User blog:Shaylavay1/The Beginning!

The Beginning! Many moons ago... Unfortunately being female was a great disadvantage when it came to Hot Wheels and diecast cars in general. It just wasn't done for girls to own Hot Wheels! Dolls and such were the given toys for girls of my generation. I envied my three older brothers their cool Hot Wheels and tracks, model cars, and ships. But I didn't let that stop me playing along with them, even though owning them myself was frowned upon. Which I thought totally strange since my father, who was a car mechanic for many years, allowed me to be his grease-monkey starting at age 12. I worked alongside him cleaning all of his car parts and handing him his tools while he worked. Fast forward a few years...now I could buy them for myself! Upon marriage I was able to buy Hot Wheels for my husband. And marrying a man who enjoyed my help when working on his all of our vehicles just felt right. It was a thrill when I helped him completely modify his Chevy Luv pickup, taking it from a ho-hum yellow truck to a sleek metallic baby blue "sleeper" muscle truck. He shoe-horned in a V8 Corvette engine by modifying the firewalls to accommodate it into the engine compartment. And then all the little wonderful extras: Holley carburetors, Edlebrock manifolds, Hooker headers, and a Hurst shifter. And boy did it sound mean and could it ever fly!! Now fast forward to the present... In November of 2018, I inherited a Large collection containing hundreds of pieces, most of which are still in the original packaging, of diecast cars, trucks, planes, motorcycles, etc. of Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning, Matchbox, Maisto, and the like, in every scale they are made. They date from the earliest 60's to 2018. This also includes many vintage multi-package car sets and track sets. Even a few slot car sets. I am slowly working through an inventory, complete with pictures. My very knowledgeable Geek son helped me out by building a database with all of the specifications or fields that match most of the official Forum databases that I have checked out. It has been a time-consuming enterprise, but I think it will be worthwhile for anyone who is searching for just the right piece(s) to finish off their own collections. Every piece in the collection is for sale!! I base my pricing on the sold prices, not necessarily the asking prices posted, as they were found on websites that list items for sale. I have been using as my research tools not just this website and also the following websites: North Carolina Hot Wheels Association -- nchwa.com (thanks to Mr. Neal Giordano for his exhaustive database!), the official Hot Wheels Collectors -- hotwheelscollectors.mattel.com, as well as others. So, that is my story and I'm sticking to it! I will be adding photos as I go along. If you are searching for anything in particular, message me, along with as much information as you can give, and I will note it down and watch for it as I go along. Thanks for your support! And happy Hot Wheeling!! TR