It’s an academic question, of course: things are the way they are. In a way, you almost can’t complain, because it does seem like the rubber tires on the Real Riders, at least, are more expensive to make than the regular plastic wheels. The opening doors and hoods, though? That I’m less sure of. If it costs more to make them, then why weren’t they more expensive in our youth?
When I was a kid, at least 50% of Matchboxes had opening doors. In the early years, Hot Wheels originally almost all had opening hoods, although some had other cool moving parts (remember the “Sidekick” from 1972, with a driver’s seat that slid out like a drawer? That was a cool one!) But by the late 70’s and early 80’s, most HW’s were “monoblock:” which is to say, no opening parts. Almost as if to compensate for this, they released the Real Riders in 1983, only a year after the introduction of metal-flake paint. These were a sensation the moment they appeared: I can still remember the 1st one I ever saw and ever bought: nothing less than the first release of the AC Cobra in dark blue with white stripes! Tragically, this is one I no longer have today, although I have obtained an identical replacement: but in short order I was buying every Real Rider my allowance money would get me, and although some are a little “playworn,” I do have a pretty decent little collection of them from back in the day!
The thing is, these cars all retailed at the same price! No store that I shopped at from my childhood into my 20’s ever charged more for a MBX or HW just because it had opening parts or rubber tires…or anything else, for that matter; unless it was a larger version than the others or some type of a special series, they were all the same price.
Today, any Matchbox with opening doors or a hood is sold in different packaging as part of the “Moving Parts” series, while numerous different lines of Hot Wheels are available with Real Riders (cars with rubber tires: they still call them that after all these years!) but all of these are sold as “premium” models that are more expensive than the “mainline” versions, which-for both brands-are increasingly made more of plastic than die-cast metal. We’re getting used to paying more for the Matchbox “Moving Parts” line or any of the Hot Wheels that have rubber tires. That’s “Whatever the market will bear,” but, that’s the system for you. It isn’t that I’m complaining; I just miss the days when it wasn’t that way. Just like I miss the days when a working man could afford a house and a new car: maybe its all symptoms of the same disease. That’s the world we live in…but on the bright side, at least we’re getting some pretty awesome die-casts…even if they do cost more!
