2018 Hot Wheels Flames Kmart Exclusive ’68 Chevy Nova

Kmart was one of my favorite places growing up. Our Saturday family trips to Kmart were a highlight for me. I spent the majority of my time in the toy section, mostly just looking. But I usually came away with something to add to my toy box – generally something very inexpensive and made of plastic (the kinds of things the Kmart toy section had plenty of.)

For many years, Kmart was a big supporter of Hot Wheels collectors by sponsoring regular Collectors Day events at their stores. Beginning in 2004 and running up to April of 2019, the events offered a chance for collectors to queue up to open a sealed case and look for a first-to-market release, a store-exclusive color variation or even a Treasure Hunt.

I remember attending my first Kmart event back in 2010. I didn’t have any idea how it worked, but I was after the first-to-market HW Racing ’66 Chevy Nova. By the time I arrived, all of the cases had been opened and there were just a few guys left standing around looking over their piles of cars. I saw what I was after and reached for it, but someone nearby said, “Hey, that’s mine.” Then he realized he had more than one so he said, “I guess you can have that one.”

This nice yellow ’68 Chevy Nova from the 2018 HW Flames series was one of the Kmart exclusive offerings from the Collectors Day event in February of that year. I seem to remember hearing about this and dropping by a local store later that day to look for this Nova, without success. This example is a recent eBay score.

Hot Wheels | FKC02 | 2018 HW Flames 3/10 (KMart exclusive) | ’68 Chevy Nova | pearl yellow with black and dark gray trim | chrome red and black steelie 8-slot | Alternate tool (no hood scoop)

You can click here to see photos and links to my entire collection of Hot Wheels 1968 Chevy Novas.

2020 Hot Wheels Rod Squad Zamac ’68 Chevy Nova

The other day I was doing a little inventory on my collection of Hot Wheels ’68 Chevy Novas when I realized that I hadn’t been doing a very good job of keeping up. So I decided to go online and fill in a few of the missing pieces.

I always like the look of the zamac cars, but I think I’m not the only one, as I generally have a hard time finding them in the stores. While I did manage to find both of the other color variations of the 2020 Rod Squad ’68 Nova, this one eluded me. Fortunately, there’s eBay.

I landed the first version of the Flying Tigers-inspired Road Squad ’68 Nova at the GameStop collectors event back in November of 2019. I found the red variation somewhat recently while on a grocery run to the Kroger-owned Dillon’s.

Zamac, is an acronym for the zinc, aluminum, magnesium and copper alloy used in diecast toys. Hot Wheels in the Zamac series usually have tampo graphics placed over the unpainted metal, allowing the zamac sparkle to create a striking contrast. This is not the first time the ’68 Nova has been given this treatment – in fact the 2004 First Editions model had a zamac variation. I also have an example of the Zamac 2014 Chevrolet SS.

Hot Wheels | GHG35 | 2020 Rod Squad 6/10 | 1968 Chevy Nova | zamac camouflage with white, red and black shark teeth trim | MY | chrome red rim DD8 | Alternate tool (no hood scoop)

Click here to see photos and links to my entire collection of Hot Wheels 1968 Chevy Novas.

2020 Hot Wheels Batman 1966 TV Series Batmobile

While Hot Wheels now has at least 13 different Batmobile castings (not even counting Batboats, Batcycles, Batcopters, etc.), the 1960s Batmobile – the modified Lincoln Futura created by George Barris for the 1966 TV series – will always be my favorite. I still have the PlayArt model from my childhood, and though I don’t really seek them out, I’m happy to grab another example of this car when I find one somewhere. This model that I found on a recent grocery run to Dillon’s (Kroger) is from the 2020 Hot Wheels Batman series.

In my collection, I also have the 2007 first release of the 1966 TV Series Batmobile, a variation from the 2009 Faster Than Ever series and one from the 2016 Batman series that has really nice card art.

Hot Wheels | GHB94 | 2020 Batman 4/5 | 1966 TV Series Batmobile | gloss black with red, gray and white trim | MY | rsw

Other 1966 Batmobiles in my collection include a 1976 Corgi Juniors model and a Duncan plastic Batmobile.

2020 Hot Wheels Rod Squad 1968 Chevy Nova

Staying away from big box stores during the pandemic, I’ve missed a lot of the latest release Hot Wheels. But we make regular grocery runs to Dillon’s (owned by Kroger) so, on occasion, I’m able to find something there. I picked up the first-to-market release of the green camouflage 2020 Rod Squad ’68 Chevy Nova at the Gamestop Collector Day Event late last year. A few weeks ago I spotted this red camo variation on one of our grocery runs. (There is also a zamac camo version that I am still on the lookout for.)

Hot Wheels | GHF41 | 2020 Rod Squad 6/10 | 1968 Chevy Nova | red camouflage with white and black shark teeth trim | MY | chrome red rim DD8 | Alternate tool (no hood scoop)

Click here to find a page of photos and links to my entire collection of Hot Wheels ’68 Chevy Novas.