While busy working on the diorama, I haven’t been very bloggy of late, although I can promise you that several posts are coming in the near future showing updates big and small to the layout! In the meantime, I have opened some newly arrived packages containing some more items for my “Get Backs” project.
Here we have a mixed bag of cars from various makers, starting with a Hot Wheels Mustang that just may replace the newer version of the same car that currently sits on the diorama, if for no other reason than its vintage flavor. I’ve said before that the “Fox Body” is my 2nd least favorite Mustang ever (after the awful “Mustang II”) so I didn’t have a lot of models of them, and that’s probably the reason that my childhood original version of this car can be found in my junk box, badly damaged if not completely destroyed. Like all Hot Wheels, this one is catching insane prices online, but I’m not sure who’s paying $50-75 for this like some of the ones I saw for sale. I think that’s insane; I got this one for $11, although the postage was high b/c it shipped from a seller in Hawaii.
Released in 1980 as the “Turbo Mustang” (good grief, really?) this metallic red version with the gold “Fast Ones” wheels was a later variation from sometime around 1982 or so. The graphics on the car are realistic…which is to say as cheesy as those often seen on the real thing back in the day, although not a bad as on some of the other variations of this same model! The red interior with the red paint is also a nice, realistic touch. I certainly don’t love this car but its nice to have it back and this is a good example in good condition grabbed for a fair price.
Next up is a Tomica model of the AMC Pacer, a car that so many people seem to think is one of the worst ever made, but I always thought they were kind of cute in that homely way that AMC seemed to specialize in around this era. I only just barely remember owning this car, I think it might have been a yard sale special which didn’t last long in my hands; the bent baseplate for it is still floating around in the junk box, although the rest of the car is nowhere to be found, so I can’t say I remember what happened there, either. This is a good clean copy, less than mint of course, but the green tinted windows offset the yellow paint nicely and like all Tomica models it is well proportioned and carefully detailed, a high quality die-cast.
The last one is my favorite of this bunch; I have fond childhood memories of this Playart Rolls because it’s the only 1:64 version of the hardtop coupe that I know of. That hood ornament, though vague in detail, is a nice touch, and its amazing that it hasn’t broken off this toy in over 40 years! It it shown here next to my childhood original which was this same shade of green but at some point I repainted red with a brush. I did that because this model was made in red years earlier and as a very young child I had a red one before I later had it in green, and I guess I liked the red better so I repainted it. This model was in production for years and was made in a variety of colors: the red one is very hard to find, but the green one is the most common and, again, that’s the one I had so that’s the one I replace. It isn’t a great model, of course; for that you need the #69 Matchbox which is a convertible, but regardless, its cool to have this car represented as a 2-door coupe.
So it looks like I’m going to have to buy another case soon to keep all these in, which will make it the 2nd 48-car case for the “Get Backs.” The first one was inaugurated in 2016, the next one I buy will be dated for 2024! And I keep getting’ ‘em back!
Some great buy backs and I have always had a fondness for Rolls Royce regardless of the maker though am unfamiliar with this brand. A cool find! I have to say that the Mustang and Pacer are both endearing. Though they weren’t my favorite cars, now they have a kookie charm for me. Congrats on the new additions!