# Mail order, now vs then



## mamilligan (Feb 1, 2003)

I didn't want to hijack the NCP thread but it got me thinking. Today, I think a week from placing an order to getting pproduct is a long time. Back in the day, slot cars were not so easy to find in the country so I bought mine mail order from a guy that went by the name of HO Sherm. 

It seemed to take forever for an order to come in but that was nothing compared to the time it took cutting lawns all summer so I could place a big order every fall. I still have the red and yellow El Caminos and other tjets I bought. I really did take better care of the cars I bought myself than the ones I was given.

I guess everything goes faster today but I'm stuck in a slower time. I guess it is not a surprise as I was seeking out deals on tjets long after they were replaced by AFX.

So think back to when you were a kid and you ran to the mailbox every afternoon to see if there was a box from Auto World or some other mail order company.


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## aelancaster (Apr 8, 2006)

WOW what memories that brings forward. Auto World, seems snail mail back in the 70's took forever. I can remember changing the order form two ro three times simply because I could not make up my mind about what I wanted most.
Andy


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

The thing I remember most were those offers from the cereal boxes. They all seemed to say something like allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery or something similar. Nowadays, I expect stuff within a week and that's being patient.  rr


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

I remember ordering from Autoworld once, then my friend said "their only 1-1/2 hours away, I'll drive, lets go". shortly after that was when they went out of business, but at least I can say I was there, twice.


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

sethndaddy said:


> I remember ordering from Autoworld once, then my friend said "their only 1-1/2 hours away, I'll drive, lets go". shortly after that was when they went out of business, but at least I can say I was there, twice.



Sure now we know the REAL story.. its Eds Fault.....


Coach :tongue:


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

I remember my absolute favorite mail order - Hot Wheels club chrome Boss Hoss (Mustang). Must have come in the summer as I was home, waiting for mail every day. The mailman knocked on the door at our house in Cambridge, MD because the little box wouldn't fit through the slot. Seems liked it took forever, more like 3 weeks. Still have it, still looks good.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Raisin Bran Air Boat*

My favorite was a peculiar pontoon boat with an air boat propeller for drive. It was sort of like a float plane without the wings and a prop in back. It ran on two AA batteries (not included  ). Fixed radius steering was provided by dual rudders, one on each pontoon. The pontoons were white and the fuselage was yellow.

To ante up, it cost six bits and two proof of purchase box tops. I scarffed two boxes of Kelloggs Raisin Bran (a liberating story in it's own right  ) and mailed off the 75 cents I'd earned scooping our family dogs turds from the lawn.

I wished away the better part of midsummer awaiting the coolest thing I ever saw from cereal. Note to self: It still is the coolest thing I ever saw on a cereal box. :thumbsup: 

The family dog was a bit nervous as I followed poor "Frisky" every where he went. I needed cash for batteries, and that furry little poop factory was my ticket to electricity. His food dish wasnt empty for two months. 

Naturally I assalted the mailman for eight straight weeks cuz it said, "allow six to eight weeks for delivery". That of course implies "could be anyday now" to a first grader. :freak: 

She was a beautiful thing, a constant bathtub companion, a navigator of the great swamp in the woods next door. She met and bested every mud puddle in the hood that could bare her shallow draft. 

The following summer she was lost at sea on Island Lake. It was that crappy seaming on the pontoons that I had tried to patch. Remember that silicone in the tube was still a tightly guarded NASA secret in the jurassic period. 

I still curse the name Kellogg and who ever their shody toy contracter was. 

And now forty years later I search the world wide web ever vigilent for another and shed a little tear for my beloved boat.


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

coach61 said:


> Sure now we know the REAL story.. its Eds Fault.....
> 
> 
> Coach :tongue:



AWWW no wonder!!!??? SH**.. just kidding.. 

Wes


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## mamilligan (Feb 1, 2003)

The one that I still look for was a tjet sized truck that was really a flash light. Our house had a long dark hall and those tiny lights looked realistic from the other end.

I also sent in for the chrome hot wheels. I wore mine out just like every othe toy car. Then again, my Mom says I wore out the sofa I used to "drive" them on. They bought me slot cars as a way to save the furniture.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Bill Hall said:


> My favorite was a peculiar pontoon boat...
> 
> (snip)
> 
> And now forty years later I search the world wide web ever vigilent for another and shed a little tear for my beloved boat.


 very cool story. :thumbsup: mine would involve Matchbox/HotWheels cars and a tunnel I dug in the wet sand at the beach... I KNOW some of them got left behind after the collapse... 

edit: although that was just toys I lost, not mail-order toys, so I guess it doesn't really fit here...

Hey, I don't remember ever ordering toys or anything by mail...

I feel so deprived... 

--rick


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## Scafremon (Dec 11, 2006)

RE: Bill's Raisin Bran Air Boat story

_" ...furry little poop factory was my ticket to electricity"_  

Great story Bill! :thumbsup: 

Maybe you can answer two questions that have perplexed modern man for ages:

How many 'D Cell' sized dung droppings does it take to build an AA sized powerplant?

and

What _exactly_ do you put into vitagoo?


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

Man, there are some great stories posted here....... 

I have my own story of one mail ordered toy that I recall. Flash back to around 1983 or so....David Hasselhoff starred as a daring spy type secretive guy with the smokin' HOT car known as "Michael Knight" on the hit TV show "Knight Rider". Back then, every kid I knew (including myself) wanted to be Michael Knight.....hell, I even remember talking to my bare wrist...lol!!! I remember playing some battery operated cars called "Rough Riders". These were mini 4WD cars with working lights....and interchangeable tires. Back then "Rough Riders" offered a mail order "Knight Rider K.I.T.T. car" and my parents order two of them....one for me...one for my younger brother.

My brother and I waited, and waited for those beauties to arrive.I still remember the night my parents went to the PO to check the mail...and my mom arrived with the cars. My brother and I played, and played with those awesome beauties.......but sadly to this day, I don't remember what happened to them


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*I remember 3 in particular....*

All were HIGHLY anticipated mail in box-top deals...

Captain Crunch Treasure Chest cereal bowl w/ shovel shaped spoon. That was 1966-67 I believe.

And 2 from Cornflakes....

A battery operated Sea-Doo and a rubber band powered Ski-Doo. 1968

those were the days.


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## SCJ (Jul 15, 1999)

TX Street Racer said:


> Man, there are some great stories posted here.......
> 
> I have my own story of one mail ordered toy that I recall. Flash back to around 1983 or so....David Hasselhoff starred as a daring spy type secretive guy with the smokin' HOT car known as "Michael Knight" on the hit TV show "Knight Rider". Back then, every kid I knew (including myself) wanted to be Michael Knight.....hell, I even remember talking to my bare wrist...lol!!! I remember playing some battery operated cars called "Rough Riders". These were mini 4WD cars with working lights....and interchangeable tires. Back then "Rough Riders" offered a mail order "Knight Rider K.I.T.T. car" and my parents order two of them....one for me...one for my younger brother.
> 
> My brother and I waited, and waited for those beauties to arrive.I still remember the night my parents went to the PO to check the mail...and my mom arrived with the cars. My brother and I played, and played with those awesome beauties.......but sadly to this day, I don't remember what happened to them


 


Hey TX-

I think I might have it!?!










--------------------------
www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


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## SCJ (Jul 15, 1999)

tjd241 said:


> All were HIGHLY anticipated mail in box-top deals...
> 
> Captain Crunch Treasure Chest cereal bowl w/ shovel shaped spoon. That was 1966-67 I believe.
> 
> ...


 

Wow tjd......my Ski Doo wasn't nearly as cool as yours....but I do remember having that Sea-Doo, played with that thing for hours in the tub....and kept my money safe with the Captian as well.

Where did you get the cool cereal box File pics?











--------------------------
www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

SCJ said:


> Hey TX-
> 
> I think I might have it!?!
> 
> ...



Holy cow!!! That's my baby :thumbsup: Looks like she's only missing her shift knob  

Very cool SCJ :thumbsup:


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Cereal Box Art....*

Hey SCJ.... Here is the link....

http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/page4.html

Brings me right back to those long summer days, swapping Monkees and Planet of the Apes cards, stingray bike rides to nowhere, and heated debates on which Funny Face drink mix flavor was the best. I still can't decide. Ooops... my Mom's calling, gotta go eat dinner. See ya tomorrow and don't forget Rat Patrol is on tonight.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Double "A" Dog Doo and the "Hiyaaah" Principle.*



Scafremon said:


> RE: Bill's Raisin Bran Air Boat story
> 
> _" ...furry little poop factory was my ticket to electricity"_
> 
> ...


Thanks Scaf, I was in the groove and having a little moment. There will now be a short hijacking of this thread. You will not be harmed! 

Frisky the family dog was one of those ferocious little Pekinese's. He could often be found hanging from the neck of some befuddled giant neighborhood dog and refusing to let go. Truly a stuffed toy with the heart of a lion. Frisky hated my guts as he was actually the first baby in our family. Later in life I forgave him as I realized that I had usurped him. 

So the answer to the the turd to battery ratio is a lot! It was of course my first experience with a piece work pay scale. It was my only income source, and naturally dog turds are a fixed natural resource. You only get so many over a given period of time. Sacrifices had to be made with regards to downsizing the military, AKA less green army men to torture, and limiting my candy intake. The early sixties were hard times.  

His offerings were generally a little over "AA" batt diameter. A "pooportional" relationship if you will. My extraction kit consisted of a coffee can and a clam shovel. (For our landlocked readers; a clam shovel is slender, tapered, blunt nosed, curved in both directions; a trowel on steroids with a conventional handle) 

The summer bounty on a dog's turd was a nickle a pop. Note: This was considered high cotton as during the rainy season (Sept. to June here on the peninsula) the bounty on slugs was a penny a head. Ironically the turd market dried up, as dog doo is impossible to extricate from the lawn after one of our daily monsoons. 

The slugs were harpooned with a sharpened coat hanger that was straightened out. They were then de-shishkabobed into a can and mercilessly salted in a mass grave type ceremony. It still makes my mom squirm to this day just thinking about it. The PacNW gang will back me up here. Slugs are a scourge here, like a swarm of greasy slow moving locusts. 

Be they slugs or turds all my kills were scaled and inspected by the paymaster. That of course would have been dad. God blessim', he found a way to combine a little boys love for spearing things with something sharp and his need for income. It was a win win arrangement; the yard was free of pests and land mines, I got paid, and he coughed up pocket change for a valuable service he didn't have to do. He played upon what I now call the "Hiyaaah!" principle, the natural instincts of the young male hunter child to jab, bludgeon, lacerate, or spear any target imagined or real. John Wayne was once quoted, "Every one wants to make a bulls eye!" Dad just gave me something sharp to do it with and set loose in our yard the mercenary heart of a first grade boy. 

Looking back I realize that not only did dad Tom Sawyer me into whitewashin' the fence but the sumbitch indoctrinated me into the concepts of an honest days pay for an honest days work, the give and take of sacrifice, and the initiative to see something through to acquire worldly goods. He tricked me again!





*Note: I had often postulated on the "Hiyaaah" principle, but my daughter Billie was not a viable test subject.

However I was delighted to witness the "Hiyaaah" principle first hand in our grandson Jimmy. He had been sheltered from all forms of TV violence and whatnot.
One of those touchy feely new age concepts.

So one day while sitting out in our sun room ( a moss room out here) I gave lil' Jimmy his first stick, actually all on his own he found the sliding glass door jam stick that my wife always insisted on. Rather than interfere I caught myself in time and kicked back. 

Jimmy was still tottering around in diapers and barely makin' his first words. 
He observed the stick laying in the door track. He then squatted down and extracted it with ease. Shocking unto it self, cuz the little bugger could hardly hold on to his two handled sippy cup.

He stood up and held it in his hands eyeing it carefully. I could see by his look that he was pleased. And why not? It was a good straight oak dowel with good weight and nice balance. After some careful study and running it through his hands, he suddenly grabbed it in the middle, held it above his head, and shouted very clearly "Hiyaaah". He feinted a few javelin type thrusts and began a circular aboriginal dance, weapon held high and chanting some nonsense that I understood on a primitive level but couldn't directly translate. 

I think it went something like this, "I never saw TV violence, I'm not allowed to hit, they took away everything sharp, but still I am a manchild. It's kill or be killed then live and let live."

He whirled around and whacked me on purpose. I was his first kill.

He's now goin' on six, addicted to slot cars, and giving it good to his new age parents. I couldn't be prouder.

Bad Grandpa! :dude:


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## SCJ (Jul 15, 1999)

TX Street Racer said:


> Holy cow!!! That's my baby :thumbsup: Looks like she's only missing her shift knob
> 
> Very cool SCJ :thumbsup:


 
Since you miss her so........she can be yours again, whatcha' got for trade?

--------------------------
www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


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## SCJ (Jul 15, 1999)

tjd241 said:


> Hey SCJ.... Here is the link....


Great site....while I don't officially collect this type stuff (What I tell the TM) I do have lots of it!

Thanks

-------------------------
www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

SCJ said:


> Since you miss her so........she can be yours again, whatcha' got for trade?
> 
> --------------------------
> www.SlotCarJohnnies.com



Hey man, I need to go thru my stuff again....I had a trade post up from last weekend...but alot of that stuff has since been traded off....so I need to regroup. :thumbsup: I'll get my stuff together and take some pics soon and let you know.

THANKS!!!


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Bill, yer killin' me... :lol: :lol: :lol:

We have a girl and 3 boys, aged 10, 8, 4, and 2 respectively. We haven't bought them toy guns, but I wouldn't be against them learning to hunt and use a gun from someone who knows what they're doing. (I haven't got a clue. I've held a real gun in my hand maybe two or three times.) The 4-year-old has shown clearly that the "Hiyaaaah" principle is in fact a real phenomenon... since before he was 3, he could turn ANYTHING L-shaped into a "gun" and would proceed to shoot people with it too. Recently he has also learned a variety of superhero-style "Hiyaaah" moves, some of which are vaguely reminiscent of karate, but most of which are... not.

great stories! :thumbsup:


--rick


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

Seth has definately been crossed into the "Hiyaaaaaaaaaah", and I feed the fire with plastic guns that make cool noise and 3 foot long swords. I bought 2 of those blow up punch bags, which Seth named Jellybean monsters. It is amazing the imagination of a small child. I love to listen to him pretend to kill monsters, the sound effects are funny, and it takes me to what Bill just said about a manchild will be a manchild, and a walk into my past of being a kid myself.


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

My son turned 13, you guys brought back memories. His gun sound was kind of like "Pkoooo." We used to here this from the bathroom, and wonder what had been turned into a weapon, and what was being shot... It is a natural trait - I remember one of the news magazine shows doing a story on it. A painfully PC couple, organic sandels, the whole nine yards - did everything "right" - and their little male earth child was shooting things with sticks and spoons. LOL 
My son has graduated to the BB gun, pellet gun phase. I am not a hunter, but I am in the minority in this part of the world, but because TM won't cook, eat or tolerate game meat in the house what's the point? So me and the boy have a rule, if you shoot it, you have to eat it. That includes squirrel, lizard, toad, or tweety bird, bugs slectively excluded. He has a lot of respect for life and nature, so we haven't had a problem.


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## mamilligan (Feb 1, 2003)

Have seen the new Nerf guns? They are single shot pistols and rifles that need to be cocked after each fire. They are a hoot. My sister was visiting our parents this weekend so I drove up. She broght her middle boy and we had a running gun battle all weekend. My Dad thought it was funny but Mom and Mom JR were over us pretty fast. Didn't have time to get the slot cars going. 

I feel bad for kids today. They don't get outside enough and they seem to be addictaed to instant gratification. Waiting six to eight weeks for you treasure seemed to teach something but I don't know what.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

You betcha, Jimmy's got both the grenade laucher version. The type with a carosel underneath, and the the single shot rapid fire version with the in line magazine. 

He also has about 9 million hotwheels and such, and enough action figures to fill the Rose Bowl. 

The direct result is that like so many yungins', he has the attention span of a newt, 
flitting like a hummingbird from one toy to the next like a hummingbird. To many choices! 

Hopefully at some point he can be encouraged to go dig in the dirt, climb a tree, build a fort, throw mud on a girl. Anything to get them away from the TV/game player couch potatoe lifestyle.

I do agree, instant gratification and electronic babysitters are not the path to enlightenment for our youngsters. Unfortunatly I'm an old fart. So many kids seem soft and emotionally retarded for their age. What's a grandpap to do? As predicted, the overly shelterd little Jimmy got shredded when he went to real school and had to run with the pack. Everyone but gramps was appalled and shocked. Fortunatly kids adapt pretty quick and now he's given' as good as he gets. Again as predicted.

The only thing he'll really stick to for any period of time is running slots with gramps. It's a good start!

All that permissive new age coddling looks good on paper, but in the real world, It just doesnt play that way. Kids are ruthless people.


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

Now when I was building my first landscape track, building AFX's with home made side pans to mount lexan bodies on I use to order from the west coast not sure if it was Scale Auto that I ordered from or not. I was also going through one of the most mentally rigorous course of study I had ever been through started with 27 other students and by the half way point we were down to 2 oops getting off subject here. The slots cars were my relief valve during this time. Well I ordered some TCR wheels I think I can't remember but the were deep dish aluminum with very small mounting nuts that went on the inside not the back. Cool looking gold anodized wheels with a soft sponge glue on and true as could be. They were my ticket to beating my next door neighbor and friend. 6 weeks and the wheels arrived  I mounted the first one, the to my horror out of my hand goes the tiny nut into the orange shag carpet  Never found that nut even after vacuuming and emptying the bag 5 times. Reordered and 4 weeks latter got a second set of wheels and 10 sets of spare nuts  And boy did those tires handle kicked my next door neighbors but big time  Two weeks latter we were racing me with my NAVY Porsche 917 lexan body and my out rigger pans and my next door neighbor George and his AFX square back Matador with stock tires beat me like a bad dog. I picked up his car and said what did you do to it no way that is stock. I looked at it 10 times before I noticed a slightly different chassis grey under the pickups where he epoxied a bar refrigerator magnet. It was the fall of 1973 and Tom Bowman’s magnet car article had been published and George built one.

Roger Corrie


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Got lots of stuff from AutoWorld as a kid. Models, detailing kits, speciality stuff. Ordered from them right up to 1991 or so. Been mail ordering stuff from Scale Auto since 1989-90.

Here's another great link for old toys. This site is like going to the Antique Toy Shows where you see all kinds of forgotten toys. I recently found the name of a car toy I remembered when I was only 3. My mom doubted I could remember back that far but I can. It's the oldest memory of a toy. I found it on "FleaPay" (stupid auto code! :drunk: )and bought 2 different sets from England. It was amazing to see the set again after 40 something years. And it was so small since I was only 3 when I played with it. It was called "Trik Trak". The internet is the most amazing resource!  

http://www.timewarptoys.com/


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