Topic: Nostalgia
So, I was telling my friend Robert about my new 1/18th scale Batmobile, and that got us talking about Hot Wheels, which got us talking about other toys we had as kids (we're the same age).
First up were Wiz-z-zers...stringless, high speed tops which would tangle up any unwary sister's hair in 2.2 milliseconds. Apparently, they are in production again by Duncan...
Back to Hot Wheels, we got to discussing Sizzlers...the electric powered racers. Charge 'em up, let 'em go... oh my goodness...they make them again, too!
As we discussed that, I mentioned to Robert that I had a electric train thing that was related to the Sizzlers. He pointed me to a webpage that showed it: the HotLine! It was a train that in in a Hot Wheels style track.
On the same page he pointed me to were toys I'd utterly forgotten having... the short lived HotBirds! Die-cast metal planes with retractable langing gear. You'd race them down a fishing-line—which would invariably tangle like a Wizzzer in your sister's hair—and they'd come to a thunking halt after 3 glorious seconds.
You'd launch them from this Flight Deck thing with a sort of crude speaker in it. The vibration of the plane's guide hooks rubbing against the line as it went along generated a sound that I can still remember.
Between my brother and I, I think we had all of the HotBirds in this photo. I definitely remember the green prop job (Cloud Hopper) in the upper right. They look cool in a sort of retro way. Too bad they flew like lead balloons on a wire.
