2013 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Season Was Pretty Good, Started with a '72 Ford

In the past few weeks, we've looked at dozens and dozens of Super Treasure Hunt collectibles. So far, we've covered the items launched between 2014 to 2022, so there are only a few more years to review until we get to the debut of the STH series. There's a good chance that the farther back in time you'll go, the harder it will be to find a mint-condition collectible for a reasonable price.

Improper storage can damage the blister card if the item even has one anymore. Most of the time, you'll come across diecast cars that have been used and abused, but you can always try to restore them to their original shine. For today's story, we will be reviewing the 2013 collection of Super Treasure Hunt items which included a total of 15 cars.

At first glance, you'll notice that Chevrolet and Ford dominated that year with five items each. No European vehicles made it to the list back then, and only two Japanese ones were given that distinction. Also, most of you will be happy to see that Mattel used just one fantasy car for this series in 2013, and it wasn't half bad, to begin with.

’72 Ford Gran Torino Sport

Mattel introduced the '72 Ford Grand Torino Sport back in 2011 after Brendon Vetuskey had finished designing it for production. After several basic iterations, the casting reached Super Treasure Hunt status in 2013 as part of the HW Showroom: HW Performance series.

The Spectraflame Blue body also featured a K&N livery and black 5-spoke Mag-type Real Riders wheels. While this was the first special appearance of the casting, you'll find two other interesting variations, including the 2016 HWC Exclusive in Spectraflame Dark Olive Green and the 2020 Fast & Furious: Motor City Muscle in Metaflake Green.

There are just over 30 different versions of the '72 Ford Gran Torino Sport around, and you might have seen the newest one in stores just recently. Speaking of the Super Treasure Hunt model, it should set you back between $30 to $240, depending on how lucky you are.

’09 Corvette ZR1

The '09 Corvette ZR1 brings back memories of autoevolution's Corvette Month, which happened in November 2022. Some of you might remember our review of all Hot Wheels Corvette castings, while others might instantly reminisce about Jim Mero's Nordschleife lap record instead.

This year Chevrolet is celebrating 70 years since the debut of the Corvette nameplate, and we're bound to see at least a few new variations and castings of the American icon. Until then, most people will agree that the '09 ZR1 is one of the coolest cars ever made, in both the 1/1 and 1/64 scale. The Hot Wheels version made its debut in 2008, and Mattel released four different versions of it that year alone.

Going for a complete collection won't be that difficult, as you'll only need to track down 20 variations to get to that point. As the last one showed up in 2019, we are willing to bet on the fact that we'll be getting a new one in 2023. Before that happens, you need to keep in mind that the Spectraflame Red STH ZR1 will cost you between $40 to $90, which is quite decent, given how good it looks.

’73 Ford Falcon XB

It was just recently that we saw the newest iteration of the '73 Ford Falcon XB. Mattel included it in Mix 2 of the Ultra Hots series after keeping it off the market in 2022.

In 2011 you could get three different Premium versions of this Rob Matthes-designed casting, which signaled the increasing popularity of the model among collectors. The following year it achieved Super Treasure Hunt status as part of the Muscle Mania: Ford series. And most collectors were probably surprised to see another STH variation in 2013 as well.

This time it was featured in the HW Showroom: HW Garage series and featured a Spectraflame Gold paint job. Pricing for this particular model ranges between $30 to $77, even though it was slightly more popular that year than the '09 Corvette ZR1.

’71 El Camino

The '71 El Camino Super Treasure Hunt was a rather boring appearance, mainly due to the choice of colors. Spectraflame Bronze might work well with gold wheels on a real car, but it just feels too conservative for Hot Wheels.

The color combo and decals can make or break a model car, and we've seen this kind of situation several times before. It's no wonder that the popular vote didn't provide a favorable outcome for the '71 El Camino.

It ranked P14 out of 15 cars that year. We've seen these going for anywhere between $35 to $70 on eBay, so at least there's that. Some of you will remember seeing this casting in the Hot Wheels Ultra Hots Mix we showcased recently, and you'll need to find all 23 variations if you want to own the entire collection.

’10 Ford Shelby GT500 Supersnake

Normally, any automotive enthusiast would jump at the idea of owning or at least driving a Shelby GT500. But people have had mixed feelings about the design of the S-197 Mustang from the get-go, and that reputation was bound to affect the popularity of its diecast version as well.

The '10 Ford Shelby GT500 Supersnake casting made its debut back in 2011 and there are 18 different variations of it out there. The 2013 Super Treasure Hunt model still represents its moment of glory, as there haven't been any other memorable appearances since. In retrospect, this is one of those moments in Hot Wheels history when the standard car almost looks better than the special iteration.

Still, most Mustang enthusiasts won't mind collecting both, so we checked for pricing via eBay once again. The cheapest Hot Wheels Supersnake will set you back around $40, while the most expensive one might sell for as much as $75.

’64 Buick Riviera

When the '64 Buick Riviera showed up, it was almost as popular as the previous three Super Treasure Hunt items combined. This Eric Tscherne-designed casting has also been around for longer than the aforementioned cars, as it was first launched in 2002.

You can find 37 different variations of this model on the market, and two of them are part of the STH collection. The first one appeared in 2008 and featured a Spectraflame Magenta paint job with Real Riders 5-spoke wheels. For 2013, Mattel switched to Spectraflame Purple and 10-spoke wheels, which arguably made it a bit more exciting than the previous release.

If you only started collecting Hot Wheels a short while ago, chances are you hadn't seen this casting before, as its most recent variation appeared in 2019. As for the 2013 STH, it's unusually cheap to get, with prices ranging between $20 to $40.

Bone Shaker

The only non-licensed Super Treasure Hunt released by Mattel in 2013 was the Bone Shaker. This casting has garnered a cult following over the years, as it has been around since 2006. We've never seen a complete Bone Shaker collection, seeing that there are so many variations of it on the market.

Getting to that level won't come cheap, though, as there are several special iterations to buy, such as the 2006 Annual Collectors Nationals model or the 2007 RLC sELECTIONs one, to name just a few. In 2009 it achieved Trea$ure Hunt$ status (that was the previous name used by Mattel for the STH collection). The 2013 Super Treasure Hunt featured a Spectraflame Pink paint job and 5-Spoke Mag-Style Real Riders wheels.

While younger collectors weren't as enthusiastic about this special item, it still managed to climb to the top of the popularity rankings, which is rather strange considering it was the only fantasy STH on the market that year. Given the context, some eBay users have ventured as far as to list these for over $100. Still, rest assured, $35 will do the trick just as well. With that being said, we'll be back with part two of our 2013 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt review quite soon. There are still eight more cars to look at, and then we'll be able to sum things up and draw a conclusion on the topic.