How about that Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary? Seems to be flying by, huh? Its officially June now and #2018 Hot Wheels “L” cases have actually started to hit retail in the United States. Its easy to be overwhelmed by all the new product Hot Wheels is delivering between the 50th Anniversary stuff, specialty lines and the influx of mainline. I see more and more collectors paying absurd prices online to get the latest stuff, however, the key is patience. With that said, I finally got a hold of the “J” case regular #Treasure Hunt, the #Kool Kombi. Its easily the best regular TH of the year, but that isn’t saying much in an underwhelming lineup of regular THs that are clearly targeted to kids. Even this one is bright, colorful and playful in its hippie “peace” paint scheme and multicolored tires.

Hot Wheels Kool Kombi from the 2018 HW Art Cars Series … also part of the 2018 Regular Treasure Hunts (package view)

Hot Wheels Kool Kombi from the 2018 HW Art Cars Series … also part of the 2018 Regular Treasure Hunts (out of package view)

But its the Hot Wheels #Kool Kombi! … a collector favorite! Right? Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of the casting, but personal bias aside, it IS a collector favorite. My reasoning for picking it up? Well, I’ll share that in a minute.

This release, despite it being a regular #Treasure Hunt, resides in the #HW Art Cars for 2018. Its a great series to try and collect all 10 to spell out the “hidden message” on top of the cars. Also, now that the series has run for a few consecutive years, some of the “artistic themes” have been reused, like this “hippie theme”.

Hot Wheels Kool Kombi from the 2018 HW Art Cars Series … also part of the 2018 Regular Treasure Hunts (top-right view)

Hot Wheels Kool Kombi from the 2018 HW Art Cars Series … also part of the 2018 Regular Treasure Hunts (side view)

Hot Wheels Kool Kombi from the 2018 HW Art Cars Series … also part of the 2018 Regular Treasure Hunts (rear view)

Therein lies the reason I sought out this regular #Treasure Hunt release of the #Kool Kombi. It pairs well with another #HW Art Cars Treasure Hunt from a few years back: the 2015 HW Art Cars: Volkswagen Beetle. Both #VWs are Treasure Hunts in the HW Art Cars series featuring hippie graphics and mismatched tires. Its sure fun to collect and I hope we see more like this. NOTE: I probably should have included the HW Art Cars Custom ’69 Volkswagen Squareback from 2016, however, none of the three colorways of that release are a TH.

Hot Wheels Volkswagen Beetle from the 2015 HW Art Cars Series and the Kool Kombi from the 2018 HW Art Cars Series … both were Regular Treasure Hunts (head-to-head view)

Hot Wheels Volkswagen Beetle from the 2015 HW Art Cars Series and the Kool Kombi from the 2018 HW Art Cars Series … both were Regular Treasure Hunts (top-right view)

So if you’re like me, the #2018 Hot Wheels “J” cases are still being pegged at your local retail stores, meaning you still stand a great chance of finding one of these — if you haven’t already. If you are certain you’ll never find a #Treasure Hunt of a popular casting, rest assured the common release has still yet to hit, as it will be gray and included as part of the last mix for 2018 — the “Q” case. You should have no problem finding that one. For now, get out there and hunt! The #Kool Kombi is yours for the taking. Its a fun and playful design on a fun and playful casting, that is definitely worthy of most collections.

RELEASE DETAILS: Metalflake Dark Purple Body (metal). Green Tinted Windows. Red Interior. Yellow 5-Spoke (5SP) Wheels on Blue (front) and Red (back) tires. Yellow Base (plastic). Made in Malaysia. Toy# FKB25. Released in 2018 as #8 of 10 in the HW Art Cars Series (unnumbered in the 2018 mainline).