 |
|
|
| HOME WHAT'S NEW TREASURE HUNTING LARRY WOOD MUSEUM | ||
| |
||
| THE ART RAFFLE TRADING POST SPECTRAFLAME REDLINE STORIES | ||
| |
||
| REDLINE GUYS YOU MIGHT BE LINKS | ||
|
||
My earliest memories of Hot Wheels go back to 1973
when I was the tender age of three. The first car
that I remember having was a red T-4-2. I didn't have
it very long before I had figured out how to remove
the roof and the wheels, so it was taken away from
me and was retired to the top shelf of my
parent's closet, never to be seen again. For the next
two years, I was doomed to recieve Matchbox cars
because "he can't choke on the wheels since they won't
come off!" My Uncle David was only eight years older
than I, and he had Hot Wheels. I noticed right off the
bat that his cars were cool and, well, mine were lame.
He only allowed me to play with three of his redlines.
A gold Deora, a green Python and a red enamel 73' Short
Order that he found on the playground at school. Although
these cars were neat, and I spent many hours drag racing
them on the sacred orange tracks, there was an even more
spectacular treasure tucked away in my uncle's room.
Up on the top shelf, in a locked metal closet(to keep me
out of them) were my uncle's treasured redlines. There
were about 8 of them in a clear plastic box, and a few
Rrrumbler motorcycles too, but one car stood out of the
crowd and spoke to me. So did my Uncle for that matter,
warning me that if I so much as touched it he would
"break my fingers". This car that I coveted so much was
a Magenta Hot Heap with a white interior. I would spend
hours staring at it, when I could convince him to let me
see it. Every time that I would go to my Grandparent's
house, I would run to my Uncle to show him my latest car,
in hopes of recieving a few "Cool Points". But alas, he
would show me one of his new Hot Wheels and put whatever
Matchbox offering I had with me to shame. I had to find
at least one cool car to compete with, and I knew that it
had to be a Hot Wheel. I finally got my chance at greatness
after church one Sunday evening. I had been promised that
I would get to pick out my own car for being "so good" that
day. We went to a K-mart as soon as the evening service
let out and I remember my Dad having to pick me up so I could
get a good look at the selection. After careful inspection of
the rack, I found the only car that would do, a light blue
Alive 55 Nomad Wagon. I freed it from it's plastic cell as soon
as we hit the door and the lights from the parking lot
illuminated my hot new ride. My next visit to my grandparent's
was filled with anticipation as I pulled my snazzy new Nomad out
to show it off. It got a rave review and I finally recieved
the "Cool points" I had been starved for. Many more cars came
and went, but that Nomad was always my favorite. Years later
I put away the cars and went on to other pursuits like GI Joe,
girls, and then real cars. Coincidentally, my first car was a
55 Chevy. In 1993, after many years away from Hot Wheels, I was
reunited with my "first love" in a Wal-Mart toy aisle when I
saw the 25th Anniversery cars. The old memories all flooded
back in an instant and I bought one of each car I could find.
A few weeks later I made my first redline score at a local
flea market and picked up thirtysix original redlines for a
dollar a piece. This led to me buying my first book, and you
all know how the story goes from there. I now have more cars
than I ever dreamed possible as a child and I still don't have
all of them that I want yet. As for the cars from my
childhood, they were lost to history and the flood waters of
the Missouri river. My Uncle's treasured cars unfortunately
dissappeared last summer in the hands of one of his daughter's
thieving friends. So last Christmas I put together a collection
of the cars that I so admired as a child to help heal his
wounds. Not only did the wounds heal, but now I have a new
competitor at the local garage sales. It's all friendly though.
Lance Deel
October 1, 1999