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| Confessions of a
Tampo Junkie |
| By Ross Schlichting
a.k.a. "Sizzlerking" |
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| I guess I started
taking notice of Hot Wheels in about 1972.
I was |
| five-years-old, and
a friend of mine came over to the house with his
Matchbox case. But, instead of the old,
hard-tired Matchbox cars he usually had, there
were these really cool cars that were shiny and
FAST! After seeing the excited look on my
face, he told me they were Hot Wheels. Ever since
then, I just HAD to have them! Unfortunately, it
took a while to get my parents to understand my
plight! They figured that Matchbox cars were they
way to go. I kept getting them for my
birthday, for Christmas, for gifts. But
where were the Hot Wheels? I had to satisfy my
desire by going around the block to my friend's
house, and racing his Hot Wheels, Sizzlers and
Hot Line Train. Eventually, my grandma got
me a Revver, and I could explain to my parents
just what these "Hot Wheels" were.
Well, that was all it took. Over the
next year, I got a few of the new '73 models, and
traded my Matchbox cars for others. One of
those trades was a red Rocket-Bye-Baby.
That is still one of my favorites. But, the
big surprise was about to happen! For Christmas
of 1974, my parents ordered me the entire set of
Hot Wheels from the J.C. Penney catalog! In
addition to the cars, they got me a couple of
track sets. It was real cool! These
cars did not come in Blisterpacks when they were
mail-ordered. They came in a plain
cardboard box wrapped in plastic bags.
Imagine my shock when I opened a plain box,
and inside was the entire 1974 set! I
played with these all day and night! You
couldn't separate me from my new Hot Wheels!
One of the cars included in this set was a
blue Super Van! A couple of my favorites
from this year were the Rodger Dodger, Breakaway
Bucket and the Winnipeg. Tampo ruled my
world! |
| Well, I was now
officially on the Hot Wheels bandwagon! I
acquired many cars over the next year, including
an S'Cool Bus, blue El Rey Special, and blue Rash
1. I even got my hands on a 1971 catalog.
I was on a mission to get as many Hot
Wheels as I could! Luckily, my parent's
knew now that Hot Wheels were what I wanted, and
they helped me out as much as possible. We
bought them at garage sales, from friends,
and of course from the store. My favorite stores
to shop for them were Duckwall's and Woolworth's
Drug Stores. They always had the best cars.
I toted my collection to school in my
favorite shoe box on a daily basis! We
played with these cars in every imaginable
fashion. Dragged them through the dirt,
sand, ran them on the sidewalk, and of course,
raced them on the track sets! I had one
that was missing a tire (I think it was a Custom
Cougar), and when you ran it across the patio, it
made a screeching sound similar to squealing
tires. Being big S.W.A.T. and Starsky and
Hutch fans, my friends and I fought over that
car! When Christmas of 1975 rolled around, I was
totally surprised to get the Thundershift 500
set! We had a huge family gathering, and
the set was so popular, that everyone got to play
on the set except me! The goal was to set
the highest lap record. My uncle Ivan held
the record for quite some time. I
eventually got so good that I could log over 100
laps! The white plastic of the
launchers turned black from all of the paint and
Tampo that wore off during the racing process.
The Torino and Monte Carlo Stocker that the
set came with really took a lot of abuse. I
wore the paint completely off of them! For
my birthday, my grandma bought me a Flying Colors
loop set with a Rodger Dodger. Much to my
parent's chagrin, I tried to set it up in the car
while we were driving across the country! |
| I got a purple Jet
Threat as an Easter present in 1976. This
turned out to be one of the best track runners I
ever had because it was so heavy! It would
just pound through the loops and curves, and
never fall off the track! |
| It was around this
time that my friends and I started seeing who
could build the biggest track. We would get
together and combine all of our track sets.
We made some killer runs! It usually
ended up in our cars being crashed into something
at the end. In 1976, I also got a Sizzlers
Silver Circuit Set. It was priced
incorrectly at Target. The normal
price was $14.99. Well, mine said $4.99!
I grabbed it up, and paid for it pronto!
I was the happiest kid in Littleton,
Colorado that day! I set the track up in
the garage, and raced it for hours! I
pulled out a couple of my older Sizzlers, and
being that this was a Saturday, kids from all
over the block dug their cars out of their
basements and joined in the melee! After a
two-year hiatus, it was great to have
Sizzlers being made again! When I pulled my
Silver Circuit Mustang and Vantom apart for the
first time in March of 1999, the dust and dog
hair from the garage floor were piled up inside!
Needless to say, it brought back vivid
memories of that weekend. The neat thing about
those two cars is that because I ran them for so
many years, and they did not sit around, they
still run with their ORIGINAL batteries.
Amazing. I found an NOS Big Belter at
a store in my grandma's hometown in 1976 as well.
I had a lot of fun drag racing with that
Big Belter let me tell you! We used to
crank the dials all the way up, and shoot the
cars across the floor WITHOUT the track! After
1976, Hot Wheels started taking a back seat in my
life. When Mattel dropped the redlines,
that was kind of the coup de grace for me.
I still had all of my cool cars, but other
interests started having more importance in the
life of this ten-year-old. I played with
them off and on over the next few years, but they
were just a sideline. Well, that is, until one
summer vacation in 1981. Unbeknownst to me,
my friends were having what they called a
"race day". Every summer, they
would pull out all of their old cars and track,
and set up different "competitions" to
see who had the best cars. Competitions
included distance, stunts and track handling
ability. This sounded so cool, I just had to be a
part of it! I grabbed my old shoe box,
dusted off my old cars and joined in the fun.
It turned out, with the addition of my
track, we were able to make some serious layouts!
We even made one that was three stories
high! It ran from my friends upstairs
bedroom all the way down to the basement.
It was tough to get the cars to run all the
way down without wrecking, but we managed it!
With the help of some Rod Runners and Super
Chargers in the basement, we ran those cars to
the max! |
| The search was now
on. I started hunting down Hot Wheels and
Sizzlers cars and sets again at garage sales,
thrift shops and from friends. I just had
to have the best cars at "race day"!
In my travels, I did find some cool things
for real cheap. Of course in those days,
they were still considered "old toys",
or more commonly "junk". Here are
a few finds: |
| Super Charger Sprint
Set FREE! |
| Shell promo cars (3)
for $1 each |
| Mint Racer Rig
$2 |
| Mint Deora w/orig
boards $1 |
| 2 NOS Sizzlers Power
Pits for $5 each |
| 3 NOS Fat Track
Strip Paks for $2 each |
| Mint Sizzlers Fat
Track Lap Computer $3 |
| Mint Fat Track Post
Pak $2 |
| Sizzlers Nightmare
Alley Set $2 |
| Sizzlers Fat Track
Control Set $2 |
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| This is just the tip
of the iceberg! I can't even count the
boxes of |
| orange track and
curves that I found over the years. Since that
summer day in 1981, I haven't looked back.
I am not a BP collector, but a racer!
There is not one Hot Wheel that I own that |
| hasn't been on a
track. Hot Wheels will always be a part of my
life, and I will cherish the memories of my
childhood that made them so special. I hope
to pass my collection onto my kids someday! |
| Ross Schlichting |
| June 7, 1999 |
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