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Tiki Central / Collecting Tiki

Shag HotWheels!

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Whoa! I would never have thought of putting a Tiki and a Cadillac together.

http://www.tikifarm.com/html/hotwheels_shag_sale.htm

I always thought cadillacs and tiki went hand in hand. My love for tiki and 50s pop art culture actually stemmed from my love for old Cadillacs. I remember falling in love with Warhol after seeing his Cadillac silkscreen at the Montclair Art Museum in NJ.

-g-

Pretty Cool!

Just one small point:

  1. Vitua’s Vessel; 1962 Hot Wheels Cadillac Convertible “tikified” by Shag, complete with a Hawaiian-style petroglyph surfboard

Holden, the car shown is a 1959 Cadillac Convertible. Maybe Hot Wheels has misidentified it or who knows, but I'm glad it's a '59 'cause that was a lot better year (in my book). Totally cool!

Nitpickingly your's,
Shipwreckjoey

ooop's, I just realized how long Hot Wheels has been around, and it just occured to me that this car is a vintage 1962 Hotwheels reproduction of a 1959 Cadillac! Sorry Holden. D'oh!

[ Edited by: Shipwreckjoey on 2003-12-30 18:33 ]

On 2003-12-30 08:50, liabungalo wrote:
I always thought cadillacs and tiki went hand in hand.

I was thinking along the lines of a 57' Ranchero or 51' Merc. Rockabilly, HotRod style.
Still, its a cool idea.

ShipWreck~

Actually,

  • Mattel introduced Hot Wheels to the marketplace in 1968, sometimes confused with Matchbox, which introduced their cars in 1953.

  • Mattel's version of the 1959 Cadillac, which is licensed as the '59 Caddy, was introduced to the retail market in 1991.

  • Mattel's '59 Caddy will show a date of 1989 on the bottom of the car. That is the date Mattel LICENSED the body style, which was approved by GM Motors, and actual production was delayed for release to retail stores until 1991.

  • Mattel's '59 Caddy has had the same body style since 1991, but has gone through over 24 different paint styles including different wheel variations for both the regular retail and limited edition markets.

  • The Shag~Vitua's Vessel '59 Caddy is only unique in its paint design only, it comes with a surfboard too, not normally available with the car in regular retail store production.

  • Lastly, "1962 Hot Wheels Cadillac Convertible" is a complete typo. It should technically read '59 Caddy because that is what GM licenses this model as, along with it's name, and all ads and printings of this car are suppose to have the proper name. Yeah, it's a "Cadillac" but, again TECHNICALLY, it's suppose to read " '59 Caddy ".

  • oh, and for your write-in cards for toy business trivia: Mattel now owns both Hot Wheels and Matchbox.

Hope this clears up the confusion.

BTW, if you are wondering how I know: I was a consultant to Mattel for their CDROM compilation of the collectors catalog whereby they took pictures of my personal collection of rare and prototype Hot Wheels and many of my cars were photographed for their catalog. Believe it or not it really wasn't until very recent years that Mattel took interest in the history of their own Hot Wheels. Only a couple of people from 1968 still work there at Mattel, that is why they relied so much on private collectors of rare Hot Wheels (yes, there is such a thing) to help them with their own history. Luckily for them, I was one of the people who actually kept up with their history all along.


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[ Edited by: SugarCaddyDaddy on 2003-12-31 02:50 ]

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