For nearly 10 years, Mattel and Kmart have teamed up to celebrate diecast car collectors and the toy cars they love at the Kmart Collector Day Event. (To see video of an actual Collector Day Event, click here.) This event, which is usually held a few times each year, generally uses a raffle-style system to determine which participants will be given the opportunity to open a sealed 36-count case of Hot Wheels. Each participating Kmart is allotted a certain number of master cases for use at the event, with each master case containing 4 of the 36-count cases.

For those collectors who hear their ticket number called, there’s plenty of reason for celebration. In addition to getting their pick of first-to-market vehicles, some who are chosen will add Hot Wheels Kmart exclusive colors to their collections. Opening a fresh case could also mean finding a regular or super Treasure Hunt inside. While many of the cases contain regular Treasure Hunts, the super treasure Hunt is much more rare and harder to find.

Event procedures and rules may vary between individual stores. As such, the minimum age requirement for participation may differ. At some stores, participants must be at least 3 years of age.

Generally, individuals whose tickets are chosen are given 5 minutes to look through a case of cars and are allowed to keep 5 cars at that time. Should the number of participants exceed the number of available cases, at the end of the 5-minute period, all cases are returned to the event leader. At that point, a second drawing takes place. Those whose raffle tickets are chosen during the second round will have the opportunity to look through and choose 5 cars from an opened case. Usually, the raffle process is repeated until all participants have been given the opportunity to look through a case.

Once the official selection periods have ended, collectors are free to browse all remaining vehicles. While it’s preferable to be a first-round pick, collectors have been known to discover great finds—including Treasure Hunts—during the second round.

While this event creates an opportunity for collectors to obtain new and hard-to-find vehicles, it also allows them to gather and share their enthusiasm for diecast car collecting. Click here to check out an actual Kmart Collector Day Event.