u/Enigma_Custom

Here's my HK T-Bird. It's one of my favourite from the sweet 16, looks especially good in creamy pink. I hope you like it.

I bought my display case in December, I've finally filled it with 60 unique castings (yes, there's 2 volkswagens. One's an NSR). I've been trying really hard to get a wide range of colours and next goal is an all spectraflame 60 and to try and collect the complete 1970 set. I've included how it looks today and how it looked when I first filled it in December. What's your favourite?

Also included as a bonus is my latest purchase, a late night ebay special. I love the stickers on the Beach Bomb.

Beautiful imperial stout by Cypher Brewing in Australia. This was brewed for Carwyn Cellars "The Black Box". Sweetness and hazelnuts up front and finishes with a gentle, lingering bitterness. Has a silky, thick mouth feel like every good imperial stout should. I'm better at drinking beer than describing beer. For the regular man, it's delicious.

I'm glad the aftermarket redlines exist but nothing beats a real redline, even play worn examples like these. I think it adds to the appeal of this 1969 Charger.

Damn phone camera, it's a lot more green in real life. This is my Custom Corvette, in dripping wet aqua. Hope you like it.

Here's my gold Deora. It's super chromey with little deep dish wheels. One of the best out of my collection.

Here's my pair of US olive Firebirds. I think the dark olive is pretty rare for US castings and the light olive completes the pair. Someone more informed might be able to tell me, are the wheels wrong on the light one or did they get larger on the later releases? Hope you like them.

I don't mean the time you bought off an old lady who had no idea the value of what they were selling. I'm thinking a great trade, find in some random secondhand store, or that one you finally discovered after years of searching. Mine is this Bye-Focal. This was the second redline I ever bought. I used to peruse an online pawn shop for hot wheels when some redlines came up. I didn't know what a Bye-Focal was at the time but as a drag car fan, I knew I liked it. It was a lot more than I was paying for Hot Wheels at the time but I bought it anyway. I paid 90 Australian dollars for it last year, about $55 USD at the time. I'd still like to add a few more colours to the collection, probably not finding them that cheap with such a nice zamac base again. And as a bonus, it's got an extra Bye-Focal sticker on the roof. Still my favourite find. What's yours?

I took this photo a few months ago which I think turned out pretty well. It's a beautiful little tow truck and one of my scrappy Camaro's.

This is my light purple Hong Kong Hot Heap. I'm not sure if this shade is the result of a light spray or if this is HK typical. I do like the colour, it's quite unique. I've included a picture with a purple HK Barracuda as a comparison and some with a US Hot Heap as as well. Has anyone got a different shade purple Hot Heap?

Been collecting Hot Wheels for 23 years. These are a few of the GTR's from my collection.

I don't think kids realised how good they had it. My one has a Red HK Bandit and a Lime or Antifreeze US Cougar. I'm doubtful that they're the original cars. Still, a cool piece of Hot Wheels history and in surprisingly good condition for something a child played with nearly 60 years ago. The child would be approaching retirement age!

I was just about to ask this same question and this popped up on Ebay for $45 usd (plus tax and shipping to Australia, lucky me). So I bought it. What books or guides do you recommend for the redline enthusiast. I'm not worried about price guides as I don't sell, really looking for something that helps with identifying the history, different casting variations and colour rarities. Thanks for your help.

It's not the best example but it's a genuine no sunroof (NSR). The NSR bugs were the first ones produced at the Hong Kong factory and were only released in the European market. That's where I bought mine from. Also included is my red HK and Olive US beetle as comparison. I'll find a US donor bug one day to put an engine in the olive one.

This is my current displayed Sweet 16. I've been trying to collect a rainbow that I'm happy with. The last photo is a few of the other colours I have but I didn't really want to remove my olive MKIV for an enamel white one and I really like my antifreeze Eldorado. I do like the antifreeze python and the dark olive Firebird. They'll make it on the wall one day. I just need to keep hunting.

Got a nice shiny redline but the axles are all bent? The redline tune up tool is a necessity for any collector of redlines. I bought mine from Brightvision.

First, select your candidate with bent axles. I've selected my copper Classic 57 Bird

Next use the wide end of the tool to pry the wheel off the bearing. It helps to also add pressure to the opposite side with your finger.

Next place the narrow end with behind the bearing and place the little cut around the axle and gently manipulate the bearing square and parallel with the body.

Keep the tool where it is and push the wheel back on. Keeping the tool there will help the wheel go all the way on the bearing.

Enjoy you handiwork!

I confess, I overpaid for this one (I may have had a few beers). But, I still love the feeling of opening new cars. Here's a sample of today's delivery. That Camaro colour is something else.

This is the time I've ever joined something on the internet. I've been collecting hot wheels on and off (lot of time off) for about 25 years. Always wanted to have a Sweet 16 collection. Finally had a bit of spare money and assembled a scrappy but decent collection. By then, I nearly had a second set. And I wasn't too far off the 1969 set! I bought that first Beatnik Bandit in September. I'm sure I'll find someone here who gets it.