The Flipshark Guide to Hess trucks

The Hess truck is here, but it is most certainly not better than ever.

Since I could remember through my toy-collecting childhood, the Hess Corporation has put their gas and oil operations aside to hawk some limited edition toy vehicles around Christmastime.

But what I've never understood is who is buying these things? I've only ever heard Hess trucks talked about like Peanuts and Quackers before the Beanie Babies bubble burst - they're considered solid investments for a children's financial future. Instead, they gather more dust than dollars and Hess keeps pumping them out.

But do they sell?

Yes and no.

I like to keep these guides simple, so my rule of thumb for buying and reselling Hess trucks is this:

Don’t even consider buying a Hess truck made after 1980.

Just about any Hess truck of the past 40 years won't reliably fetch you more than $10-20 on eBay (if that). A cool $20 may sound legit if you find a pristine and cheap one at a garage sale, but considering the competition to sell them and the healthy weight of a boxed toy truck, it's not a profitable flip.

(Keep in mind, though, I'm writing this with Sold Listings completely out of season. While Hess trucks are released and resold mostly around Christmas time, I'm confident results will not vary that much.)

How do you know if a Hess truck was released before 1980? Usually it says so right on the box, which is all you should be buying anyway. No box significantly decreases your changes of reselling.

Instead, some people have learned this lesson the hard way and started selling off their collections. The occasional lifetime collection can fetch a decent return, but most lot sales end up with individual Hess trucks, on average, coming out to be about $10.

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Exceptions

As a testament to the strange phenomenon of Hess trucks, people are already flipping the 2020 Hess Ambulance and Rescue Truck.

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Hess celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 2014, so naturally this modern truck has a bit more value.

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Hess officially changed their name from Amerada Hess to Hess Corporation back in May 2006. To commemorate the change, the company handed out about 3,000 special edition Hess trucks on the New York Stock Exchange floor. In addition, they handed out mini chrome trucks, which can fetch hundreds!

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Bonus: Hess changed gears (har har) in 2020 and released the My First Plush Fire Truck. Why anyone would want to remember 2020 fondly I don't know, but this plush sells for some good money!

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Back in time

We need to go old school if we want to resell Hess.

The first Hess toy truck sold in 1964, so we have just about 20 years to cover. Luckily, most of the pre-1980 Hess trucks were tanker trucks with some yellow trim and so since they looked similar they're easy to recognize:

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However, most pre-1980 Hess trucks are worth so much because they're not likely to pop up on a garage sale table or thrift store shelf, especially without being scathed. Let's check out a few exceptions to the tanker trucks just in case you hit the jackpot and find them in the wild:

1966 Hess Voyager Ship

This baby would be hard to miss at a garage sale. It is not to be confused with the 2002 mini Hess voyager ship - this 1966 model is a literally big deal!

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1970/1971 Hess Fire Trucks

Hess released fire trucks two years in a row with a few variations. Most of the 1970 trucks were made in Hong Kong, but those marked "Made in the USA" can get you more.

The 1971 "Season's Greetings" fire truck often had a sticker slapped on the side of the box since Hess ran out of colorful boxes, but it's so rare there isn't even a listing on eBay at the moment.

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1978/1980 Hess Training Van

Marked as made in 1978 (under the truck in Roman numerals), the Hess Training Van wasn't released until 1980, so you might see both or either date in eBay search listings. Also, the white exterior tended to easily yellow with time, so finding a clean version can be a challenge.