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| Prototype AMX - Solid Brass |
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| (2) |
| Dave: When you first started, can you remember any Hot Wheels models that didn't make it to production? |
| Larry Wood: I don't remember, but I know that I did plenty of drawings that never made it. Probably threw away the drawings because if they didn't make it, I didn't keep the drawing. I'm sure even now, that probably 5% of our drawings are wasted because you never make them for some reason or another so I would tend to think, probably at least 5%. Then, it was probably like 10% that probably were never made, but nobody would have the proof because there was no reason to keep the paperwork. |
| Dave: Right, right... |
| Larry Wood: I remember we'd put a lot of drawings on the wall and pick like, one car. So, you'd basically throw away like ten or twenty drawings on the wall, you know. 'Cause there was only one person drawing and you only had 12 cars or so to do, so it was not a big deal. You try to get the best cars, so you try different "flavors". |
| Dave: Were you involved in any other Hot Wheels related lines like the Sizzlers, Rrrumblers, Hot Birds, etc.? |
| Larry Wood: I did probably 80% of all those. |
| Dave: Wow! |
| Larry Wood: The Sizzlers, I did probably all the Sizzlers. Maybe a couple of them I didn't do. The Rrrumblers, I think I did 50% or 60% of those, and the Hot Birds, they were Bob Lovejoy - he was an airplane freak, so he did all those. Chopcycles, Bob and I did both of those. I did half, he did the other half. |
| Dave: Do you have a favorite Early Redline car? |
| Larry Wood: I always liked Classics, the Cord, Cockney Cab, that kind of stuff, the Woody. That's the kind of stuff I always liked, the hot rod type things, so I guess those would be my favorites. |
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| Classic Cord - Solid Resin casting |
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| Dave: If an original Spectraflame Redline were to be produced today, complete with moving parts, Delrin bearings, Torsion-bar suspension, Redline wheels and of course, Spectraflame paint, what do you think would be the approximate retail price? |
| Larry Wood: Hard to say, because what did we sell the reproductions for? They were sold for 3 or 5 bucks, so you kind of figure - there it is. They had everything on them didn't they? I think even some of them had the right Torsion-bar suspension. |
| Dave: Yeah, the Twinmill did, and that one went for around $10. |
| Larry Wood: Yeah, so figure, probably around $10. The most important thing that I can answer for you is: I remember the meeting that they said, "Take the Redlines off". And I said, "That doesn't make sense" why would you, you know, we're talking about fractions of a penny, to take that redline off. It's our logo, you know. But at the time, in the '70's, it was a cost reduction. If you stop and think about four tires, times millions of cars, through the years we've probably saved millions of dollars. But I remember the meeting where they said to take the redlines off and that just, to me, was a major mistake. We should have kept redlines forever. 'Cause it was our logo, I mean, rims were our logo for years. In fact, until just a few years ago, I couldn't change the rims. We had this rim, that was it. We had the Ultrahots, and a few other things. The designers that are doing the cars now, they got a pretty good selection of different wheels, so it's kind of neat. And then, the cars I'm doing, (I'm doing the Collector series) every car gets it's own tire and wheel. So, you don't have to worry about looking for Real Riders any more, you've got a tire and rim on every car. Every car is different. That's a big deal. |
| Dave: From your perspective, along with all the market data you may be privy to, how do you see the future of Hot Wheels collecting; is it on the rise, or will it peak soon? |
| Larry Wood: Well, so far, everything we make is selling. I think the biggest challenge right now is there's other people that see what a big market it is - Johnny Lightning/Playing Mantis and a few of those other people are finally realizing that you can do a good car. It's a no-brainer doing a good car if you get a designer that knows what they're supposed to look like and makes the changes to make them look good. If you just go out and make a copy of a real car, it won't work, 'cause the tire sizes are different and everything else. So if they'll pay the money to get a good designer to look over the product, I think we're going to have some good competition, so, for the buyer who doesn't care about Hot Wheels exclusively who just cares about buying "collector cars" there's gonna be some good choices out there. It's really gonna be cool. And we're doing everything, I mean, I just got through doing last year's 1/18th line and we have some dynamite cars for this year and the year 2000 in 1/18th scale and they're beautiful. In fact, one car I just got through in a meeting today, getting OK'd, you collectors are going to love it! It's gonna be cool! |
| Dave: (laughing) You always have to put a little intrigue in there! |
| Larry Wood: Yep, that's it, you wait a year from now, you'll be saying, "Remember what Larry said"? Wait 'til you see that one, that's gonna be a good one! |
| Dave: Wow...and no hints, huh? |
| Larry Wood: All the hint will be is "The most collectible car you've ever wanted". |
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| New 1/18th scale Dodge Charger |
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| Dave: Do you have any personal projects going on right now, what real cars are you working on? |
| Larry Wood: Oh yeah, I always build 2 or 3 cars. I just sold my Harley so I'm putting that money into a 1932 Nash with a Chevy Big Block in it. I've got a rear-engine '34 Ford. I've got a 1913 Harley. I've always got projects! That's the easy part - get out of here and work on real cars! Then you can make all your own decisions. |
| Dave: What are your personal goals in the next 5 years? |
| Larry Wood: Geez, I don't have any; I've got a great job, and I still like working here and everything. You know if I retire, I would just have to go work on my toys, so I gotta have a job to pay for all my Hot Rods and everything! So, I'll probably work as long as I can - I enjoy working. |
| Dave: Is there anything you'd like to say to the visitors of Redlines Online? |
| Larry Wood: Just keep looking for this stuff - it's really hard to find. I've personally given up because I just can't find this stuff anymore, can't spend the time going out and looking for it, you know. But every once in awhile something shows up and it's fun to see what comes up next. Like the guy that showed up with the rear-loaded Beach Bomb that he bought at a swap meet. I mean, that was great, to see that kind of stuff. But again, even if you're a Redline collector you should see some of the new stuff we're doing. If you haven't been out lately and seen some of the Collector's stuff, you should see it; opening hoods, rubber tires, fully detailed. I mean, don't leave 'em in the box. We paint the underneath, the chassis, fully detailed now. We do all that work and guys leave 'em in the box. That's no fun! Pull them out of the box and have some fun with them, 'cause they look so good out of the box. |
| Dave: Especially over the last year, I've noticed a lot of new Hot Rod themed stuff, and that's the reason I like early Hot Wheels is they had a lot of Hot Rod stuff. |
| Larry Wood: If you look at our collector line, we're doing Muscles and Hot Rods as our main priorities. The American Graffiti set, things like that. I'll show you the Reggie Jackson set that just came in today. It's dynamite, it really came out nice. |
| Dave: And just like you said, I have to open them up and I have to display 'em, touch 'em... |
| Larry Wood: Oh yeah, in my shop and here at work, I take 'em out of the box and you put 'em like this (points at cars on table) out on display like this and they are so cool. They look great! |
| Dave: Larry, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day for all of the collectors out there. We appreciate you for your perspective of time as well as for your overwhelming ability to give of yourself as you've done again with this interview. Thanks! |
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