Glenella 16-year-old avid collector of 'Hot Wheels'

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By: Lanny Stewart

myWestman.ca

Many of us have hobbies – a regular activity done for pleasure – and it usually involves collecting themed items. Joshua Hall has been collecting Hot Wheels toy cars since he was nine years old.

Fast forward seven years later and the 16-year-old from Glenella now has approximately 1,800 of them.

"My older sister had a collection of hockey cards and I wanted a collection too," he said. "That's why I started collecting them."

His fascination for the toy car began when his mother Lisa bought him a few as a gift and the temptation to collect Hot Wheels grew from there.

"He liked them [Hot Wheels] so much that he decided that was what he wanted to collect," said his stepfather Glenn.

Soon afterwards, Glenn and Lisa found some sealed factory boxes of a Hot Wheels 2006 Treasure Hunt Collection while browsing the online store eBay. They ended up purchasing all eight boxes available, which included 75 cars in each box.

"This was the start of his first collection," said Glenn. 

Joshua now has the entire 2006 Treasure Hunt Collection which is 224 cars in total. Glenn says over the years, Joshua would buy other cars from stores and start collections based on what he purchased.

"He has many different collections going on right now with many sets already completed," said Glenn. "He buys his cars from stores and off of Ebay. This is how he has accumulated so many."

Joshua has somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,500 unopened Hot Wheels cars and approximately 300 opened cars. After he received the 2006 Treasure Hunt Collection, he has not opened one car since. Some of his cars are rather valuable to collectors as well with Glenn noting several of Joshua's unopened Hot Wheels sitting at around $200 each.

"He has quite a few rare ones, including a factory error car that is one of a kind in the world," said Glenn. "Some of the top Hot Wheels collectors in the world have tried to get this off of him."

Other cars that are in Joshua's possession include several from the 1980s which according to Glenn, are hard to come by nowadays. He has many old muscle cars as well.

"Josh is a very big car guy," said Glenn. "He loves old model cars and every year Lisa and I take him to the "Cruisin’ the Dub" in Brandon."

Now that he's old enough to drive, what about a car of his own to drive?

"He doesn't have a nice car now, but hopefully will soon," said Glenn. "One year ago, he started restoring a 1953 Ford F-100. He is hoping to have it finished by the time he graduates."

As for Joshua's Hot Wheels collection?

"I will be collecting them for as long as I can," said Joshua. "It is a legit hobby for me and something that I really enjoy. I would love to be able to pass these on to my son and have him continue collecting."

Top photo: Joshua with a Hot Wheels car. Bottom photo: Joshua relaxes while the large collection of cars surround him.

Photos submitted