Hot Wheels

I watched this avidly when it came out, my Father bought me my first Hot Wheel (Silhouette, blue) in '68, at a K-mart in Ann Arbor and had those same cars that were in the cartoon. My collection still grows, though not as fast as it did in the '60s, 70s. Latest acquisition, The Batman Vs Superman Batmobile.(always purchase two, and keep one in original packaging) Of course I was a child of the '60s-'70s, so the cartoon fit right in with the times. Of COURSE it was a commercial for the fans, but what about when G.I. Joe (the smaller figures, not the original 13 in. ones, of which I had a Navy guy) Why didn't the FTC shut THOSE down? They were in the very same category, along with GO bots, Transformers, My Little Pony, Care Bears, and all the other toys with cartoons bunch....I have given up on ANY governmental agency being FAIR, I guess....

This is probably the first cartoon I can remember. I was 4 when this came out, and I remember the theme song to this day. The idea of a 30 minute commercial is quite normal by todays standards, since every cartoon out there now sells merchandise. I would like to see this come out on DVD now, because there are those of us out here that remember the cartoon, and would love to go back to 1969 and revisit this era, when it seems everything was better (at least for a kid).

I still remember this cartoon that I never missed on Saturday mornings. The characters were the hero Jack Wheeler, Ardeth the tomboy, Kip, the minority rep of the gang who drove an MG and "Tank" the big guy. Each week they were involved in a different race scenario. Each time they were tormented by their arch-nemesis Dexter, the bad guy. Had that great 60s underpinning where the good guys always won and Dexter left in shame. Jack Wheeler always drove one of two cars, the Jack Rabbit Special or the Sand Crab. Both cars were white, probably to indicate the "good guy." Each episode featured lots of good information regarding automotive mechanics and motor mania in general. At the end of each episode, Jack Wheeler always gave the young audience a driving safety tip. He even did an anti-smoking commercial, which was aired during other Saturday morning cartoons. Its companion cartoon was "Sky Hawks" which had a similar theme but featured airplanes instead of cars. I still remember the Hot Wheels theme song - "Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels, always racing always chasing. Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels, keep a-turning now, keep a-burning now, keep a-turnin' Hot Wheels! Daytona, Indianapolis and Bonneville! Dune buggies, keep a-climbin', up the sandy hill! Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels, keep a-turning now, keep a-burning now, keep a-turnin' Hot Wheels!"

Yeah I remember both shows! They were my favorites for those few seasons. I had the "Sky hawk" airplane they advertised, the Super Star by Mattel. Remember.. Where ever you are, there's a piece of the sky, waiting for Super Star!? i had the original sizzlers, the hot wheels super charger race sets four or five of them... the jumps the ramps the quick release sets with the plastic clamps that went on a door or chair. I had lots of johnny lightnings too and match box and other crappy cars. I never got the big Hot wheel carry case, but my dad tried to throw out my hot wheels lunch boxes... instead they carry tools now.. Some how I always knew they would be worth money some day.. but I never kept them in good shape... My favorite car was the Jack Rabbit special! I guess because of the show.. funny how nobody ever made that car for real... Too bad... I'd buy one!

A some of the other posters have mentioned, this and "Skyhawks" were probably the earliest examples of cartoon series that had a toy tie in. Of course, this was several years before shows like "Transformers", "He Man" and "GI Joe" would hit the airwaves and would make weekday afternoons into a virtual infomercial for various toys. However, this show was one of the first and probably one of the best. I still fondly remember it and I would look forward to watching it on Saturday morning. At least they had some cool animation to make you keep watching even if you didn't want the toys. Of course, I did get plenty of Hot Wheels cars as well as the tracks, but this cartoon really didn't have an impact on my decision. Besides, I was only three years old at the time.

This definitely is a lost classic.