For four-year-old Doug Woods, the tiny 1969 VW Beach Bomb Hot Wheel he plucked out of a yard sale was just a 10-cent toy. He never imagined that 43 years later, he would own 25,000 Hot Wheels cars and parts and be considered among Canada's leading Hot Wheels experts.

Woods told Reuters that his collection grew steadily after that first car.

These days, his vehicles are part of his life. When he married, he used Hot Wheels as wedding favors. His six-year-old daughter is his staunch collecting partner. Twenty-five years ago, he founded the Northern Lights Hot Wheels Club, which meets monthly. In February, he even displayed his rarest vehicles at the Canadian International Auto Show. 

American Mike Zarnock has held the record for the world's largest Hot Wheels collection since 2003. He has some 30,000 cars.

But for Woods, it's not about breaking the record. His primary goal right now is to find a place to display his collection. He said he's even considered opening a traveling museum.

Hot Wheels is a Mattel company product line that started in 1968. The last Mattel Annual Report shows that in 2022, market sales for Hot Wheels were $617.9 million in North America, up from $529.5 million in 2021.

(Production: Kyaw Soe Oo, Kevin Fogarty, Kristin Neubaeur)