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Canadian Man Has More Than 12,000 Hot Wheels Cars in His Collection, Worth Over $100,000

Six years ago I managed to add the first Premium item to my Hot Wheels collection. I met a Canadian enthusiast that happened to have a few cars for sale, and I bought the 2017 Car Culture: Race Day set which I loved. We've stayed in contact ever since, and I can count on finding almost any casting I can think of as soon as I ask him about it. And today we'll be telling you more about his collection, which is quite impressive, to say the least.
Canadian Man Has Over 12,000 Hot Wheels Cars in His Collection, Worth Over $100,000 36 photos
Photo: Daniel Simionescu
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Daniel is a 41-year-old Strategic Consultant that lives in Montreal, Canada. He remembers getting his first Hot Wheels collectible, the Hot Bird Ultra Hots, when he was just eight years old. He had played with various other diecast cars before, but the Hot Bird just had a bigger impact on him.

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are

If you'll look for this casting on eBay, you can find it for relatively cheap still. But his passion for Hot Wheels and model cars remained dormant for many years, up until the moment his son was old enough to take interest in the hobby as well.

We asked him about that particular moment and he recalls how it all happened. "I think it was 2014 that I bought a Matchbox Infiniti G37 for my son, and I thought that was kind of cool. By November of 2015, I was going to all these garage sales and buying entire lots of loose Hot Wheels."

"I'm talking 50 to 150 cars per outing. As soon as I gathered 500 cars I realized I wanted to go further. I was hooked on Viper castings back then." Most beginner collectors will usually buy up to 10 items every time they're in a store and they see something they like.

Canadian Man Has Over 12,000 Hot Wheels Cars in His Collection, Worth Over \$100,000
Photo: Daniel Simionescu

But given how fast things were going for Daniel, we were curious to learn how many cars are in his collection right now. "Well, I've stopped counting at some point. But I still have a rough idea about the number."

Without commitment you cannot have depth in anything

"I've purchased about 12,000 Hot Wheels cars since 2015, but you'll find another 4,000 to 5,000 cars from different manufacturers in my collection. Hot Wheels are big for me, but I do appreciate other brands such as Matchbox, Greenlight, Auto World, Mini GT, Inno64, Tarmac Works, Schuco, and Tomica. I probably have about 1,000 Tomicas at home."

So, in addition to his 1/64 display, Daniel also has several 1:43, 1:24, and 1:18 collections to show off. You might remember our interview with Andy Goodman from Pennsylvania in 2021. At that time it was estimated that he had 40,000 diecast vehicles, which were worth more than his house.

While Daniel's collection is slightly smaller, he still estimates its total value to be somewhere between $100,000 to $200,000 at present time. With the big numbers out of the way, we wanted to take a closer look at the whole thing.

Canadian Man Has Over 12,000 Hot Wheels Cars in His Collection, Worth Over \$100,000
Photo: Lamley Group
"You might be surprised that I only own four or five Redline cars. I mostly buy items that came out after 1990. The rarest one in my collection has to be an error car. I found a "Japan Historics" Nissan Skyline HT 2000GT-X with no side decals on it! I also have the Hot Wheels x Period Correct Mercedes Benz 190e EVO."

It always seems impossible, until it's done

"Mattel made 750 units, and some are listed for as much as $1,500 on eBay. I'm quite proud of my 2018 RLC Original 16 Display Set too, some of these can go for $5,000 today. There are probably 150 RLC and Super Treasure Hunt items in my collection, and I have to say that I'm a big fan of the Gumball x Hot Wheels Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 too."

As soon as Daniel said the magic phrase, we were instantly curious to know how many times he's been fortunate enough to find a Super Treasure Hunt in the wild. "In all these years, I've only found five of them! The first one was the 2016 Carbonic that was hidden inside Case Q."

"It's also the only one I've held on to, as I've sold the other four. If you want to know what the other five were, here they are ’68 Chevy Nova (2018 Case B), Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR34 (2019 Case B), '92 Ford Mustang (2019 Case G), and '67 Jeepster Commando (2020 Case C)."

Canadian Man Has Over 12,000 Hot Wheels Cars in His Collection, Worth Over \$100,000
Photo: Daniel Simionescu
Daniel has confessed to spending about $1,500 to $2,000 per month on diecast cars, mostly buying them from other collectors. Online shops are his second choice while going into physical stores comes last.

A goal without a plan is just a wish

His biggest interests are older Camaros and the 2010+ models, Subaru and Lexus cars, and anything that is connected to the surf culture. One of his favorite castings is the Custom '62 Chevy, but he also loves buying Star Wars Character cars and ships and any sort of lowrider.

For many years now Daniel has also helped other collectors get their fix of Hot Wheels cars, so he always has a decent stock of 4,000 to 5,000 cars that he is willing to let go of. While he attends monthly meetings in his area and has even gone to a Hot Wheels Legends Tour event, he hasn't made it to any Conventions yet.

But he might drive down to the one in Columbus next year. While most of his friends and family members think he's somewhat crazy for pushing the hobby this far, his kids are both fans of collecting Hot Wheels cars.

Canadian Man Has Over 12,000 Hot Wheels Cars in His Collection, Worth Over \$100,000
Photo: Daniel Simionescu
That means that he will be soon building a special showroom for his collectibles in the garage, around his yellow 2010 Camaro SS. So we'll make sure to ask him to send us some photos of that project once it's ready.

You need experience to gain wisdom

With his level of experience, we also wanted to know what kind of advice he could provide for new collectors: "First of all, I think people should explore. Get different castings, series, and premium items but try to choose a path as early on as possible. Don't just buy everything that comes out every year, and always get the premium and exclusive models as soon as they come out if you like them. Their value usually goes up quite fast and by a lot."

Last but not least, we wanted to hear his feedback on the evolution of Hot Wheels since he started collecting: "I'm glad to see so many new castings every year including European cars. Mainline items look much better than they used to. You've got more chances of buying an RLC model from Mattel with the increase in production. And I think the Legends Tour is one of the best ideas they've ever had."

"Still, some things could be improved in the future. Collectors aren't quite happy about the RLC price increase, and we hope that Quality Control will be better for the upcoming models. Mattel needs to solve the bot/scalper issue somehow, not being able to buy the car you want because it sells out instantly can be quite annoying. As for the new Elite64 series, I think I'm going to give it a chance, it looks quite promising."
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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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