Redlines, FEs, 100% Hot Wheels, Topper Johnny Lightnings old and new, MB Logo Cars, Cox gas powered cars, buying collections, making offers, hustle here, hustle there, buying and selling on eBay, trades, newsgroups, store trips, toy shows, phone calls, club meets, aaaaAAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!  Going NUTS and this is just my "spare time" hobby!!!!!!!  Phone call ...........  Dave one of your good buddies is dead.

It all comes to a screeching halt.  I was in Denver for a business convention and Mike Blaylock, our Club President, told me the news when I returned.  His name was Ken Hauptfleisch.  Ken, Mike, myself and about three others formed the original "Gateway Hot Wheelers Club" in St Louis back in 1988.

A simpler time, long before "books" and so called "experts" came out from behind every tree to direct us in our hobby. We were just a group of guys who played with toy cars and had a great time doing it!!  Many a "meeting" consisted of beer, soda, chips, dip, stories, CARS and LIES!!!  A great time that lasted a few years, until we just outgrew our surroundings and little group.

Enter organization, rules, a meeting hall, Newsletter, Website, Club Cars, our own Annual Convention/Rally and plain old GROWTH!!!!  Not a better or worse time, just a different time. One of the mainstays was Ken .........  A bespectacled guy with long hair and a wide assortment of car/Hot Wheels t-shirts!  A very colorful individual to say the least!  Every meeting, race, custom show, or any other club activity, Ken was there to lend his help or support!

He didn't do the "internet" thing and wasn't one of the big Redline "players" you sometimes hear about, but he was a very good friend with vast Hot Wheels knowledge, who will be missed and leaves a big hole in our local St. Louis collecting scene ..........

I had other plans for this month's column, but his made me slow down a bit and take a look around at what really matters to me in this hobby l love so much ............  Friends, good friends.  Ken, I'll miss ya buddy, thanks for the many, many memories and the Redlines!!!

Dave