"StingrayJake" (stingrayjake)
07/21/2015 at 16:40 • Filed to: LALD, Hot Wheels
13
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"StingrayJake" (stingrayjake)
07/21/2015 at 16:40 • Filed to: LALD, Hot Wheels | 13
| 17 |
Yo, dawg! We heard you liked camber so we cambered your camber and stanced your vintage Hot Wheels. You dig?
I don’t really consider myself a Hot Wheels collector, at least not a serious one. I had some when I was a kid, got interested again when I was a high school freshman (who never got laid), and again when I needed something to decorate my office cube earlier this year.
Most of my office collection is Corvette centric, though I have some great Ferraris too. Since I’m also an F1 fan, I’m a little disappointed that Hot Wheels hasn’t produced a quality 1:64 F1 car in quite some time. Sure there’s the F1 Racer (that has a high nose and never licensed livery), but nothing has ever matched the Grand Prix series of redlines from 1969.
That’s why I picked up this trio of cars off eBay last week. I finally have some great open-wheel cars for my collection. Well… sort of great.
Obviously all three cars have experienced life beyond the blister pack. But what disappointment I might have in their quality (and considering I got all three for $14 shipped, I’m not complaining), I take joy in the fact that they were loved.
So now, I review:
Indy Eagle
This is probably the best of the lot, relatively speaking. As is the case with all the cars, the axles are bent. The front wheels have negative camber, the back wheels have positive camber, and on a flat surface, the front right wheel doesn’t touch. The top of the windscreen is well-worn but I’m pretty happy that the plastic exhaust/wing are still attached, which is more than I can say for one of the other cars.
I didn’t understand the fascination with Spectraflame paint until I got these cars. It’s hard to capture in a cell phone photo the way the paint shines. The Eagle appears to be the aqua blue variety it has some uneven dark splotches and some chips here and there but overall I’d say it still looks pretty good for a 46-year-old toy.
This was the car I really wanted when I started shopping for Redlines because I’m a bit of a Dan Gurney fan. The Eagle-Weslake that he raced in F1 in 1967 is probably my favorite race car of all time.
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Brabham Repco F1
The Brabham has seen some rough days. The exhaust is broken off and missing, the windscreen is scratched across the top and smashed in a bit in one spot, and all four wheels are bent in and up slightly. Aside from some chips (like the Eagle), the red Spectraflame paint still has a fantastic shine.
Apparently some of the original waterslide decals also made it onto the Brabham and have held out all these years. There’s a Fram decal on each side of the engine housing and a Bell decal on each side of the nose.
Overall the car could be better but again, considering what I paid, I’m happy to add it to my office lineup.
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Twin Mill
Have I mentioned how great this Spectraflame paint looks after 46 years, part of which probably was spent in several children’s hands? Of the three, I was least interested in the Twin Mill. The axles are so bent that the car almost looks like a bulldog getting ready to pounce, but the green paint (again, aside from some chips) looks great.
If this gets reposted on LALD, I don’t have much interest in keeping the Twin Mill and would like to trade it if anybody is interested. Maybe it’d make a good project... or you’re like me and just having an original Redline is cool. Otherwise it might end up on eBay. Also, I’d really like authorship on LALD so I could post stuff like this there occasionally.
Thanks for reading.
Justin Hughes
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 16:45 |
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Shared to LALD. Hopefully someone else can give you authorship.
Speaking of which, I should start posting some of my stuff over there...
Brian, The Life of
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 16:50 |
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Dat headline ... I died.
MonkeePuzzle
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 17:17 |
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lol, I HATED when this would happen!
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StingrayJake
> MonkeePuzzle
07/21/2015 at 17:24 |
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I’m sure it’s more prone to happen on these open wheel cars than on a normal one, the Twin Mill is obviously an exception. Somebody must have gotten pretty physical with it to look that way.
philipilihp
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 17:42 |
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I totally thought you had authorship already! Sorry bud! Added you!
Great piece. I love those old F1 cars. I just discovered Hot Wheels did a modern(ish) Ferrari F1 car a few years back, liveried with Vodafone on it and everything. And of course the glorious Ferrari 156 is another option, but nothing like these redlines of course.
Both images courtesy of Enginerrrrrrr’s red Ferrari collection .
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philipilihp
> Justin Hughes
07/21/2015 at 17:43 |
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You definitely should! You already have authorship so you are good to go!
Mattbob
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 17:55 |
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So all the people with stanced cars.... They were just stepped on by accident??? It all makes sense now!
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StingrayJake
> philipilihp
07/21/2015 at 17:58 |
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I’ve been bidding on various 156s on eBay over the last week.
Haven’t hit on one yet
. I actually just won one today (I forgot to check). The modern car is part of the F1 Racer line and that might be the only licensed livery they’ve done with it. Still, I hate that high nose wing.
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StingrayJake
> Mattbob
07/21/2015 at 18:01 |
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It’s that whole our-universe-is-only-a-tiny-part-of-a-much-larger-world theory. Imagine... our whole galaxy fits on a tire from our overlord’s diecast car collection.
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philipilihp
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 19:03 |
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Yeah it’s not ideal but I guess it has to run on the track right?
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StingrayJake
> philipilihp
07/21/2015 at 19:31 |
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Unfortunately. Same reason the Corvette C7.R has the upturned nose. :(
atfsgeoff
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 20:59 |
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These are cars with torsion bar (bent-axle) suspension, so you can correct the wheel alignment issues with a small flathead screwdriver or tweezers. Here’s a video showing how the axles work:
Enginerrrrrrrrr
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 21:00 |
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Nice!! I collect redlines but have yet to get the eagle and brabham. Yours are still in decent condition though! You gotta remember they are about 45 years old haha.
Also here’s one of the better F1 cars Hot Wheels made. Still the upturned nose, but the livery is better, even than the one Philipilihp showed you that I have. Mine was much cheaper than this as well haha.
They have a Kimi Raikonnen one and there’s a Schumacher one out there too.
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philipilihp
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 21:56 |
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Yup... I’m remedying the situation on a custom c7.r though. Hopefully it turns out well!
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StingrayJake
> Enginerrrrrrrrr
07/21/2015 at 22:21 |
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I need to look around for one. My holy grail Hot Wheels car is the 1968 Custom Corvette in gold but since those run $150-plus out of the pack, it’s easier (and cheaper) to look for F1 cars, haha.
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Enginerrrrrrrrr
> StingrayJake
07/21/2015 at 22:42 |
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The Custom Corvette is a great casting. A couple months back I picked up one in magenta. You should look for the gold USA-made one as they go for much less than the Hong Kong one. Of course it depends on the condition of the one you want ;)
Wheelerguy
> StingrayJake
07/22/2015 at 02:08 |
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It’s like a sawn-off shotgun exhaust. It’s just gotten better.