N Scalers... Did You Like Hot Wheels Too?

[Track fiddler]

Something about an N scaler. I don't know what it is. What kind of kid would like a smaller toy. Some of us did I guess. For me I don't think it was the space issue back then, although it did not take long to find out that issue did exist

I do remember when I was younger, before getting into N scale model trains, I was really into Hot Wheels. There was a group of us in the neighborhood that had a Hot Wheel Club. We would get together and build roads, play with our Hot Wheels, trade our Hot Wheels, save our allowance and buy our Hot Wheels. You didn't have to save much they were only .69c back then and never over .99 cents.

I remember when my Mom got me four carrying cases for my Hot Wheels with one case chuck-full of brand new ones for Christmas.  Remember those carrying cases? They were shatterproof translucent plastic with hinged snap lids on both sides...... Wow that was a lot of years ago. Funny,  it doesn't seem like that long ago when I sit there and think about it. 

Well I'm a big kid now I was at the Harbor Freight about a month ago stocking up on drill bits and drivers, all the stuff I get there because it's cheaper than the big box stores and still pretty decent quality for the buck. I like to walk around the rest of the store and look at the other stuff too. What guy don't?

I seen these nail and screw organizer containers. I really don't have any use for these but they reminded me of the Hot Wheel carrying cases I used to have.

The little kid in me took over. I started thinking about how I dig through the Jewel cases of N scale cars looking for my favorites and how I always have to put the piles of those cases back together neatly until I want to find another one. This gets a little old and takes away time spent on my layout.

They were only 3.99. I bought 16 of them. Each one holds 12 cars perfectly. I can see through them and find anything easier and take out my cars and put them away much faster.

I also bought a roll of mechanics daimond foam.  Drawer liner for mechanics, so when the Tool Chest drawer is slammed, all the tools stay in their spot

I'm liking this train car organization here!

I almost feel like I'm playing Hot Wheels again .... whoever said a little childhood regression is a bad thing?

It's all about having fun right?       

                     Track Fiddler

 

[tstage]

TF,

My .  While the plastic divider bins should be just fine, I'm not sure how safe that foam liner is for long-term storage.  It could...could eventually stick to the paint of your cars.

The reason I say that is that Axian Technologies recommends tissue paper or acid-free plastic wrap as a barrier to the foam liners they use in their tote boxes.  Foam liner is slightly tacky to keep items from shifting in a drawer.  It's possible in an unventilated container like those plastic bins that the outgassing of the foam could eventually attack the surface of your rolling stock.  Just sayin'...

Tom

[Track fiddler]

Wow Tom.... thanks for looking out for me. I never thought about that, especially the way the years flow by like water, that would not be good. Time might not be my car's friend in this situation either!

My first storage container was lined with black burlap when I first started. The cars slid around a little more but I know how to be careful. Unless there's any chemists on the Forum here to tell me different, I think I better go back to that. 

Thanks    TF

PS  Who knows what kind of oils or chemicals is in the Burlap to hold it all together either...... just another reminder research is everything, isn't it?

[gmpullman]

tstage

It's possible in an unventilated container like those plastic bins that the outgassing of the foam could eventually attack the surface of your rolling stock.  Just sayin'...

Not only possible, it is more like a certainty.

I lined some wide, flat drawers with a variation of that stuff. I believe it was made by Rubbermaid so it should at least be formulated with decent materials.

It wasn't long before I could feel the stuff sticking to the painted car sides. I removed it right away and went back to my original material which is the felt-like indoor-outdoor carpet sold at most larger building supply chains.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficMASTER-Elevations-Color-Sky-Grey-Ribbed-Texture-Indoor-Outdoor-12-ft-Carpet-7PD5N660144H/203240740

42¢ per square foot. I use this stuff for wall covering and fascia covering in the layout room, too. 

I have a Walthers passenger car that now has a checkerboard pattern on one side that will NOT come off. It has ruined the factory paint.

Take notice, anyone else looking at this stuff. Might be fine for steel/chromed tools but no good for painted plastic.

Oh, and to answer your original question, I was more of a Matchbox guy. I always envied the well-off kits that got Corgi cars but I was sure happy with Matchbox. we did the same thing as all the kids in the neighborhood would bring their cars and we would build roads and forts and stuff.

I was an HO scaler back then, too. Don't know what being into N scale would influence my choice of toy automobiles but maybe there's a connection I'm missing? One of my friends had a big Lionel layout, he liked Matchbox, too.

Cheers. Ed

 

[Track fiddler]

I realize something like this doesn't happen overnight. The cars have been sitting on this diamond pad for about a month. Still your information has got my attention here.

I open one up and waited until the furnace cycle wasn't running. It's so quiet in this house when nothing's on, your ears ring. I put my ear down to the box and slowly pulled one of the cars up from the foam. I heard an extreme subtle sound like when you pull tape off of something and felt an extreme slight resistance.

Heck with this. This stuff has got to go regardless of any found specifications about it. No reason for any risk.

Thanks for the heads up. I have to find some kind of bed liner though. Plastic sliding against plastic little by little over time is not good either. Maybe I'll go with Ed's carpet idea here, although I've never been much of a carpet guy. That stuffs a little tough to cut a big piece clean, let alone a trillion little ones

 

[mammay76]

As a kid of the mid 80's to mid 90's I was always a fan of micro-machines, and when I first saw N scale, it was almost a perfect fit.

[gmpullman]

Track fiddler

Maybe I'll go with Ed's carpet here.

The stuff available today is quite a bit thinner and lighter than when I first used it twenty years ago. Still it makes a nice surface material. I use dark green on the fascia, gray on the walls and tan on some of the legs of the benchwork.

Here's what the tan looks like:

IMG_8464_fix by Edmund, on Flickr

and the green on the fascia:

IMG_7108 by Edmund, on Flickr

and gray on the walls:

IMG_5802 by Edmund, on Flickr

The gray I bought years ago and it is smooth, without the ribs. Another plus is that Velcro sticks to it so I can put up background photos using hook & loop.

Track fiddler

That stuffs a little tough to cut a big piece clean, let alone a trillion little ones

It comes in a twelve foot width. I had Home Depot use their cutting machine to cut it into 16" strips for me. You could get one linear foot (about $5.) and use a Fiskars cutting wheel to make your inserts.

http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Crafting-and-Sewing/Rotary-Cutters

I always used the Stanley utility knife but after trying one of these cutting wheels I'm sold. It doesn't replace the Stanley but for cutting sheet goods ithey are the cat's pajama's!

Cheers, Ed

[Track fiddler]

Micro Machines.... My brother Dan who is 10 years younger than me was into those. He is also a N scale modeler.

We go to train shows together sometimes. He likes Minneapolis and Saint Louis Railroad and a few others that have to do with this city. I remember a blue yellow and white RS 1 he bought at a train show not too long ago.

[Track fiddler]

Ed.... I think I have seen that stuff at Home Depot when I was buying some indoor outdoor carpet to resurface an exterior steps.

I do remember I thought it looked a little thin but for an application like this, it should work just fine. It does look easier to cut than thick carpet and does look very nice in the images where you have used it. 

I may give this a shot.        TF

[Track fiddler]

Oh come on now I thought this thread would be a little more fun than it has been so far. I will get my pad problem resolved. I'm just glad you guys steered me the right way from certain probable disaster.

I thought there has to be someone more than just me that grew up in my era. We're talking Hot Wheels here guys, don't you remember that stuff?

The manufacturer did'nt just make the cars and the orange tracks and throw it at us and say here you go.

They kept Re-inventing the wheel to keep us busy. After we had the cars and the simple orange track they started throwing some more sophisticated stuff at us. 

Christmas did have a lot to do with cool toys and the magic that went with it. (we did have the best cartoons back then too)

Don't you remember that Hot Wheels Power Station with the wishbone track and the crank you would crank and crank and swoosh and swoosh and the soft sponge rubber Wheels would grab your car and flip them up an easement to an inverted climb over the Double Loop de Loop and when they came down, the cars were going so fast they had to have banked curves so the car wouldn't fly off the track and then they came around the track again while you cranked and cranked to make them go faster and faster.

God, me and my brother would Crank that Crank so hard and fast the cars all of a sudden hit the inverted climb after zinging through the sponge Wheels and flip off the track and put a dent in the wall.... too much of a good thing

I remember my Big brother looking at me with a crap eating grin on his face saying..... we need to crank a little slower

[Little Timmy]

Track fiddler

Don't you remember that Hot Wheels Power Station with the wishbone track and the crank you would crank and crank

Yea.... I remember Hot Wheel's. I must have been a VERY good boy, I got the Battery operated Power Station. I also had 12 of the car carrier's ( the one's that looked like a tire) and the 3 story car garage..... with working elevator !

But, as I got older ( 10 ?) I discovered "FIREWORK'S"!  Most of my Hot Wheel's met their end with Blackcat's, and bottle rocket's !  The Snake & Mongoose set were crushed under my dad's wheel's, when he went to work one day in 1976.

If I could go back in time ...... I would BEAT myself up !!! RE-PEATEDLY !!!

[gmpullman]

Batteries not included...

When the boy looks into the Super Charger — with NO EYE Protection! Today's liability lawyers would go nuts! Don't try this at home, kids.

That thing'll put yer eye out!

Have fun, Ed

[Track fiddler]

Timmy.... Mongoose snake yeah I remember that one too. Power Station maybe that was battery operated? I just remember the Double Loop de Loop, I wish someone had a picture of that, I don't know how to post them. I still remember the one that you had to crank and crank Too.

Yeah I remember the fireworks era. You're right that did take over. We were such idiots, we had bottle rocket fights. I didn't say that.

Ed.  Mattel was the only ones with lawyers back then, and any other big company. Nothing like today. 

Safety glasses are you kidding me. I the same as you, and all the other kids of that era, didn't even wear helmets riding our bicycles back then. It wasn't even thought of. Kids of the 60s and 70s were tough. Probably even tougher before that. 

[gmpullman]

Track fiddler

Kids of the 60s and 70s were tough. Probably even tougher before that.

My sister's coat sleeve caught on the inside door handle of our '56 DeSoto, once. Dad was making a left turn, she unlatched the door and rolled out on the road!

Well, my dad had to stop and pick her up and dust her off. Mom was disappointed that her new coat got scuffed up.

Seatbelts, childproof safety locks, recessed door handles? Naah, don't need any of that fancy stuff.

I just downloaded an owner's manual for a family member that just bought a used car that didn't have one in the glove box (anybody have gloves in there?).

The first SIXTY pages are devoted to how to put a child seat into the vehicle!

Different times now. My sister never seemed to be the same after the car door thing 

Cheers, Ed

[Little Timmy]

I also had several of the motorized Hotwheel's. You charged them up with the fuel pump ( it had 4 D-cell battery's in it ) and they would run for about 3 minure's per charge. HOWEVER : Dont stick yourToung on the Plug that go's into the car .... shocking !! ( and taste's terrible ! )

I found these picture's online, but these were the Dragster's I had.

Had I known they would be worth Hundred's .... maybe I would have treated them better.....

[rrinker]

 I had plenty of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, and some knockoff ones, too. Lots of track. I also had the cars that had a motor and rechargeable battery in them - Sizzlers. There was a gas pump shped charger, it took a pile of D batteries and you plugged the 'hose' from the gas station into the car and held down the top to charge it. They also made a train which I had. Same track, it would mate with the Hot Wheels track with those palstic tabs. It had banked hard plastic curves like the ones in the SUpercharger set, and also had turnouts which were basically just big gates that directed the train one way or the other. 

                                        --Randy

 

[Little Timmy]

Track fiddler

I just remember the Double Loop de Loop, I wish someone had a picture of that,

Was it this one ?

[Track fiddler]

No thanks for trying though Timmy, you're the best. I fell asleep in my recliner after Chinese delivery. Chinese puts me to sleep... must be the Zen.  (or MSG)

I had that one you imaged but the one I'm talking about looks like this.

Thanks Kid,  appreciated

[Southgate]

Ok, you asked! I was never an N scaler, always HO. Started around 17 yrs old.  BUT! Yes, before that, I was into the Hot wheels, Matchbox, and other similar cars. Matchbox dominated but I got Hot Wheels thru trading with the other kids "on the hill".  I say I was into them, but it's more accurate to say I AM into them. Still!  I occasionally paruse the displays and buy any nicely made "model" of a vehicle that appeals. No gaudy show or glitzy fantasy cars but just replicas of vehicles I like in 1/1.

I don't collect for all the numbers and series sets, just the nice looking ones. I did buy the whole 1999, and the 2000 series Hot Wheels "First Edition" models, cuz I thought it would be cool the have the lasts and firsts of the millenium change. (The '70 Chevelle is one of the best looking Hot Wheels EVER!) I doubt those collections will ever be worth a great deal since Hot wheels were at an epic fad then and many people were doing the same.

Now and then I'll even repaint or redetail a car or truck just to make it look nicer. Little change of pace.  I don't use them on the layout unless, as in fairly rare cases, they are close to HO.

I probably have about 600. Spaced over tha last 50 years.

Tomy made "Pocket Cars" in the late 70s, beautifully made, about the time Matchbox started getting pretty cheesy. I have a few of those, Johnny lightning, Playing Mantis, Road Champs, and others. Nothing exotic. But nice.

I envy S scalers for their choice of off the shelf availability and variety, as near as Wal-Mart.  Dan

[Track fiddler]

Thanks for replying Dan. You rang a bell with Johnny Lightning. 

I'm sure I got a Johnny lightning 500 set for Christmas one year. I can't remember who gave it to me or what it looked like. I remember it though.

Who knows, dig up some old bones. Matchbox was here before I started this thread.  I'm sure I had Matchbox if I had Hot Wheels. This stuff was fun at one time.

Thanks Dan

PS    You collect these cars and modify them with paint. That's cool. I enjoy collecting N scale train cars. I hope you can post some images of your work.  I would like to see that.

         

[Lone Wolf and Santa Fe]

    Hot Wheels were my favorite toys. I had the set which came with two battery powered power stations.  I also had the set which had the start which screwed onto your table top and used gravity to power the cars. They would race down the hill and through the loop and onto the finish line with a checkered flag that should the actual winner. I got that set for Christmas in 1st grade, The set with the power stations I got for Christmas in 2nd grade.
    I had the tire case and when it was full of cars I got a case which held four racks of cars. I also had a parking garage which had an elevator.
    I had about 100 cars. I also had the motorcycles. And of course the Sizzler cars and the Sizzler train. My favorite car might have been Jack Rabbit 5. It was a sports car with a rear engine. I had the Snake and Mongoose funny cars. I had both the white and yellow version of the Snake car. I also had the top fuel dragsters for both Snake and Mongoose which could pop wheelies. A couple of years ago I saw an unopened package of them sell on eBay for $1,000!
    My favorite track was the Road Chase set for Sizzlers but I played with all of my cars on it. You can see from the picture why a model railroader would like it.
    I loved my Hot Wheels. Too bad they were too big to use only my HO scale layout. They were pretty banged up anyway. When I was a teenager I gave them away to my cousin. OMG what a mistake that was. I totally regret that. I wish I still had them now. I never realized how much I loved my cars. Well at least I was smart enough to keep my HO scale electric trains.

 

[drgwcs]

Gee this thread had me waste time today- got onto google on hot wheels of the seventies and before I knew it was surfing through toys of the seventies... Micronots, Mego, Stretch Armstrong, Evil Kenevel, Tonka, Nylint, Old Legos, Star Trek, Star Wars, Space 1999 and yes Hot wheels. There were a couple of pages from a wish book of then glorious tyco accessories too. Made me remember a lot of toys that I forgot about...... Jim

[Southgate]

Furthering the conversation...

In 1968 my mom bought me and my brother each a couple Matchboxes. We each got a Mercedes truck, as follows.

I still have both our original trucks. Mine is painted maroon with athearn wheels. His is the blue one, I painted it back in the 70s.  The brand new looking ones are more recent eBay finds, as was the beat up green one.

The other cars we got were LIKE these 2, that I acquired later in life. My original Mercedes car is long gone. I still have what's left of his dump truck chassis. These are original, not restored.

That's what started us collecting. He lost interest before his teens, I never did completely.

A revamped Jeep, this is recent. I lowered the height by cutting and splicing the the chassis, and repainted just the interior-inner fender- bed piece and the chassis. Just a quick little project.

Before

After

Other repaintings and reworkings: the 2 Ford C trucks made by Yatming, cheap toys at a gas station store, I did these before Athearn came out with them.  The 2 GMC tippers are repainted Matchbox, as are the 2 Matchbox Mercedes trailers (from childhood) on the Magnusen Models resin Diamond Rio. The green Dodge was a Matchbox cattle truck also from my childhood. The cattle box was crunched.

Just some examples of other cars I bought in the last 20 years, just cuz I liked them, these are unaltered.

Cool Chevelles, all Hot Wheels

Hot Wheel Ford drag car, Matchbox Pickup and Camaro, Tomy Jag. I didn't know it was so blurry till now. Very nicely done, I got this one in the 80s.

Most of the cars I grab these days stay in their packages. If I like one enough, I'll buy one to keep sealed, the other to open and...well... play around with. Well, everyone here plays with trains, right?

Does this stir any memories?  Dan

[ATSFGuy]

Absolutely,

Despite the fact they're out of scale I still collect them. I also collect Majorette, Matchbox, and Johnny Lightning (Playing Mantis).

The HO 1/87 cars are too small and since they don't really feature any moving parts, 1/64 scale models fill in the gap.

Models with real rubber tires are a must have.

[Southgate]

Yeah, I think the nicest ones these days are the 4-6 dollar replicas; Playing Mantis, Road Champs, etc. They'd be perfect on an S scale layout. Opening Doors and hoods, rubber tires come at a higher price, but factor in inflation, they're no more than the 49 cent Matchboxes in the late 60s, and a WHOLE DOLLAR for Hot Wheels!

I did make the mistake of giving away some of my early collections. But I kept my faves.