Wipe-Outs Can Be Fun!

This week we are going to look at a Hot Wheel related item from 1968 that isn't a car (we already looked at all of those!) It's the Hot Wheels Wipe-Out Race Game! It looks something like this:

The box. I love the Indy graphics...

I got this game years ago at a local toy show. I didn't pay much for it at the time, mainly because the guy manning the booth had been ditched by the owner for a few hours and he got his revenge by selling me this game for something like ten bucks. Moral: take care of your employees!

Anyway, even though I bought it because it was a nice vintage tie-in piece, as it turns out, it's actually a pretty cool game. Let's pop the lid off and look inside, shall we?

Here are the instructions. I like having instructions on the box lid because it's hard to lose them....unless you lose the whole game....and there can't be too many of them!

Here is the game board. Dig those groovy '60s graphics, man! The game pieces are little plastic Toreros. That"s a 1969 car, which makes me think this game came out in late 1968.

This is one part of the idea that makes this game so cool. Each player has a shifter that they can adjust to make their car go faster. Of course, just like in real life, the faster you go, the greater the risks! 

And this is the wheel that controls your fate! Also, note the little wheel shaped cards on the track. You want to avoid those...just sayin'!

The game is simple enough; just be the first to get around the track! There is a good combination of strategy and luck, though, so it can actually be an entertaining game! All in all, not a bad find for ten bucks!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!