Skip to content 
Amazon's got it at $26.99, and that's the best price you can actually buy at right now. The $19.99 shelf price everybody's chasing is real, but it's sold out. Resellers want $36 to $66, which you should ignore. And there's a nearly identical box on shelves that's last year's calendar for five dollars more, so check the UPC before you grab one.
It's August. Somebody's asking you to think about Christmas already, and I'm sorry about that. But this is genuinely the moment for advent calendars, because the good ones sell through in November and then reappear on eBay at triple the price while you're still deciding.
The Hot Wheels calendar is one of those. Last year's version sold out, and this year's is already gone at its cheapest price. Here's where it actually is, what's inside it, and the one buying mistake that's very easy to make with this particular product.
Where To Buy The Hot Wheels 2026 Advent Calendar
| Retailer | Status | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AmazonCheapest you can actually buy. Ships slowly. | Slow Ship | $26.991 to 2 months | Check Stock Status |
| Entertainment EarthPre-order, arrives November. Same price. | Pre-Order | $26.99ships November | Check Stock Status |
| popmarketIn stock now if you can't wait. | In Stock | $34.79+74% over shelf | Check Stock Status |
| WalmartMarketplace sellers only. Walmart isn't stocking it. | Third Party | $44.73others from $51.75 | Check Stock Status |
| ResellerseBay and marketplace listings. Watch the shipping. | Overpriced | $36–$66up to 3x shelf | Check Stock Status |
Worth knowing about that $19.99
The shelf price on this calendar is $19.99, and that's what it rang up at when it hit big-box stores in July. It's sold out at that price and has been for a while. If you see $19.99 somewhere, buy it immediately and stop reading. Everywhere you can actually order today is $26.99 or higher, which is why the number in the table above is the one to judge against.
Thirty-four pieces spread across twenty-four doors: ten die-cast cars at 1:64, fourteen winter accessories that clip onto them, and ten ornament hooks so the cars end up on your tree. The box folds out into a printed track. The exclusive this year is a snow globe car with a Yeti at the wheel, and it's the piece people actually want.
This is the part that'll cost you money if you skip it. There are two Hot Wheels advent calendars sitting side by side right now, they look almost identical, and one of them is last year's. It's often the more expensive of the two.
194735363384 Mattel JLG41. Snow globe car with a Yeti driver. Shelf price $19.99. 194735267262 Mattel JCB47, sometimes listed as "Tabletop Advent Calendar 34pk" with no year on the label. Often priced higher than the newer one. Both are 34-piece sets and both are perfectly good calendars, so this isn't a warning about quality. It's just that if you're paying more, you should at least be getting the current one. The 2025 box has different cars and a different exclusive. Check the last six digits and you're fine.
What's Actually Inside
The spec that trips people up: there are twenty-four doors but only ten cars. The other fourteen days are accessories. Whether that's a problem depends entirely on how old your kid is, which comes up again in the reviews below.
The whole thing measures about 18 by 12 inches and it's rated 3 and up, with a choking hazard warning for small parts. Mattel notes that colors and decorations vary, so the ten castings you get aren't guaranteed to match the box art.
Who It's For
- You've got a kid roughly 3 to 6. That's clearly where this lands best.
- You want the December ritual more than you want ten specific cars.
- You'd actually hang the cars on the tree, because the clips are half the idea.
- You have two kids who can split five cars each without a negotiation.
- Your kid is 7 or older and just wants cars. Fourteen of the doors aren't cars.
- You're paying $50 or more. It isn't worth that, and it'll restock.
- You want everything to feel premium. The cars are good, the plastic bits aren't.
- You're buying it as a keepsake. This is a December activity, not a collection.
What Buyers Are Saying
The 2026 calendar is rated 4.8 out of 5 from 27 Amazon ratings, all of them posted in the last few weeks, which is a small sample and mostly early buyers. For anything more substantial you have to look at last year's calendar, which is the same 34-piece format with different cars. Those reviews are quoted below, and every one of them is labeled as the 2025 model so you know what you're reading.
"It's a fun advent calendar. My 4 year old son loves seeing what he gets each day and really enjoys the cars. Having a foldout play area is a nice touch."
4 stars · 2025 model, verified buyer"Every day has fun items, my 6 year old son is on day 6 and he's already played about 6 hours collectively... All are great."
5 stars · 2025 model, verified buyer"This is a fun, improved Hot Wheels advent calendar! ... This calendar comes with 10 cars, which is more than in previous versions."
5 stars · 2025 model, verified buyer"The 24th car was missing from the set. Such a disappointment!! We tore the thing apart. It is definitely missing. And it appears to have been the best car in the set."
1 star · 2025 model, verified buyer"I wasn't a huge fan of all the accessories. They felt cheap and gimmicky... Mine are old enough that just 24 days of cars would have been their preference."
3 stars · 2025 model, parent of a 7 and 9 year old"The box was ripped apart and it was a gift for my Grandson. Looked like someone took a box cutter to it."
5 stars(!) · 2025 model, verified buyerOur Read On The Reviews
Two things stand out, and neither is what you'd expect. First, nobody complains about the price. The only review that mentions money is a buyer pleased to have paid $20 when it was "$40 other places." So the value case is settled: at shelf price this is a good buy, and the argument is only about what you should pay above it.
Second, the one-star reviews aren't really about the calendar. They're about the box arriving damaged or a car missing, which is a fulfillment problem, not a design one. The ratings back that up: on last year's model, 69% gave it five stars and 10% gave it one, with almost nothing in between. That hollowed-out shape is what a shipping problem looks like, not a product people are lukewarm on.
Which leads to the practical advice. Open it and count the doors when it arrives, not on December 1st. If something's missing you want to find out in October while the return window is open and stock still exists, rather than on the morning a kid is standing in front of you.
The genuine criticism worth weighing is the accessories. Reviewers consistently praise the die-cast and consistently call the plastic bits "cheap and gimmicky." If your kid is old enough to notice the difference, that matters. If they're four, it won't.
What You Should Actually Pay
Shelf price is $19.99 and the cheapest you can order today is $26.99. Type in whatever you're looking at.
Fair
Steep
Overpriced
Reseller
Restock History
Hot Wheels advent calendars used to be a reliable clearance item. That changed two years ago, and the change is worth understanding before you decide to wait it out.
- 2024 and earlier Eight cars, and they got cheap The older format was routinely marked down after Christmas, and the 2024 calendar was tracked as low as $13.35 the following spring. Waiting used to be the smart move.
- 2025 Redesigned to ten cars, and it sold out The jump to a 34-piece set is when this stopped being a clearance item. By late November buyers were reporting that almost nobody had stock, and Walmart's own listing is now third-party only.
- July 15, 2026 This year's version goes on sale Same 34-piece format, new cars, new exclusive. On shelves at $19.99.
- September 2026 · Now Already gone at shelf price Five weeks after launch the cheapest first-party price is sold out and everything available starts at $26.99. That's earlier than last year, and it's the reason to sort this out now rather than in November.
Hot Wheels Advent Calendar FAQ
The Bottom Line: At $26.99 from Amazon this is still a good buy, and it's the cheapest place you can actually order one. Check the UPC ends in 363384 so you're getting this year's box and not last year's at a higher price, open it and count the pieces as soon as it lands, and give it to a kid between about 3 and 6 who'll enjoy the ritual more than they'll audit the accessories. Don't pay $55. It isn't a $55 calendar.
