From Hot Wheels Wiki

Current Events is a central place where the community can discuss topics that concern the whole of the wiki. Think of it as a talk page for the entire database. Please feel free to participate in these threads, and help make decisions about the wiki!

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Discussion Forum

Could we come up with a more normal email-like discussion forum group? For example, I belong to various "Yahoo Groups" forums. This might be archaic for some users but it sure works well for many. Could we work out an agreeable email style forum for general discussion for the Wiki??Vista69 04:45, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

I spent 10 minutes looking for the change to this page only to find that what had just been posted had just been removed, and that was the only change - not that something new had been added. If summaries could be left every time an edit is made, it would sure save a lot of time. Besides, why was this removed? It sounded like a good idea to me. HaarFager 17:56, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Sorry about that Kenny, I made this suggestion late last night after a couple beers and it didn't sound like such a great idea to me this morning, especially after I couldn't get a "Yahoo Groups" email list to work. So I deleted the whole idea thinking that it wouldn't have even been noticed.

If you think that an email type forum would be a good way to communicate about the Wiki outside the Wiki, then I'm still for the idea, I'm open to suggestions. If you're able to set up an email group, then I'd like to join. Vista69 02:18, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, it sounds like a great idea, I just don't know anything about setting up e-mail groups. Maybe somebody else does? HaarFager 03:46, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

count me among the "not thrilled" with the way our talk is scattered around everyone's talk pages. Maybe we can do something right here by setting up pages with topics for discussion of a general nature.

Another idea is to just usurp a section over at HWC in the Casting Database forum. I found the Wiki through HWC. and HWC BrianF is posting again so maybe we can even get a subsection like Ray's Variation Forum. Could get more participation that way too. I tried "integrating" on a page I did... http://hotwheels.wikia.com/wiki/Hot_Wheels_City_5-Pack ranugad 01:11, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

just playin around ... Discussion Forum

The Reason I Don't Like The Autogreet Feature

I just saw where the Hot Wheels Wiki had two vandals. They might be the same person using two different names, I'm not sure. But, in each case when these users signed up, there was the autogreeting for them in my name. Now, I certainly wouldn't be so effusive toward vandals, but the system uses my name without my permission. How can I take my name out of being used for this function? That's also why I like to be able to wait and see what a user is going to do before greeting them in such a way. Why waste our time making vandals feel welcome? HaarFager 21:50, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Another Issue

It seems like I'm always complaining, but the things I bring up here have relevance to me and the other users that do work here. I just noticed that somebody had left a comment on a new user's talk page and signed my name to it. I don't think things like this should be happening. When I was made an administrator here, that was one of the tasks I was charged with performing, that of greeting new users. This was said to be a high priority task, so I took that to heart and now try to greet all new users as soon as I can. It was such an important thing to me that myself and another administrator, Brad, worked up a specific message to post for new users here on the Hot Wheels Wiki that was geared to the specific needs of this wiki. Now, if it's just some sort of programming that pastes this new greeting with my name attached, I wish there was some way to turn it off, at least on this wiki. HaarFager 19:21, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

What you're seeing is a new feature that we just developed called the "welcome tool" -- it's designed to make the job of welcoming easier for you. When a new contributor posts, a welcome message gets posted one minute later. The message is totally customizable by the wiki's admins -- so we can use the Hot Wheels-specific message that you guys have developed.

Now, you guys have been amazing about leaving welcomes, and this tool is mostly designed for all of the wikis where the admins aren't consistent about it. But you still may want to use it here (customized to be Hot Wheels specific), because the speed is really helpful.

We've been testing this feature for a couple weeks on various wikis, and I've been really impressed with the responses from new contributors. Even when a wiki has great, consistent welcomers, the welcome is still usually posted a couple hours after the new person's edit. It turns out that a one-minute delay is really effective -- the welcome catches people while they're still on the wiki, and helps them to feel connected to an admin. I've seen a lot of new people reaching out to admins for help that otherwise would just be lost.

So -- I'll switch over the Hot Wheels messages, and show you how to customize this. Then you can tell me what you think, okay? -- Danny

(talk) 20:12, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Okay, I changed MediaWiki:Welcome-message-user to use the Hot Wheels welcome message. It's got three variables in it that do some cool things. $1 pulls the name of the page that the contributor edited, so it says "Thanks for your edit to the (article name) page." $2 and $3 pulls the name of the most recently active admin, signs it with that admin's name, and adds a link to their talk page.

I signed in as a make-believe user, Dannytest15, so you can see what the message looks like now -- User talk:Dannytest15.

There are more ways that you can customize this; there's more info on the User:Wikia page. You can also turn it off if you want, but I hope you give it a chance for a little while. This is a new feature that I designed myself, and I'm really excited to see how well it's working on wikis all over Wikia. So please let me know what you think! -- Danny

(talk) 20:25, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Danny, thanks for this great new feature, it seems to work perfectly! It is thanks to all the people such as yourself and others, that are creating these new automatic tools which improve things greatly and makes us pitiful humans obsolete! I'm practically not needed anymore! Whoo hoo! HaarFager 20:54, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Is there any timeline when they'll be finished "upgrading" everything? I'm tempted to just stop working on any wiki until they stop the continual changes and then relearning how to use it all at once, not several different times over and over. This will have the decided advantage of not wasting so much of my time. Sorry to feel this way, I really like wikis. HaarFager 02:07, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Well, here's the thing: We inherited the MediaWiki software from Wikipedia -- and, basically, it just doesn't work that well. It's "early adopter" software -- it works well for tech-y people who are okay with the idea that you have to learn complicated syntax before you can write stuff.

Wikis are an incredibly powerful tool for collaborative writing -- and once everybody learns how to use them, then that's going to change the way information is organized in the world. I know that's weird to talk about, but this really is important, on a large-scale social and cultural level. Wikis are going to change the world. But that only happens if people learn how to use them.

So -- we're working on making wikis easier for people to learn. Right now, wikis run like Linux, and they need to run like iPhones. We need to take the hard stuff away and automate it, so that people don't have to see it -- and they can concentrate on the important stuff, like adding information about Hot Wheels cars.

Unfortunately, we can't just redesign everything all at once. You can't design a living site like that -- you need enough consistency from one day to the next, so that an editor can accept each change as it comes along, and keep moving on. Plus, the redesign is an organic process -- we pay a lot of attention to what happens on the site, and we learn a lot from each step. That learning informs the next step. We couldn't do that if we tried to design everything all at once, without seeing how people use it.

So, the bottom line is: Wikia is a work in progress, just like a wiki is. It's going to keep developing and growing for a long time. Sometimes it takes a step forward and a step back, as we learn more -- but, just like a wiki, it gets better over the long term.

Wikis are a collaboration among hundreds of different people. That's challenging sometimes, because it means you have to be flexible. You don't have total control over everything that gets added to this site -- other people come along with different ideas, and you have to compromise and adjust. That kind of process isn't for everybody. But as you've seen on this wiki -- if you can roll with that process, then the thing that you create together is so much bigger and better than anything you could have done on your own.

The same thing is true on a bigger scale, working with Wikia and all of the other wikis on the site. This is a big collaboration between you and me and the engineers and the designers and the hundreds of thousands of other contributors on the site. That's not always easy, and it takes some adjustment. But if you can roll with it... look at the amazing things that we can create together. -- Danny

(talk) 03:10, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Thank you, Danny, for that very well thought out answer! HaarFager 07:55, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

ALL LISTS from 1995 to 2009

Instead of emailing everyone individually, I thought it would be good to leave the message here. The Lists by years, from 1995 to 2009 are completely done, with all Collector Numbers and Toy Numbers. I basically took the layout that was provided from 2009 and worked my way back, I did have a few members help on they way, and thanks. When I started coming here actively in October. I notice there really wasn't much info on these lists, something had to be done, and took the liberty to do it. (Colors on Cards) I also thought of staying as close to the colors as a theme on the card, so if you notice for example List of 2000 Hot Wheels by series some colors can be nerving, and I didn't do that on purpose. I just tried to be close as possible to the card.

I tried something along the way, and need all your thoughts here. If you click onto 2008 New Models it will take you to a short list of all that is pictured, originally was a redirect. Here's an idea that Vista brought up in another message from another listing, "what do we do with variations do we show them". Now, this seems like work, but it is an idea. There is room on the 2008 New Models to go across to the right. I did it to see on how many across and we can go up to 7 photos and maybe 8 total, it is only a thought. (Did Not save that work) We now have thorough list of all information that can help when we do our listings. If I missed anything along the way with the lists, then it needs fined tuned, hope you all like it. Fantazim 12:26, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Great job getting all those lists put together. Thanks for all your work. I'll keep adding pictures to the lists.

Regarding adding the variations... were you thinking it would look better to put them next to each other, side by side, or add them verticly as another list entry? Personally, I think if we were to include variations, they should be stacked as another entry. just my .02 Vista69 21:09, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, Well, if we are going to show the photos, then we should go across, I saw a few you did on the on the 1998 list. That's what I was saying you could add a string like Photo 1 Verision 2. Not sure, but that might be the way I think, like your doing or we can leave the list as a list but then have them go to another page, but it is mor to Brad and Kenny too. Fantazim 22:00, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Things are strange... Back to the List of 1998 Hot Wheels page, I was at a library using a newer computer than mine. I inserted the two similar images back to back without any spaces or breaks of any kind and the two images were left and right of each other making the picture column wider. Now, I'm back with my own computer and the two images are stacked. The whole column is taller with a single line entry. How do the pairs of images appear on your monitor? Vista69 02:31, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

It looks side by side to me, I know their servers were down earlier. If it changes then you could cut and copy the photo string and name it photo 2 or something. Fantazim 03:27, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

I think it has more to do with the individual computers. If side by side is what you think looks the best, then I'll continue to do it this way, as opposed to adding another line entry. It's easier that way anyway. Vista69 04:08, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

No, each variation should have it's own line. 2 images in one slot throws off the column spacing too much. Somebody talked about that before, but I forget when or which page it was connected to. HaarFager 04:20, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

I just tried what you were saying Kenny, actually played around the other evening I fixed 2 of them Vista did but now when it comes to "Multiple Photos", do we say "Photo" and "Photo 2" or Ver. 1 and Ver. 2 and so forth. Fantazim 04:35, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually, that's what the Notes/Variations column is for. Variations such as these kinds. HaarFager 04:41, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Wow this is getting huge. I meant "Ver. 1" short for Version 1, reason I bring that up is, I see some other sites that have it, we can stick to photo 1, and photo 2. I had 6 or 7 of these going across the other night with the Dodge Challenger Concept doing the Photo 1 and etc. Fantazim 05:10, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

THIS HAS GOT TO STOP

I'm so mad over another change I just encountered, I can't see straight! How the heck do we create new pages anymore? When you search for the name of the page you want to create, it brings up a "this page does not exist" page. But, it also used to have a link where you could click if you "do you want to create this page?" Now, it's no longer there! What is going on and how are we supposed to create pages now!!!!???? Somebody at Wikia better straighten out this mess poste haste! HaarFager 16:41, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

MAD!!!!! HaarFager 16:41, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

MAD AS Well, Kenny I Emailed you Fantazim 16:58, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, Bill. I got it. HaarFager 17:18, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Hi, guys -- Gosh, I'm sorry that the changes have been so frustrating for you. I haven't been watching this page -- but I will from now on. If you've got any questions about a change, or how to fix something, please let me know; I'm happy to help.

So -- the changes that were just made over the last couple days are all changes in MediaWiki messages, which can be changed back very easily. Let me see if I can figure out which changes you're talking about... -- Danny (talk) 17:52, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Okay, I put back the "You can create this page" link on the search results page. That was taken out because it's not really the typical way that people create pages. Other ways to create pages are:

Create a link to the page that you want to create on another article. Follow the red link to create the page.

In the address bar in your browser, replace the name of the page that you're on with the name of the page that you want to create. That brings up a new page that says "Click here to create this page!"

Since you use the red link on the search page a lot, I restored it on this wiki. All this stuff is easy to customize; just let me know. -- Danny

(talk) 18:01, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, Danny! Hallelujah, de Lord be praised! Massah been good to us slaves! HaarFager 18:39, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Danny, I just wanted to thank you for putting back the red "create this page" link for us. I guess it IS an important link for the Hot Wheels Wiki since there's so many new pages to create. I think most of us relied on that link to stay constant. Thanks for all you do. Vista69 04:46, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, no problem! Thanks to you (and everybody) for making this wiki so awesome. Let me know if there's more stuff that needs fixing. -- Danny

(talk) 19:33, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Help

What happened to the help pages we used to have on the Hot Wheels Wiki? They were helpful. The one's they gave us don't help anything. Have you tried making any sense of the help page for displaying a picture from another website? Utter gibberish. It's very frustrating because we used to have a help page that addressed this exact kind of image formatting, and it worked. HaarFager 06:17, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

List Of Users

What happened to the link for all the users on the Hot Wheels Wiki? It used to be link located in the Special Pages section. You could go there and just click on it and it would bring up all the users here. Two clicks and it would display. Has this link been removed? HaarFager 01:04, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Kenny, The Community Portal doesn't look to be set up in direct connection to main for some reason, that is why they aren't answering to anything we put. Fantazim 04:17, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Leave it to them to take away things that we do need and give us something we don't need and that doesn't work. For what reason do we have a community portal anyway? We take care of all of our problems ourselves, except the ones they gives us by constant change. Ostensibly, change is for the better, but you notice it never is. HaarFager 04:48, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

The above word "gives" is not a typo. We slaves is jus' waitin' for our Massah's to he'p us. Please he'p us, Massah! Oh, de Lord save us! HaarFager 17:21, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Constant Layout Changes

Why does the layout of pages keep changing? It makes it very hard to work when you're used to the placement of buttons you've pushed thousands of times and numbers being in a certain place, when they're moved, even infitesimally. Will these changes end eventually? HaarFager 00:40, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

What Happened!?

Now my edit window is just a tiny area as composed to the tall edit window we used to have to work in. Is this a permanent change or just something that shows up this way on my computer? And what's with changing the little Summary and Save Page box at the bottom of each page? Now everything's in a different place and it takes me added time to locate them over where they used to be for so long. Is this really a change for the better? Sure, it's new! But, is it any better? I don't think so. HaarFager 13:11, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Got to agree with you, especially when your doing long pages and I mean long pages, it's like, you want play etch a sketch with the monitor. Fantazim 13:22, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Here's a tip that I discovered. I can't speak for all browsers, but with mine, if I hit the Preview button, the edit window gets almost twice as big. Let me know how it works for you, Later Vista69 00:51, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Vista69

Add an Image!?

I see this change as a major set-back. What happened to the "Add an Image" link at the top of the edit area???!!Vista69 08:45, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

I saw it was gone too, there is Upload Image page. Fantazim 12:22, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Update on the missing link... It's been changed to an icon at the far right on top of the edit window. I'm Happy again :-) Vista69 00:23, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

Interested In Errors....?

Hello, I'm from KY and just started collecting. I recently Picked up a few cars from a local retailer that have some significant errors. I have a Nissan Silvia (m6886 Team Hot Wheels Racing. The Error here is in the Tampo. The "WH" in Hot Wheels is smudged. I also have a Ferrari FXX L9948 Yellow with White Stripe with a fingerprint in the stripe. Another I picked up is an 08 Lancer Evolution l9938 blue. The Error here is on the deck lid (trunk) right above the Mitsubishi Badge is a spot of Either Silver Paint or where the machine stamping the badge had rubbed it off. I got two of these ( one First Edition and one 08 New Models) and they both have the same serial but the card on the first ed. is nearly half the size of the 08 new ed card and the car is painted gunmetal and has different rims. lol

Mushukilla 15:00, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Non-standard cars under the HW brand

Hi everyone. I was here several months ago looking for sub-lines like Sizzlers and the X-V Racers that HW released over the years. Do these belong here? Thanks! --Xvracer 05:14, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

They absolutely belong here! Please feel free to add them! --HWC Mongrel 13:46, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Another New User, a few questions

Hi folks, I'm a moderate collector, and one of my hobbies has been categorizing my hobby. I've got photos of just about every Hot Wheels car I've purchased, although I focus on a few select models. You can see the kind of thing I've done on my own sites: my Gallery, and my wiki.

I am a Canadian collector, so the specific of what I end up with will be different from what is available in the US -- for example, in Canada there were no Web Trading series cars, although the same models appeared in the same numerical place in the sequence. Another example, in '01 or '02 there was a special edition, un-numbered Fandango that was available with the Collector's Guide for that year in Canada that I believe was not available in the US. Are we considering the US lists as "authoritative" for this site?

What about cars external to the series (eg: this Classics Series 3 car) or generally odd, suspicious, or unverifiable cars?

--Xdroop 01:12, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Welcome, Xdroop! We look forward to your additions to the wiki! I would say that any HW released for purchase at retail could be and should be captured here. So, if you know of castings or variations that existed outside of the US, please add them. As far as prototypes and things like that go, I could see there being an article on the concept of prototypes and there can be some featured there as a gallery to get the concept across, but I wouldn't put them in the line-up of versions on a casting's page, if you understand my meaning. --HWC Mongrel 20:33, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Hello everyone, I hope I do this post correctly. I am a new collector to Hot Wheels, I started it as something for me little boy. Definitely a learning curve as a collector. I do have a question that I hope someone could answer. As a Canadian I have been collected what I find in local stores however, I have gone online and ordered from some U.S. retail sites. What I have noticed is differences between the packaging. I.e U.S. 2008 First Models vs Cdn. 2008 New Editions, U.S. Team Exotics vs Cdn. Exotics, and the Series numbers are referred to differently. I.e. U.S. 1 of 40 vs Cdn. 1/40. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this aside from being manufactured in a different location. Mystery Cars well, those are a mystery in itself. Thank you in advance. Northerndancer711 22:18, 28 November 2008 (UTC)northerndancer711

New Helper

Hey everyone - I'm Shawn, a Wikia Helper. I've been taking a look at everything around here while making a few edits and additions, and am pretty impressed! I want to help out around here, is there any specific area I can be of help working on? If anyone has any questions, feel free to drop a note on my talk page. Shawn (talk) 19:05, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Casting template

Hi folks: I played around a little bit with the casting template this morning, to get rid of the big white space that was at the top of a lot of pages. Scott is working on another version of the template that I think will be great. I'm hoping we'll have that up soon. Meanwhile, this one works... -- Danny (talk) 15:59, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

I just added a new edit to the template that includes Version info as well - hope it helps the process! Shawn (talk) 23:13, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Manufacturers, marques and owners...

I've added some Category pages for Manufacturers, and I've come across a dilemma.I've put Bentley as a sub-group of VW, for example, and Rolls Royce as a sub-group of BMW as this is the current situation. However, this was not the case when the two existing Rolls-Royce castings (or indeed the cars they are based on) were made. Equally, BMC, the parent company of Austin, Morris and Rover no longer exists, along with those marques. Should BMC be removed and Austin and Morris be listed at the top level? How important are corporate structure and international commerce when discussing little toy cars? :) Butterfingersbeck 09:37, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

When I started creating the framework for the manufacturers, I tried to stay as true to today's industry as possible. That's why you'll find Willys and AMC where they are, rather than companies in their own right, as they once were. As for BMC, I don't even know that it needs to be added since Hot Wheels never made a "BMC" car; HW only made cars under other marks that are now owned by other companies. To me, it's about the current industry and the licensed marks and legal lines on the packages. --HWC Mongrel 14:22, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

These New Connect Car I don't Understand

I just bought these new connect cars, I can't find a page related to them

Her's pic

Sorry its Tilted.Thanks. --KABLM 12:41, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Hi KABLM. Are you in a country other that the USA? From what I understand, if you are outside the US, you'll receive alternate Connect Cars. I'm not sure too much about them other than what I have written on the Connect Cars page already. Check out the section underneath the "50 States" section. I started something there, hopefully you can add some info and pics. BigBadBrad01 14:12, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Hi BigBadBrad01, Yes, I am in India, I'll try and send more photos.--KABLM 05:40, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Hot Wheels Wiki:Community Portal