Check your toy car collection, you could be sitting on an absolute mint!
Collecting toy cars as a kid has always been a rite of passage and a gateway into the wide world of cars and collecting. Did you ever stop to think that maybe this fascination and investment in toy cars could mean you’re sitting on some serious dollars?
Bruce Pascal was seven years old when Hot Wheels first hit stores in 1968.
“It’s hard to explain the craze today, but Hot Wheels was huge. All of my friends were saving up to buy all the Hot Wheels they could,” he said. Hot Wheels soon became the number one toy for boys, and Pascal spent his childhood racing and collecting the die-cast cars.
When he got older, he put his Hot Wheels cars away in a cigar box at his mother’s house, where they collected dust for almost 30 years. Although his passion for cars continued, he has forgotten about his Hot Wheels collection until he found it again back in 1999.
“That excited feeling I had as a boy was rekindled instantly,” said Pascal. “My friend offered to pay me $200 for the cigar box. I declined and held onto them, but it was his offer that made me start researching the value of Hot Wheels and pursuing collecting as an adult.”
Pascal began searching for Hot Wheels cars everywhere. He called collectors, took out newspaper ads and even used a 1969 telephone book of Mattel employees to see if any former workers had rare toys they’d be willing to sell. He even collected Hot Wheels memorabilia such as blueprints, original drawings, sales brochures and wood models.
His collection of Hot Wheels models grew by the thousands, but Pascal was still not satisfied. There was one last model he had his eye on. And it just happened to be the most valuable Volkswagen ever produced — a pink Volkswagen Beach Bomb prototype.
The model Volkswagen and Hot Wheels first collaborated on was of a ‘70s Kombi that had a narrow body and surfboards hanging out of the back window. It was unable to stay upright when rolled, so Hot Wheels redesigned the model, making the sides more weighted and moving the surfboards to the sides of the vehicle.
These redesigned models made it into production and were sold with a sticker sheet of flowers to decorate the vehicle, epitomising the 1970s “flower power” era. While these models made it to the mass market, it’s the original prototypes with the surfboards out the back window that have become extremely rare.
The pink Beach Bomb prototypes are said to be the rarest of them all.
“I already had heard about [the Beach Bomb] in purple, green, red, light blue and gold. I even had heard about an unpainted model,” said Pascal. “But pink was extremely hard to find. Most Hot Wheels models were marketed to young boys, who the brand assumed didn’t want to play with pink. They created just a few pink [Beach Bomb] models to market to their female audience.”
There are only two known pink Volkswagen Beach Bomb prototypes in existence. When Pascal learned that these were the most sought-after Hot Wheels in the world, he began his research. He tracked down the owners, made his offers and eventually acquired both pink Beach Bombs models. He has since sold one of them to another collector but still owns the one that is in the best condition.
“I won’t say how much I purchased it for,” said Pascal, “but it is worth an estimated $150,000 today.” That is more than 50 times the cost of the model that was actually sold in stores and the cost as a full-sized luxury car. For Pascal, the 1:64 scale Hot Wheels car was well worth it.
Pascal has over 4,000 Hot Wheels models and around 3,000 pieces of memorabilia in his collection today. He keeps them all in his personal museum in Maryland, where he gives private tours to other Hot Wheels enthusiasts. The pink Volkswagen Beach Bomb remains his most prized possession.
“I want other people to experience the Beach Bomb. I’ve found so much joy in learning about classic cars and Hot Wheels, and I hope I can spark some of that in other people. It’s a treasure to find these rare models,” Pascal said.
While there have been dozens of car manufacturers collaborating with Hot Wheels on die-cast models over the past five decades, Volkswagens especially the Beetle and Kombi, have become the most popular models among collectors of all ages. As Pascal says, “What car and toy better symbolize the 1970s than Volkswagen and Hot Wheels?”
Keyword: Rare Volkswagen 'Beach Bomb' could be world's most valuable Hot Wheels car