Hot Wheels goes full 2021 and offers virtual models available for auction

Jumping in on the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) bandwagon, Hot Wheels (owned by Mattel) is offering three unique ‘virtual’ models available for purchase through an auction which ends on 29 July 2021.

Up for grabs are the iconic Twin Mill, Deora II and Bone Shaker models, each in a first-time colour, and each guaranteed not to take up any valuable shelf space, as they only exist in the complicated algorithms and pixels of an NFT blockchain in cyberspace.

So yes, you can buy them, but no you can’t touch them – and yes, it is confusing.

Just to double-down on the 2021 complexities, you have to place your bid in the Ethereum cryptocurrency (1 ETH = AU$2406, as of publishing).

An NFT is a unique digital item (this is the non-fungible part), which means these Hot Wheels cars, digital or otherwise, cannot exist anywhere else. If you win the auction, you own the only version, but it can still be copied and shared, although the blockchain proves that you own the original and thus hold the value.

You don’t ‘own’ the copyright of the car though – Mattel still has that, as the original artist/designer – but should virtual car collections become a thing, no one else will have a green Twin Mill to trade, and that makes your NFT hot digital property.

To ratchet things up a notch, at the time of writing the Twin Mill bidding was at 1.34 ETH (AU$3224), the silver Deroa II at 0.4 ETH (AU$962) and the black Bone Shaker at 1.05 ETH (AU$2526).

Compare this to a ‘nearly the same colour green as the NFT’, vintage red-wheel Twin Mill from 1969 that can be yours for under $100, and still be zoomed across the kitchen floor.

If you are even more confused now, we're right there with you.

We’ll keep an eye on the auction and let you know how much virtual currency someone paid in real money for a virtual toy car.