To the untrained eye it looks like a drug deal. At the back of a store, in the loading dock, one man hands over a box in exchange for cash.<\/p>\n
Except it\u2019s not a box of illegal substances, it\u2019s full of Hot Wheels. The tiny toy cars that have entertained kids for generations. But as the shady dealings at the back of a toy store demonstrate, which is based on an eyewitness account, Hot Wheels are no longer just child\u2019s play.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
MORE: Bizarre new Aus ute has heads exploding<\/a><\/p>\n Mattel, owners of Hot Wheels, made over A$2.5 billion (US$1.75 billion) in gross sales of the 1:64 scale cars in 2025, as approximately 500 million of them roll off the production line each year. This was, by far, its biggest product of last year, as sales of other products declined.<\/p>\n And the reason why Hot Wheels is so popular and profitable is because the brand has embraced the grown-up, collector audience as much as children. It\u2019s part of a wider trend known as \u2018kidulting\u2019, which is seeing adults re-engaging with their childhood favourites.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI think that\u2019s true for the whole toy industry,\u201d says Craig Callum, Senior Design Manager for Hot Wheels. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re a generation of people that have a love for toys that still exist. If you think back, you don\u2019t have to go too far back, and the toys that our parents or grandparents played with they stopped producing them or they developed, whereas, we still see those toys. So we can really jump into that nostalgia and buy them now. It\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s Lego, Labubus or something else, adults playing with what are meant to be kids toys has become a multi-billion dollar market. And Hot Wheels is one of the most popular toys for adults for a variety of reasons. <\/p>\n