“A man’s most expensive hobby starts with 98¢”, per the meme. If there is one reader out there that didn’t play with a Hot Wheels car as a kid, well…let’s say that “suspicious” isn’t the word needed to describe our feelings. Ever since their introduction in 1968, Hot Wheels were the scale car to play with, going so far as to rip market share from Matchbox. Built as hot rods first, not so much as real cars, and featuring things like mag wheels, blowers, trick paint and of course, redline-striped tires in the early days, Hot Wheels proved to be a wild success from the word “go”. But you don’t get success with a new toy product without help, and one man who was instrumental in helping Mattel promote the new lineup has passed on.
You probably don’t know the name Otto Kuhni, but you know his artwork. Up until the mid-1990s and even later on rare occasions, Kuhni was the artist for Hot Wheels. He drew up the artwork for the packaging, the lunch boxes, whatever was associated with Hot Wheels. He’s also instrumental in creating the blue, generic all-makes muscle car that graced initial Hot Wheels packages (the company named the car the “Custom Otto” in 2008). Otto’s ability to incorporate a bit of fantasy, a bit of reality, and all of the promised speed of the cars was the reason why Hot Wheels is what it is today, and what it was (and still is, maybe) to you.
Rest easy, Mr. Kuhni.
May he RIP. The artwork he did is part of what makes you love Hot Wheels!!.
R.I.P
Going to have to take a few out of the closet and play today.
the hot wheel collectors will miss him he was at the hot wheels conv some time ago a great guy was into cars