A Note From the Haunted Mansion

 Many Disney Parks lovers have certain attractions that they are particularly in love with, and one of the most popular is The Haunted Mansion. In fact, it is so popular that many people collect items associated with it and swap tales and back stories about it. 

Although there are tons of new items (Disney has always been great at merchandising) I like items from the first couple of years best. Here is one of thise items:

This book of magic tricks was sold at Disneyland when the Haunted Mansion first opened. It has quite a few tricks that are loosly based on the attraction (ok...very loosly based), but the fun is in the illustrations and art work. Also, this little book reveals a real secret about the HM!

For many years, fans have considered "Master Gracey" to be the master of the house. This comes from a tombstone in the family plot dedicated to imagineer Yale Gracey. The "Master" part throws people because it is generally forgotten that "master" used to refer to a boy, not an actual "master." 

So, who was the real "master" of the Mansion? The book tells us! Take a look at this!

Yup, Phineas J. Pock was supposed to be the real master of The Haunted Mansion. He is actually mentioned in other early records as well, but he was, sadly, forgotten. 

So now, when you hear people going on and on about "Master Gracey" you can rest assured that the real shadowy figure in the background goes by the name of Pock...Phineas Pock.

Keep searching for treasure!

Smooshing Two Blogs

 Hey guys! Well, once I decided to start the ol' blog up again, I needed to decide exactly what I was going to do with it. You see, I ran two blogs for a few years, one on rockets and one on my "collections." In reality, it all became a bit too much. Therefore, we're going to change things up a little.

Therefore, I've decided to continue Stu's Attic, but not Shroudlines, the Blog. Actually, STB isn't going away, it will just be part of SA. That way I'll have more content for the one blog and it should make things easier.

Of course, I'm well aware that blog readership is pretty dead, and I could well be writing these just for myself, but that's ok. In a way, that takes any remaining pressure off. I can just write "whatever" about "whatever." 

Speaking of rockets, I recently went into the garage and took a bunch of pictures to document all of them. In the pictures it looks like they are just thrown everywhere, but I can assure you they have been carefullu placed so as not to damage them. I thought I'd include a few of those shots today to properly "rocket-offy" the blog. Don't judge. ;-)

Catching Up a Bit

 Welll, in the time since I last wrote, some good things have happened. Probably the most exciting is that I finished my 1968 through 1972 Hot Wheels collection! All of them! I got 'em! 

Now, you might think that you would feel great about that accomplishment...and you do; except now you have to figure out what to do next. You see, I've worked on that collection since about 1995. Now what? 

Well, I think I'm going to work on upgrading some of the cars. While a collection can be complete, it won't ever really be "finished." 

Here are some pictures of the Powley Collection!

                                    1968

                                  1969

                                 1970

                                 1971

1972

By the way, yes that Olds 442 is in the 1971 line up. Patience pays off! I paid a lot more for it than the others, but still much less than they usually go for!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

A Quick Check In...

I think I might start doing this blogging thing again. It's been a rough (and busy) couple of years, but it might just be time...

But Wait- There's More!

Today we have three more 1971 Hot Wheels! So let's jump right in, shall we?

I really like the Sugar Caddy (a takeoff on the Sugar Daddy candy name) The door numbers look a little too clean on this one, so I'm pretty sure they're repops, but I don't mind!

The T-4-2 is what happens when you have too many fronts and no backs. This is actually my second one. The first had repop wheel caps and roof and perfect paint. The problem was it doesn't roll. I found this one at an estate sale for under a buck. It has an original top and just slightly worse paint (same color). It also rolls straight and fast! A quick wheel cap switch and into the display case it went!

The Team Trailer is a Heavyweight that can be kind of expensive. I got a good deal on this one because the rear wheels didn't roll. Fortunately, the top pops off easily on these, and I was able to fix it quickly and easily with a dab of epoxy on the rear axle. All good!

So there you go! We only have three more and 1971 will be finished!

Until next time  keep searching for treasure!

Still More '71...

Our next three from 1971! Believe it or not, we're almost done with the year....but nooooot quite! So, here you go!

First, we have The Heavyweights Snorkel. This car is often hard to find with all the parts of the crane. 

But here it is, in all its glory! Interestingly enough, The Heavyweights mainly used two basic trucks- the all in one model here, and a cab and trailer model. Therefore these two do not have the name of the model on the chassis like all the other cars of this era. Now you know!

Next, we have the Special Delivery! I'm not sure what the logistics would look like with a supercharged mail truck, but here it is. 

The "special feature" of this car is an opening mail box. It really doesn't work very well, since you just bend the plastic back to open it. 

Finally, we have the Strip Teaser. I'm kind of hot and cold on the complete fantasy designs, but this one is kind of cool.

The canopy opens so the driver can get in and out. I assume he would bring his own periscope to see over that huge engine. 

So there you go! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and here are hopes for a happy and prosperous 2019! Cheers!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

1971 Hot Wheels- The Gift That Keeps On Giving

I'm pretty comfortable in saying that 1971 was the high water mark for number of redlines released by Hot Wheels. 1970 was close, with 33, but 1971 gave us 35! What that means in my case is that I can milk this year for months with the ol' blog! Yay!

Our next three cars are:

The Six Shooter! What's better than one engine and four wheels? Well, here's your answer! It looks like the hatch might open on this one, but it doesn't.

The Snake II! The Mongoose and Snake line was a money making machine for Mattel, and they exploited it every chance they got. Interestingly, I remember having this one as a kid...until a friend stole it. Life lesson learned. Don't loan out your Hot Wheels!

The Snake II in service mode. I still think it looks cool with the body lifted...

Speaking of exploiting the property, here we have the Snake Rail, because...why not? The Mongoose and Snake Rails were identical, except for paint and stickers. 

And the Snake Rail in "wheelie mode." The set came with a trigger in the track that would trip the counter weight used for wheelies. Oh...here it is!

That's about it for this time! Believe it or not, we still have a few more to go! Until next time, keep searching for treasure!