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2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year

They say that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." But it's sort of annoying to walk into a store thinking you've just spotted a shelf that's filled with Hot Wheels cars, only to find out that they're all cheap knock-off replicas. Kids might be ok with undersized wheels and poorly-designed castings overall, but most collectors won't even look at them twice. That's what you get for being one of the biggest toy manufacturers on Earth.
2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year 24 photos
Photo: Lamley Group
2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year
Just the other day we started a new line of stories for Celebration Month in which we will be exploring the Super Treasure Hunt series of the 21st century. Each year, Mattel brings out a set number of special items that feature Real Riders rubber wheels and are painted in Spectraflame colors.

These items can be found in random mainline cases throughout each year, and they're much rarer than their basic counterparts. This topic is extensively debated by collectors around the world, as some say that the ratio is one STH for every ten cases on the market.

Others claim Super Treasure Hunt cars could be even rarer than that, and we might have to get in touch with someone at Mattel to clear up the issue soon. We've been keeping a close eye on STH items for the past two years now, and today we'll be reviewing the ones that came out in 2019.

One thing we might have forgotten to mention in our previous story is that Mattel always releases a set of STH models at the end of each year. For instance, if you couldn't find any of the special 2020 castings, you could have bought all 15 of them for $249.99. The downside was that production was limited to 1,500 sets, which means most people lost their chance while waiting in never-ending queues.

2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1\: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year
Photo: Hot Wheels/Mattel
Naturally, some people were successful in their attempt at getting a set, and you'll find them on eBay starting at around $500 up to over $1,000. Strange thing is, we couldn't find one of these for the 2019 edition.

Still, someone has listed their 2019 STH and TH collection for $1,250, but that's slightly less impressive than the Collectors Set. Back then Mattel listed these for $199.99 plus shipping and processing, and the whole lot of 1,300 sold out in about eight minutes.

But let's jump straight to it and see how good the year 2019 was. Just like last time, we'll be looking at the first five items in this story, while part two will show you the remaining 10 ones. The 1990 Honda Civic EF was the first STH of the year, as it was featured in Case A. As is often the case with JDM-inspired Hot Wheels, this casting was designed by Ryu Asada.

It was introduced in 2014 as part of the Night Burnerz series, and Mattel revealed eight different variations of it before moving it up to the rank of STH. It's a pretty plain-looking model that's almost identical to the standard car, and you might not even notice the TH symbol on the license plate. Most of the listings we've come across on eBay range between $60 to $200.

2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1\: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year
Photo: eBay/ User brapede-0
If you ever want to get a Hot Wheels collector all worked up just say the following words: Nissan Skyline GT-R. The R34 was the Super Treasure Hunt collectible for Case B, and you probably tell by now that this isn't going to come cheap.

Most sellers are asking at least $100 for one of these items, even if we're talking about a loose casting with no card! So if you have a thing for mint condition GT-Rs, you might end up paying over $200 for the Short Card STH. And that's just the beginning of the story for this Phil Riehlman-designed diecast vehicle.

Case C for 2019 featured the Corvette Grand Sport Roadster STH, which we've already talked about during Corvette Month. After three sports cars, Mattel took collectors on a journey to Europe, with the introduction of the Volkswagen T2 Pickup STH in case D. Spectraflame Maroon might not be the most exciting car you can think of, but it works well enough with this replica of a 1968 Volkswagen Transporter.

Given its flatbed configuration, you could probably load up another STH in the back to keep them both on display. As always, the short card model won't come cheap, with prices as high as $300. You might struggle to find the right offer, and at the end of the day, this item will cost at least $50.

2019 Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Part 1\: A Look at the First Five Cars of the Year
Photo: eBay/ User kindereggs74
The last 2019 STH we'll talk about in part one of our story is the famous Back to the Future Time Machine. This casting shows the DeLorean in its Hover Mode, and it happens to be the sixth iteration of the hero car replica. The base model was painted Silver, but you won't find any Spectraflame colors here. Instead, Mattel has opted to leave the car unpainted.

It's quite difficult to tell the two items apart, and it's no wonder that people voted it as the worst STH of 2019 on the Lamley Group polls. Strangely enough, a new version hasn't been released since 2019, but that doesn't mean you'll struggle to find one on eBay or any other online market. Just do yourself a favor and avoid paying $1,800 for one. We'll be back with part two of our story quite soon.

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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
Dragos Chitulescu profile photo

The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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