TEXAS TOY MAN

Hot Wheels Rodger Dodger Redline 1974

 

 

 

 

 

The Rodger Dodger Concept Hot Wheel was first produced by Mattel in 1974 and was manufactured in Hong Kong. Due to its racy look, the Rodger Dodger Hot Wheel quickly became a demand car in the collector diecast market, and as such has been in production since 1974 to the present.

The Rodger Dodger came in many different versions, i.e., color of the car, wheel types, tampos – but the one thing that did not change was the large exposed engine which was the trademark of the Rodger Dodger.

The version pictured here is unique because of a mistake made to the colors of the flames. The flames on the right side of the hood are painted grey instead of the original yellow color that were supposed to be in the flames. So you have a car that has one side yellow; the other side is grey.

The Rodger Dodger pictured here has the following features:

Plum in color

Orange and yellow flames on the roof left side; grey flames on the right side

Exposed metal engine

Black plastic interior

Blue tinted windshield

(RSW) Redlines

Hong Kong embossed on the bottom of the chrome metal chassis

 

To me this is one of the best cars that Mattel designed and produced for the collector market. There are so many versions, each being very unique, so that the collector had many opportunities to have and own a cool Hot Wheel.

Hot Wheels- Dune Daddy Redline

 

This 1975 Dune Daddy Hot Wheel by Mattel was produced in 1975. It was based on and copied the original car designed by Tom Daniel. Mr. Daniel’s concept car was named the ‘Sand Crab’.

Mattel also issued the Dune Daddy (6967) in 1973 and there was a similar casting of this car (6403 – Sand Crab) in 1970. Mattel produced the Dune Daddy in a variety of colors including: dark blue, fluorescent lime green, fluorescent pink, dark green, lemon yellow, light blue, light green, plum, red, yellow, light green, orange, dark blue, and blue. Some of the colors (light green, orange, dark blue and blue) came with tampos in different colors.

• The Dune Daddy picture above has the following manufactured features:

 

Green in color

 

Green, orange and blue flower tampos on hood

 

Redline (RSW) tires

 

Blue tinted windshield

 

Metal chassis and roll bar

 

Black plastic interior

 

Made in Hong Kong

 

Produced in 1975

 

Rear engine exhaust exposed

 

Small front wheels

 

Medium rear wheels

 

With most Hot Wheels, there have been many versions and variations manufactured over the years for the collector, allowing them to seek out their favorite version. When collecting – remember always try to buy mint in the package whenever you’re purchasing Hot Wheels or any other collectible item for that matter.

 

Hot Wheels “Pro Racing” #94 Bill Elliott

 

Not just for the kids anymore, this First Edition “1998 Collector’s Edition” was designed to appeal to the adult NASCAR enthusiast. And, with attendance records like last Saturday’s race in Kentucky attracting over 107,000 attendees, you can understand why Mattel is seriously eyeing this market.

If an effort to target this market with realistic collectibles, the Hot Wheels Pro Racing diecast scale 1/64 th is being produced by Mattel. Interestingly, Mattel makes an effort to copy as many of the details of each one of the NASCAR race cars as possible. This particular collectible is the McDonand’s sponsored race car driven by Bill Elliott.

Some of the unique features of this Hot Wheel are the following:

• McDonald’s logo on the rear quarter panel
• #94 on both doors and top
• Goodyear Eagle “rubber tires”
• Red in color
• Bill Elliott signature on both sides of the roof
• Ford Taurus emblem on front
• Bill Elliott “Upper Deck” card included in blister pack
• 50th anniversary emblem on blister packaging
• Car comes with red interior with black role bar
• Reeses logo on trunk
• Red medal chassis “diecast”

This is only one of the many ‘collectible’ race cars NASCAR has licensed Mattel to produce and offer on the market. With the ever growing popularity of NASCAR plus the fact that these replicas are very affordable, this is a good hobby for the adult collector – particulary those on a limnited budget.