This week’s post is going to be a grab bag of goodies from the toy room, as none of these fragments really have the weight to justify an entire post of their own. So, in the interest of keeping everyone informed about the action around Drag City, let’s take a quick look at a few inconsequential, but still interesting changes…
1. A Tale of Two Roadrunners
A couple of weeks ago I happened to find a couple of Hot Wheels I hadn’t yet acquired while walking randomly through the local Wallyworld. One of these was a variation on the seemingly endless “Fast & Furious” series, which confuses me because some of those are Car Culture Premium versions that are all metal with rubber tires, and others, like this one, are cheaper, with plastic bases and wheels, but still better detailing than a mainline. Whatever; I picked up this nicely detailed metallic gray 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner.
A couple of months ago, I picked up a Premium ‘70 Roadrunner that I had seen around, and here’s exactly what I mean: this one was also badged as a “Fast & Furious” release! This last Monday I decided to open the pair of them and choose which one to put on the diorama, and I was surprised to discover that, although they are models of the exact same car, they are completely different castings that bear nothing in common with one another! That came as a surprise, and it made me want to dig through my cases for the original release of the ’70 Roadrunner from 1998.
Comparing them side-by-side, it’s clear that this recent gray release is the original casting, but even here there are some subtle differences: a close examination of the original car shows some “crisping up” of the lines, particularly around the roof pillars and the shape and size of the back window. The glass insert also appears to be of higher quality formation and thinner than the original.
The newer Premium, however, is a completely different animal: in a way I actually think the earlier car is a little bit more accurate to the shape of the real one, but the way this new Premium release is put together, with its Halibrand-style wheels and “Six Pac” hood scoop and period-correct paint, it’s just irresistible, so it probably goes without saying that that’s the one I chose.
2. Like, OhMahGAAAWWWWD!
In my previous post about the much more significant changes and updates to the diorama, I failed to point one out! This is one where the spirit of the original tableau was kept entirely intact, even though the car changed!
Previously, our pair of “mall chicks” were cruising around in a canary yellow mid ‘60s Karmann Ghia. Now, they’ve traded up to this year’s model, and are cruising past the muscle dudes outside the Drag-O-Way Motel in their ‘87 ‘Cabriolet! How cuuuuuute!
An interesting note about this Matchbox model is that it is the British-market version of the Cabriolet, which was actually the high performance GTI model, as identified by the quad headlamps. This configuration was never available in the US, where the Cabriolet was little more than a Rabbit convertible, although the name Rabbit had been dropped by the late ‘80s.
Egad, how I HATED these cars back in the day! Sold only in white, black, or bright red, they were always bought by a certain SoCal suburban contingent. I hate them still today, but there’s no denying that they are icons of their era, so when Matchbox released this one in their Moving Parts series with opening doors, I thought the casting was so good that it had to go on the diorama somewhere! Putting our already present “boppy chix” in it was a no-brainer, but I admit I miss the canary yellow Karmann Ghia: I mean, that’s one of the VW’s that I actually like!
3. Did The Earth Move?
Simply Red’s 1985 hit single “Money’s Too Tight To Mention”, a screed against Reaganomics, ended with the refrain “Did the Earth move for ya, Nancy?” Well, it’s moving for me, as the basement of my old house tends to do! I noticed earlier this week that the “road tape” on Interstate 8 is beginning to curl upward a little bit at the break in the foam base that forms the structure of the freeway. That’s not too surprising since it’s been several years since I built this, and the years of temperature changes and humidity in the basement are taking their toll. Eventually, I will have to carefully put some glue underneath the edges of the road with a tiny brush and stick them back down, but for now I chose the expedient of simply covering the seam with the cars on the highway!
That forced me to tighten up the traffic a little bit, which gave me the opportunity to add a few more cars! And you know what we always say here at thunderjetheaven.com: more cars is always good!
One thing that I don’t understand, though, is how the two pieces of foam appear to have gotten out of alignment. The road actually jogged over slightly where the break occurs, forcing me to figure out how to move the smaller piece foam maybe an 1/8th of an inch in the least disruptive way. I figured it out and got them set tightly again, but I do wonder how that happened: could be a sign of more subsidence in my basement… or could just be my slow descent into insanity!
Anyway, it seemed like a good opportunity to squeeze a few more cars in onto the layout and as we know, the traffic in Southern California is always getting worse, so in that respect, it adds realism!
And that’s about all the news I have for you today, dear readers! Drop in on me again this weekend when I will hopefully have some more exciting news from Drag City!!
