And the WINNERS are:

1.   In the category "Enough is Enough" we find our maker of the delightful little gems we call (can I say Ho* Wh*el*?) What gives with all the series cars? Paint and plastic fantastic.  I don't know about you but I fail to see the connection between this dude on little circular anti-friction devices and our little cars.  Oh .. I KNOW !!!!!!!  It has a collector number .... dumb dumb .......  Can I ask a personal question?  What ya gonna do with all them cardboard boxes full of cars that the cards are bending on as we speak because no matter what ... cardboard is hydrophyllic ... means it attracts water ..... and water causes warping of the cardboard.  So be sure to pay the premium for a MOC .... or is it MOB .....  I think it's NUTS. 

2.   In the category "Rolling Rodents" we have those cute little cars with the slobbering Rat.  Now I rather like the Rat, don't get me wrong, but I like the whole rat not just the upper torso.  Besides it keeps falling off when i try to display it. 

Oh, by the way, did you see the new Matc*Bo* packages labeled Firs* Editi*ns? I had to use the little * cause I think that is a copyright or some such.  Now thats pretty original given the monopoly in effect at the time of issue.  Can you imagine the damage it would do to the collector market if this Manufacturer crossed lines and ran the numbers past 100?

3.   In the category Round de Round we have the ever popular Racin& Champio&s with a special award this year we will call the "Blown Marketing Prediction".  Now this prestigious award is gratiously given for the plethora of gold and platinum colored cars in ever scale languising on the clearance shelves.  Don't know bout you, Bubba, but I gonna pick me up a few of them afore they goes away.  Oh yeah, also right on the top of my list is the plethora of cars made to the scheme of a particular driver.  Why get this people ..... I can even imagine my favorite driver in a race around the world .....  STEWERDESS ..... QUICK ... another white bag ...... aaaarrrgghhhhhhh.

4.   The very next award, "Killing Time" goes to the same manufacturer for the absolutely brilliant idea of a race car making noise as it goes in a circle around a time telling device.  I am speechless.

Kudos on the other hand go to Matty for the "black box" collector cars.  Yeah at $8 bucks they are a bit pricy but they are a fine example of the toymakers (is that word copyrighted?) art.  I'll wager you a neutrino to a quark that you'll have more than that in a collection of paint and plastic by the time you get every one of the commons produced.  So why not settle for one well made little gem?

Speaking of Kudos .... what a car that Studebaker Pro Street from the burger joint is .... absolutely fantastic if a little big but never mind ... what a find.

Matty can be congratulated for the boxed sets this year too.  Pricey I know but look at those Harleys.

And the series from Racing Champions aka ERTL are perfect for the realism for the buck in the Hot Rod series and the Mint series.

And I saw some kind of Muscle Car things that looked like they were on petroleum steroids.  Blower intakes that would swallow a VW.  Mis-shapen bodies.  Poor paint and finish .. but GUESS WHAT??  No sequential numbers ..... whew that was a close one.

Actually the quality of cars from all of the manufacturers seems to be increasing.  The number of the models also is on the upswing and that is a good thing.  I don't have to worry about being a stylish collector.  I can find something that I like from any number of makers.  And I don't have to count.  I don't need to know what number comes after a bazillion and one cause I don't have any of the quadrillion and 99 that came before it.  Cool huh?  Congratulations is in order for every one of the manufacturers because in at least one way they are better than any of the others.

Have Fun