Hot Wheels Accessories: The Ultimate Guide
Introduction I would surmise if you ask anyone who collects Hot Wheels what some of their best memories about this hobby is, they would say the fun they had actually playing with these little cars. Maybe it was just rolling them across the kitchen floor and watching your mom stepping on them or teasing the dog by rolling one by him and then watching him run off with it. Either way, I would venture to say you never did see either one of those cars again. Or how about having the living room to the hallway down to your bedroom lined with track for the whole day. No matter what we did with them, we did play with them. That was what the whole thing was about, playing and having fun with these way cool little Hot Rods. I remember watching all the TV commercials and seeing the ads on the back of comic books and how I had to have every set and accessory that was made. I tried to set them up just like I saw on TV and do all the things those kids did. My first track was the Strip Action Set and if I remember correctly, it came with an Antifreeze Custom VW. I used to play in the backyard for hours at a time. I must have spent more time setting up the track than anything else. Remember how tough it was making sure the car would make it all the way to the end without falling off? One day when I was playing in the driveway, I met another kid in my neighborhood that collected Hot Wheels. He rode by on his bike, skidded to a stop and said, "Hey kid, you collect Hot Wheels? Lemme see your cars!" After we talked for a few minutes, he said he had some track at home and would go and get it and we could race. Well, he came back with a box of track and a 48 car case like mine and we raced all day. There were a few other guys in my neighborhood that collected Hot Wheels too. There was a kid up the street who had the Sky Show Set, and man, we thought that was just the coolest. I remember his mother telling us not to shoot those things in the house. That was around the time I got the Mongoose & Snake Funny Car Set.  I do have to say, some of the happiest times I have ever had as a child were playing with my Hot Wheels tracks and play sets. Every Christmas I would go through the Sears Christmas Catalog circling all the track sets I wanted. I think that catalog came out in September, but whenever it was, it seemed like forever before Christmas came. I remember going to my Grandmothers house Christmas Eve 1969 and getting the Talking Service Center and then Christmas of 1970 and getting the Hazard Hill Race Set. I set it up in her tiny kitchen and played all by myself until it was time to go home. It was truly a great time to be a kid. Those are just a touch of the memories I have from my more than 35 years of collecting Hot Wheels cars and accessories and I’m sure I’m not the only one that has experienced this. All of these sets and accessories bring back all kinds of different memories for all of us. As with a lot of other collectors, my collection is not only cars, but track sets, play sets, comic books, coloring books, accessories and just about anything else that has the words Hot Wheels on it. In the pages of this book you will see my collection along with listings of what was actually made by Mattel and also many other company’s that have paid for the license to use that hot little flame we all know as the Hot Wheels® logo since 1968. Now, I don’t have everything, but I am working on it. I could go on for hours talking about all the fun we had, but that’s what this book is about. Look at the photos, read the captions and go back to that  time in your life when you were playing in the yard with your friends. Enjoy the ride! Michael Zarnock