I’ve been “collecting” Hot Wheels for probably close to eight years by now. I collect but I don’t invest in Hot Wheels. A recent trip to the Ohio State Fair’s and its famed Junk Barn (where every Harry, Dick, and Tom can attempt to sell their junk) had me face-to-face with a ton of “collectible” Hot Wheels.

They were all in the box and ranged in age from 2008 models to some that stretched back to the mid-80s. And not surprisingly, I had many of the cars I saw…but much to my surprise, these cars were selling for $2 - $5. While a few bucks may not sound like much, considering each Hot Wheels car costs less than a dollar to buy it’s a pretty good return on the value.

It’s hard for me to see Hot Wheels as a collectibles investment. Sure, it kind of sucks to see a car I bought for 97 cents just a week ago already selling for $3 (which is bull anyway), but then I realize why I collect Hot Wheels - because I like them. I like to look at them, play with them, take pictures of them, let others play with them…it’s about the fun of toy cars, not the fun of buying and selling. I wouldn’t be any good at selling them anyway because I wouldn’t be able to give them up, even at a profit.

With my upgraded Flickr Pro account at my disposal, I decided to do something I had been wanting to do for a while, shoot my cars in more “artistic” ways, rather than the straight up showroom-quality photos I’ve been taking for the Hot Wheels Showcase I have on-line.

Hot Wheels are so vivid and fantastic that they lend themselves to photographs, both macro photography (which I can’t do well) and just general fun shooting (which I can do well). So with a sunny Saturday on hand I took all (well, most) of my cars out and set them up for some shots. It’s funny because when you tell people you have 193 Hot Wheels it sounds like a lot…but when you line them all up for a family photo, it doesn’t look like much, at least not to me. I guess in my head I thought they would take up more space all laid out, but I guess they’re only 2-inch cars anyway.

So yes, I have upwards of 190 Hot Wheels cars and all together they weigh an even 17 pounds. And for those wanting to keep track, each Hot Wheels cars cost me a dollar, so my total investment should be pretty simple. Now consider if I was investing in the toys how much I would have in value if each one could (on average) resell for $3.

I don’t really plan to stop my collecting. It’s cheap and it’s fun. And they make for some awesome photos.

Stop by the Flickr page for more shots.