On May 18th, 1968, Mattel introduced the Hot Wheels toy line in America! Development for Hot Wheels began in the late 1960s, when Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel, saw his son Kenneth playing with Matchbox cars, and set out to create a line that would appeal to boys in the same way Barbie had to girls. Unlike Matchbox cars, Handler believed that Hot Wheels should focus on a line of exaggerated, customized hot rod cars, that featured big tires, superchargers, flame paint jobs, and more. The iconic flame logo was designed by artist Rick Irons, who worked at Mattel at the time. Mattel first unveiled the first 16 Hot Wheels cars at the 1968 New York Toy Fair. With the addition of a race track sold separately, Hot Wheels became a huge hit, disrupting the toy car industry. As a result, over 6 billion Hot Wheels cars have been sold since 1968, with an estimated 16 to 22.5 cars being sold globally every single second.
