Hot Wheels sales are on fire, powered by adult collectors and nostalgia

As a boy, Bruce Pascal reveled in testing the limits of his Hot Wheels. He might squeeze a firecracker into one of the miniature metal cars and set it...

As a boy, Bruce Pascal reveled in testing the limits of his Hot Wheels. He might squeeze a firecracker into one of the miniature metal cars and set it off, or flatten one with a hammer to see whether it still rolled.

Now 63, he wouldn’t dare rough up his toys. His collection is so prolific that it literally fills a warehouse in suburban Washington and includes the Pink Rear Load Beach Bomb prototype, the rarest Hot Wheels ever made.

Though Pascal’s 8,000-car fleet is singular, he is part of a growing contingent of enthusiasts fueling Hot Wheels dominance - it’s the best-selling toy in the world, according to market research firm Circana. Though purchases are still primarily made for children, adults are buying them at a faster clip, said Roberto Stanichi, who oversees Hot Wheels at Mattel. He estimates that adult collectors drive about one-third of global revenue.

Investors have been bracing for the eventual drop-off in sales, said Arpiné Kocharyan, an analyst with UBS Investment Bank. "And yet it still grows.”

"The demographic capture is incomparable,” Kocharyan said. "You can target a kid that’s 3 years old all the way to a collector that’s 60 years old. … It is almost like a universal play pattern that does not recognize borders and cultural barriers.”