Here’s a little treat from Halloween. While shopping for candy to hand out to our neighbourhood trick or treaters, we stumbled upon Hot Wheels Sweet Racers—kinda like street racers. It’s a pack of 12 plastic pull-back cars, shaped like a Peugeot 206 WRC rally car with a big wing. The little toy cars come in blue, red, lime green, and all of them are filled with little car shaped candies!
The cars themselves are surprisingly cool for something you’d find in the Halloween candy aisle. They’ve got oversized wheels, racing decals, a big rear spoiler and a pull-back motor that sends them racing across the floor. They’re not the metal Hot Wheels cars that collectors are familiar with, but they’re certainly more interesting than another miniature chocolate bar. Plus, once the candy is gone, the kids still have something to play with.
Even the candy has an automotive connection. Rather than ordinary little sugar tablets, the pastel blue and yellow candies are moulded into tiny cars, complete with wheels and bodywork. That’s a nice touch, considering they could have filled the toys with any generic candy and called it a day. Someone actually thought about the little details.
Considering the ‘shrinkflation’ everyone is complaining about this Halloween, with kids being tricked by an individually wrapped M&M now counting as Halloween candy, it’s great to see that Hot Wheels has combined candy and a toy car in one. Chocolate bars seem to get smaller every year, while the packaging somehow stays the same size. The phrase fun size has become something of a cruel joke.
That’s what makes these Sweet Racers such a clever idea. Even after the candy has been eaten, there’s still something left to play with. For little kids who love cars, that’s a much better deal than another tiny chocolate bar that’ll disappear in two bites. And for grown-up gearheads handing out Halloween goodies, it’s a chance to introduce the next generation to the automotive enthusiast world.
Candy and cars. That’s a real treat.
Do you follow Hagerty on Instagram? They posted a mans collection of Hot wheels.