Aladdin’s Cave, Round 4!

A break between snow storms lasting nearly a week brought sunshine and warm weather to Colorado, gleaming off the fields of snow. I love this time of year, and I was recently presented with another opportunity to leave work early at a location nearly halfway to the 120 mile distance between my home and the little shop I called “Aladdin’s Cave” along highway 34 in Johnsville. So away I went to visit our friendly shopkeepers to see what, if anything, they had remaining of the amazing collection they acquired some years ago and were now slowly selling.

Well, most of the really rare and valuable stuff is gone: almost all the original T-jets from the 60’s have been sold. I’m happy to say I got a few of them, although several, sadly, got away. Most of what they have left now are reproductions. But here’s the thing: the reproductions themselves are now collectible, as they are many years “out of reproduction,” and in some cases the repros are not only prettier than the originals, but also even more rare. So although they don’t have the collectible value of the originals, they’re still pretty darn nice, and going up in value rapidly.

About 2 weeks ago, a near pristine example of one of the early Aurora Vibrators I’ve wanted for years showed up on ePay: the 1962 Ford unibody long bed pickup truck in tan, the rarest of the 4 colors in which it was made. I wanted it bad and I decided to bid high on it: VERY high; in fact, almost double the previously highest price I’d ever paid for a single slot car. I was sure I’d get it, but I was wrong: I was sniped in literally the last second, and it wound up selling for over $200! It was this specific car I went out to Aladdin’s Cave hoping to acquire. Alas, no original copies were present, but there were a couple of reproductions from (who else but) Road Race Replicas, and one of these was a real beauty, being presented in a white and turquoise two tone; the original Aurora body was never released in a color so appealing. In addition, several other repros were available, and the proprietors made me some amazing deals, so that I was comfortable taking home not just the one car I’d gone hoping to find, but another haul.

Here is the latest round of additions to The Road Crew from my rural treasure chest:

Of course I said a while ago that I was done with The Road Crew, and it’s true that I have no more case space for these, as the 72-slot garage I purchased for the Crew is now full. But I’m never “done” with anything, and the garage is big enough that I can double-up some of the smaller cars, so I’ll be able to squeeze these in! Where there’s a will, there’s a way, they say!