HaarFager's Talk Page - Archive Number 1

This is an archived page of past comments on my talk page. Please add new comments to my talk page found here: HaarFager's Talk Page
== Massah Been Good ==
Hi Kenny -- I was kind of shocked to see your response to me in the Community Portal: "Massah been good to us slaves." 
I know I haven't been around much for a while, but I did a lot of work here last spring, and I care about this wiki a lot. I've always responded right away when somebody has a question or needs help, including when you were having problems with display issues in December. So I'm not sure what I could have done to deserve being called a slave-owner; that feels really mean.
I'm sorry to see that you were frustrated by some of the changes recently; if I'd known, I would have been happy to help. If you've ever got a problem, you can just leave a message on my talk page. But the slave thing makes me feel uncomfortable and upset. -- Danny<staff /> (talk) 20:10, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
:The "Massah" thing wasn't for you. That's why I thanked you personally, by name. Massah is the great ruler above all in Wikiadom, who I don't even know who they are. It's my joke just lumping them all in together. Sorry for the misunderstanding. It was my thoughts that "Massah was good" for giving us you and your tremendous help all the time. HaarFager 20:13, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::Well, the thing is that I'm "Massah" too... I'm the person who designed the new edit window, and made the MediaWiki message changes that you've been upset about. -- Danny<staff /> (talk) 20:16, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
:::Just so long as you know that I meant no offense to you personally. I equated "Massah" with the people I don't know. You were a known entity, and a friend on the Hot Wheels Wiki specifically. Even if you did create a few specific things I had issues with, I still blame the higher ups! "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," - bosses are always hated and you never seemed or acted like a boss. You just helped us here because you enjoyed Hot Wheels. To me, that's not a boss or a massah. It's a friend. Sorry again for the misunderstanding. Besides, I saw a movie a few days ago and one of the characters jokingly used slave dialect. So, I did too. HaarFager 20:35, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::::That's another problem with the written word. If I had been talking to you face to face, you would have had no doubt that I was calling someone else Massah instead of you. Sometimes it's hard to type in all those little inflections that really bring out the true essence of what you're actually saying. So, I apologize again if what I said caused you to misunderstand me. It was not my intent for that to happen. All over a little joke. Don't let this misunderstanding taint our relationship. HaarFager 20:35, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
:::::Okay, it's cool; I understand. It just hit me funny when I read it. Anyway, I really am the "higher up" that's making this stuff happen -- it's more a case of me telling my boss that this is a change we ought to make, rather than the other way around. 
:::::For the edit window change, the idea is that the save button was being hidden "below the fold" -- you had to scroll down to get to it, and if a new contributor didn't know that, they might not even see it at all. So the new edit window puts the save button on the screen for everyone, and makes that stuff visible and accessible. It's definitely weird and hard when something like that changes, but in my opinion, this is a really positive change, and once you get used to it, you'll be surprised that you ever liked the other way.
:::::Anyway -- I am definitely a friend to the Hot Wheels Wiki, and to you, so no worries. When something comes up, please just give me a shout on my talk page! I was sad to see you getting all riled up on the Community portal when I could've helped out days ago. :) -- Danny<staff /> (talk) 00:52, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
==Wagons Ho!==
Hey Kenny, Yup, that's my '69 Vista Cruiser, hence my user name. It's currently hibernating in the garage for the winter. I've had it for about twenty years, and still love it. It's a practical toy. A classic car that I can use to haul stuff. My dad always had one when I was a kid too. So what kind of wagon do you own? Vista69 05:30, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
:That makes us all of us having great taste in wagons on my user page I posted my Hearse on the drag strip, not the greatest picture, was taken from a video. For that model it is built off of the stationwagon, and love stationwagons myself. Fantazim 05:40, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
::Mike, I have a 1996 Ford Taurus Station Wagon that looks something like this:
::My first Station Wagon, in 1980, got as far as this, I was customizing it:
::I searched for over an hour to try and figure out a way to get these images to display here. Finally, I just gave up and uploaded them to the Hot Wheels Wiki. It's so frustrating that our old help files are gone. They were helpful. HaarFager 06:37, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
::And to top it all off, when I tried to post this, there was an "edit conflict." I give up.
:::Hey Henny, What-ever problems you were having with the images, don't sweat it, the page looks good. Anyway I Don't B.S.,,, My Wife and I had a Taurus wagon just like yours, same color, sans the sweet rims. I loved it after I got used to the querky handling. I still wish we never traded it in for our current Chrysler Pacifica. It's a nice plushy car, but it's just too bulky. I'll look for an old pic to prove I'm not B.S.ing
:::I like your two door Dodge too. I'm sure it was a lot of work to get it to the point of your picture. Vista69 03:32, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::::Yes, I had a lot of work in that old Dodge Station Wagon. I had taken out the front bench seat and mounted custom bucket seats, removed the back seat and laid the back rest down. This made it like a sedan delivery inside, and I put padding and carpeting down in the long cargo area in the back. I had chrome side pipes installed at a muffler shop, functional, too!. I welded the back doors shut, removed the handles and filled in all the holes and seams so that it blended with the fender lines. On the front, I handcrafted an airdam out of sheetmetal and welded it on, to match the factory spoiler that was on the top of the rear of the car, above the back window. One door needed replacing, so I found one, the white one pictured and replaced it. There were wide tires on the back and it looks jacked up. That's only because I had lowered it about 4 inches in the front. The rear was stock height and the wide 60's I had on back fit under the fenders. I had filled in a few seams at the corners and removed some chrome and drilled and mounted hoodpins on the hood. All in all, I put a lot of work in that car and it was shaping up nicely. To bad I moved to a place that only had room for two cars, and I had three! This one, unfortunately, had to go. I wish now that I had never gotten rid of it. But, that's life. HaarFager 05:15, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
::::Oh, yes.... I blacked out the grille area by painting it flat black and removing two of the four headlights for that racecar look. It had a 383 4-bbl and it really flew. HaarFager 05:22, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
==Casting Names==
Hi Kenny, I learned doing the lists the casting names on the card with our names together will work. Example Purple Passion will take you to Purple Passion. Now let's say the page Purple Passion is already there, watch what happens without making a redirect with Steel Passion with a break in the middle. Purple Passion has to be first then a | break then Steel Passion ""Example click here still takes you to the Purple Passion Steel Passion. Fantazim 21:48, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
== Awesome new column ==
 looks like it worked, one more thing, try to add new things to the edit page, like smilleys[ I can make them for you ],
a more casual way to talk to each other, and you know, maybe more.--KABLM 09:40, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
== A suggestion ==
Hi, I have a suggestion - you should have a news column about upcoming releases, images, etc. Star11scream 11:15, 17 January 2009
== Congrats! ==
Hey Kenny, I talked to Danny tonight and thought you'd make a great admin with me. I told him about our abilities to work through problems/discrepancies. So if you were wondering why there are a few more buttons on your screen, that's why. One thing Danny said to make sure that we are doing is welcoming new members to the site. He said its very important. Well congratulations, talk to you later. BigBadBrad01 06:01, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
:Wow, thanks! I hope I can live up to this honor and do well! How do we know when new users join? By just keeping an eye on all the "Recent Changes," like I always do? I may have to ask you more questions about how to do things now so that I can do them myself and take off some of the excess load that I always put on you when I ask you to do things.
:I have an idea, I'll run it by you. I've been thinking the last few days about creating an article for users with tips on how to take better pictures of their cars. This would include lighting, depth of field, backgrounds, cropping, etc. This might make a good addition to add when we welcome new users. What do you think? HaarFager 10:05, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
::I just thought of a good example of what I mean when I suggested a page for photography tips. Check out the article I wrote on BugGuide.net. HaarFager 14:03, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
==Letter Getter/Combat Medic==
Hey Kenny, I was thinking we should just make the Combat Medic page redirect to the Letter Getter page so there is no confusion. You agree? BigBadBrad01 06:47, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
:Yeah, I was going to do that myself, but I wasn't exactly sure how to do it. So, if you don't mind doing it, we could get it changed over. Oh, and you'll also have to do the same thing with the Combat Ambulance and Delivery Truck pages. I suppose I won't ever be able to navigate to those pages any more, will I? I hate to see those pages go, but it is a confusing situation when Hot Wheels keeps changing the names of castings. I wish they wouldn't do that. HaarFager 07:16, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
::I wish they wouldn't change the name either but a casting like this that has stood the test of time and multiple uses, I guess will have a few. I will take care of it. I have a strategy in mind for a clean and easy transition. BigBadBrad01 07:19, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
== Formatting ==
Mike, I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to include a blank line between all the descriptions of vehicles. It's not needed and adds unnecessary space to entries already long enough. This symbol "|-" is what denotes a separation between descriptions. Just thought you'd like to know this so it could save you extra steps. HaarFager 16:11, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
:Hi Kenny, 
:Yes, I realize that spacing between the line entries isn't needed, but I do it for myself and other future helpers to make the html code look less cluttered. I don't see that it changes the format of the castings list, so I don't realize a problem with adding a space between line listings. An extra couple key-pokes isn't a problem for me.
:To Change The Subject,,, Could we Email directly about this site? I'd like to communicate with you at a more informal base. Please Email me at,,, vista_69@yahoo.com 
:Thanks, MIke
Vista69 05:45, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
::Thanks, Mike. You can e-mail me at haarfage@hamiltoncom.net. HaarFager 06:08, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
== Deora II ==
Hey Kenny, thanks for the update on the new '09 Deora II. It looks sweet and its awesome to see the card art as well. I am ecstatic that its back in the mainline. I am going to buy about 20 of them! If you come across any more of the birthday Deora IIs or Toyota Celicas let me know. Maybe we could set up a trade. 20:18, 24 November 2008 BigBadBrad01
:Thanks, Brad! I found the new Deora II from somebody on eBay and bought 3 of them. New cars don't always come to my little area, so I wanted to make sure I got one. If you don't find any of the new Deora II's where you are, you can have one of mine. As far as the Birthday Cars go, I haven't seen those in my local stores, either. Got the single one I have off of eBay. I hate paying some of the prices there, but it's better than not having a model I really want! (Especially those Deora II's!!!) HaarFager 20:32, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
::Nice score on the '09 Deora IIs. I just saw an auction for 1 this morning. You don't have to send me 1, I am pretty confident that I'll find one of those in the store. New mainline aren't hard to find here unless someone says they are limited, then they all get snatched up like the VW Fastback. But as far as the birthday one, I am getting worried because those came out a few months ago and they are no where to be found here. I live in Phoenix and I have quite the opposite problem here. There are so many stores but at the same time, very many collectors. The only time I find cars that haven't been picked through already is if I find them in the box still on the pallet. BigBadBrad01 21:22, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
== Decades Format ==
Hey Kenny, I noticed you've been spelling the names of castings that have a general decade in front of them wrong. They should be '40s Woodie, '70s Van, etc. Check with HWC.com and STD.com. Adding the ' between the year and the "s" means suggests ownership and since the decade cannot own a casting/vehicle it just doesn't look right. BigBadBrad01 22:46, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
:Thanks for pointing this out, Brad, but that's the way it's always been done, the way I'm doing it, and I happen to be a writer by trade. And I'm only getting that method of usage from the castings or the Hot Wheels card spellings themselves. This is the way Hot Wheels spelled it and it seems most accurate to me. Besides, it's not representing ownership, it's denoting a contraction, as in the "1970 decade of years." Contractions are always supposed to have an apostrophe. It's correct written English. But, I appreciate your bringing this to my attention. That's the only way we have of finding out other's thoughts on here. HaarFager 23:49, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
:Thanks for all your awesome comments! I sincerely appreciate them. Way to go on helping build this page. I think this will be an awesome resource a year from now once this thing really catches on. BigBadBrad01 08:03, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
::Hey Kenny, I'm not sure on value of the error, but I was just pointing it out in case you and others didn't know. I wouldn't worry about value if you are a Deora II collector. It's a nice piece to have in your collection. Between the Zamac World Race Deora II and the Grandstand Deora II those are the only Deora IIs in my collection that I have not opened yet...I'm waiting for the price to be right on the Chrome one so I can have a big opening party! BigBadBrad01 19:54, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
== Agentair ==
Hiya Mate .. Your doing a great job with the new pages.... I have loose cars if I can help with any pictures just ask ... AGENTAIR
The third version of the orange 31 Doozie had white walls and is worth over $100 carded... It was never released in orange with green fenders and white walls... only brown. AGENTAIR
== Image Size ==
Welcome and thanks for your help on the pages. About the picture sizes, 100px causes the table to re-adjust oddly and makes the other areas too tall. The picture are thumbnails so clicking on the picture will take you to the actual picture in the correct size. NathanMaelstrom610 19:02, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
:I will defer to your expertise in this matter from now on and post my thumbnails in the 75px size like I saw others do. Thanks for letting me know so quickly on this! I love Hot Wheels, probably as much as everyone else who donates their time to this project, so I'll try my best in everything I post from here on out so that the Hot Wheels page doesn't suffer. All for the good of the cars! I can change them back if you need, or have they already been taken care of? HaarFager 04:25, 23 September 2008 (UTC)
== Deora II Page ==
Hey Kenny, thanks for the comments about the Deora II page. I couldn't believe it when I saw our Octopark Deora IIs were different. The fact that you got yours from overseas may mean that it is not a legit variation...as it is quite possible its a pre-production model. Its up to you if you want to keep it on the page or not. It was weird though because I had never seen or heard of that vary and I even went and checked to see if it was on HWC.com's Casting Collection and SouthTexasDiecast.com. I'm curious, what does the base say for the country? BigBadBrad01 21:18, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
:Brad, the base says China, just like the one in the Playset like yours reads. Just reading your comments made me look at my picture once again. I'm colorblind, but to me the surfboards on mine look much darker than the actual lime green surfboards on yours. Could this be another indication of something going on? I'll need to correct the lime green color notations on the Deora II page to reflect their actual color. They both look to be the same color. I just asked someone and they said the surfboards are forest green. HaarFager 22:41, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
::Another interesting fact - it doesn't appear to me that any other Deora II comes with green surfboards that are this dark. I suppose mine might be legit and just came with surfboards this colors overseas. Just a thought. HaarFager 22:44, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
:::Hey Kenny, I wasn't trying to downplay the Deora, I am just questioning its "variation creditibility". What I mean by that is protos and pre-production cars are just that. They aren't released by Mattel (Mattel made them but did not release them to the public other than charity auctions) therefore not a variation. The whole whether its a variation topic is very sticky. If there are other people out there with your vari I'd say its more credible than but with this day and age of sellers selling directly from the factory its so hard to tell. Its cool you have it though, I'll keep in eye out for another one. BigBadBrad01 23:23, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
::::It's so hard for "tone" to come through in these typed comments, so I hope I didn't sound like I was accusing you of downplaying it. It's just that I'm not very experienced in these matters and didn't know how to describe it to talk about it. You seem quite knowledgable about these things, so I will leave it up to you to decide whether we move it as a gallery shot for now, waiting for more confirmation, or leave it where it is with a note about it's suspected authenticity, or whatever. Either way, it's a pretty car and will still get to be seen. I'm not too picky when pictures of mine get moved to more proper places in the guide - that's what it's all about, trying to be as accurate as we can be! Thanks for all the help on this one so far, Brad, I really am grateful! HaarFager 23:56, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
:::::It's all good. :) I consider myself fairly knowledgable, but I have been wrong before. I say leave it on the page and it'll give all us Deora II collectors something to look for. Since this is a guide however, I say for you to make a notation under the notes section saying that it may be a pre-production model. If some more turn up that were released in the Octopark set then'll we will know its a legit vari. Cheers...time for a drink. BigBadBrad01 23:13, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
== Agentair ==
I like what you did with the 1989 Page, it looks good. Good work Mate .. AGENTAIR
Kenny ... The reason I had ROADRUNNER in capital letters is because that is what is written on the chassis of the car. I was just trying to be accurate. It doesn't matter to me though. Just explaining my thinking ... AGENTAIR
Kenny I loaded a buch of wheels and types to the bottom of the Wheels page ... just take what you need and then delete , theres more coming ... AGENTAIR
== Standardized Pages ==
Thanks for the advise. The last thing I want to do here is step on anybody's toes. I apologize for changing your edits, but I just liked the way the paint color in Bold lettering separated the tampo color since they shared the same column.This brings me to my first question. As far as Standardizing the pages go, Ive noticed that some lists, the Color/Tampo share the same column, where as in other listings the Body Color is in its own column and the tampo is included in the Notes column. Which method do YOU prefer? Personally, I like the Purple Passion page too, which separates the body color and tampo color.
My next question. Could you please help me out and explain what you mean about what you said regarding this... "I've seen administrators say that when you make changes, please note what you did and why in the space provided. It helps others at a glance to see what changes were implemented." Where is the provided space, and how much detail do I have to give about changes? Thanks for your help.vista69
Thanks for the information and compliments. You make a good point as why the color of the casting and tampo should be in separate columns. I'll do that with my own entries, but I'll try to resist the erge to change/correct entries made but other members.
I also agree that the First Edition pictures should be at the head of of the page. And if someone were to upload a better more minty version of my RedLine Doozie, I would welcome the replacement.
I plan to upload more individual car pics in the future, but for now I'm just focusing on the pictures that I've already taken to add to my Personal website. I consider it my online checklist. I Just started adding thumbnail pics to my pages, but it's been on hold since I discovered this site. Please check it out... http://hotwheelswanted.homestead.com/
Thanks vista69