Rare #18 Toy Truck Story

Some of you may have heard about or seen this very rare and low production of the elusive #18 Toy Truck. This truck is a re-issue of the popular 1997 Hess Truck & Racers featuring a big 18-wheeler with not one, but two racecars inside. The cars were powered by friction motors and had working headlights and taillights. Of course, the truck had working headlights, taillights, and running lights, too. This is the largest truck that Hess had released in its collection.

 

 Now the difference between the original 1997 Hess truck and this special edition is the color and side markings. This truck is molded in a silver plastic with a single green stripe and the number 18 on the doors, sides of the truck, rear panel, front grille and top air dam. The race cars are also different as one is done in silver and the other in green and silver. Both have the #18 adorned on them. The box is also unique showing a picture of the truck displaying the race cars inside and reads "18 Dual Racer Transport" one the front portion of the box. Ok, so you are all wondering why this was produced and what's the story is behind the truck being made. Well here is the exclusive scoop on it. John Hess and Joe Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing and better known as the coach of the football Washington Redskins were and still are very good friends. John Hess had these trucks made up for his friend Joe to go along with his NASCAR race team . It was designed with his race car #18 adorning all sides of the truck and racers. There were less than 100 made and were packed in 6 and 12 pack cases, none of which were sold to the public. They were given to Gibbs to do whatever he wanted with them. Although not a true Hess edition this is still a very rare and unique collectible.

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned and operated by former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991, and J. D. Gibbs, his son. Headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina, near Charlotte, the team has amassed three Sprint Cup championships since the year 2000 and participated in other lower-tier NASCAR series for driver development, winning one championship in the East Division of the NASCAR Camping World. For the team's first sixteen seasons, JGR ran cars from General Motors. During that period the team won their three championships, two in Pontiac Grand Prixes and one in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Despite this, JGR felt as if they weren't as important as some of the other GM teams such as Hendricks Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing. Therefore, during the 2007 season Joe Gibbs Racing announced that they would be ending their arrangement with GM at the end of the year and begin running Toyotas the following season. Since then, JGR has become the strongest and has won the most out of any Toyota team.
 

Enjoy the Rare Photo's

 

 

Rare Picture of #18 Truck & Box

#18 Truck and Racers

Green & Silver Racer / Silver Racer

#18 on Front Chrome Grill

 

 

 

 

Flea Market Hess Toy Truck Fantasy Finds

Once in a while when you are at a flea market you find some items that are really unique. These may not be authentic pieces but just some imaginative works of art that someone has taken a lot of time to create. I happen to be a collector of Hess toy trucks for many years and through those years I have come across many items that people have taken the time to redo and make that item into a collectible that they would like to have in their display case. I love the hunt for that elusive and odd piece that can be found under the tables at one of the many flea markets that I attend each year. I always like to go in the back area of the flea markets where the people have brought stuff from their garage or attic and just see it sprawled all over the table for people to rummage through looking for treasures. I could go on and on with the stories of the things that I have come across and the people that I have met along the way. It is the interesting stories that intrigue me the most of where and how they came across the many items that they display. I wanted to share some of the pieces that I have found in my many travels. I hope that you enjoy the pictures below of them.

1998 Hess Mini Chrome Tanker - Fantasy Piece in Box

1998 Hess Mini Chrome Tanker - Fantasy Piece out of the Box.

1998 Hess Mini Chrome Tanker - Fantasy Piece out of the Box.

 

1970 Hess Fire Truck Copy - Same mold as original.

 

 

1970 Hess Fire Truck Copy / Bump N Go - Sold at 5 & Dime Stores

 

1970 Hess Fire Truck Copy - Sold McCory Drug Stores

 

 

Lego Hess Oil Tanker & Gas Pump - Fantasy Piece

 

 

2006 Hess NYSE Special Edition Truck - Rare Pictures

Once in a while Hess releases a special truck to celebrate a milestone in the company's progress to strive for excellence and to stay on top of the ever changing oil business. 2006 was one of those milestones when Hess introduced the New 2006 Hess Special Edition Truck with 2 Racers. On May 9, 2006 the New York Stock Exchange members received this truck to celebrate Amerada Hess changing it's name to Hess Corporation. The truck was a reissue of the 1997 Hess Truck & Racers with working lights and battery card but with some differences. It would be the first time that the words "Hess Corporation" were on the sides of the truck. The race cars were also not the same. One car had "HES" on side and the other had "AHC" on it. Those were the NYSE abbreviations for the company on the ticker trading board. The cardboard inserts were different from the 1997 as well as the box that it came in. The 2006 Hess truck came in just a plain white box with the Hess logo and "Hess Corporation 2006" on the side. There were only 3,000 of these trucks produced which was one of the smallest production amounts in the regular size collection so far.

There was also another truck made to celebrate this very special occasion and that was a chromed version of the First Hess Truck used by Leon Hess when he started the company. There were very few of the Special Chrome Mini Truck made and they were given to Hess Corporations Top VIP's to commemorate this event. This is the first time that Hess had 2 separate trucks made for a special occasion making the pair of trucks a very rare item to own. These are a "must have" for the true Hess collector.

 

2006 Hess Truck & Racers

 

 

 Rare Pictures of 12 Pack Case of 2006 NYSE Trucks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hess Headquarters Video & Original Hess Truck

 

Nice video of the Hess Headquarters. Hess no longer allows you to take any pictures or videos any more making this a valuable piece of history. To see the rest of the collection go to Ray's Toy Trucks where we have more pictures and information on the great hobby of collecting Hess Toy Trucks!

Leon Hess Original Delivery Truck

 

Here is a short video with the original fuel oil truck that was used by Leon Hess for delivery of their heating oil. This is an interesting picture story of the move and refurbishing of the New Hess Headquarters which is located in Woodbridge New Jersey. Enjoy the show!