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Not Even A Stunt Loop   Back in 1969, my first redline, a Light Blue Beatnik Bandit, came in one of those basic sets that did not even have a stunt loop.  But I was hooked.  I soon became one of the original kid Redline collectors and I did pretty well as I had one of each casting by the end of the Spectraflame years,1968-1972.  I remember seeing the first batch of '73s at our local K-Mart.  Mattel basically took the most popular models from '70, '71 and '72, slapped on drab emamel paint,and changed the names of many of the cars. I bought a few of those cars but made sure I got the three new castings plus the Olds 442 - Police Cruiser and other cool pieces like the last four rrRumblers and the Revvers. The '74 and '75 Flying Colors cars were an improvement over the '73 cars, but without the Spectraflame paint, Hot Wheels had lost their sparkle, both literally and figuratively.  Luckily, I have fond memories of trading other things to other kids to get those much needed and elusive models like the Deora, the Fleetside and the Maserati Mistral.  I gathered up all the other kids' buttons which they did not want and sent some on special cards to Mattel for rrRumblers merchandise.  A full card of buttons netted me my very own Mean Mountain set which came to my door in a pretty big box. These days, I enjoy recalling the days when I rode on my purple one-speed bicycle back to the "dime store" to exchange the Mutt Mobile with the bad rear axle for a new one or just being one of the lucky ones to get a Rose Olds 442 off the pegs.  It was a good time to be a kid and a good time for Hot Wheels.   Tom Bourgeois