Collectors of all levels and all castings BEWARE! Check those Hot Wheels multi-packs as they often deliver some variations and often, they can be hard to find years later. I consider myself a novice collector that doesn’t let much slip through the cracks, especially when it comes to the castings that I collect. Well, in 2012, I let an #’08 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR variation speed right past me.

It wasn’t until early this year that I noticed the 2012 Multi-Pack Exclusive ’08 Viper ACR missing from my collection. Its a car that I had seen and bypassed a few times over assuming it was a re-release of the 2011 Easter Eggsclusives version. It wasn’t until I was taking a second look at one in a 3-Pack that I noticed it was missing the Easter bunny tampo underneath the ACR logo on the sides. Thinking I had found an error, I continued to compare the two. The hood tampo was different in a variety of ways and the color of the OH5 wheels also didn’t match.

Hot Wheels ’08 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR in yellow.

Second guessing whether or not I had picked this multi-pack exclusive up, I went to the Snake Pit (aka: the Jammers case I have the ’08 Viper ACRs in). Upon further review, it also looked a lot like the 2012 Cars of the Decades release AND wore the same graphics as the three 2010 New Models releases. So its easy to see why I had assumed I already had this release. Needless to say, I did overspend a bit to get this Multi-Pack Exclusive release into my Viper collection. These things are not easy to find so I feel as though I saved myself some time and grief having to look for this release at a lower price — I am sure this is a struggle most collectors face when potentially over-spending for a car they don’t have.

Let this be a lesson in Hot Wheels collecting 101, never assume. I guess we could apply that to many facets of life, but we’ll keep it to collecting Hot Wheels here. Check those multi-packs for #Multi-Pack Exclusives as many are even harder than this one to spot.

RELEASE DETAILS: Metalflake Yellow Body (metal). Tinted Windows. Chrome Interior. Black Spoiler. Red-Chrome Rim, Black Open-Hole 5-Spoke (OH5) Wheels. Black Base (plastic). Made in Malaysia. Released in 2012 as a Multi-Pack Exclusive.