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!

Disneyland, 1961 Style!

You don't often find vintage Disneyland stuff around North Texas; at least not as much as you would in Southern California. So, I was a little surprised to find the following items at an estate sale last weekend. This is what I found...

First, we have these tickets from March 18, 1961! Now these aren't typical tickets, but, rather, "Magic Kingdom Club" tickets that included all the attractions for one price! What a crazy idea! 5 bucks in 1961 is $42.21 now, so it's still a great deal even today.

 Next, we have "Walt Disney's Guide to Disneyland," 1960 edition! This book is in great condition, and it really sets the mood for the early '60s version of the park!

Here we have Walt's personal introduction inside the front cover. As a kid, I really thought Walt wrote everything attributed to him. As an adult, it makes sense that he would sign off on his professional writers' work.

The table of contents gives a glance at all the wonders covered in the text!

The photography in the book is fantastic and really shows how special the park was. Do they even still have "Pablum?"

Interestingly, the only attraction that made it out of the "dreaming" phase at Disneyland was the "Haunted House," which, of course, became the "Haunted Mansion." I didn't even know "Chinatown" and "Adventures in Science" were being considered. "Liberty Street" became "Liberty Square" at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Finally, we have a land by land rundown of the whole park!

There were many more pages that I didn't photograph, but these give you an idea of the book. All in all, not a bad find!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!