So it’s said as part of the potty training regimen, that once the child does successfully “drop the kids off at the pool,” the parents are supposed to offer a reward, to encourage the kid to do it again. So when lil’ Greg finally did the deed on Valentine’s Day, we rewarded him with a premium version of the Hot Wheels muscle cars which he normally receives. I chose a 1970 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler and a Gremlin Funny Car from the Johnny Lightning “Classic Plastic” series, in which 1/64 scale die cast cars pay homage to old ’70s 1/24 scale plastic model kits.
He could tell right away that these weren’t regular Hot Wheels…the “Classic Plastic” series pays meticulous attention to detail and features opening hoods and rubber tires. While playing with them, he displayed a near identical quality of admiration as I did (and still do) with my favorite toys—a very serious, focused attention, delighting in the detail with quiet awe, rather than with giddy and excited abandon. He hasn’t let go of these cars since. He does prefer the Cyclone though.
When I have time, I’ll tell you about the large “road map/city” playmat which we bought online (pictured in the above pics), which was a heaven-sent for Greg, who has a growing collection of over 300 Hot Wheels cars.



Cute kid…that concentrated look in first photo is priceless haha
[...] also be a win-win situation for my kid, whose love for cars and trains will probably cause him explode when he sees this mega marvel of design that [...]