How to Spot a Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt (and a Regular Treasure Hunt)

What Treasure Hunts are

Every year Mattel hides limited cars among the ordinary Hot Wheels mainline. They sit on the same pegs, in the same blister cards, at the same price, which is exactly why collectors hunt for them. There are two kinds: the regular Treasure Hunt and the much rarer Super Treasure Hunt, usually shortened to TH and STH.

Super Treasure Hunts have been part of the mainline since 2007. Mattel makes about fifteen a year, roughly one per case assortment, so finding one on a shop peg is a genuine event.

Treasure Hunt vs Super Treasure Hunt at a glance

The four checks, in order

1. Look behind the car on the card. On modern cards a circle-and-flame logo is printed on the card where the car sits, so it is half hidden. Tilt the card. Gold means Super Treasure Hunt; silver means a regular Treasure Hunt; no logo means an ordinary car.
2. Check the paint. Spectraflame has a depth ordinary paint does not: light seems to come up through the colour from the metal underneath. Next to the cars around it on the peg, it looks almost wet.
3. Check the wheels. Real Riders are rubber tyres on separate, detailed wheels. Ordinary mainline wheels are one piece of plastic. You can usually see the difference through the blister.
4. Find the TH. Super Treasure Hunts carry a small "TH" in the graphics. It is easy to miss: look along the doors, the rear quarters, the roof and the back of the car.

Spotting fakes

Because a Super Treasure Hunt is worth many times an ordinary car, fakes exist. The usual trick is a loose car repainted to look like Spectraflame and fitted with rubber tyres. A few habits protect you:

• Prefer cars still on the card. The gold flame behind the car is printed on the card, which is much harder to fake than paint and wheels.
• Look at the blister. Glue marks, a lifted edge, a cloudy or wavy bubble, or a card that is a little too clean around the blister can all mean it has been opened and resealed.
• For a loose car, compare it with clear photos of the real Super Treasure Hunt of that year: the exact colour, the TH placement and the wheel style should all match.
• Buy expensive cars from sellers with a long history, and ask for photos of the card behind the car.

What a Super Treasure Hunt is worth

Values vary enormously by casting, year and condition. A popular casting on a clean card can sell for many times its shelf price, while a less wanted model may sell for much less. Always judge by sold prices, not asking prices, and adjust for the card: soft corners, creases and a dented blister all pull the price down. Our guide to valuing a die-cast collection goes through it step by step.

Keeping track of your hunts

Once you have one, record it while the details are fresh: the year, the case or assortment it came from, where you found it and what you paid. In Vanto you can mark any car as a Chase, Treasure Hunt or Super Treasure Hunt, so it carries its badge across your vault and garage and counts towards the hunting medals.

To check what a year held, Vanto keeps the Treasure Hunts and Super Treasure Hunts year by year, each with its collector number, series and toy code: the Hot Wheels Treasure Hunt list. Signed in, it ticks off the ones already in your garage.