I’ve been on a real retro-kick lately, and while my wife hasn’ been too keen on my thoughts of remodeling my office space into a retro-styled world of fun, I’ve still been recapturing some feelings of youth as my daughter and I continue rockin’ the Hot Wheels. While I’ve mentioned my daughter’s car-obsession regularly, I’ve really been catching the bug again myself. Case-in-point: I stopped at Dollar Tree today and picked up a pair of Hot Wheels’ “The Hot Ones” funny cars that are re-tooled versions of ones I had growing up in the 1980s. From that same era came something that popped into my head tonight that I hadn’t thought of in many years… the Hot Wheels Crack-Ups Crash Course!
I don’t know how I’d forgotten about them, but Hot Wheels Crack-ups were some of my favorite toy cars from the mid-80s, and the pinnacle of their line was the Crash Course playset. Produced by Mattel, each car had a rotating panel that was spring-loaded to make the car appear “damaged” depending on where it was hit. There were side, front, and rear models available, and I distinctly recall having a few of each. My wife says she remembers her brother having some as well. Check out the vintage goodness in all of it’s glory below:
{source}{/source}
While a few of these are currently available on eBay in carious conditions, I’m curious what the original retail for the Crash Course was back in the 80s. Actually, I need to look into the current crop of Hot Wheels playsets since my little one doesn’t have any to go with her rapidly-expanding fleet of vehicles. If anyone has some suggestions, feel free to let me know.
Stay tuned to The Rock Father for more Hot Wheels posts to come…
