Hot Wheels base codes: what the letters and numbers mean

Where the code is

On the metal or plastic base, usually a small stamp apart from the casting name: a letter and two digits. It can be faint, so use daylight and look at it from a low angle.

Year letters

The letter is the year, the two digits are the production week. T14 is week 14 of 2024. I, O and Q are not used.

This is the production date of the casting, not the series year. The same casting with the same code can sit in two different series.

What this page does not decode

• The toy number, five characters such as HKW50. It identifies the car within its year: search it in the catalog.
• The assortment number. We do not guess what it means.
• The country of manufacture. It is printed as words on the base, there is nothing to decode.
• Anything longer than a letter and two digits, or numbers only.
• Matchbox. It uses a different stamp, not covered yet.