Zowees! Little Cars, Big Fun!

 Greetings Atticites! 

Today I'm going to share a little collection I have that highlights how Mattel was cashing in on all things "Hot Wheels" in the late 60s and early 70s. You see, they had several lines of vehicles that weren't actually "Hot Wheels," but shared the branding. Today we will look at the Zowees!

The Zowees were little cars (about half the size of a regular Hot Wheels) that were first offered as premiums at Shell gas stations in 1972. You got one for free with a fill up, or you could plunk down .49 for one without buying gas. 

Here they are!

When I say they were small, I mean small!

Here is the insert that came in the baggie...

The cars were so popular, that they were released for retail sale in 1973. The main difference is that the 1973 cars are taller. I've heard it was to get around toy safety regulations, but I don't know for sure. Here we have two versions of the Good Knight. The 1973 version is on top, and the original Shell version is on the bottom.

Here is another shot of the Shell Good Knight.

The Red Lighter. This is the Shell version.

The Desperado. The Eagles named a song after it. (Not really). I think this is the 73 version with the tall hat.

The Diablo, Shell version.

The Baby Buggy, Shell version.

The Bumble Seat, Shell version.

The Covered Draggin, 1973 version. (You can tell by the long antenna)

The Beddy Bye, Shell version.

There were additional cars released in 1973. These were the Fire Truck, Goin' Fishing, Home Sweet Home, Light My Fire, Numb Skull, and Shifty. I don't have any of them because, first of all, I was originally fascinated by something that was given away at gas stations. That really spoke to my childhood. And secondly, they are stupid expensive. You can get a Beddy Bye for under twenty bucks, but  Shifty can set you back over a hundred. That's because the retail cars were only made one year. I think they're cool...but not that cool!

So there you have it! A bit of Hot Wheels history in an itty-bitty package!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

A Weighty Issue

 As you may or may not know, I have assembled a Sansui quad hi-fi system, which was top of the line in about 1974. The final piece of the puzzle was a quad stylus and cartridge for my turntable. I ordered an Audio-technica AT14Sa catridge and an LP Gear Vivid Line ATN14 stylus... and got the wrong ones. After a bit of back and forth with the vintage parts company, I finally got the right ones! Yay!

Except...it didn't exactly work. Quad uses four channels: front right and left, and rear right and left. My front left channel was silent when I played my quad Jethro Tull Aqualung album. Wha????

I mean, these parts ain't cheap! I was in for over 200.00 just on the cartridge and stylus alone. I REALLY wanted it to work! 

I did a little research and found out that the stylus needs to be weighted properly to play all four channels. You see, the diamond needle has four surfaces that have to perfectly touch their spots on the album's groove. When they don't, a channel may not play. And the channel that usually doesn't? The front left. It said that the proper weight is around .75 to 1.75 grams, with heavier being a little better. But how could I make sure it was the right weight? Do they even still sell stylus force guages?

Yes! And guess what? They're cheap! I picked one up for about 13 bucks on Amazon! Here it is!

My stylus and cartridge:

...and setting the proper weight!

Now I know that weight looks a little heavy, but in reality the number was jumping around a bit while I tried to take the picture. It's right about 1.75g. 

And did it work? I put the album back on and all four channels jumped to life! Success!

Now I only have two quad albums, the Jethro Tull album which is CD-4 and a Greatest Hits of Earth Wind and Fire album which is SQ. All quad formats are not created equal, with CD-4 being the best, but SQ being still good. Different companies embraced different formats. Fortunately my receiver will play them all!

Anyway, now it's time to start buying that media! Including quad reel to reel (more on that later)!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

On Time?

 Well, I'm actually a little late, but the post is literally on "time" so.... Uh... I'm confused now.

This post ran late because I was waiting on the US Mail to deliver something. You know how I got the huge Mickey watch wall clock (if you don't, just look at last week's post). Now it didn't work, so I figured I would just grab a new quartz movement, slap that sucker in and Presto! I'd have a working clock! Yay!!

Well, in reality, not so much "Yay" as "Yuck." 

You see, life teaches us many lessons. Don't spit in the wind. Don't touch a hot stove. Don't assume a quartz clock movement from forty years ago is in any way "standard." 

First, after removing the little black box movement out of my clock (which was about the only easy step in the process), I took it to Hobby Lobby where I found that they only sell two movements that are even close. Neither of them had the shaft size (the shaft is the part the clock hands fit onto) that would fit Mickey's hands. 

Ok, no problem. That's why God gave us a ruler and Amazon, right? I measured that stupid shaft (length and diameter) and ordered...the wrong one. Twice. 

I was getting a little discouraged, but I was determined that my clock would work...and that I would not waste twenty bucks. 

I then had the great idea to take a picture of what I wanted, along with a ruler beside it, and let AI tell me where to get it! AI gladly told me to order...the wrong one.

I was now really miffed and peeved (and disappointed in our computer overlords). I decided that it was close enough that with a little whittling with an Ex-Acto knife, I just might be able to get the hands on it. I didn't want to damage the hands, so I focused on the shaft.

And....

I won! Now, it isn't "factory perfect," but the hands stay on and it keeps time! Yay!!!

Some pictures...

This is the broken movement I replaced. It's in two parts because I wanted to see if I could switch the shaft out into a working clock. Nope! If the outside ain't standardized, you can sure bet the inside isn't either!

The new movement mounted in the back of the clock. Note the little piece of wood shim on the left. Even the box sizes were close...but not perfect...

Flipping it around you see the front with the hands in place. When I first put them on after trimming down the shaft diameter, the second hand would move, but not the hour and minute hands. I found the trick was to gently push the hands on the shaft instead of firmly. Now it works! If we had a bad earthquake the hands might fall off, but we never have, so I'm not that worried.

And mounted on the wall, ticking right along! I actually let it run all night before I posted this to make sure it really really worked. It really really does!

So there you have it! My twenty dollar clock ended up costing me closer to fifty bucks when it was all said and done, but I think it's worth it!

So until next time, keep searching for treasure!