Retro Toy: the BigTrak

Yes, there was a time when toy cars were clunky and carried dozens of buttons to function (just plain unsightly--not to mention awkward when installed on a real-life car), but hey, the Bigtrak was programmable, and it paved the way for future RC toys cars and vehicles.

Fisher Price Cashes In On Pixar's Cars 2

I could never get Cars, and now Cars 2.  You've got anthropomorphic talking cars.  Fine.  The cars need to move up in the world, i.e. move from Rust-Eze to Team Dinoco.  Okay.  The cars join a race, as you would expect from a movie about cars, for what good would their wheels be if not to move them about?  Some cars will lose, only one car wins.  Fine. 

In Pixar's sequel Cars 2, that race has become global, World Grand Prix, but with some espionage throw in as extra, because the race plot is getting old and Lightning McQueen, Mater, McMissile, and the rest of the gang need some new thing to do.  It's in 3D, by the way, so the vavavrooming has definitely been upped.

Maybe I just don't like automobiles in general.

 

Mater, $115 at Fisher Price



Here's something the kids will love though, no questions asked: the cast of Cars and Cars 2 rendered by Fisher Price in a rideable, drivable toy car.  Wee! 

Lightning McQueen, $115 at Fisher Price

 The Power Wheel automobiles come with a 6 volt rechargable battery and drives a maximum speed of 2 mph.  Very, very safe.  Good too, because you're sure you're not unintentionally raising  would be careless speed-addict roadsters with penchant for crashing into walls or driving off a cliff.
  

The Cars take a stroll in France, also by Fisher Price



Rugged As They Go

Why You Should Be Getting the

Rock Crawler Junior

from Maisto:

 

• This RC car got the nod as one of the best new toys at the 2001 Toy Fair in London.
• With its front and rear motors and those big wheels, is mighty aggressive on the road
• Rugged enough to withstand everyday torture from kids.
• Good enough for adults to covet as well.
• Like a true all-terrain vehicle, has realistic engine sounds.
• Can even withstand rain and shallow puddles.
• Will mow down and drive over most things the laws of physics would allow.
• Controller has tri-channel transmitter for 3 people to fight it out with each other.
• For a change, a toy that can be played outdoors, as opposed to passive indoor video games.
• Nice RC car for under $50.
• Batteries included
• No need to assemble: drive right away!

Why You Shouldn't Be Getting the Rock Crawler Junior:

• Might be a little slow for your taste.  (The RC car's name did warn you though about the crawling part.)
• Lots of batteries needed.  So invest in rechargeable ones while you're at it.
• Pretty much that's it.

Updating the Wooden Toy Car

Despite the steep price tag ($25.49), these wooden Automoblox toy cars are both eco-friendly and fashionable.

And unlike your plain die-cast Matchbox or Hotwheels, the Automoblox cars have interchangeable parts kids can take it all apart and mix and match with other Automoblox cars.  (Each vehicle comes in 3 parts.)  

The cars also come with customizing details kids can personally add, and two plastic passengers to put inside--two because two is better than one.

So how come they're supposedly eco-responsible?  The toy cars are made from European Birch wood from forests which are sustainably produced and responsibly managed.

For ages 3 + up

The Lost Matchbox | This Used to Be My Childhood Toy # 2

From another of my good friend M., who's been going under a different name--at least in the social networks--for the longest time since I can remember. 

The only toy I remember is a matchbox car which I really like. 


Mommy and Papang gave it to me when I was about 4 years old. It is white in color, and I still remember that it is a replica of a box-type Toyota car back in the 80's.  You know how Matchbox toys are back in the days when quality matters--they really last.  It's body is pure metal.  If someone throws it to you, you'd sure get a bruise where the car would hit you. The only plastic in that toy are the wheels.  In short, Mommy and Papang picked the toy because they know that it would last years.


I lost that toy when I was in Grade III. My family moves a lot; probably that Matchbox toy I have was lost--I just don't know when--when we moved.


I guess I am fixated to that toy car because we aren't rich and all I wanted at that time is to be rich. Having a car is a status symbol. Unfortunately, along with the lost toy car, I guess I've missed on a couple of lucks because until now, at 29 years old, I still don't have a car.

* * *

Obviously, we can't post a pic of him and his lost Matchbox.  (We're going to need a live one in the succeeding posts.)  But thanks all the same, M!  May you have a real life-sized car this coming year.

Hot Wheels on the Run

Oh, look, ninety-nine Pesos die-cast cars at Toy Kingdom.

Corvette and Firebird Hot Wheels

The thing with those miniature cars, there's too many of them to choose from, and for someone as indecisive as me, the collection's just overwhelming, especially if I'm buying only two.

So I spent a good one hour in the toy store, picking this and putting down that, and so on and so forth.  I was even torn between the brands Matchbox and Hot Wheels (which is essentially under one big brand: Mattel, makers of Barbie).

Matchbox has the dune buggy and the tractor and the teal blue pickup truck.  There's even an ice cream van and safari car, and if it only were me, I'd go for those kinds of vehicles--totally pragmatic, eccentric, and unpopular--which is great.

But these Matchbox cars (in photo) (yes, they're Hot Wheels, but Matchbox

is the more generic term, right?) are for my two godsons, and I suspect and hope they're the achiever type.  Which is why they're getting a Corvette and a Firebird.  (I'm a cheapskate when it comes to gift-giving, I know.  But, hey, when I was their age, I certainly didn't mind getting a Matchbox.)  Personally, I'm no good driving a car--a life-sized one.  I got lousy nerves on the highway, says my sister.  One blow of the horn from the car tailgating me and I crash the damn thing.

Meanwhile, Hot Wheels' got color-shifting cars now.  You soak them in warm or cold water and they change color accordingly. 

Perfect for criminals on the run. :)