Hot Wheels Treasure Hunts Explained: How to Spot a TH and a Super Treasure Hunt

Ask any Hot Wheels collector what gets their heart racing on a supermarket peg and the answer is nearly always the same: a Treasure Hunt. These limited cars are hidden in ordinary cases, look almost identical to everything else on the shelf, and can be worth many times the price you paid. Here's how to tell them apart, what makes a Super Treasure Hunt so special, and which ones we currently have in stock.

What is a Hot Wheels Treasure Hunt?

Treasure Hunts are limited-production versions of mainline Hot Wheels cars that Mattel mixes randomly into normal cases. The idea started in 1995 with a set of 12 cars, each made in a run of 10,000. That rose to 25,000 per car in 1996, and from 1997 Mattel stopped publishing production numbers altogether.

In 2007 a second, rarer tier arrived: the Super Treasure Hunt (STH). From around 2012–2013 both types stopped being a separate series and became "hidden" inside the everyday mainline range, which is why you now have to hunt for them on the pegs.

How to spot a regular Treasure Hunt (TH)

• The circle-flame logo. Since 2013 regular THs carry a small flame-inside-a-circle symbol printed somewhere on the car's body.
• Check the card. On modern cards the same logo also appears on the card behind the car.
• Normal paint and plastic wheels. A regular TH otherwise looks like a standard mainline car, so it's easy to miss.
• Older THs (1995–2012) were their own numbered series and are usually marked "Treasure Hunt" on the card, often with special wheels and a numbered set position such as 5/12.

Watch out: the circle-flame logo is also used as a decoration on some non-TH cars, so look for the other clues too before you get excited.

How to spot a Super Treasure Hunt (STH)

• Spectraflame paint – a deep, glossy, see-through metallic finish over a chrome base. It looks noticeably richer than normal paint.
• Real Riders wheels – two-piece wheels with proper rubber tyres instead of the usual one-piece plastic wheels. This is usually the easiest giveaway.
• "TH" on the car – a small TH marking is printed on the body.
• Gold logo on the card – on recent releases there's a gold circle-flame logo on the card behind the car.

A real Super Treasure Hunt: the Porsche 911 Rallye from the Safari Mode series. Note the deep Spectraflame green paint, the rubber Real Riders tyres on the gold wheels and the small "TH" logo behind the door.

Super Treasure Hunts are much rarer than regular THs and are the ones most collectors are really chasing.

How rare are they?

Mattel doesn't publish exact figures, but as a rough guide a standard 72-car case usually contains around one regular Treasure Hunt, and Super Treasure Hunts turn up far less often than that. Many cases have none at all. That's why they disappear from the shops so quickly.

Tips for buying Treasure Hunts

• Card condition matters. A crisp, unpunched card with no soft corners or bubble cracks is worth more to most collectors.
• Know the year. Vintage numbered THs (like the 2002–2004 "x/12" sets) are a different collecting area from modern hidden THs.
• Beware customs and fakes. Rubber tyres and Spectraflame-style paint can be added by customisers, so buy carded examples from sellers you trust.
• Buy what you love. Values go up and down; a car you enjoy is never a bad buy.

Treasure Hunts in stock at Loads Of Wheels

Every car below is genuine, carded and photographed individually. Stock is one-off, so when they're gone they're gone.

Vintage numbered Treasure Hunts

• Anglia Panel – 2002 Treasure Hunt 12/12
• Super Tsunami – 2003 Treasure Hunt 11/12
• Super Smooth – 2004 Treasure Hunt 5/12
• Ratbomb – 2010 Treasure Hunt

2012 Treasure Hunts

• '65 Ford Ranchero – 2012 Treasure Hunt
• Ford Shelby GR-1 Concept – 2012 Treasure Hunt
• Surf Crate – 2012 Treasure Hunt

Modern hidden Treasure Hunts

• Blade Raider – 2017 Treasure Hunt
• So Plowed – 2017 Treasure Hunt
• Fandango – 2017 Treasure Hunt
• Pedal Driver – 2017 Treasure Hunt
• 2 Jet Z – Treasure Hunt
• '87 Buick Regal GNX – 2026 Treasure Hunt

Looking for a particular Treasure Hunt?

We add new stock every week, much of it from collections bought here in Liverpool. If there's a TH or Super Treasure Hunt on your wanted list, get in touch and we'll keep an eye out for you. All orders come with free UK delivery and 30-day returns.

New to collecting? Start with our Beginner's Guide to Collecting Hot Wheels.