Changes: Base codes

Revision as of 04:29, 10 July 2019

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 Code Details

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

B12

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.

This puts the production date at the 4th week (22-29) of March 2009.

Example #2

C47

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.

This puts this car's production date at the 4th week (21-27) of November 2010 .

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: @@
-Starting in 2008, Hot Wheels began using base codes. These base codes can be interpreted as follows.
+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.
-Letters = Year of Manufacture
+== Date Code Details ==
-{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"
+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 [[Base Codes#Examples|examples]] below.
+{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5"
+|'''Letter'''
+|'''Year of Manufacture'''
+|-
 |A
 |2008
@@ Line 27: / Line 38: @@
 |2015
 |-
-|I
+|J
 |2016
+|-
+|K
+|2017
+|-
+|L
+|2018
+|-
+|M
+|2019
+|-
+|N
+|2020
 |}
-Numbers = Week of the year
-{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"
-|1-52
-|Week of the Year
-|}
-Example #1: B12, B indicates the car was manufactured in 2009. 12 being the 12th week of the year puts the production date approximately the end of March.
+== Examples ==
-Example #2: C47, with C indicating that the car was manufactured in 2010. The number "47" indicates the car being manufactured in the 47th week of 2010, which puts this car's production date around the end of November.
-''Other then helping to search for new variations, These base codes have little meaning among collectors.''
+=== Example #1 ===
+'''B12'''
+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.
+This puts the production date at the 4th week (22-29) of March 2009.
+=== Example #2 ===
+'''C47'''
+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.
+This puts this car's production date at the 4th week (21-27) of November 2010 .
+== 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.
 [[Category:Definitions]]