Just go right to the photos!

July 2018

More on this little guy later…

A tease!

Big Tractor Mike becomes Small Truck Mikey for the day with this trio. We start with this Greenlight stake truck with swapped cab.

Though if he hadn’t mentioned the cab swap, I don’t think anyone would have complained.

Next is this custom hay elevator, which raises and lowers. The hay bales are hand-cut painted wood.

Hey.

Finally, we have this ERTL custom Dodge service truck with tool box and air compressor.

Splotchy paint aside, that’s a nice-lookin’ air compressor!

Tom rolls up some (rumpled) royalty with this not-quite-MIB Petty product with purty Petty picture.

Couldn’t say “Petty photo” or “Petty card” because that would interrupt the flow of my vibe, man.

So they greenlighted the movie idea, eh? (Get it? ‘Coz that’s what they say in Hollywood, see, and the brand is Greenlight, see, and — You know what? I’m gonna give a nod at Tom for buying this mint-in-shell set, then I’m just gonna stand over there somewhere.)

Opening and closing credits.

“It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cig–” Yeah, yeah, we heard it before, Egon.

Remember last month when I jibed Original Ken for not nabbing this Wiking street cleaner? Well, guess what — he went ahead and bought it this month! (Good thing, too, because this model has some nice details.)

Harrumph.

Tom firmly establishes his reign as Suncoast Diecasters‘ Viscount of VWs by apprehending from BTM this Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary Edition Volkswagen Beetle. (Cue fanfare and confetti.)

Click below for your free larger image to use at home, school or work.

1000w x 996h

To make sure there’s no mistaking that this is not a 50th Anniversary Edition (cue fanfare and confetti), Mattel has placed the “50” logo everywhere. On the backer, as well as on the vehicle illustration on the backer…

I dig how cartoony the Beetle looks here.

…On the model itself, of course…

Go back and look at the 0 in the previous image; does it look like a track loop to you?

…And even on both the background and car image on this sweet reproduction Collector Badge.

This ain’t no plastic cheapie — this is a real metal memory-maker!

Thus I very proudly declare the Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary Edition Volkswagen Beetle (cue fanfare and confetti) to be Suncoast Diecasters‘ Find of the Month(*) for July 2018. Thank you, Mike, and congratulations, Tom!

See you at our August meeting — which is this Saturday!

~WM