The Hot Wheels Ferrari 599XX enters the pantheon…

You know it when it happens.  You can’t always predict when it will happen, but you know when it does.

And it has happened to the Hot Wheels Ferrari 599XX.  You know what I am talking about.  A model goes from a popular but common model to a legendary model.  Something that becomes so desirable that collectors are willing to pay a hell of a lot of money to acquire one.

And I am not talking about a rare variation or other rarities like the Military and Fire Rods Silverados.  I am talking about a model or casting that was plentiful or easy to get at one point, but then becomes a must-have years after.  Think the Vintage Racing Datsun 510.  It hung and hung and hung on the pegs for months.  Now you’ll need around $200 to get one.

Welcome 599XX.  We kind of saw you coming.  The 2012 Super has been doing its thing for awhile, but then this:

Hot Wheels Ferrari 599xx Short Card

If you checking the link after the auction expired, one of those ended at least over $650.  That’s a lot of cash for a Super.  Of course the prices on these are doing what they are doing because there were not a lot of short card Supers that year, but if it isn’t the 599XX, it doesn’t do what it is doing.

Of course it was pretty obvious that all Ferraris would increase in value after Mattel lost the Ferrari license.  And that has generally happened, although for some models more than others.  The Enzo Super took a sharp turn up, but as a whole the 599XX has surpassed it.

Maybe because of its roots in the Speed Machines.  The 599XX debuted in the Speed Machines line, and was not that easy to find.  The final version, beautifully executed as a Zamac model, was the rarest of all.

So four versions there.  Since then?  Two.  Both Basics, both enhanced as Super Treasure Hunts.  The red version in 2012 did have an OH5 wheel variation, but that’s it.  Four Speed Machines and two basics.

So was it underused?  Of course it was, but there are quite a few Ferraris that were sadly cut off by the license going away.  But the 599XX surpasses the other Ferraris because of how it was used, and how it looks.

There isn’t a bad version at all.  Each of the four Speed Machines are fantastic, and the latest version in gunmetal, with its Super counterpart, is sharp as well.  But that 2012 Super.  It’s just perfect.  I have no doubt that if we did a poll on best Super ever the red 599XX would finish at or near the top.  People want this Super not only because it is now hard to find, but mainly because any collection with it looks that much better.  Who doesn’t want it?

So do those prices surprise me?  Well, of course they do, but I know there are 599XX collectors out there that would love to have the short card Super.  I am happy to have all versions, happily freed from their cardboard, and looking fantastic together.  Maybe one day we can add to the collection…