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Holderith, Peter (26 November 2020). "Radical Front-Mid-Engine Pontiac Trans-Am Wins This Year's Hot Wheels Legends Tour". The Drive . Retrieved 7 December 2020. In 1974, Hot Wheels introduced its ' Flying Colors' line, and added flashy decals and "tampo-printed" paint designs which helped revitalize sales. As with the lower-friction wheels in 1968, this innovation was revolutionary in the industry, and—although far less effective in terms of sales impact than in 1968—was copied by the competition, who did not want to be outmaneuvered again by Mattel product strategists. Beam, Jennifer. "Hot Wheels: Jetz - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on 2014-11-15 . Retrieved 2016-09-27. In 2011, Sizzlers have been re-released as Cars 2 characters, and were sold at Target stores. This line was called Charge Ups and released under the Mattel brand name but not as part of the Hot Wheels line. Kraus, Stephanie (2013-12-06). "Hot Wheels: World's Best Driver". Time for Kids . Retrieved 2016-10-08.

A coin-operated pinball machine based on Hot Wheels cars and the Hot Wheels City YouTube series was released by American Pinball in June 2020. Burgess, Phil, National Dragster editor. "Diamonds in the rough, gators on wheels, diamonds on cars, and how to move a billion dollars", written 20 February 2008, at NHRA.com (retrieved 16 September 2018) Chang, Andrea (2011-07-24). "Elliot Handler, co-founder of toymaker Mattel and inventor of Hot Wheels, dies at 95". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-02-04. Starting in 1970, professional drag racers Don Prudhomme ("The Snake") and Tom McEwen ("The Mongoose") were sponsored by Hot Wheels, and later on, Hot Wheels created the Snake and Mongoose Drag Set in 1970. Later somewhere in 1972, the second versions of both driver's self-titled funny cars were released, when McEwen had the Mongoose 2, and Prudhomme had the Snake 2. The drag set remained the same. Then, Hot Wheels made rail-type dragster versions of them, based on the actual funny cars and was featured in the Wild Wheelie Set. Later in Hot Wheels' lifespan, the normal drag set with Snake and Mongoose were still being produced. The latest set with the Snake and Mongoose is in the Drag-Strip Demons lineup. Carlos Contreras Makes NASCAR History". Motorsport.com. February 2, 2000 . Retrieved December 12, 2016.General Motors also released a special Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Edition, which was a blue convertible that offered various Hot-Wheels-themed decorations throughout the car. The year 1970 introduced " the Snake and the Mongoose", a manufactured 'rivalry' between two professional drag racers calling themselves "the Snake" and "the Mongoose" for the purposes of publicity. This was notably drag racing's first major non-automotive corporate sponsor, and the beginning of the NHRA’s booming popularity with large-budget teams and championships. 1970 also introduced the first 'Silver Series', which contained three silver-painted models: the Boss Hoss, the Heavy Chevy, and the King ' Kuda, which were only obtainable through a mail-in offer that included a membership to the Hot Wheels Club. These three cars featured " supercharged" engines (featuring large Roots blowers) without hoods, and open exhaust headers, after the style of drag racing cars of the era. Popular among children, these 'Silver Cars' were considered faster than the rest of the Hot Wheels lineup, because they were supposedly heavier than the other gravity models, but the accuracy of this claim has never been tested under scientific conditions. Mattel's Hot Wheels Racing finalizes licensing agreements with top five Formula One race teams". PR Newswire for Journalists. 1999-10-11 . Retrieved 2006-10-16.

Through the years, Hot Wheels cars have been collected mostly by children. However, since the late 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of adult collectors. Mattel estimates that 41 million children grew up playing with the toys, the average collector has over 1,550 cars, and children between the ages of 5 and 15 have an average of 41 cars. Most believe the collecting craze started with the Treasure Hunts in 1995. Mike Strauss has been called the father of Hot Wheels collecting; he has organized two collectors' events each year in some form since 1986. The first event was the Annual Hot Wheels Collectors Convention, normally held each year in the fall. The convention occurred in various locations around the country until 2001, when the first Annual Hot Wheels Collectors Nationals was put together. Since then, the Conventions are held each year in southern California. The Hot Wheels Collectors Nationals rotate among cities outside of California during the spring. Strauss has also published the quarterly Hot Wheels Newsletter since 1986 and was one of the first to unite collectors all over the world. He also writes Tomart's Price Guide To Hot Wheels, a book listing history, car descriptions and values, which is used by almost every collector to learn more about the hobby and their collection. Strauss sold his collection in 2011 and retired from the Hot Wheels Newsletter. Hot Wheels designer Ryu Asada died on March 23, 2021, at age 42, after years of suffering from cancer. [22] That same year, Hot Wheels began a partnership with Milestone S.r.l. to release their first game, Hot Wheels Unleashed, in which came out on September 30, 2021.In 2016, Hot Wheels released a special collection for the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ 1966 song “ Yellow Submarine.” The collections includes five cars, a VW microbus and a yellow submarine. [35] Made by other companies [ edit ]