It’s not always easy to explain why something was once popular. Fads come and go all the time, and many of them seem strange in retrospect. (Sometimes they’re even weird in the moment. Looking at you, ...

Hot Wheels was a major part of skateboarder Tony Hawk’s childhood. How could it not have been? As the action sports legend points out, he and the brand were both born in the same year—1968. In fact, ...