I arrived at the store around 0830. There was one other man there and the store manager was setting up a folding table. It was scheduled to start at 0900. As time progressed, there were around 20 adults around the table. I was talking to a few fellows who were really knowledgeable about Hot Wheels. They explained what they collected and why. They were a pretty mixed group. A man and his wife arrived and they had their kids and the neighbor kids. It seemed the kids were there to enhance his chances of getting a case of cars to first look at. They were the only children at this event.
At 0900, the manager wheeled out a cart with three or four large boxes. Apparently, a normal case of Hot Wheels contains 72 cars. These Kday cases only had 36 cars each. There were 12 of the Kday cases. The manager then handed everyone who wanted at numbered ticket. He explained the rules, including there was no age limit, but the person had to select their own cars. Each person who's ticket was drawn would get five minutes to select five cars. Since there were 20 of us, the first 12 really had the best selection. I did not get in the group of 12.
Also, in the world of Hot Wheels, there is a thing known as a Treasure Hunt car, which is specially marked and somewhat rare. Then, there is the extremely rare Super Secret Treasure Hunt. These are special cars in very limited numbers. Normally, there is about one Super in every three or four cases. As the first 12 opened the boxes and examined the cars, someone spoke out that he had a Super. He showed it to everyone and continued to look at his box. After five minutes, the rest of us were handed a box and we could select as many as we wanted. I picked out one of each of the special Kmart cars and I found a Range Rover, the only car I had hoped to find. As I was looking through the cars, I got a tap on the back. Hey, aren't you the guy who wanted the Range Rover? I thanked him and told him I had one. He said he didn't want it and gave it to me. I thanked him. I enjoyed watching the people most of all. Some seemed to be there to get some special cars to sell on Ebay. Most were very serious collectors. I met a man who is also on the other forum. He was very nice young man who loves Hot Wheels. He is an avid collector. He was a pleasure to meet and talk to.
I ened up talking with the man who had gotten there first. He was a wealth of knowledge and a nice guy. I explained I knew what the "special" cars were, but would not normally choose them. I had gotten the car I was looking for. I told him that I liked the "Supers" but I was sure I'd never find one. He took one out of his pile of cars and said this was a Super. He had gotten it in his box, but didn't announce it. I said that that was the third one, as someone else got one and didn't say anything. He said it was very rare to have three Supers in that many boxes. Some events, no one got one.
I enjoyed my experience. I realized that I didn't care about some of the special cars and enjoyed collecting what I liked. I did get some tips on what to look for, if I was looking anyways. The cars I didn't care about could always be sold or traded. I advised the man I was more likely to give it to a real collector rather than anything else. We exchanged phone numbers and know what he likes. If I find it, I'll let him know. The collectors that were there were really into it, that was the best thing to see. I'm glad I went.



