5/29/2018 — With the disappearance of all the Kmarts and Toys R Us stores nationwide, the Hot Wheels team was running out of options for their 2018 mail-in promotions. Case in point: We are over half way through the Hot Wheels year and yet have only had one (of usually six) promos. As of the last few years, Walmart has held one of their two mail-ins in the Spring, while Toys R Us had one in the Summer, with Kmart holding two in September and November to coincide with their Kmart Collectors Day Events.

It appears with how rapid the Toys R Us stores were liquidated here in the U.S., that Mattel has found a new dance partner (for their summer mail-in) in Target. It hasn’t been announced officially yet, but this new event will be held Saturday, June 16th at 10:00AM. Check out the side of the shipper from this Instagram post by @hotwheelshunter_82. It does state that this is a “Kids’ Race & Play Event”, which one can assume will be similar to the event Toys R Us had last summer.

No word yet on the format of the event — whether it will truly cater to kids — or if all stores will be participating. What we do know is that there will be a promotional mail-in vehicle to coincide with the event. The Custom GMC Panel Van has already appeared on the Mattel mail-in site and the disclaimer states that “…you will need to supply the basic car blister cards, or UPC codes from multipacks, and original Target retail store or Target.com receipt(s) with Hot Wheels basic cars or multipack purchases totaling $20.00 or more before tax…”.

It will be interesting to see what details come out about this event (ie. will there be exclusive cars???). With the event less than 3 weeks away, we should have them soon. Check back here and we will keep you informed by updating this page with all pertinent details.

UPDATE 5/31/2018 — Mattel has confirmed the event. The collector event will be at 11:00AM (local time) and feature Target-specific “L” cases that contain the Red Editions for that mix (Fairlady 2000, Custom ’53 Chevy and ’15 Dodge Challenger SRT) AND 3 first-to-market cars (HW Exotics Lamborghini Huracán LP620-2 Super Trofeo in orange, Muscle Mania ’15 Ford Mustang GT Convertible in black, and HW 50th Race Team ’70 Pontiac Firebird in Matte Blue). Collectors will have 5 minutes to select 5 cars from the cases, before more numbers are drawn, which is very similar to the Kmart Collectors Day events.

Please follow the link to view the list of participating stores. Details on the Custom GMC Van MAIL-IN PROMO can be found HERE.

UPDATE 6/13/2018 — Target stores received the following information pertaining to the event:

• Saturday, June 16 10AM to NOON
• This is a 50th Anniversary Event
  • Will cater to both kids and collectors
• Kids Event will consist of 4 stations around the store
  • Station 1 will be at the front of the store where there will be a dump bin and an employee handing out a free car to each kid and event map to guests and telling them about the event
  • Station 2 will be in toys: kids will be given a sticker sheet to decorate their free hot wheels
  • Station 3 also in toys: kids will play a guessing game of which decade a car is from
  • Station 4 also in toys: kids will be able to race their free car on a track
• Collector Event starts at 11AM. Collectors will line up at electronics where they will have the opportunity to purchase “a limited number of never-before-seen” hot wheels. There will be 3 or 4 cases of cars available to collectors. Along with the dump bin at front of store and a large roller display of cars which looks like a 4-sided wall hanging display.