The Hot Seat lives in Hot Wheels infamy due to its absurd concept and grotesque nature. Some collectors hate it, some collectors love it, some collectors just love to hate it. Whatever your idea is of it now, I actually remember this being quite a hot casting back in 1998 (as a 1998 First Edition). While this may be attributed to collectors looking for the next hot item — given its uniqueness, it was an easy target — collectors (and possibly kids alike) started snatching these up. I remember seeing these at local diecast car shows for $10 a piece! However, like most new fads, they eventually die out and the mass-produced supply sets in, making the product desirable no more.

So the Hot Seat went cold and most collectors laughed every year trying to guess where the Hot Seat would show up. It even appeared as a Treasure Hunt in 1999 which seemed like a Hot Wheels joke at the time — a bunch of collectors, going store to store, trying to find the elusive toilet. Oddly enough, the hardest to find Hot Seat isn’t the Treasure Hunt version but rather the 1999 Scum Chums Action Pack version. The Scum Chums Action Pack featured a miniature rat with a plunger stuck to its head (riding inside the Hot Seat), racing an Alligator in a claw-foot bath tub. A carded Scum Chums Action Pack usually sells for $16 to $25-Shipped, making it one of the most expensive Action Packs on the secondary market.

Over the years, we had seen the Hot Seat come in many colors; from matte white to blue, to gold & even chrome. The Hot Seat had a good run from 1998 to 2004 until its “Final Flush” version was released in blue-chrome as part of the 2004 Final Run Series. Out of all those versions, I feel like the 1998 First Edition (shown below) is the most classic. While the nostalgia may come from it being the first release of the casting, its simple black and white color scheme would match many bathrooms. Top it off with the diecast engine & pipes, and it looks about as real as any toilet racer as I have ever seen.

RELEASE DETAILS: White Body (plastic). Black Lid/Plunger. Chrome 5-Spoke (5SP) Wheels. Unpainted Metal Base/Engine. Made in Malaysia. Toy# 18678. Released in 1998 as #13 of 48 in the 1998 First Editions.

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