The Last of the Snake and Mongoose

 If anyone ever asks you what were the last Snake and Mongoose cars released by Hot Wheels in the Redline era, you might first ask them why they asked such a wordy question about such an obscure subject. Then you can tell them the answer- these:

These are the Rear Engine Snake and Mongoose from 1972. By this time, Mattel had pretty much run the gambit on the racing duo. Other cars would be released and re-released in the future, but these were the last of the original Redlines. 

I found these on eBay a few years ago (not together). These aren't cheap, but if you wait long enough you can get some deals. These are fairly clean with very nice stickers, so I got pretty lucky. 

Although they aren't the most popular Redlines from the series, I think they're pretty cool! I'll keep 'em!

So now you know!

Until next time keep searching for treasure!

Of Alien Kids and Super Cars

 For a few weeks I've been featuring several "supercars" from the 1960's. In all those discussions I didn't mention a really cool thing that happened a few years ago.

You see, at that time my daughter, Jessica, got a job at The State Fair of Texas. Was she making corny dogs? Was she running a ride? Was she scamming kids at a "try your luck" booth? Nope. Nope. Nope. 

She was an alien. 

In fact, she was a Mazda Alien. You know, to show off cars in the Automotive Building. But that, cool as it is, isn't the coolest part. 

You see, there were some very special cars there. Take a look at this picture:

Yep, that's my daughter...standing next to the Green Hornet's Black Beauty. 

But wait! What's that to the left??? 

The Monkeemobile!

And what's to the right???

Well if you have eagle eyes you can make it out. 

So, my daughter got to hob-nob with custom car royalty! Somewhere I have more pictures of them. I did take a zillion. But this is my favorite.

Hopefully, I can find the others.

I guess until next time, I'll keep searching for treasure!

A Tale of Two Trays

 This week I want to share a couple of Disney trays. They've been called TV trays or serving trays, but I think TV tray is probably closest. They don't have legs, but they can be placed carefully on your lap while watching TV.

The first tray is from 1954. It was a map of Disneyland! The only problem is that Disneyland was busy being orange groves at the time. There were concept maps, but absolutely nothing had been built. Therefore, the map trays were not exactly accurate. Here it is:

Some of the things that really stand out to me are the gazebo in town square (moved because it blocked the castle), a European street runs behind the east side of Main Street, the Moonliner looks a lot like a toothpick, and Tom Sawyer Island looks like it has manicured lawns. There are tons of other differences as well, but you get the idea. 

Still, it's a good looking tray. The graphics are nice (if not accurate) and there are plenty of fun details. It was just the thing to help excite folks about the future park, and it did! Now it excites collectors because it's pretty hard to come by, and darn near impossible at a reasonable price. 

But if you want  reasonable, we got you covered!

Flash forward about seven years and the park has been opened for six of them. The TV show that introduced  the park to the world was now featuring another innovation, color. 

The show changed it's name from Disneyland to The Wonderful World of Color. Even the style of animation had changed a little to more "mid-century." Here is the tray that was released in 1961:

As you can see, the Disney gang is grouped around the TV watching their friend Ludwig von Drake on The Wonderful World of Color and having a great time!

I really like this tray, and so did a lot of other folks.  There are a lot of them out there. And due to a big supply you can pick one up for about 25 bucks all in. Not bad!

In fact, I kind of like the second tray better than the first, which just goes to show you that money isn't the only goal in collecting.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Slots o' Fun!

 In previous recent posts I've shared some new slot cars that I happen to have. Now, in the spirit of completeness, I shall share a few more. 

I haven't actually run any cars in a long long time, but they are cool, so I keep them around. Will I ever run them again? I certainly hope so.

Now, for six more cars...

First, we have this AFX 1970 Camaro. I got this car from a little toy shop a couple of miles from my house when I was a kid. I walked there and back uphill in the snow (full disclosure, there was no snow nor hills)

Next we have a Tyco Corvette. I actually raced this one at DP&W's Flying Boxcar Hobby Shop. It was very fast, but I don't think I won. I was a little older kid.

I got this Vette as a kid as well. It's an AFX, but I don't remember where I got it or exactly when. The "space tape" stripes were my addition.

I really wish I had the radiator and front bumper to this Woody dragster. This AFX car uses a special stretched chassis. Another kid car.

This one is an adult car. I actually bought it a couple of years ago. It was made by Auto World, who now makes very cool AFX style cars. You may recognize it as Christine, from Stephen King. Oooooooo, spooooooky!

Another adult car. I found this Nomad in an old AFX race set that I picked up at a thrift store a few years ago. It is missing its grille as well, but it still looks cool.

Is this all? Well, actually no. You see in the attic of Stu's Attic, there is a box with track and a few more cars. The problem is that when I went to look for it, I couldn't find it. Will we ever see it? Heck if I know.

In the meantime I guess I'll keep searching for treasure!