When You Realize Just How Deep Your Rail-Geek Runs...

I know I promised you Part II of 1969 Hot Wheels this week, but a split second of tv viewing this morning changed all of that. Ah, such is life!

I wasn't even really watching tv this morning, when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted this:

Typical Christmas train set in a typical Christmas car ad...

Thanks to my video recorder, I was able to back up and make sure that I saw what I thought I saw...and sure enough, there it was! You see, the building closest to us is pretty well known to me...and it's a little weird to have in a Christmas advertisement. Here is my example of it...

Built by yours truly...a LONG time ago...

This HO train kit has been around forever and was produced by a variety of companies. Mine is by Tyco and is from around 1973. For the weird part, let's take a closer look at the sign, shall we?

Yes, it's supposed to be misspelled, although some versions are spelled "Gruesome."

The Grusom Casket Company was a little bit of Halloween gallows humor you could add to your layout! Here are some more shots...

The loading dock...

I actually wrote this slogan myself. I thought it was hillarious... I still kind of do. 

The shed in back...

Car advertisement camera side...

So, what does all of this have to do with anything? Well, not a heck of a lot, really, other than I spotted a train building kit that had less than two seconds of air time and identified it. Geek level= Gold. Extra points for holiday irony.

By the way, I guess I should give credit where it it due. This week's Stu's Attic was brought to you by:

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

The Summer of '69...Hot Wheels Style...Part One

Mattel had a huge hit in 1968 when they brought out the first 16 cars. Suddenly every boy was scrambling to get the latest cars...and Mattel was more than happy to help!

1969 would see the release of 24 new vehicles. They came out with 16 "standard" cars and eight "Grand Prix Series" cars. This was the first of quite a few special series.

I have the whole 1969 run, so I thought I'd share them with you! Now, 24 cars are a bit much for one post, so I'm going to serve them up eight at a time. So...here we go!

First we have the Brabham-Repco F1. This Grand Prix Series car is a model of an actual Indy racer.

The Chapparal 2G is also a Grand Prix car based on a real Can-Am racer. This car came in the regular "Spectra-flame" colors...and white enamel. This is the enamel version.

I had the Classic '31 Ford Woodie as a kid, and it was one of my favorites! I really like this purple example!

The Classic '32 Ford Vicky has style to burn! It's also a pretty heavy car, which means it tends to be pretty quick on the orange track!

The Classic '36 Ford Coupe has a working rumble seat. The chopped and raked look was popular for this car in the '60s. 

The Classic '57 T-Bird was actually only twelve years old when it was released. Note the racing windshield. Nice touch!

The Custom AMX was a real American Motors car. Hot Wheels included cars from all of the major auto companies at the time.

The Custom Charger is a 1968 Dodge Charger. This car usually sells for a premium due to all the Mopar lovers out there!

Well, there you go! These are the first eight cars, alphabetically. We'll look at the next eight next time! Until then, keep searching for treasure!

Hangin' at the Hemisfair

Last week I took you on a trip to sunny California. This week I'm going to take you to equally sunny San Antonio, Texas...in 1968! So jump in the time machine, cause HERE WE GO!!!!!

Well now, that wasn't so bad, was it? It's now the summer of 1968. A new World's Fair has opened...the Hemisfair! I went there with my family that summer. Here are a few (not great) pictures!

This is my aunt, my two cousins, my uncle, my dad and me (brown shirt) by the Riverwalk. I'm not crying, the sun always bothered my eyes in pictures for some reason. I'm fairly sure that there's not a natural fabric in any of those clothes. 

Here we have my cousin, my aunt, my mom and myself. Note that these are "picture spots" much like at Disneyland. Also note that the adults in my family seem to all be secret agents. 

I'm actually in this picture. No...really! If you look just past the right leg of my picture-hog cousin, you can see my right foot! I think that was the puppet show in the background...but I'm not sure.

My dad and I are posing in front of some sort of alien monolith. My dad has found a communicator and is chatting with the little alien guys. Or....we're in front of a sculpture and that's his....uh....I don't know. Let's stick with the first idea.

A not great picture of the Tower of the Americas. (insert fanfare) Also, the sky ride is in the background. As a kid, I had no problem with riding the sky ride, but that tower scared me to death! I remember that night they had to practically drag me on the elevator. If not for the fact that I was starving, and food was on the top, I might not have made it. I had fried chicken. It was good.

Now flash forward a few decades. After my wife and I were married, we realized that although we didn't know each other as kids, we both went to the Hemisfair that summer! We might have actually seen each other. Who knows? Therefore, when I saw this little item came up on eBay, I bought it for her:

This little Tower of the Americas is actually kind of rare...and they usually go for a hefty price. I don't know why. It's cool, though.

Later, we picked up the following items here and there...

Nothing says "World's Fair" like whiskey! Actually, this is a pretty cool piece that is kind of tough to find with the top and labels.

The back side of whiskey! The details are nice, I think.

Ok, so there really are not two Tower of the Americas, but how else would you have both salt AND pepper? These are pretty common, and pretty neat!

So there you have it! You can still go eat in the Tower's revolving restaurant. It's now run by Landry's. I'm not sure if they have fried chicken. Maybe my wife and I will take a little trip and find out. It's fun to have a childhood link with your sweetie!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

California Dreamin'

Sometimes things just occur to me. Usually they are really obvious things that, nonetheless, I have somehow missed. When I do realize the fact, it is kind of stunning.

Take for example when I suddenly realized that I have only been to California twice in my life. Now, this might not seem like a big deal, but since I have followed several Disneyland blogs daily for a few years, I guess I felt much more at home in the Golden State than I should. I think a trip is in order...

My previous two trips were many years ago. The first was in the summer of 1973, when I was ten. The last was in the early '90s, when I spent a weekend in San Francisco. The earlier trip was more fun.

The first trip was a road trip that I took with my grandparents and my mom. We went through El Paso (taking a day trip into Mexico) and ended up staying with my great aunt and uncle in L.A. I remember seeing Knotts Berry Farm, the Queen Mary, and, of course, Disneyland.

My memory of Knotts is mainly of the Independence Hall show, when the lights dimmed and you heard the founding fathers talk about the Declaration of Independence (yes, I was always a bit of a nerd). My main memory of the Queen Mary is eating a blueberry ice cream sundae in the restaurant on board. My main memory of Disneyland is how incredible Pirates of the Caribbean was (much better than at WDW), and my grandmother getting off of the Matterhorn and taking a nerve pill.

Interesting enough, I don't have any pictures of this trip. I do, however have a couple of souvenirs. Therefore, I shall share them with you!

The Queen Mary Bank

 First, we have a ceramic bank from the Queen Mary. The bottom of the bank has "City of Long Beach, CA" molded into it. It's a cool piece, and not a bad representation of the mighty ship. I can almost still taste that sundae!

The Brady Kids!

Next, we have a picture that was handed out at Knotts Berry Farm for the Brady Kids show! Being from Texas, it was a big deal to see people from tv, but my memory of being handed the picture at the entrance to the theater is clearer than of the show itself. Still, it's a good memory!

Well, there you have it. 44 years later, and I still have this stuff. Who would have thought? And yes, it's time to start planning that next trip...

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

When Hot Wheels Sizzled!

By 1970, Hot Wheels was the hottest brand of toy car in the world. Still, Mattel was never one to take success for granted...or to leave any money making angle unexplored. So, they introduced the next step in the evolution of the small toy car...Sizzlers!

Sizzlers were motorized cars that were about the same size as other Hot Wheels cars, or HO scale slot cars. However, the huge jump in technology with Sizzlers was that their motors didn't need a track for power. They were fitted with tiny ni-cad cells that allowed them to be completely self powered! After a (relatively) quick minute and a half charge from the Juice Machine, they were ready to tear up the track!...or kitchen floor!...or driveway!...or whatever you put them down on!

Here are my three examples. By the way, none of them are running right now since the batteries have been removed. It seems the same technology that birthed Sizzlers also tends to kill them, as corrosion is a huge problem with older cars. There are replacement batteries that you can purchase, however, so all is not lost.

The Hot Head (1970) in its original case.

The back of the package, showing other accessories.

The Mustang Hoss (1970). I had this one as a kid.

The Dark Shadow (1978) is fairly rare since it was one of the last six Sizzlers Mattel made. It has working headlights. Note the mis-matched front wheel factory mistake.

I also have a Juice Machine, Power Pit, and a couple of track sets. In the 1990's Playing Mantis released some Sizzlers as well, and I have those examples too. Still, the ones that I really love are the originals.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Ghost in the Machine

Greetings from the attic!

This week we are going to look at a little item I picked up about 10 years ago. It's not in great shape. Heck, it doesn't even work, but it's still really cool! I'm talking about the Brumberger Mystery Haunted House Bank! Here are a few pictures for you...

And now for a little history. This bank was produced in the 1960's by Brumberger. It was sold in various retail outlets and even by mail order (think comic book ads) but it really took off when a rather large company decided to use it in a promotion. The company was Disney and the promotion was for The Haunted Mansion!

Now, never mind that the bank looks nothing like the Disneyland (or Walt Disney World) Haunted Mansion.  It was close enough in concept to be sold in the park as a tie-in item. Now a lot of people think it was a Disney produced item. It wasn't. It was kind of like how rather typical Japanese puzzle boxes became Haunted Mansion Secret Panel Chests...but that's another story.

Anyway, the bank is really a thing of beauty. It's a roughly seven and a half inch cube of wonderfully lithographed tin. The top and base (both of which are chipped on mine) are made of plastic. There are supposed to be two plastic front doors (which mine is missing) that hide the draped, plastic ghost. When a coin was placed on the front steps, the porch light came on and the ghost came out and stood over the coin. He then went back into the house and the coin was GONE!

Mine does none of that. Apparently before I got it, someone decided to "work" on it and now several parts are missing. Still, I got mine for five bucks, and a working model can set you back several hundred, so I'm not too upset. It sits in my display cabinet in the study and just looks cool. That's all I really need it to do!

So, if you happen across one of these houses in a thrift store or flea market, snatch it up! ...just like the ghost does with all that loose change!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Driving the Flying Dutchman!

1962 was a good year. Not only did I happen to be born then, but the baby boomer toy craze was kicking into high gear. Yep, it was a good time to be a kid!

I happened to pick up one of those 1962 toys a while back at a local auction. I didn't know much about this particular item, or even if it worked, but it looked so darn cool, I decided to put in a low-ball bid- and by golly I won!

Therefore, I present to you; the Remco Flying Dutchman!

After I won the car, I found out a bit more about it. It is a battery operated toy, that was U-line controlled. Now, I had seen gas powered U-line cars before, but not electric models! Apparently Remco also made a U-line controlled land speed car called The Shark. My car included all of the parts except for a card-stock driver that fit in a slot in the front seat.

Anyway, the Flying Dutchman is a big toy (about 16 inches long), has a working front headlamp (that can be turned on independently of the motor) and is just overall cool!

Now when I went to write this blog about it, I realized that I still didn't know if it worked. I never bought four D cell batteries to find out! So, I made a quick trip to the store, opened the hood, and plunked in the batteries.

I flipped a switch on the dashboard and the headlamp flickered on...but no motor. I was beginning to think that the motor had died due to age (which happens a lot in older toys). Then I pulled on the control rod on the side of the car to see the front wheels turn to the left. The motor stirred. I pulled more and nudged the back wheels with my fingers and slowly they started turning. Then they turned faster and faster and suddenly (in who knows how long) the Flying Dutchman was running at full speed! Now I just might have to take her out for a drive!

Here are some more pictures just for fun!

The functioning headlamp!

The adjustable U-line control arm

The U-line handle in place.

Running!!!

Big toys= big fun!

So there ya go! Until next time, keep searching for treasure!