HW Surfin' School Bus

I photographed these Hot Wheels Surfin' School Buses a month ago, having collected them months ago from eBay sellers. I love a schoolbus, and really like the design of this one. The Red Lines edition is from 2004. the Graffiti Series from 2013 master set, and the yellow bus a 2014 mainline. Check out the video:

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2013 Hot Wheels High

I mentioned in a previous post about a local K-Mart that appears to be replenishing the pegs with 2013-2013 Hot Wheels periodically, where I found this Hot Wheels High. The body is cast in yellow plastic, the base in black metal- a unique and fun twist on the classic school bus, a vehicle I'm fond of. I've said before that yellow isn't my favorite color for toy cars, but the school bus and construction vehicles are exceptions, likely due to childhood associations with the color of these vehicles.

The body is slightly flanged on the HW High, like a race car, with two large vac-metal turbines in back, the interior and front grill finished in chrome alike...

There are two sun roof panels atop the bus, where the vac-metal seats can be seen through the clear smoke windows- love that! I'm unsure why Mattel cast the body in plastic, but it's still a cool school bus...

While stylistically very different from my Matchbox Field Tripper, the two make a fun pair of amped-up fantasy buses!

The Hot Wheels High and Matchbox Field Tripper with my childhood Tomica Pocket Cars School Bus...

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Childhood Tomica Castings

Among my collection of childhood diecast were these highly realistic Tomica cars, released in North America through Tomy Corp. as "Pocket Cars" from 1974-1986. I likely got ahold of these in the early '80s, and remember having a few more that these four- certainly a Cadillac ambulance, a Toyota Celica Turbo, a Toyota Land Cruiser, and maybe a VW Rabbit. Their detailed appointments and hinged doors appealed to greatly, and though I played with them vigorously as my Hot Wheels & Matchbox cars, I remember thinking they were something special...

Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, 1976
I always liked the long body of this blue Caddie, which played the role of VIP transport in my childhood diecast adventures. I didn't wipe these down too much after finding them at Mom's house over the recent Labor Day weekend- I think there's a cobweb in the driver's side door of this one if you look closely ...!

1981 Cadillac Seville
This is the single casting without a year stamped on the undercarriage- I'm unsure if it has to do with having been released in the North American market on the "Pocket Cars" blister card, nor do I clearly recall the packaging on any of these when purchased. I did faintly remember the series at retail however, and upon some internet investigation realize they must indeed be Pocket Cars for me to have gotten ahold of them out here in the Midwest. Finding an image of the carded Seville pictured to the right sparked my memory of the denim pocket card these came on...

School Bus, 1976
I've said before that yellow isn't one of my favorite colors for a diecast vehicle, yet oddly I do gravitate toward school buses, perhaps in memory of my elementary school days. As a youngster, I rode on a bus almost exactly like this one, and was fascinated by the vehicle's operation. It was so big!

Honda Civic, 1974
This was a neat little car that survived pretty well! It doesn't have the same numbering as my other Pocket Cars which start with an "F" (foreign), numbering up to 70, which may have to do with it being a Japanese car.

Visit the Tomica Pocket Cars Database I found online for more background on these!

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Matchbox Field Tripper & 3-Axle Dump Truck

It finally happened: after passing by the Matchbox cars on the way to the Hot Wheels section all summer, I picked some up! I had a few matchbox cars as a boy, a few of which were construction vehicles with the big wheels like the Matchbox Field Tripper & 3-Axle Dump Truck here. I love how the paint on the wheels corresponds with the vehicle's overall color scheme! Yes, this blog started out as a Hot Wheels blog, but there's no denying the appeal of Matchbox cars- after taking these home, I hunted down quite a few more that I'll share in forthcoming posts...

Field Tripper is a hilarious name, and the idea of a monster school bus is just appealing in general. This is a new Matchbox model for 2014, and being a school bus, I'm betting it will be popular among collectors...

Variants of this 3-axle dump truck have been released for over a decade, but this black & green version is sure dazzling to the eye! I had a Matchbox dump truck as a kid, which is still in my possession, but the six wheels on this really make it special!

..."Honey- I'm going to dump the kids off at school!"

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