My first one. lol. Ten million miles of track later...

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I've played Hot Wheels. Pretty cool game but I like Bell Games F-1 Grand Prix much better.

One of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid. The pinball world has definitely had a shortage of car themed games lately unless you consider Mustang.

I will be interested to see what they come up with, but so far it's not one of those gotta have it themes from when I was kid situations. They usually aren't.

All I want for Christmas is a Boss Hoss Silver Special. lol.

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Will there be a Fat Track LE?

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Sold all mine at a garage sale in the early 70s. And I think I'll just leave it at that.

Although this is probably still worth something today. Along with that Mongoose and Snake dragster kit.

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That was a fun thread. Until I got permanently banned from posting there.

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No big deal. It was the entire hobbies without flippers sub forum, can't remember why.

They have already been super kind since my return, so perhaps the less places I can post, the better off I am.

Really? That's what you get for putting me on ignore.

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That was the Super Charger Grand Prix Race Set. The only thing I wanted that Christmas. When I woke up Christmas morning there was no box that size under the tree. They had hidden it behind the couch. Haha!

The girl lived next door. She is up to like 15 children now.

No, I left my childhood behind many years ago.

Problem with Hot Wheels is after the Redlines went away and Sizzlers fizzled out, they pretty much sucked and that was over 45 years ago.

I remember taking my kid to the toy store and seeing what was left of them. lol.

Really? I could have sworn it said Hot Wheels right on the box.

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I'm waiting for Mattel to confirm it.

I'm content to just let this be a tell us about your Hot Wheels thread.

I wanted an Indy Eagle so bad, but none of the local toy stores had one. When my birthday came around, somehow my brother had found one for me.

Now, my brother may be a lot of things now, but I will never forget that moment.

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Fastest car to ever go in and out of a supercharger. Who can name it ?
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Running one of these through a supercharger did not always end well.

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I went through my Hot Wheels flashback in the 90s. lol.

Only time I ever called to order something off TV was when they offered reproductions the four chrome cars that came in the Hot Wheels club kit in a nice plastic display case. Then I gave it to a buddy that was more enthused than I was.

This is fun. Lets see how fast someone can name all four of the chrome club cars.

Yep, the Peeping Bomb was the perfect width and had the perfect side contours so when it hit the rollers in the supercharger, it gained more velocity coming out than any other car we tried. Red Baron not so much as it would get all mangled and then what was left of it would eventually come shooting out.

I think you are correct. They threw the Nitty Gritty in with the others I believe when I got that repro set in the 90s.

The club kit was cool, but I was little bummed as the ad showed a Boss Hoss, but when I opened mine it had a Heavy Chevy.

An early lesson in false advertising. lol. I kept all the other swag for the longest time.

The kit cost like $5. In the early 2000s, a vintage toy store had an unopened one for $500. I didn't need to relive my youth that bad. Especially with the thought I might end up with another Heavy Chevy.

Perhaps even a parachute or two as well.

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Considering the era of the theme, these might be more appropriate.

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Of course they are.

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Open it. We want to see your Heavy Chevy or King Kuda. There is also some cool literature in there.

I don't consider coin operated gambling devices to be toys. More an adult thing, although when I was a child I took the older kids money playing blackjack and poker.

And no, I don't play with kid's toys anymore. Exception was when raising a child when she had nobody else to play with.

Also no, I am not going to go buy back all my Hot Wheels either.

1 dollar in 1967 does not go as far now as it did then.

30- 40 years after F+F 15, I'd imagine.

Shame they couldn't get to it while Paul Walker was still alive. I mean, I would have loved to have seen this title 10-15 years ago.

But since Lucas Black has now quit NCIS NO to spend more time with his family, perhaps we might be seeing the return of Sean Boswell in an upcoming F+F.

When Fast 7 came out is when they really had the opportunity to do great things with a pinball machine themed after it.

Makes sense.

Hot Wheels is right in pinball's current wheelhouse. Pick a theme that is 50 years old where a game by the same name has already been done.

I had the low budget Deora with the surfboards. lol. And the red Beatnik Bandit, not the pink one.

Hot Wheels also had a larger line about 1970 called Gran Toros. And I think they had similar track for it too. They didn't seem to be very common. I think I had the Tarantula. Did anybody else collect these?

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Or something like the Tune Up Tower. It came with a nice tool for straightening bent axles.

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There have been many different coin operated driving games for F+F since almost day one, so I'm guessing the license was never a problem.

The problem I think is pinball companies have been paying too much attention to pinsiders and their dream themes and it was not one that did very well here.

To me it's just too late to do the game justice now with the passing of Paul Walker and the other cast members leaving the franchise. Too late.

The actors and their characters and their interactions with each other is what helped turn the franchise into what it is today. From the early days of Dom and Brian being enemies, to becoming team members and best friends along with the rest of their extended family.

At least that's why I watched them. Sure they add new people, but the core family has been slowly disintegrating since before Fast 7.

I've watched them all now.

The over the top action is a lot of fun, but it was at it's pinnacle with Furious 7, a great tribute to Paul Walker, and for me it will never be the same again.

I've enjoyed most of them since I saw the first one in the theatre when it came out.

As far as all out action, Fast 5 was pretty darn good. Still have a soft spot for Tokyo Drift too.

I watched one special about how they do most of the stunts for real in leu of computer generated and it's pretty amazing.

Didn't see that one...yet. Like I said it hasn't been the same since Paul Walker passed away. But apparently it still made a lot of money.

For those not overly familiar with the Fast and Furious movies. This is one scene from the 8th installment Furious 7 four years ago.

Sure, I was 5 years old in 1967 when they first came out, but it stayed good until I was almost 10 years old.

Stranger Things must appeal to an audience I am not a part of.

If you have ever watched the show Collectors Call, there are all kinds of grown ups obsessed with filling their houses with memorabillia of one kind or another. In at least two episodes, a Kiss collector, and a Wizard of Oz collector, they each had the corrosponding pinball machine. Some of these guys don't look like they get out much.

It would certainly be one of the better themes they have come up with in years.

A commercial coin operated, sometimes gambling device, mostly designed to be left in a public location to make money.

Don't know of too many toys that include a coin door and the ability to make money. Never did I walk up to a pinball machine, put money in it and say "I'm going to play with this toy now".

I really wish the pinball community would stop using the word "toy", when referring to these commercial grade machines.

Is a slot machine a toy? Is a soda machine a toy? Is a snack machine a toy? Your car might be a cheap toy, but I don't believe any of these are.

Yes, Matchbox cars were great if you wanted to put them on a shelf and look at them.

Hot Wheels were great if you wanted to put them on a track and actually race them.

Johnny Lightning were great if you could not afford either of the other.

They were slow and the only track I remember had a long spring in the track that helped them along.

Hot Wheels came out because we wanted cars that moved fast.

My brother had this thing and it wasn't long before the spring in the track got all jacked and it would not work any more.

We had the Tyco slot cars for that. They hauled ass.

I'm still trying to remember another track my buddy had, it was not Hot Wheels or Matchbox, but was like plastic tubes that snapped together and the vehicles rode on that.

Found it!
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This thing was dope.

Sometime in the 90s, a local hobby store had all kinds of Tyco slot car sets, and we set up a mega track again.

I'm spending that much money, I'm going big. My next door neighbor had one of these in his garage.

The coincidence is one of the kids from the neighborhood I haven't see since the 70s that used to hang out there just stopped into my work.
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Word is the Johnny Lightning license is coming much cheaper.

Still think this ad is pretty bogus.

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" I don't care what you do, I wouldn't want to be like you..."
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Yes, I was a grown up when that came out, but for some reason I don't go clamoring or wearing memorabillia from movies from the 1970s that were so much better than that. And nobody else I know does either.

I guess that's what it means to actually grow up.

Like the 70s, the 1980s are long over. History.

To put it in perspective, where's my Escape From Witch Mountain pinball machine?

Yes, I guess out on the left coast, people tend to move on a little faster and live in the now a bit more. I don't see much if any 80s memorabillia at all. That's a decade a lot of us would rather forget. Myself included.

To be fair, in the 90s, I had a slight bit of nostalgia for the 70s with posters and a lavalamp. Probably a faze a lot of people went thru, then grew out of.

No, but I did find a CB radio when I was cleaning out a box of junk that probably should have been thrown out years ago.

lol.

Funny, that movie keeps popping up on some off channel, but my fingers keep refusing to press the button on the remote to record it.

These are super fun, overpriced, coin operated toys too.

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They are both coin operated commercial grade equipment as far as I am concerned. Unless of course your collection is comprised of Zizzle machines.

A roller coaster is also an amusement device, but funny how I never considered it to be a toy either.

When we play checkers or chess, or even hungry hungry hippos, they are also games, but I never remember anybody calling them toys either.

I know the old saying "he who dies with the most toys wins", but I don't see it that way either. He who dies is just dead.

Hey Lloyd, how long have you been calling your coin op machines toys?

Not really. I can think of dozens of recent crappy themes that would prevent me from wanting to buy them or even play them more than once.

I would have bought a Spongebob pinball machine. Like 10 years ago when my daughter was 11.

Now for her it seems to be all about Family Feud and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Rick and Morty might have sold 1000s of units had they been available.

This might be cool after all.

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Hey, it worked before.

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Anybody that gives out your info without asking you no matter what the circumstance is super lame.

Thanks for the heads up on this nineball.

That link sends you to a walk thru at the Captain's auction. Did not watch the whole thing but don't believe they had this game there on Saturday.

I guess the Captain does have one. Might have to go check it out.

Search Hot Wheels Cartoon 1969 and that's what I'm talkin' bout.

TSPP and Nascar too. There was also an EM at one near us.

They better get selling them before there is no more money left to buy them.

That's seriously debatable. Worst ever IMO.

It's probably all coming to an end soon anyway, so the industry will be able to pack it up with at least a little dignity left.

The themes you mentioned seem super old to me.

What my years have told me is it has been a strong economy that has supported the buying of new machines the last 5 years. Take away the strong economy, and what are you left with?

It's happening as we speak. Not only was it overdue, now we have the panic set in.

With the way things are unfolding, how many are ordering new pinball machines?

I don't want to sound like doom and gloom, but it is the reality of the situation.

Yep, it should be easy to pay the rent and overhead on that huge new building they just moved into when sales slow to crawl..

You guess.

A placeholder until the economy recovers?