HOT Wheels!

July 22, 2017 1:29 PM

Do you like Hot Wheels cars? YouTube user baremetalHW does. On his channel, he does all sorts of restorations and customization of old, worn out toy cars, as well as tips and tricks for folks who might want to try it themselves.

Some examples of his work:

A "Mad Max" Batmobile.
A custom two-tone paint job.
Electropolishing corroded Hot Wheels.
How to remove scratches from plastic windshields.
Building a Hot Wheels lowrider.
How to spot scams at Hot Wheels resellers.
Restoring a vintage Matchbox Ford Mustang.
A custom T-Bird.

He also has a whole playlist of how-to tips and tricks.

posted by pjern (14 comments total)

Yes, in the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time watching his soothing videos. I was particularly captivated by his tips on how to spot fakes.
posted by Laotic at 1:50 PM on July 22, 2017

I've spent a lot of time watching his soothing videos

That's what they're all about, I think. Some strange subset of ASMR.
posted by Bee'sWing at 1:57 PM on July 22, 2017

~ looks over at his 48 car Collectors Case full of original Hot Wheels from his youth. Smiles warmly.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:30 PM on July 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

COOLEST DAD EVER!
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 2:53 PM on July 22, 2017

The lowrider! These are great.
posted by Secretariat at 3:39 PM on July 22, 2017

insta sub

also

mad max car lacks chumbucket
posted by Foci for Analysis at 5:03 PM on July 22, 2017

I'm so old, I collected Matchbox Cars before Mattel decided to copy them. Their big innovation was adding the plastic tracks. (I later learned that Matchboxers ran just fine on Hot Wheels tracks, often faster than the cars they're made for)
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:03 PM on July 22, 2017

These are really great.
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:48 PM on July 22, 2017

One of the most depressing moments of my adult life was learning that Matchbox and Hot Wheels are owned by the same company.
posted by jonmc at 6:57 PM on July 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

I too came to harrumph at these youngsters who have no respect for Matchbox. No sense of history.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:44 PM on July 22, 2017

One of the most depressing moments of my adult life was learning that Matchbox and Hot Wheels are owned by the same company.

Only since 1997.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:41 PM on July 22, 2017

Oh my! Hot Wheels!!
posted by DaddyNewt at 1:11 AM on July 23, 2017 [5 favorites]

I have a bunch of old Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars that I used to play with, and I handed them down to my own child. Unfortunately, I lack the facilities to invest in the paint and air brush setup baremetalHW has, so the best I can do is fix any bent axles, replace the wheels, and buff out the undercarriage.

Still, this is an excellent resource and I'm definitely going to bookmark his Step-by-Step video.

Now if I can just pull those old cars out of my kid's grubby hands...
posted by CancerMan at 11:53 AM on July 24, 2017

You can commission Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars. One of my good friends has Hot Wheels cars of one of his personal cars (a Ferrari). They were done as trade show giveaways.
posted by kjs3 at 4:06 PM on July 25, 2017