I wanna take a moment...

"carcrasher88" (carcrasher88) 02/05/2014 at 11:50 • Filed to: Hot Wheels, Diecastlopnik, Haulers

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...to talk about some of my favorite Hot Wheels vehicles I had as a kid.

The 'Haulers' line. I had a few of these, including the above Milk Duds truck.

In the late 90's into the early 2000's, there were many different kinds of Haulers, including many officially licensed ones, with companies and brands like Hershey's, McDonald's, Tropicana, Goodyear, etc...

I never had all of the different versions. I do remember having Good & Plenty, Tropicana, the McDonald's 'Very Big Mac' and Milk Duds.

One of these days, I'm gonna get all of the licensed 'Haulers' I can get, and maybe a bunch of the smaller licensed 'Hiway Haulers' as well.

There was always a neat sense of realism with these vehicles.

Also, the McDonald's one went well with the McDonald's set I had as a kid, too.

(Note: None of the pictures above are mine.)

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 11:54

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I had a bunch of haulers too. Distinctly remember the tropicana one. hadn't thought about that in a while, thanks for the trip down memory lane.

'Wägen, EPA LOL > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 11:56

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Proofe doge ate at McD's way back when?

carcrasher88 > 'Wägen, EPA LOL 02/05/2014 at 11:58

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What you did there...I see it.

:D

'Wägen, EPA LOL > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 12:00

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EL_ULY > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 12:00

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niiiiiiice!

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 12:02

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I used to have this exact Toyota Trophy Truck, and just like the real thing, it too was indestructible. I once lost it in the yard and found it 3 months later no worse for wear.

I'm pretty sure I also had that McDonald's truck.

carcrasher88 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 02/05/2014 at 12:02

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No problem! I enjoy sharing these memories with others.

When I was on my diecast hunt that resulted in the purchase of these , there were a few 'Haulers' models, but they were all newer, non-licensed models (mainly tow trucks and futuristic rigs).

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carcrasher88 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 02/05/2014 at 12:04

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I didn't have a Toyota Trophy Truck, but I did have the Ford one, called 'Bad Mudder' .

Same thing ended up happening to it, though.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 12:07

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I don't think mine was a Hot Wheels, it was one of the smaller brands. Maisto, maybe?

carcrasher88 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 02/05/2014 at 12:16

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Like this?

carcrasher88 > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 12:16

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Edit: I just noticed the rear pic you posted. :/

Roundbadge > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 12:21

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This reminds me that in the 80's, there was a series of Hot Wheels semi-trucks, the trailers for which had steering wheels mounted on them. The steering wheel assembly was keyed and fit through the trailer's king-pin which connected it to the truck itself...then you could use the steering wheel to steer the truck. I have a truck, but no trailer. The name of the truck was 'Hot Sauce'.

Edit: Hot Wheels Steering Rigs...and the steering wheel apparently was on the tail of the trailer. BIGGITY-BAM!

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 12:22

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yup

carcrasher88 > Roundbadge 02/05/2014 at 12:49

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I saw one of those at an outdoor flea market once. It had a Shell trailer.

For anyone else that wants to see how a Steering Rig works, here's a short video:

Roundbadge > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 12:57

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That's it, indeed. Apparently my memory of how that mechanism worked was a little off. My fault for not actually looking it up.

carcrasher88 > Roundbadge 02/05/2014 at 13:00

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That's alright. It's still pretty awesome either way.

IFTNFS > carcrasher88 02/05/2014 at 13:54

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I never had the Hot Wheels Haulers, but I'm kind of surprised I never did. Those look awesome!

I did have a lot of the Matchbox rigs though, and still do (I've been fortunate not to part with my Hot Wheels or Matchbox collection!). I somehow got quite a few European releases, too, like Tizer, Crooke's Healthcare, etc. Cool stuff. Quite a few race haulers from the late 80's also.

I love those trucks. I can't wait for the day that I have the space to display them again... Thanks for posting this and making me think about them again!

carcrasher88 > IFTNFS 02/05/2014 at 14:12

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Oh, Matchbox rigs! I remember always wanting a few of those.

Matchbox rig lines had much more variety. There were Nintendo rigs, Pepsi rigs, Stanley Tools rigs, KFC rigs...makes me wanna get some of those, too.

I've got 3 eBay pages open now, a Matchbox Super Rigs page, Hiway Haulers page, and a page searching for the Haulers like the ones pictured above.