WHEW!!!!!  Thanks to CB's and others who have asked me to throw my hat in this here "little Redline rimmed ring!"  Just a small intro and a column I posted awhile back that was published in a now DEFUNCT magazine!

I've been doing the Redline thAng for about thirteen years now.  I don't mess with the new stuff much, but I LOVE the FE search!  I pay a buck and that's IT baby!!!  Redlines are and will always be a different breed of cat for me.

My passion is for Hot Pink and Purple Redlines.  I was lucky enough to get most of the "hard ones" before they became "in vogue."  I NEVER turn down a Mint car though, because "I never met a Redline I didn't like!"

"Times, they are a changin'," and eBay seems to continue to be the lead dog in the quality Redline search.  Just about gone are the days of "garage sale finds" and Thrifty Nickel collections.  One constant and a major BURR under my ample saddle are "books" and/or "price guides."  Anyone who has ever spoken or dealt with me, knows my feelings about these snake oil salesmen.  NO ONE, sans the Larry Wood types (they were part of it) can lay claim to "value" or numbers of a certain model made, or the existence of remaining examples in castings or colors.  Educated guesses are one thing, but a valid source is the only thing concrete in nature!  I'll be the first to admit making the mistake of quoting a background "story" of a Redline I've traded for or purchased.  Just like a reporter, "Check your sources AND their backgrounds!"  Do "books" have a place??  Without a doubt!!!!  Some GREAT picture references out there, just leave that inane price range off and the world will continue to turn ......

More on books """"AND"""" alternatives ..... for a later column!  Right now here's a story I'd like to share.

"HOT WHEELS GHOSTS"

Over the years, I've conversed with a lot of folks about what cars are worth, what they should do with their cars etc.  Quite a few of those people inquire about cars they had as kids, some thirty odd years ago!

My advice has been .... HANG ONTO EM'!!!!  Why would you get rid of a priceless childhood memory for fifty bucks in beer money???  I, like a good number of you, DESTROYED my cars in every way imaginable!  I would pretend my Redlines were Pro Wrestlers, they would have tag team matches and in order to win, you would have to RIPPP apart your opponent's chassis!!  MY GOD .... MY CORDS!!!!!

Now I'm all "grown up," at least that's what I tell wifey.  A lot of time is spent in my Hot Wheels room.  I have a little over one thousand Mint Redlines displayed on the walls.  When it's quiet and I'm all alone, I AM a little kid again, reliving those endless days of racing on the orange track with my best friend Gentry Harris in a little town in Southwest Kansas.  All of my own cars are long gone now, but I feel as though I'm surrounded by the ghosts of hundreds of kids, who unlike myself, took great pride, care and LOVE with their cars, wrapping them ever so carefully in toilet paper and putting them away in shoeboxes, unseen for decades .........

THANKS GUYS!!!!!  We're all together now in my little room, sharing stories, lies and memories of days .... and kids, long gone.  They have their own "grown up" lives and their own kids with Playstation-2's!  Me and the GHOSTS???  We are all very, VERY happy!!!!  And people wonder why I get misty-eyed when I hear "Puff the Magic Dragon!"

Until next time!!!  Dave