Wood carving a Land Cruiser and restoring a Matchbox F40

I mean, we have all the time in the world now.

Diecast rally racing

H/t to Peter!

Cars 45 and 46 of Junior's future collection

Remember, I stop buying at 50.

Current Hot Wheels / Matchbox / Tomica inventory

I went back to the Toys R Us I visited yesterday to buy a baby gate. I found more cars on the other side of the store!

Rotary powered Mazda pickup truck:

My dream car in high school, the 1967 Camaro:

The greatest car ever, the McLaren F1:

I need to do an inventory of cars because I should stop at 50. Also, I want to avoid buying duplicates. So far, I have:

1.  2017 Acura NSX (HW) 
2.  Aston Martin One-77
3.  1975 BMW 3.0 CSL (HW)
4.  2015 BMW i3 (M)
5.  BMW M5 police car (M)
6.  Cadillac Elmiraj (HW) 
7.  1967 Chevy Camaro (HW)
8.  1985 Chevy Camaro (HW)
9.  1984 Chevy Corvette (HW)
10.  Chevy Corvette C7 Z06 (HW)
11.  Dodge Viper RT/10 (HW)
12.  The Embosser (HW)
13.  F1 Racer (HW)
14.  1970 Ford Escort RS1600 (HW)
15.  2012 Ford Fiesta (HW)
16.  2017 Ford GT (HW)
17.  2017 Ford Raptor (HW)
18.  1990 Honda Civic EF (HW)
19.  1985 Honda CRX (HW) orange
20.  1985 Honda CRX (HW) white
21.  Hongqi (T)
22.  2017 Jeep Gladiator (M)
23.  Lamborghini Huracan LP 620-2 Super Trofeo (HW)
24.  Lamborghini LM002 (M)
25.  Lotus Europa (T)
26.  Mazda Miata (M)
27.  Mazda rotary truck (HW)
28.  1995 Mazda RX-7 (HW)
29.  Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo II (HW)
30.  NYPD Meter Maid Cart (M)
31.  NYPD Chevy Suburban (M)
32.  NYPD Random SUV (M)
33.  NYPD Dodge Charger (M)
34.  NYPD Tow Truck (M)
35.  Mobile Tune-Up Van (HW)
36.  Nissan Leaf (T)
37.  McLaren F1 GTR (HW)
38.  Porsche 934.5 (HW)
39.  Porsche Carrera GT (HW)
40.  Swift Shuttle (M)
41.  Tesla Model S (M)
42.  1990 VW Golf Country (M)
43.  VW SP2 (HW)
44.  VW Transporter (M)

Okay. Six more, and that's it!

I bought ten more Matchbox cars

Even though Toys R Us recently filed for bankruptcy, they opened up a new store near my office. It's clean, bright, and huge. And its selection of Matchbox cars is impressive.

If you have a suggestion for a car carrier, I would appreciate it. When I was a kid, I had a blue plastic briefcase with blue plastic trays inside to carry my cars. I'd like to get a carrier for Junior when he is old enough to play with these cars.

First up, a set of NYPD police vehicles. This is the first set I've purchased. I prefer buying cars one-by-one. I don't like sets because I usually don't like every single car in the set. I bought this set because I really liked the Suburban. I also bought the set because the collection I am amassing is missing "work vehicles".

An Austrian-built 4x4 Golf.

My kid will have an i3, just like his old man.

I'm pretty sure I haven't bought this Miata before.

This Tesla Model S is very realistic looking.

And finally, an M5 police car!

Got a Jeep truck at the drug store today

More Hot Wheels purchases

I was in a different town and went to their Target to see if their inventory was different than our local Target's inventory. It was!

The first car I picked wasn't even a Hot Wheels; it was this Matchbox. I knew about the regular Transporter that Matchbox made, but I didn't know there was a Color Changer version. 

I wasn't too crazy about the livery of this C4 Corvette, but C4 Corvette!

Same with this Camaro. I saw this for sale a year ago and was not impressed with the blue stripes. But I got it anyways yesterday because this is my favorite Camaro.

I am not a fan of fictitious vehicles, but I figured the boy will need a few "work vehicles" like tow trucks, dump trucks, and fire trucks. This reminds me of the race car transporters I once saw at Laguna Seca.

And here is a Ford Fiesta. I'm not a fan of new cars, but I figure the boy can't just play with 70s-80s cars of my childhood.

And finally, I got this Mobile Tune-Up van because it reminded me of the U.S. Mail van I had as a kid.

In fact, I think it's the same casting.

The weird thing about the van is that it's called a "Combat Medic". Did someone at Mattel not proofread the packaging?

The toy cars I kept

A while back, I got rid of all of my childhood toy cars except eight. I subsequently added two to the collection (the Hongqi and the Leaf). But looking at their putrid condition now, I think I'm only going to let the kid play with the Hongqi and Leaf.

From bottom left, counterclockwise:

1. Matchbox Datsun 120X (Made in England)
2. Matchbox Citroen CX (England)
3. Matchbox Ferrari 308 GTS (Macau)
4. Matchbox Audi Quattro (Macau)
5. Tomica Sigma MC74 Mazda (Japan)
6. Hot Wheels Hot Bird (Hong Kong)
7. Playart Lamborghini LP500S (Hong Kong)
8. Tomica Nissan Leaf (Vietnam) (I got this as a gift a few years ago from the Nissan engine museum in Yokohama)
9. Tomica FAW Hongqi (Vietnam) (I got this as a gift from rchen; did you buy it in Bangkok?)
10. Tomica Lamborghini Cheetah (Japan)

Six more toy cars

I might have gone a little overboard.

Not content with the selections at local drug stores, I went to a Toys R Us yesterday. The choices were slightly better and I got this LM002 and Brazilian Volkswagen.

I was close to a different Toys R Us this morning so I went there as well. The selection was even better. I was going to get seven or eight cars, but I was able to whittle them down to four.

This "F1 Racer" was borderline fictional, but I got it because 1) it's sort of a Formula One car and 2) the wheels glow in the dark.

Lotus Evora: Rejected

That I have only purchased three Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars in the last three months is either evidence that I have great self-control or evidence that the available inventory is crap. I considered buying this Evora the other day, but just couldn't accept the matte black paint job.

They designed Matchbox cars with Polaroids once

H/t to Ramon!

Finally found some Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars worth buying for Junior

I'm very particular about the cars. I don't like the fictional hot rods that Hot Wheels makes. I don't even like realistic cars if the paint schemes look too weird. I've been looking every time I go to a drug store or Target (for 3+ months now). I found these over the weekend while making a diaper run.

I guess Hot Wheels and Matchbox are the same now.

I'm not a fan of American cars, but this Corvette is one of the quintessential muscle cars of the modern era. It's a must-have.

And as obnoxious as these Raptors are on the road, they are representative of what a cool American truck is.

And, I got this airport shuttle. Junior's collection shouldn't all be privately owned passenger cars. He should have a nice assortment of buses, dump trucks, and emergency vehicles.

Gosh, I hope he likes cars.

Buying Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars

Whenever I am at a drug store, I go to the toy section to look at what die cast cars are available. So far, I have been disappointed. I guess Matchbox and Hot Wheels are owned by the same people now. I don't like most of the models and when I see a model I like, I don't like the color scheme.

Where locally can I find a better/larger selection? And is there anywhere in the Bay Area that sells Tomicas?

But then again. Should I be pushing my taste/preferences on the boy? Or should he, when he is old enough, pick the cars he likes?

These multi-packs seem very popular.

I like the SP2 a lot, but I don't like the racing livery.

Again, cool car, but I don't like the colors. Also, what a drab package.

Now if I saw this 6x6 at CVS, I'd get it!

A box of old Matchbox cars

This is really fun to watch. It's weird that a car guy is unable to identify so many cars.

1965 video on how Matchbox cars are made

Before 3D printers, computers, and cheap foreign labor.

Every toy you owned in the 80s

Tomica, Matchbox, And Hot Wheels Yellow Bees

Hot Wheels Dodge Mirada Stocker

Hot Wheels Olds Flat Out 442

Matchbox Superfast Datsun 128X

Matchbox Rolamatics Wild Life Truck

Hot Wheels Airport Rescue Fire Engine

Hot Wheels VW Hare Splitter

Tomica Lamborghini Countach LP500S

Tomica And Matchbox Silver Bullets

Matchbox Ford Sierra XR4i

Tomica Mercedes Benz 450SEL

Matchbox Superfast VW Bug Hi Ho Silver

Tomica DeTomaso Pantera GTS