OK, quiz time - what do these two photos have in common?
I mean, other than some groovy guys secret crimefighters holding race car controllers! (Oh, and how about that TV set, lamp, and sofa in the photo! And the textured orange carpet, oh I remember that. I wish I had that TV and sofa, but they're long gone.)
The Aurora Model Motoring Thunderjet race track set in the top photo was probably the greatest Christmas gift I ever received.
It was great fun creating different track layouts and hopping up the cars for faster performance and better traction. Heck even the illustrations in the catalog and box graphics are wonderful to look at.
Like many childhood toys, it ended up in a box and eventually was given or thrown away. I don't have another one, but I do still have a couple of the cars, including a British racing green Jaguar XKE, and this yellow Ford GT with hacked up rear wheel wells modified for huge racing tires.
The cars I really lusted after were the Aurora Batmobile and Green Hornet car, but I never did get them at $3.49 each!!!
I do keep my eyes out at sales for this vintage Aurora slot car stuff, but it doesn't come up very often around here.
That Bruce Wayne slot car photo came off of the cover of a 1967 slot car magazine that I picked up at an auction years ago. Here's the original cover and the inside article. This is great stuff and probably pretty rare!
I don't have any old home movies of my track, but here's a cool clip from none other than stately Wayne Manor!
My brothers had a slot car set. Don't know which kind, but I remember watching them play with it. How lucky you have photos of the toys you played with. I don't have a single one from Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThat video cracked me up! Are they naming the cars after women? Well, except for Alfred. As adults, they don't look like they are enjoying themselves as much as a buncha young boys would have. I'd love to see some kids playing on that track! Its cool you still have some of your cars. If we only knew as children that we'd still want that stuff when we grew up (or could go back in time and keep our parents from getting rid of it) Shoot, I'd have an entire Smurf village set up in my apartment!
ReplyDelete1950's - sorry you don't have old Christmas photos. What I've used in my blog is pretty much everything I have. I wish there were more.
ReplyDeleteAmber - yeah, awesome video of one of my all time favorite shows! Aunt Harriet always cracks me up. I spent a good portion of the 1990s buying old toys and stuff I remembered. I've got more crap than I know what to do with, so I'm starting to sell some off. You should have an outdoor Smurf village to complement your dinosaurs!