This week I have a somewhat educational post (sort of). First...a story.
Once upon a time I saw an ad for an estate sale that mentioned "1960 toy cars." My alert buzzers all went off, and I found myself as one of the first people through the door! I was able to pick up about 30 Hot Wheels redlines, along with some Matchbox cars and accessories for a very very low price. It's still my best find ever, up to this point! All in all, a great day!
Among the cars there was this:
This is a 1968 Hot Wheels "Custom Fleetside." It's missing it's black plastic bed cover, but the color is desirable and the paint is in pretty darn good shape. So, not a bad find. Except that it gets better.
You see, since I've been collecting these things for a while, I immediately looked closer. You see, that little bit of black plastic in the bed didn't really look broken. I looked at another Custom Fleetside that I have and I saw that the bed cover isn't even hinged in that spot. It was at that spot that I knew that I had hit the jackpot!
In 1970 Mattel released a variation of the Custom Fleetside in a track set called the Skyshow. The idea was that the car ran down the track and then launched a glider off a ramp on the back. The tell, if you're missing the ramp, is the black ramp mount. The same black mount that is in my car!
You can buy replacement parts, and this is my estate sale find today!
Oh...and the hardest color of car to find? Hot pink! Yep, I hit the jackpot for sure!
By the way, later I found an empty Sky Show box at a flea market.
That's it on the top right...
Now, the point of this story is that if you collect something buy it when you see it, even if you don't know exactly what you're getting. A lot of times it may be a clunker, but once in a great while it can really be a treasure, and that's what the search is all about!
Until next time, keep searching for treasure!
Good gut instinct!
ReplyDeleteThe purple car behind the Sky Show looks very familiar. I think my cousin had one just like it.
That's the "Beatnik Bandit," designed by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth! It's also a 1968 model and was in with that estate buy. Most of the cars were 1970- 71 models, though. It's one of my favorites!
DeleteStu, I may have mentioned this before, but whenever I'm at an antique mall and see Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, I now think of you. You're going to have to post your Wanted List, so I can help you find something you're missing. :o)
ReplyDeleteSue
Lol, thanks! That would def work!
Delete