A Hot Wheels case has codes printed on the side of the box that will help you determine what mix of vehicles are inside.

Mainline Case Code
The 2023 Hot Wheels mainline case pictured above has the code “L2593-976K PN.” What does it mean?

Blister Card
The code begins with “L2593-” printed on the box. This means the case has Hot Wheels mainline vehicles on U.S. blister cards.

A code that begins with “C4982-” will have mainline cars on international blister cards and “5785-” will have mainline cars on short cards.

Case Mix
The last letter in the next block of code determines the case mix. “976K” is stamped on the box pictured above. “K” is the last letter so it is case mix “K”.

There are 15 mainline cases for each year – A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, and Q. The letters “I” and “O” are skipped due to their similarity to the numbers “1” and “0”.

Version
Hot Wheels cases with the same case mix code may not be identical. There can be variations in the assortment of vehicles packed inside.

The final section of code is two letters that display the mix version. The further along in the alphabet, the later the mix version.

For example, “AA” would be an early version, “GS” would be a mid version, and “UF” is a later version. “PN” is on the example case which makes it a mid to late version.

Packaged Date
Below the case mix code there may be another code stamped on the box which determines when the case was packed.

In the example Hot Wheels case, “0843N2” is the date code. The first three numbers are the month and day using the Julian calendar and the fourth number is the year.

“0843” means the case was packaged on March 25, 2023. “N2” is the shift, and the case was most likely packaged by the Hot Wheels factory second shift.

U.S., International, and Short Card
From left to right is the ’69 Shelby GT-500 2023 Super Treasure Hunt packaged on its U.S., international, and short card.

U.S. Card Back
“HKL22-N9C0K” is on the back of the U.S. blister card pictured above. “HKL22” is the car’s 2023 vehicle code.

The last letter in the whole string of code determines the case mix. “K” is the last letter displayed which means the car first appeared in case mix “K.”

International and Short Cards
International and short cards lack the case letter in the code. There is no way to determine in what case mix a car first appeared from an international or short card.

Can a car be in more than one case mix?
Treasure Hunts and Super Treasure Hunts are usually only found in one case mix. All other vehicles may appear in more than one mix.

For example, case mix “K” will have new releases that debut in mix “K” and may also have cars from mix “J”.

Credits: hwtreasure.com