This 1960s toy brand set a record year for sales in 2018

One morning, Mattel co-founder Evan Handler watched his young son play with toy cars. They were made by a British firm called Matchbox. That name came from the fact the cars were tiny enough to fit into small boxes that resembled a box of matches.

As Handler watched his son, he wondered if the experience of playing with toy cars could be more exciting. He wondered if the cars could go faster. So he challenged his Mattel design team, which included a General Motors car designer and a rocket scientist, to develop a toy car that was cooler and performed better than anything else on the market. Mattel knew a thing or two about kids. Handler's wife Ruth had created the Barbie doll.

His team came back with a revolutionary idea. It was a tiny toy car that sped along plastic orange tracks. The cars featured a patented suspension that utilized thick gauge music wire as the axle, coupled with a unique plastic bearing, all of which allowed the wheels to roll and spin with minimum friction. That was the key to speed.

The orange tracks could be clicked together into any shape, including daredevil ovals and jump ramps. When Evan Handler saw the ground-breaking toy car speed along the floor, he said, "Wow, those are some hot wheels." The name stuck.

The first die-cast Hot Wheels car rolled off the line in 1968. It was a Custom Camaro. Soon, deals were in place to recreate muscle cars from the Big Three automakers and 15 more tiny cars were made, including a custom Firebird, T-Bird, Corvette, a Volkswagen and some custom hot rods. That set eventually became known as the "Sweet Sixteen" and are among the most valuable and collectible toy vehicles ever made.

Hot Wheels cars were not just fast, they were eye-popping. The tires had red stripes and the bodies sported "Spectraflame" paint jobs, giving them a candy-chrome metallic finish that had never been done before. The Sweet Sixteen Hot Wheels line was unveiled at the 1968 New York Toy Fair.

Kids went crazy for them. Seeing a set of Hot Wheels cars and 30 feet of track under the Christmas tree was a dream come true. Soon, more designers from actual auto-makers defected to join Mattel. In 1970, Hot Wheels collector clubs popped up all over the country.

Hot Wheels has survived and thrived all these years because it stays on trend. It reflects the car culture of the time, which means there are Tesla Hot Wheels available. Over 20,000 different models have been created to date.

According to research, Hot Wheels is one of the best-selling toys in the world, with 16 cars selling every second. Over six billion have been sold. Hot Wheels had a record sales year in 2018—its 50th year of production. The brand's staying power so remarkable, it thrives even in an era of digital toys.

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