There's one thing you need to understand about collecting Hot Wheels. It can become an extremely expensive hobby if you don't exercise some form of control. The rarer the car you want to get, the more it will cost. The older it is, the more difficult it will be to find one in mint condition. And while you keep spending money on collectibles, you'll also need to invest in your storage and display solutions. And that doesn't come cheap, either.
Just recently, we searched for "Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt" on eBay and opted to see the most expensive items first. You might want to sit down for this. Someone is asking $12,000 for a complete set of 2016 Super Treasure Hunt cars.
That sounds a bit optimistic, even if he would have added an extra 0 by mistake. But perhaps someone will come along and think to himself, "Hey, I can afford that, no sweat." But it's more likely that people will continue searching for a set like this and find Mattel's boxed version for just $750. That's not so bad, is it?
It just so has it that the latest chapter of our Super Treasure Hunt series had us looking at the collectibles that came out in 2017. As we're going backward in time with this, 2016 was next on our list. There are a total of five fantasy cars included here, which just goes to show how things have changed over the years. Two of them aren't even that bad, but we'll get to that part later on.
The year started with the Tesla Roadster STH that was featured in Case A. EVs weren't as big a part of Hot Wheels mainlines as they are now, and Elon Musk hadn't launched one into space yet. Although this casting has been in use since 2008, the Spectraflame Dark Red STH is the only one to have featured Real Riders wheels.
Photo: eBay/User jassiriv21
You can easily tell it apart from the standard model just by looking at the wheels. We came across an error item with no windshield that is listed for $500, but most of the Roadsters you'll find will cost about $50. It's not the most exciting STH ever made, but it's still better than fantasy-special.
The '52 Hudson Hornet appeared in Case B for 2016, and the Spectraflame Red model featured gold flames and matching gold Real Riders Steelies. Phil Riehlman designed this casting for its Hot Wheels Boulevard: Legends, released back in 2012.
The 2012 RLC Rewards variation might be the rarest one yet, with a limited production of just 4,350 units. You can still buy that for less than $200 today, which is more than three times as expensive as the 2016 STH variation. Mattel hasn't used this casting since 2020, but we don't think we've seen the last of it just yet.
The third Super Treasure Hunt of the year also happened to be the only one to depict a Japanese sports car. Case C introduced the '90 Acura NSX STH, which was a simple but exciting design by Ryu Asada. Mattel had only issued two different versions of it before this point, and if you want a Premium version of this car, you'd need to look for the 2003 Honda NSX Type-R or the 1994 Acura NSX instead.
Photo: eBay/User dsocial23
We're not quite sure what to think of the fact that this STH uses considerably bigger wheels in the back, but it's not a deal breaker either. You can get the loose model for $50, but a carded one will require an extra $10 to $15 in the best-case scenario.
The fourth item on today's list is the '14 Corvette Stingray. If you were here for Corvette Month, you might remember that we browsed through all of the existing Hot Wheels Corvette castings, including all the Super Vettes ever released. The most expensive STH Stingray on the market will set you back about $75, but that's a lot less than you'd have to pay for the 2014 RLC model, as that can get up to $600!
The STH for Case E was a replica of a sports car from across the ocean. And it represented a brand that is always bound to attract a lot of collectors. The Porsche 993 GT2 looked fantastic in Spectraflame Blue with orange and black stripes across the hood, roof, and spoiler. And the matching orange Real Riders Exotic wheels were just what it needed to become one of the most popular collectibles for 2016.
This car was voted as the second-best STH that year, according to the Lamley Awards poll results. But we'll tell you which casting took the top spot that year in part two of our Super Treasure Hunt review. Meanwhile, it seems that Mattel came up with two slightly different versions of this STH. One had a full roll cage inside, while the other only featured half of it.
The first one is what you need in your life if you're a fan of rare collectibles, but it will also cost a pretty penny. Even the loose version could cost set you back over $100, but there are also more expensive ones out there.
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. Full profile
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