Let the searches begin....HotWheels 59 Ghostbusters

[Cary Livingston]

Now to look for these as well as the Matchbox Ambulances :biker:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2pzd2it.jpg

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Unholy bejeesus Cary! You don't happen to know any case codes yet, do you..?

[Richard Vyse]

:thumb:Now to look for these as well as the Matchbox Ambulances :biker:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2pzd2it.jpg

That will be a very HOT item. I'm suprised Hot Wheels has these. I guess Johnny Lightning let the rights get away from them.

[Richard Vyse]

These are all over eBay for a few bucks. Save yourself the headaches and gas driving all over the place looking for one and eBay it! :burp:

[Cary Livingston]

A few bucks to me isnt $15-$20 each.....thats what completed ones are bringing..These are gonna be a lil tough to find as you have a more diverse grouping of collectors after them. If I cant find any in my normal rounds I might get a few off ebay when the prices drop. I already see a 59 landau, Flower car.....wheres my Dremel....

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Right along with you on that Cary! Was racing with custom possibilities late last night. Ran a 5 Walmart, 2 Toys-R-Us, 3 Target, 2 HEB gamut this morning looking - not so much expecting to find an Ecto but to note what existing stock looked like. This way I'll have a better idea when to guess deliveries later in the week.

Don't see prices dropping much on this one soon. More diverse demand than the '63 ambulance - which stayed hovering around $15 for over a month.

[John ED Renstrom]

oh yes the need to be on the cutting edge. reminds me of the old joke about the old bull, the young bull and a herd of cows. but that is best left for beer and cigars in the parking lot. :burp:

[Steve Lichtman]

Cary, I'm glad you told us about this yesterday. I went to a different WalMart today, one a little more "citi-fied" than the one in Mt. Airy. And I was all excited, and went to look for Matchbox ambulances and Hot Wheels Ectos, and guess what I found?

A whole lotta nuthin', same as always.....:bonk:

[John Royark JR]

:thumb:

That will be a very HOT item. I'm suprised Hot Wheels has these. I guess Johnny Lightning let the rights get away from them.

Johnny Lightning cars are the Ecto 2. The hotwheels cars appear to be better quality too. Im off to Wal Mart today now!! I was there last week and found 10 blue and 8 Gold flower cars, but left them there because I dont need anymore.

[Richard Vyse]

I Got One! Got mine off eBay and not priced too bad. Yeah!

:applause:

[Jen Martin]

I'll search around here for one I got lucky on the 63 cadillac ambulance. I'll post if I find one. If I actually bought it for collection for Brendan I don't think the marriage would last. HaHa:yum:

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Pretty decent Wally run tonight...

As I round the corner of the first store, fresh Hot Wheels cases were spotted - 'cept not the ones anticipated:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/1882/dsc03370n.jpg

These are sidekick cases and do not have the E designation (like 995EEV). In them are vertical cardboard displays that hang near aisle endcaps.

There is only one Ecto per box of 72. Although I neglected to take a pic of the display itself (was working *really* fast), there are (pretty certain) 3 rows across x 6 rows down. Each compartment holds 4 cars. Ecto is CONSISTENTLY in the bottom middle slot - unless the case happens to hold a $uper Trea$ure Hunt$ Old Number 5. When that happens, Ecto is in the 2nd row down, 2nd or 3rd compartment. Follow that..?

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5285/dsc03374m.jpg

Detail and proportions are actually quite good!

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5849/dsc03375c.jpg

Check out the length when compared to the Matchbox '63 Ambulance. Stock and customized '53 Custom Cadillacs are bookends:

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/2797/dsc03386g.jpg

Can hardly wait to start customizing some Ectos - and turn them BACK into hearses for a change!

[Cary Livingston]

Lucky you dammit.....sucks to live here in the sticks......:bonk: Thanks for posting the proportion and "find" pics Atti.

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Last night I thought to snag a pic, so here is a visual for my previous description (TH = Treasure Hunt, STH = Super Treasure Hunts; only one out of roughly 15-20 cases contains a Super.):

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/558/ectosidekick.jpg

This should aid those of you hunting boxes. Good luck!

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Work in progress shots:

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/538/dsc03399.jpg

Ground the 4 corner roof lights off the casting and began filling holes.

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9296/dsc03402.jpg

Accurately arching the roof shape has taken hours and it still isn't perfect~

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/1847/dsc03404.jpg

Also smoothed both rear doors and shaved the second set of door handles on the flower car. The further these progress, the more ideas I have for others...

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

Does anyone know if the Hotwheel Ecto or the Matchbox Superior Ambulance will be available in Canada?

[John ED Renstrom]

if your filling on one of the die cast you might try this stuff. it is a two part epoxy that when dries can be sanded easily and drilled taped or about anything you can do to the pot. filling the holes in that roof would only require a tape backer on the inside then when it sets up pull the tape. a quart of it will go a long way on one of these cars. they market it under a lot of different names. you can get it any automotive store that sells auto body suplies. but to be honest I think I saw some at wal-mart to.

[Cliff Bergum]

Isn't it kinda odd that Hotwheels would put out an Ecto Caddy out of the blue? Ghostbusters 3 is a year or two away from what I've heard.
I really prefer the Hotwheels Ecto version to the odd dimensions of the old Johhny Lightning Ecto attempt!
Even the '63 Matchbox Ambulance sits too high for my liking.

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

While other parts of the country have seen 'E' cases - tonight is the first look I've had.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9301/dsc03477je.jpg

EGW, EGX, and EFF all have 1 Ecto apiece in them. Also, another procar enthusiast near Dallas has found EGS cases with one apiece as well. Good look hunting~

[Cary Livingston]

After almost 2 months (and not going out of my way looking) I finally found one today! :bigMoon: New stuff has been scarce in these parts.
And since I just noted this smilie......I just hadta use it :5boobs:

[Darren Bedford]

I haven't found any Ghostbusters cars here in Canada yet.
There have been some of the Matchbox ambulances.

I was at Autorama in Detroit last week-end and found lots of both.
Ambulances were 2-3 dollars and the Ghostbusters were 4-10 dollars.

There is a huge Toy-O-rama in the Autorama with a huge variety of old and new toys.

I haven't missed that car/toy show since finding out about it many years ago.

By far the best custom car show I have been too. The toy show in the car show is better than most toy shows I go to as well.

They have had hearses in the show as well over the years.

This year they had a retired police officer with an old stationwagon police car.

Darren

[Josh Horton]

My friend told me she got one from the Dollar Tree. I have been everywhere and haven't found one.

[Charles E Snyder, II]

Dollar General store have also been getting HotWheels and Matchbox on a regular basis. They have no set schedule for delivery that I have found, but they will get a case every now and then when their stock runs low.

[John Royark JR]

My girlfriend finally found a HW Ecto a couple days ago. She told me an old man had it and it was the only one so she turned up the charm and sweet talked him out of it. :3_7_11v:
It looks alot better than the Johnny Lightning Ecto 1A I have.
Still have not seen the Matchbox 63 ambulance anywhere yet, but I did get one from Christies uncle. Im glad I have so many people looking out for me.

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

For those that have not found an Ecto yet (same version), they're thrown back into the mix again and are currently hitting pegs in KMX cases; 1 per 72 as before. As these are late K cases, I believe they will continue into L cases which some parts of the country have already seen. So keep an eye out and happy hunting! ;)

[Jonathon Fowers]

i found about 7 of the ambulances here in utah i went to walmart day after day lol so i got them still havent found any ecto 1s so im going to break down and buy a couple off ebay does anyone know where i can find the hotwheels phantom coaches from the 90's??

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Figured most would be interested in an update so>>>>>

First off, Hotwheels has stated that this is the *only* time this casting will be available in the Mainline. Translation: This will not come out in a different color again. Ever. For a $1. The door is open however, that limited edition models may be based on the Ecto casting in the future.

While the secondary market prices are lower now, grab them. Prices will rise once this initial run is over.

Sidekick cases are coming out currently. In them are mixed M an N case codes. There is 1 Ecto per Sidekick case of 72, and it can have either M or N designation on the back. Obviously this means there continues to be an Ecto in N - which is the first seen of them, as no N cases are actually out yet. N case means that Ecto will stick around at least another month.

With most items, perfection is the goal. HW cars however are more fun finding flaws! Plus they're rarer and slightly more valuable too. There are a few variations to look for that I know of.

The first is missing the door sticker entirely. I've not found one yet but I have a some with sticker goofs, like a double stamp. Regular (above) and little black, no face (below):

http://a.imageshack.us/img716/1877/dsc02859i.jpg

Another is referred to as the 'dark grill' version, of which I've found a few. Difficult to photograph in the package. Below is the dark version (right side up) and the regular version (upside down):

http://a.imageshack.us/img59/6623/dsc02841s.jpg

In this version the grill is about 20% darker. I'm guessing the plastic used underneath is black. Add a poor (thin) chroming and well...you have a dark version. Not readily noticeable by itself but apparent when placed next to a normal Ecto in real life.

Errors can happen in any form, missing parts, mismatched wheels, etc. Like this one not riveted properly:

http://a.imageshack.us/img834/1540/dsc02856s.jpg
http://a.imageshack.us/img840/4571/dsc02858t.jpg

As always - happy hunting!

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Here is the first more highly detailed Ecto HW has done btw:

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/5500/mattel17.jpg

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Ecto's run in HW mainline may in fact be over. A new case mix of 72 cars per month is released; P cases are out now. I've come across 4 P cases so far with different mixes and Ecto is no longer in any of them. :pat:

Possible we'll see Ecto back into Q cases? Of course J-N cases may still be stocked after gathering warehouse dust too.

[Tony Karsnia]

To me, a lot of the fun in collecting professional cars is the hunt. Anything great often takes time and effort to get, and sometimes pops up when and where you least expect it. I'm one of the guys who will spend days driving around from store to store to get the 99 cent deal. Of course, I'm also one of the guys who has spent years looking for the full scale examples and finding many great surprises along the way...

:071:

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

Few Ecto variations arrived in the mail.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/4092/dsc03716px.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/951/dsc03721v.jpg

Little dark but you can make out the inner box.

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/8949/dsc03724qr.jpg
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2914/dsc03725ex.jpg

Detailing is quite nice. Still undecided if worth going rate but hey...I traded for one. Not terribly difficult to make one like this out of a $1 car. Only difference in end result would be a plastic base verses metal.

[Attila Bethlenfalvy]

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3376/dsc03715q.jpg

Target exclusive Snowflake card and a couple of short cards. :thumb:

[Josh Horton]

I finally found an Ecto a couple of weeks ago at the Auto Fair. Paid $5 for it. Then went to the Dollar Tree in town this week and found another.