if i could. I could have the skyline i want but I won't feel the same if i have to pay more. I feel regret to buy from resellers
Tomica, in general, is also more expensive than hot wheels. I thought that was odd. I assumed, with the yen being so weak, everything that was by a Japanese company within Japan itself would be much more affordable. I think that was the only example I found of products that weren’t cheap.
Free market. Personally, I find it more exciting this way.
Great video and storytell. New sub. And here’s my small story. I also started as a collector and now am reselling. I don’t like to consider myself a scalper because I believe there is a difference between the 2. Reason being because there were plenty of cars that I used to leave behind and only took for myself. Other friend collectors would tell me what they would be looking for. So I started trading eventually reselling for small margin. That way I help them out but of course to do those favors a lot well gas isn’t cheap so I can’t really be doing it for free. But where I draw the line is abusing of that profit margin. For example I recently found the zamac EG of this year. And yes I left 3. Went yesterday to the local Diecast reunion and someone was selling them for 10 each. Curiously enough they were three, the same exact number I left behind. I was reselling them for 5. Although starting price was 3. I stick to prices I’d pay myself or depending how much I like the cars. But yea I’d say there is a thin line between a reseller and a scalper
Thin line indeed, thats okay to give to friends, but pls pls pls leave for others
Yup. I leave extras behind because if someone else is to be looking out for the same piece. At least there’s more chance for someone else in my area.
I don't ever want to start reselling. I've bought a few from resellers and now they are in my collection.
It does make me sad to see greedy individuals who ruin the hobby for the rest of us. I’ve got 2 supers to my name, 1 M2 coke chase, and 4-5 errors. I run on a rule to take only what I need (maximum of 2 for ‘high value’ castings). The only way I’d sell anything from my collection is if I was strapped for cash.
i got 1 super and really i lost the hype over looking for one after my first. i learned to just buy wheels from Temu and make my own STH. but yeah people who horde all the cars to resell gets on my nerves. been looking for the current Bumblebee car and the Duck super rig for months and nothing.
Yes is infuriating
I’ve been collecting Hot Wheels since I was around 8 years old, and my very first car was the Brick Cutter - and it still there on my shelf. I still remember sitting in front of the store shelf, carefully picking out the funkiest car I could find. Now, in my 30s, I’m still collecting and every single car I own is loose. I play with them, race them, and enjoy them for what they are.
If you ask a scalper what their first car was and they say something like a JDM or Skyline, you know they’re just in it for profit. For me, it’s never been about that. I don’t keep my cars on their cards because I’ve never cared about their "value"-I’m not in this to sell. I refuse to buy at any resellers or resell anything from my collection. Somehow I think I traded once with fellow collectors without adding any money because luckily he has what I want and I have what he wants, it's just a taxi car.
Yes, I’ve been lucky enough to find some Skylines on shelves before the storm of scalpers hit, but I only grab one for myself and leave the rest for other collectors. I don’t chase after colour variants, bullshit STHs, or error cards either-I just want one for my collection.
This is what collecting is about for me, pure enjoyment, no hoarding, no flipping. Proud to say I’m a true collector!
Yeah I feel you there. Here Skyline got scalped to DEATH. I have to go to another brand to get my R34 (MiniGT). I did obtain the R34 pace car but it was selling as a 5 cars Pop culture set. Fortunately I also like the GT R35 and the MTV van so I did bit the bullet. But for others its a struggle really. Hope those scalpers got what they deserve with price fell out to the window. Hot wheels also began playing with the number of cars in a box, especially in silver labels. For example in FF Dom set, there are 3 RX-7s instead of 2. And in the speed graphic set, Civic EK9 will be 3 cars. Hope this strat works for long terms.
Yes its a bloodbath
but the skyline R33 is only one per case while de tomaso has three units per case in F&F
hotwheels is weird
I went full circle, from collector to reseller back to collector. These days it's way more effort than it's worth to resell
@@spiders_8792 exactly! If anyone wants to scalp, sell concert tickets. Its a way bigger and faster turn around than toy cars. I get that they make 7 bucks here and there, but its just not worth the time and overhead to keep at it.
I recently started collecting hot wheels and matchbox as I was never able to have them growing up. I feel embarrassed looking in stores because you can see the boxes/pegs are a mess. Variant boxes are open. Adults are doing this. I just want some nice cars.
I bought and sold nerf for a few months. It's gross. I would buy collections, keep what I wanted, and sell the rest at sometimes a quarter of what others do. I just wanted them going to the right people. Most of them probably went to resellers. I did have a couple that sold for high price, but they were true collector's pieces.
I open all of mine. Make Dioramas. I am terrible at reselling so I don’t do it. The most i did was trade a Ronin Run car crate for a Mountain Drifters car crate. That’s it.
Me and you are the same friend. I've probably spent $6000 on very expensive hot wheel cars. I bought a few on eBay, but I don't mind. I had the money and I decided to build a nice collection within 2 years and spent $6000. It's an addiction, but I don't sell mine. I open up every single car. And set up dioramas, just like you, it's fun. Mcdonald's starbucks, seven eleven shell gas stations, everything and I don't buy duplicates I buy one car of each
its addiction yes
It's so frustrating knowing that the shelves will be picked clean of any interesting models, before i even get to see them on pegs. Also Treasure hunts etc are nice but buying them from resellers defeats the purpose of a treasure HUNT 🙄
That also defeats the purpose of collecting pleasure and admiring aesthetics from the castings themselves. If you want the "good ones" (th and sth, looks to me like this is what ppl want, due to the hype from other ytbers) you will need to go to many stores during restock and fight with other scalpers..hence after sometime on doing this you will end up being scalper yourself. It's a cycle where I just realized that i was starting to become part of the problem
I used to be a collector. I had over 4,000 pieces between HotWheels, Matchbox, and the more high-end brands. One Saturday, I saw two guys yelling at each other in a Walmart because one of them had opened a box and pulled out a super treasure. Within a week I'd donated almost all of the pieces I had. Now I collect (read) books and physical media. It's less stressful.
You are wise my friend
I'm a Ghostbusters collector
Last year a local store got in a shipment of action figures , a scalper went in and bought every one in stock (including the unopened cases still in the back) then he bragged about wiping out the stock at another store .🤬
Some action figure sites "How are scalpers still a thing? Stores don't stock anymore enough to matter." The idea now is that collectors order everything online and don't bother with physical retail, yet, the scalpers operate online, too. It's not just collectors getting the sell-out-in-10-minutes online exclusives.
And the rats won't leave the ship until its sinking, so scalpers will be around until no adults collect anymore.
And toy companies largely don't care. Mattel can have items that sell out in 15 minutes or less and will NEVER OFFER THEM AGAIN. (Or offer a paltry amount at some random time of day unannounced.)
@@scockery
Its frustrating
Because a lot of scalper/resellers have software that can place multiple orders in a matter of seconds .
I just got this video recomended recently since I started recently to collect some random hotwheels and I completely understand you... I bought a few cars that were increasing in prices since it was a ferrari (license expired 10+ years ago and valuable) but coming from Portugal its as bad as USA in terms of scalping or even worse since STHs are harder to get here. I actually want a STH of a car I genuinely like but its impossible. Btw I work at a hypermarket so from time to time to bug me if im gonna restock hotwheels or not which is even more annoying since we don't receive even a tenth of what usa receives to stock even in christmas time... its so sad tbf. my luck is 2nd hand online shop for europe (vinted) which some people are nice enough to sell stuff they dont use at good price. i want to sell mines beacuse i dont have any more space and im gonna make sure they are low price just out of morality tbf. shame that anything some adults touch go from entertainment to business
Hobbies are now monetized 😞
Honestly speaking in my country malaysia you'll probally never gonna find any premium or sometimes mainline (mostly jdm and euro cars doesnt exist) in a regular store. You can find premium but only store like toyRus sell them (not sure if there is any other store tho that sell premium), but they dont have that much in stock. If you want more you gotta go to the resellers store but expect some crazy prices. My advice for the new collectors JUST COLLECT WHAT YOU LIKE. Dont follow any trend and do not care about the future value of the car. If you want to kraken it (crack it open) just do it and learn to customize it the way you want it. Its way more fun.
Nasib baik tak collect jdm😅
For me.. I stop collecting HW sebab Proton Saga.. :P
I only collect from the wild. The feeling of stumbling on the ones I really like is unbeatable.
Also the reason I LOVE buying (anything) in the real world. No online shopping unless I really have to, i.e not available in my country.
Diecast collecting becomes like TCG now (MTG, Pokemon, etc). And I hate it.
It’s so annoying how people just buy for value now I miss when I could just go to the shops and find a random skyline and buy it cuz I love the thing and along with that I’m scared to open any Hotwheels that I don’t have a duplicate of anymore because I feel like I’m losing too much I feel but I still appreciate them and love them but I’m just scared
I was lucky enough to find the pop culture gran Turismo GTR Nismo concept in the wild and 2 R30 skylines but I was so over the moon but I never opened them this video has made me remember who I am and now I have decided I will too leave some for everyone else but if I find another one of the same car that I like in another day I will buy it
A big chunk of the culture thats missing is trading. Your supposed to gather and trade others for your favorites. But adults are looked at as weird if you want to partake in toy trading, especially with kids, and there is the stigma of "your an adult, why not just buy the ones you want?" This creates no "fan favorite" castings and leave only those arbitrary castings valued only because of their rarity.
Here in Mexico it is so hard to collect Hot Wheels these days
Resellers everywhere.
Must be brutal
I was a casual collector of HW diecasts. My focus was on Batmobiles and DeLoreans. It became crazy as I too started to adopt the resellers/scalpers mindset. I quit because I could accumulate anymore. I had to learn to appreciate what I already had.
i have been collecting for nearly 20 years. that scalper in the store in coping hard when he says everyone eventually becomes a reseller. which is why i quit hotwheels and moved on towards more premium brands where the scalper ratio is less.
I recently started collecting Johnny Lightning for this reason. If there is a cool base set hotwheel or premium I’ll buy it at the store if I see it.
Otherwise right now Johnny Lightning and Autoworld are more appealing. Especially with the cool limited production numbers. Only problem is it’s hard to find them.
@@ICECAPPEDSKY try greenlight too
Welp, i miss the days where i can still leave dozens of reality casting cars on shelves and only pick what i want.
Nowadays, especially here in the Philippines, resellers gatekeep the reality castings so i had to wait in front of the malls for minutes before it opens.
3:19 Nope, not for me. I'VE BEEN TEN YEARS AS A COLLECTOR AND I'VE NEVER RESOLD!
GREAT!
me as a hardcore Mazda diecast collector (and i even use them as a reference for my artwork), i agree
There is a group that calls themselves the Diecast mafia. If you want it, they have it. They have truckers and Mattel reps in their pockets. It's weird but it's a hustle worth quite a lot of money.
To combat that, my friends and I buy up popular models and then return them whenever we see the price has finally dropped back down. You come to my city and there is a real chance of running into last year's cool cars because we do that all the time. It's fun to hear guys brag about finding something they had really wanted and being amazed it was there a full year or so after it should be. We do also pick up multiple to trade amongst ourselves.
I hate scalpers with my soul. They ruin so many hobbies. I am not a Hot Wheels collector, but a Transformers one, and there are some figures that are IMPOSSIBLE to find thanks to scalpers and they are not even special limited editions or something. I have a few Hot Wheels cause I found em cool like the Braille Twin Mill. Neat variant of the Twin Mill. I want to get a Deora 2 and a Deora 2 with the Teku livery but the new mainline one is impossible to find, thanks to scalpers.
If yall knew the production numbers, yall would realize how priceless all this junk really is.
priceless or worthless
I never listen to those who tell the hard truth, I just wanted to buy my favorite die cast cars. Do you think that matters for me if I never get the car I wanted or resell for profit?
My sole purpose on collecting those cars from stores is to have it in my collection, and when the time comes I might to give it away, money no object. I wonder why they stuck on the two options where you can get the third one? 🤔
I don’t collect them anymore because scalpers ruined the experience one too many times for me, I just could never find what I wanted. I do still look whenever I’m at the shops though,if I see anything good I put a small rip in the box/cardboard so hopefully they leave it for a kid to buy and play with instead of getting to rip people off.
So another words, you damaged store property because you don’t want to buy it ? that makes no sense You’re a complete fool. 🤡
The only ones who become scalpers, are the ones who only care about money. I've been doing this for 15 years or so. I collect the ones I like, and don't even buy the ones I don't. So no, not everyone becomes a scalper
especially THE BOULEVARD LINE HOLY FK
I've only sold diecast one time and that is because my collection had grown to large and I needed to get a focus instead of buy bulk. So, I went through all of my stuff and pulled out what I wasn't crazy about and sold as a lot locally for a really cheap price. Then my scrap cars were placed in a large bag to take to the nail shop where my wife works so she can let her customers kids play with them and keep some if they want to. I have only one treasure hunt car and I wasn't looking for it. It was just right there in front of me. I only have one RLC car and I bought it at a show because I'm a huge fan of the car. No scalping. Collect what you want and don't be stupid with your money.
Well you have to understand my friend. I don't collect hot wheels but I do collect Yu-Gi-Oh cards. And I can tell you that collecting is a hobby that across the board functions pretty much the same. Some people are knowledgeable and try to make money off it. Others just want a collection. Some people just lose interest in there collection and sell theres to invest in something else. At the end of the day the hunt for the rare item is what collecting is all about. But to say people don't appreciate the models is silly. Obviously if people felt that way, they wouldn't spend ridiculous amounts of money to complete there collections.
Correct
How do people find out when a restock (of any product) is happening?
i dont really care for supers and ths. i collect what i want to, but if i find a super i will take it.
Great that's the spirit....but realistically speaking STH are impossible to find
@@Lar.Real.Diecast yeah i have found 1 in my 1 1/3 years of hunting
@@Lar.Real.Diecast it was a car i really liked though, so i picked it up. i really love mercedes from the 80s so i was really happy to find a ‘89 mercedes benz 560 sec amg. it hangs proudly on my wall
That scalper was projecting his rationalization so hard onto you and everyone.
It’s like, brother, your poor life choices are no kind of blueprint for me. Even if they were, that still doesn’t justify them.
Psychology 101 😁
Sadly this stretchs further then die cast further then collectables this goes all the way to one time purchases like video games and machine spare parts
It really pains me too when some "collectors" would even have the audacity to ask out store merchandisers to reserve some hot wheels for them, say "they'd buy it later" and then leave the store afterwards. Once I came in, saw the reserved hot wheels, tried getting one from the pile, only to get warned by the merchadiser saying "a collector reserved it, and they'd be scolded out if they'd give the reserves to me. Like wtf? the "collector" you're talking about ain't even in the store anymore in the first place lol.
its killing the hobby 😢
I have an extra gran turismo gtr I’ll let you have for free. My biggest problem with the hobby is mostly everyone is very greedy and wants to make the most money/trade value
I don't really count myself as a Hotwheels collector as I just buy and look for very specific cars that I like, but as a Skyline fan myself I absolutely find it absured that a kids toy that should only be worth a few bucks has skyrocketed.
In relation to that, I have a friend who was a race car mechanic looking for a Toyota AE86 Trueno. He told me that when he was in highschool, he could've found one cheap. But, no thanks to popularity from Initial D (his favorite anime) that car is now absurdly priced. He told me he found one for sale in relatively good condition priced at $57000 USD.
Yeah, I think it's frustrating being a car enthusiast or even collector in general. I have some really rare Anime figures that go for the $1000 now, that I'd never ever fathom selling.
I always wanted to find a HotWheels Delorean from Back to the Future,and I only found it at a small little shop in a small town because of my father,two exemplars,but at the big stores,nothing,and I think it's rarer to find because I'm in Brasil and because of that situation
Glad you found it!
my ex friend had a subaru impreza 22b hot wheel that he bought for 2$, he was flexing it on me like they're so rare and that woudn't get one so i get caught in jealeosy. i started looking for these online and was shocked that they cost 10$. i was so angry, like why didn't i buy earlier, why didn't i care about it when it was available? i was so raged out that i bought a white copy from different collection for 9$, but it had no such detailing neither the original blue metallic paint. i am still full of hatred to that car. and i still think i'm already too late to start, because there's more and more modern DISGUSTINGLY UGLY cars which i despice. I want car models from 80s-2000s which my ex friend has, but when i try to find them online they cost insane money. I am so frustrated and filled with hatred. I always wanted these hot wheels since childhood, but i didn't get a lot because of family's poverty, meanwhile that bastard lived with rich family and could buy one car a day. World is unfair but i can't cope with it, it's eating me from the inside
damn bro, you're talking as if you're buying real cars...
Collecting Diecasts is like a business now rather than a hobby. Here the JDM cars are scalped to DEATH. Especially the r34. And I can’t really stand scalpers unfortunately. It makes me sometimes to quit this hobby and do something better. Hell I never properly ever found a chase or a STH in the wild, mainly because nowadays collecting in the wild is a waste of time here
this is because you only look for the dirtiest brand called HOTWHEELS. those who made cheap crappy cars filled with hype and overpriced tags. you could have better and even cheaper than hotbulshiet, but you dont want it.
what wild? all the stores are closed anyway, used to be 10 stores i could go to look for games,they all out of business now, might as well shop online, looking for used shit on ebay can be fun, you gotta check every day to get good stuff
Somehow a week in i found 2 chase cards the 2 black jeep thingies
I wish they would stop making supers for a while. I can't find the mainlines I collect because of hoarding. Maybe stop long enough for for people to loose interest that don't collect
Lego is going the same way. People buy several copies claiming to be collector's that love lego. But in reality they are scalpers and are only in it for financial gain. I call it greedy and selfish.
Not just these facts, but also the fact that newer stuff just doesn't feel as good as it used too. That's why I collect primarily older hot wheels and diecast, back in the days when they cared about the product they delivered and the product felt special. Nothing today feels like that anymore and its a shame.
You mean when the only plastic in die cast cars was the windows and seats
i just got the exact nissan pace car a week ago, and yes i had to pay a ridiculous amount for it😅
Id say not to do that, but hell, everyone has the freedom to do what they want. By doing that we help Scalpers 😞 thanks for watching
@@Lar.Real.Diecast the mf'er had several with him just a few hours with him after restocking at the store I had no other choice, atleast I got for a relatively lower price than other scalpers I know of, besides I sell some cars too, but at the retail price, no markups I understand how annoying it is to overpay for a car, so ig I'm doing smth nice
If you buy a certain line of toys but you never open & play with any of them, you'll become a reseller eventually, because you weren't buying those things for yourself. It's like people who buy sneakers but never wear them.
wrong lmao, but maybe for some
I have nearly 11,000 cars if a car makes it into my collection it stays there. I get annoyed by ebay sellers. I buy 1 of each models that I like.
Gave away my old collection when i hit high school. After rewatching a childhood movie series called Acceleracers, ive started collecting fantasy cars from the 2000s.
I never knew about this dark side of Hotwheels collecting, guess ill be careful from now
I don't think this is such a problem here in germany.
hotweels and matchbox don't go so well and you find them piled up in stores..
I'm looking for a Ford Escord RS [number], if it even exists...
I don't really collect, but saw a cool honda civic a month ago and now I bought a ford GT40 and a Fiat 500, because I drove them in video games 😛
I bought a Mercedes SL whatever for my brother in law and he was so happy about it, that it made me happy, too... didn't even know he liked that car. it was just a joke gift hehe
3:21 🤣 he didn't know what to say when he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Idk how I'm gonna resell these toys when I rip em off the package 🤣
Dont sell then 👍
Open everything, greatly takes away the urges to flip things, people don’t like paying nearly as much for uncarded stuff so takes the intrusive thought out of the equation
scalpers definitely bum me out, theres a collectable show out where i live that's only open on the weekends for comic books, anime figures, tcg & hotwheels, i can only get what i want there or online but its like $5 a car, i hardly ever see these things at the store now
$5 for mainline...now way
honestly hot wheels should be used for having fun with race tracks instead of collecting
In my country hws are very much still for kids so i like collecting the specific packs like for example i got all 5 of the 2024 roadsters collection and just seeing them displayed in my room,brings me joy in high school,i dont like drinking or smoking so i dont have any actual friends.I liked watching this video and it is thought provoking but doesn't discourage me from enjoying the hobby my way 👍
I had started collecting die cast cars in 1996, then I quit in 2005. The main reason, scalpers made it virtually impossible for me to complete sets. I hated the hobby and didn't buy any for years. Then in 2016, I started back up again (mid life crisis 🙄😣😑) and start to build up the biggest collection I could whenever possible. M2s, Greenlights, Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Jada, Majorette, ect ect.
I filled 26 - 17-gallon storage bins, I had no room in my own home for other interests. I had some prime stuff in those bins.
I was so overwhelmed at just how much money I spent on this stuff that I grew to hate the hobby. I don't like scalpers.
So... after much careful thought, I sold 85 percent of my collection for half of what I paid for it. I still have some of my collection, but the obsession with collecting diecast vehicles is over.
Go to a second hand store where there is diecast car for sale... and you'll see someone's collection being sold at higher prices then what they originally were purchased at. It makes me sick.
The hobby has become a den of thieves.
I do project customs now and it is more satisfying than collecting. Not to mention, I no longer have to compete with resellers. They can do what they want but in the long run, they are hurting the hobby. For the record, what I sold was in retail value alone in excess of 4 grand.
Never again.
As for STH, I own 6 and I did not get them from a reseller, nor will I ever sell them... but you're right, they are overrated.
Great story. The major problem in your case not the scalpers, but the pointless of collecting, since Hot Wheels and similar are pumping out their diecasts in huge quantity and rate. Like baseball cards or stamps. There are too many.
@@AK.__ i find it easier to just collect what you like and stay away from recolors. like
do you need that mk4 supra eventhough you already have 1 in a different color? nah you dont.
@@therealZypher You right. Like in every collection, its extremely important what you will collect and what you wont touch. Otherwise it will be warehouse and collector will hate it.
@@AK.__ Agreed. But scalpers are still a major issue too, and even to this day, they are growing like an infestation of cockroaches.
@@commonsensehill372 Their growth caused by increased possibilities to earn the money on reselling. Which caused by increase of "need to get specific car" by collectors, which caused by introducing vast variety of limited editions like STH. This is endless loop, but started by Hot Wheels.
I'll resell my hotwheels if money comes tight one day.
Duh
During the Holiday Season in the late 90s, I applied for a job at Toys R Us, and mainly worked unloading the trucks, as well as fetching Big Ticket items such as Sandboxes. Anyways, while unloading the truck, the Manager would want to search the truck for the Hot Wheels and at the time the Furbies, to get those off first, then let us deal with the mess of sorting everything else out while unloading. They would crack open each Hot Wheels case, and sort them before putting most of it out on the pegs, obviously keeping out certain ones.
I do collect Hot Wheels myself, but only occasionally do I go out to see what's out there, and sometimes go a few years without looking at the Hot Wheels pegs. Mostly I just get the odd ones and sometimes if I like a certain car design. For decades though I have never understood the resale market for Hot Wheels!
Imagine being a grown man and scalping toy cars so kids can't play with them and nobody else can either. They must live such sad and lonely lives.
If you are listing it online you are helping kids play with them. If they were sold out and no one were to sell it, keeping them in their box for their collection, then nobody can play with them. Resellers make it so that consumers can easily get what they want.
@@gyroninjamodderwhat are you smoking lmao, all they do is take them off the shelves so nobody else can have them
I have hot wheels which are now 5 years old.the are abit old but i still love them and not willing to sell them but rather keep them for long time and to remind of my favourite cars
I am a 14 year old collector and I’ve been collecting since age 5
I'm pretty sure I won't ever sell my hotwheels, in only all of them as one collection. They're on a wall in my home and the only cars I have in duplicates are either ones I have opened and bought seconds to keep in boxes or ones that I have also put up on another wall.
This is why I don't collect things. I'd rather collect cash
Dont we all
@@Lar.Real.Diecast have you found any luck at Meijer? I've never seen a scalper there.
No luck there either 😞
@@Lar.Real.Diecast Your luck there is like mine when I try to find some car I'm REMOTELY interesting to me, like a Honda Accord or Nissan Maxima, or a Toyota Corolla. Even when I find Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR diecasts, my luck is terrible.
That was soo deep, i started collecting from last year, thank god i saw your video, initially I started collecting cars that i liked not which included fantasy cars. But then I don't know why i started buying cars which will have more value in future. Thanks for saving me from the dark side, i will never sell my cars. Love you bro
I think its is important to decide before hand the scope of the collection you want.
If you have decided beforehand you can stop when you have everything and you wont buy stuff to resell or speculate since they are not part of the objective.
I do not resell, and I'm disgusted that these people hoard all the "chase" or Supers and resell and an enormous mark up. IE: Vintage Race Club # 6 The 67 Camaro, $35, $55 on that auction site. ridiculous. I hope these people forever step on Legos in the middle of the night.
If the model/car itself matters to you like you where saying in the video why would you collect hot wheels? There are many other brands that produce far more details models in 1:64 scale itself. For me details are what actually matter so i purely stick to 1:18 models. Hot wheels is basically a kids toy and that's what it is. Not sure why all the grown men are running behind it creating all the unnecessary hype. If you love cars, best get models that represent them best at a decent value and not run behind hyped children's toys.