While I have had my share of diecast toy cars during my childhood, I didn't really pay them any notice after my teenage years. It was when I started buying the Hotwheels toy cars for my son that I started to once again see the appeal for them.
And not just the toy cars too, Hotwheels also has a sizable collection of toy building to go with the cars, of which I bought 3 of the smaller ones for my kid (There are much, much bigger ones).
I initially scoffed at the idea of buying them, because to me they were just a jumble of cheap plastics that were made in China being but sold at a rather expensive price. I've bought him a few plastic toys from one of those Made-in-China toy shops before, and they do not have a long life expectancy at the hands of a toddler.
But my son was obsessed with the Hotwheels toy buildings ever since he played with one at his cousin's. Succumbing to his relentless pestering, I got him his first HW City building, the police station.
To my pleasant surprise, these were of a totally another level of quality. Even though they were made of plastic with quite a few moving parts, these toys are actually very durable. My son was not gentle with them most of the time and they experience more than a few drops to the floor, but nothing came lose nor any of the panels cracked. Even months later the doors still open and close with the same stiffness as when it was new.
The attention to detail, for a children's plaything, was also remarkable. It's a not a artistic masterpiece by any measure, but it's not just a few bland pieces of plastic slapped together either.
Case in point, seen in the picture below - who would've thought that the underside of the toy police station building, somewhere most people won't even look at, would be so lovingly designed and molded with floor tiles, pipings and vents etc.
See that Made in China label proudly on display.
You can see the same type of underside detail in all of them, another example is the Dinosaur themed.....thing, seen below
Turn it over and you'll find dinosaur fossils embedded under it!
It's a fun, if unimportant, detail to find, and a fine testament to the dedication of the designers and artists who work at Hotwheels.
Back to those cheap brittle plastic toys I bought before, which costs less than one-fifth of a Hotwheels plastic toy. This is a fine lesson in pay-peanuts-get-monkeys. "Made in China" doesn't mean it will have compromised quality these days, it just boils down to how much money you are willing to spend.
These Hotwheels plastic toys are still quite expensive, but at least when I buy them I know I'm getting my money's worth.
