55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes: the Blooming 2000s Part Two

In our previous story, we were looking at Corvette designs that have only had between 11 to 20 variations released so far. You'll see two of the remaining castings in the upcoming 70th Anniversary set: the Corvette XP-87 Stingray Racer and the '64 Corvette Sting Ray. Depending on how old you are, you might have never seen a Corvette SR-2 race car before.

But Mattel has produced 14 iterations of this model up until 2012. Transformers fans will remember Sideswipe from Revenge of the Fallen. The Stingray Concept replica first appeared in 2010 and it was even featured in the Boulevard series about two years later. Still, Hot Wheels hasn't used this design since 2015.

The '69 COPO Corvette offers a few interesting alternatives with the 2011 Toy Fair edition in Spectraflame Blue and the 2012 Road Racer Series. Someone was recently asking $600 for the Toy Fair model, while James Garner's Corvette is considerably more affordable than that. The remaining two castings on this list are the C6 Convertible and the '11 Grand Sport.

Neither of these has been used since 2021. The latter is the only one to feature a Treasure Hunt version, albeit with the ugliest set of wheels ever made. This Micro Apple Red car was part of the 2016 Digital Circuit series, and you get it for pocket change these days. Speaking of the C6, the Convertible Series release from 2021 is probably the most accurate depiction of the chassis so far. And you can't help but appreciate the effort Mattel has been putting in toward improving the card art.

Last but not least, 11 more castings have 10 or fewer variations released so far. Three of these are Tooned designs, which are never that popular among adult collectors. Kids might like them, but it just feels like Mattel is using this format to fill up cases when they need to.

This list includes the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, the C6 Corvette, and the 1963 Corvette. Meanwhile, the 2005 Fatbax Corvette has got to be one of the strangest castings ever released by Mattel, with ridiculously oversized wheels on the rear axle. If you fancy this design, someone seems to have acquired the Resin prototype and is currently trying to sell it for $350.

Two castings to look out for are the 2004 C6 and C6 Convertible. Both of these are Premium models with opening hoods, and it might be difficult to find them at first. We've seen a special edition Bowling Green Plant model going for $50, while someone is asking for $485 for a set of four FAO Schwarz cars each with their Certificate of Authenticity.

First-generation Corvette fans will be happy to see an additional two castings: the 1957 and the 1962 Corvettes. While the first one only survived for two years, the latter has been used up until 2013. That was a good year for this design, as it was presented in the Super Treasure Hunt series featuring a Spectrafame Teal paint job. Prices for the Short Card are slightly more prohibitive, going up to about $350. You can still get the Long Car version for about a third of that price though.

Up next, you're looking at two 'Vettes that have drag racing in their DNA: the 1967 Pro Street model and the '78 Funny Car. Larry Wood designed the first one, and it was only available in stores in 2002.

Still, that gave Mattel enough time to release four different versions of it, all of which had opening hoods. It's surprising to see that these aren't all that expensive, given the visual impact and the scarcity. The 1978 Corvette Funny Car sort of reminds us of the 'Vetty Funny casting we talked about in a previous story.

It was introduced in 2009 as part of the Dragstrip Demons series, an assortment of quarter-mile (402 meters) ready vehicles that we might see more of in 2023 as well. On some cards, this casting was called the '77 Corvette F/C.

One of the most expensive ones we could find is the Yellow version that came out in 2010, but the Batman iteration of 2015 seems to be almost as popular. And it also happens to be the last one we saw for this casting, although we imagine Mattel hasn't given up on it entirely.

The last casting to be introduced in the third era of Hot Wheels Corvettes is quite a scarce one. The '96 Corvette depicts a Convertible version of the C4, and there were only items released in 2003.

Three sets were celebrating the Corvette's 50th Anniversary back then, and each one contained two cars. And for some reason, these aren't that expensive to get with prices set at around $25 per set. Be sure to follow this space for our report on the fifth and final era of Hot Wheels Corvettes.