Changes: Base codes

Revision as of 16:20, 11 July 2020

Date Code

Starting in 2008, Mattel began using date codes on Hot Wheels vehicles. The date code can be used to identify when an individual vehicle was actually manufactured in the Hot Wheels factory.

Date codes are typically found on the base and cards of Hot Wheels vehicles manufactures since 2008. The Date Code will be found either stamped into the base or printed with various colored inks..

Date codes consist of a letter followed by a two-digit number.

The letter refers to the year of manufacture; the number refers to the week-number (1-52) within that year. Refer to the examples below.

Letter	Year of Manufacture
A	2008
B	2009
C	2010
D	2011
E	2012
F	2013
G	2014
H	2015
J	2016
K	2017
L	2018
M	2019
N	2020

Examples

Example #1

M36

The letter "M" indicates that the car was manufactured in 2019. The number "36" indicates the car was manufactured in the 36th week of that year.

This puts the production date at the 1st week (02-08) of September 2019.

Example #2

B20

The letter "B" indicates that the car was manufactured in 2009. The number "20" indicates the car was manufactured in the 20th week of that year.

This puts this car's production date at the 2nd week (11-17) of May 2009 .

Significance of Date Codes

The significance of date codes comes in to play when Mattel releases the next years series during the 4th quarter. New models for the following year and color variations of castings can have the current years date code but be part of series designated for the following year. For example M is the year code for 2019 however, when new for 2020 cars start hitting the shelf in October of 2019 they will have an Mxx date code because they were made in 2019 for the 2020 model year. This date code has no other significance except for the possibility of a recall indicator as it can identify when a particular casting was in production at the manufacturing plant.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+== Date Code ==
-Starting in 2008, Mattel began using base codes for Hot Wheels vehicles.
+Starting in 2008, Mattel began using date codes on Hot Wheels vehicles. The date code can be used to identify when an individual vehicle was actually manufactured in the Hot Wheels factory.
+Date codes are typically found on the base and cards of Hot Wheels vehicles manufactures since 2008. The Date Code will be found either stamped into the base or printed with various colored inks..
+[[File:Lotus_concept_C40_copie.jpg|thumb|310px]]
-== Base Code Details ==
+[[File:The_vangster_M37_copie.jpg|thumb|310px|left]]
-Base codes are typically found on the base of most Hot Wheels vehicles. The Base code typically is stamped into the base using a moulded stamp or it might be printed onto the base.
-Base codes consist of a ''letter'' followed by a ''two-digit number''.
+Date codes consist of a ''letter'' followed by a ''two-digit number''.
-The letter refers to the year of manufacture, the number refers to the week-number (1-52) within that year. Refer to the [[Base Codes#Examples|examples]] below.
+The letter refers to the year of manufacture; the number refers to the week-number (1-52) within that year. Refer to the [[Base Codes#Examples|examples]] below.
 {| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5"
@@ Line 46: / Line 48: @@
 |L
 |2018
+|-
+|M
+|2019
+|-
+|N
+|2020
 |}
+==='''Examples'''===
+====Example #1====
+'''M36'''[[File:Midnight_Otto_M36.jpg|thumb|310px]]
+The letter "M" indicates that the car was manufactured in 2019. The number "36" indicates the car was manufactured in the 36th week of that year.
+This puts the production date at the 1st week (02-08) of September 2019.
-== Examples ==
-=== Example #1 ===
-'''B12'''
+==== Example #2 ====
-The letter "B" indicates that the car was manufactured in 2009. The number "12" indicates the car was manufactured in the 12th week of that year.
+'''B20'''[[File:HW40-_B20_copie.jpg|thumb|310px]]
+The letter "B" indicates that the car was manufactured in 2009. The number "20" indicates the car was manufactured in the 20th week of that year.
-This puts the production date approximately towards the end of March 2009.
+This puts this car's production date at the 2nd week (11-17) of May 2009 .
-=== Example #2 ===
-'''C47'''
+== Significance of Date Codes ==
-The letter "C" indicates that the car was manufactured in 2010. The number "47" indicates the car was manufactured in the 47th week of that year.
+The significance of date codes comes in to play when Mattel releases the next years series during the 4th quarter. New models for the following year and color variations of castings can have the current years date code but be part of series designated for the following year. For example M is the year code for 2019 however, when new for 2020 cars start hitting the shelf in October of 2019 they will have an Mxx date code because they were made in 2019 for the 2020 model year. This date code has no other significance except for the possibility of a recall indicator as it can identify when a particular casting was in production at the manufacturing plant.
-This puts this car's production date around the end of November 2010.
+[[File:Date_code_on_card_copie.jpg|thumb|400px]]
-== Usefulness of Base Codes ==
-It has been argued that these base codes have little meaning amongst collectors, other than assisting collectors searching for new variations.
 [[Category:Definitions]]