Recent Finds.

Haven't made too many purchases this spring. Just been more selective and focus on castings that really impress me rather than buy for the sake of growing a collection.
Under the Hot Wheels banner I found the '68 Nova in the metallic blue Hw Racing paint scheme. This is a classic muscle car casting with bigs and littles to give it an aggressive stance.

The '69 Dodge Coronet Super Bee is not a casting that usually interests me, but I love it in these colours. Plum purple with black stripes and white lined wheels is very sharp. It took me a while to find this variation. The Super Bee is #4 in the Muscle Mania series.

My most recent find is the '70 Monte Carlo, #7 in the Muscle Mania series on a short card. Also purple with black stripes. A great colour combo.

It has been some time since I last bought a Johnny Lightning casting. Local store don't carry them, so I was forced to search Ebay. The '62 Chevy Belair Zinger is from the Street Freaks release 17 from 2005, and #52 of the Zinger line. This is a all metal casting.

My First Dairy Delivery.

For the five years I have been collecting Hot Wheels as an adult, the one casting that has eluded me is the coveted "Dairy Delivery". Until yesterday. I was at Wally's and to my surprise the store had stocked the new collectors series "Nose Art". A WW2 pin up inspired set that according to the recent posts on hotwheelscollectors.com has so far only appeared in Canada.

I have never even seen a Dairy in person before, so I was quick to grab one. The entire six car set was hanging on the pegs, but the Dairy was the one I purchased. The other castings include the '67 Austin Mini Van, Customized C3500, Dream Van XGW, '67 Ford Bronco, and  the Baja Breaker.
The Dairy Delivery is sporting real rider tires, green over green paint, with "Special Delivery" and random bullet holes on the sides. On the Roof is a dumb bomb with wings and a banner that reads "Bombs Away".
The card art is great which is why I will not be opening this casting.

Feburary Finds - Hot Wheels Collector Series

Have only purchased a couple castings of late. The local stores still have not cleared out their Christmas stock of Hot Wheels main lines, but the collector series have been appearing on the pegs. The Pass N Gasser is one of my favourite Hot Wheels castings, so I was quick to grab the metal on metal release from The NHRA Drag Racing Series. Click on photo to enlarge.

This release is super hot in purple paint, and I love the gold, 5 spokes with Firestone real riders.
From the Boulevard Series I picked up the '52 Hudson Hornet. This is also a metal base car with real rider white wall tires. Click on photo to enlarge.

I was a little disappointed after opening this casting. The car is painted in pearl white and pearl light blue, but I found the white to be dull and a little yellowish. There is also a glob of what must be paint on the passenger side A pillar. The Hudson falls a little short for a higher priced collector series car and doesn't compare to the Pass N Gasser. I doubt I will buy any more of the Boulevard cars.

End Of The Year Finds.

The year 2011 ended on a mixed note. There are still no Johnny Lightnings at local stores, but I had some luck with Hot Wheels. I found 2 copies of the '69 Chevelle SS 396 regular Treasure Hunts at 2 different stores. The one with the better paint has alreay been opened. I love the red 5 spokes with white lettering.

Also from the mainline series I found the Custom '53 Chevy in purple with green flames, and the '57 Chevy in pearl white with Hot Wheels Racing tampos. Both are 2011 releases and for the '53 Chevy I believe I now have all 3 paint variations.

From 2012 I picked up the '68 Chevy Nova, blue with Hot Wheels Racing Tampos. Very sharp with the red line wheels.

It was last Friday I stopped at a local thift store. This store carries diecast on a regular basis, but unfortunately it is sold by the bag, so I end up with castings I don't like. Regardless I think I found a couple good restoration candidates.

The Neet Streeter is one of my Favourite Hot Wheels castings, and this black wall version makes number 3 in my collection. The other 2 include the regular treasure hunt from 2009 and the more resent Hot Ones release. The pink Cadillac Eldorado is a Corgi Juniors Whizz Wheels. Not a brand I usually collect, but I liked this one from the moment I laid eyes on it. With metal base, visable motor and zoomie pipes it just seemed like old school die cast.