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0|0|0|||1||Look%21 Li%27l cars%21|Gryphon||02:04:06|08/09/2020|Background%3A Part I%0D%0A%0D%0AWhen I was a kid%2C I had a lot of Matchbox cars.  Most of them were older than I was%2C from back when they were still made in England by Lesney.  They had belonged to my uncle Paul%2C my father%27s younger brother%2C who gave them to me when he went in the Navy.  They were some of my favorite toys.  Unfortunately%2C they were left behind in a house that my father then moved out of when I went away to seek my fortune in the outside world%2C so I have no idea what has become of them now.%0D%0A%0D%0ABackground%3A Part II%0D%0A%0D%0AI watch a lot of stuff on YouTube these days.  One of the odd corners of tubeage I%27ve wandered into is channels where people restore and customize old diecast toys.  This hobby seems to be a bit of a subculture%2C there are people doing it all over the world.  One such channel is Matchbox Garage%2C which is operated by a man called Rob who lives outside of London.%0D%0A%0D%0AIn Which a Sequence of Events Takes Place%0D%0A%0D%0ABack in the spring%2C when the Current Craziness was starting to take hold%2C Rob posted %5Blink%3Ayoutu.be%2FvqsfoETtpeg%7Cthis video%5D%2C in which he customized a Fast 111%27s %26l%3Bsic%26r%3B Cyclone 3.  Fast 111%27s were Kenner%27s 1980s attempt to break into the 1%3A64-scale diecast market%2C then dominated by Matchbox and Hot Wheels.  They were all%2C as far as I know%2C fantasy cars%2C and their gimmick was that they had tiny tampos of authentic-looking license plates on them.  %28American license plates were much simpler back then%2C so this could actually be accomplished with some semblance of fidelity at that scale.%29  I%27m sure the hope in the company was that this would prompt kids to buy more than one of any given casting in hopes of collecting more plates%2C getting one with their home state%27s plate on it%2C and so on.  They probably expected a trading culture to grow up around them%2C like with baseball cards.%0D%0A%0D%0AI don%27t know whether that ever happened%2C but since Fast 111%27s was not a particularly successful product line%2C I%27m guessing not.%0D%0A%0D%0AAnyway%2C Rob%27s custom Cyclone 3 video reminded me that I had a single Fast 111%27s car among the small wing of my collection that wasn%27t the vintage stuff I got from Uncle Paul.  It was a Shark Shifter%2C which was a sorta-Batmobile-like car in the vague shape of a hammerhead shark%2C with fins on top and headlight tampos that looked like eyes.  Mine had New Mexico plates on it%2C which as a child I assumed meant it was a product of Swift Industries.  %28The Tom Swift%2C Jr. books from Grossett %26 Dunlap%2C of which my local library%27s children%27s room had a complete set%2C were set in New Mexico.%29%0D%0A%0D%0AFeeling a bit nostalgic%2C I went on eBay and looked around%2C and the only Shark Shifter available at the time was one that looked like it had been chewed on by a dog%E2%80%94the fins were all chewed up and missing their tips%2C and the paint was in poor shape even for a 30-plus-year-old diecast toy.  But it was all there%2C and its condition gave me an idea.  After all%2C you wouldn%27t send a %5Bi%5Dgood%5B%2Fi%5D specimen off to be restored or customized%2C would you%3F  That would miss the point%2C surely.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo I bought it%2C and the Fast 111%27s-branded collector%27s case that it came with %28the case was probably the seller%27s main object in putting the set on eBay%2C in hindsight%29%2C and then sent them off to Rob%2C along with an advance-warning email that I had a commission request for him.  Also in the package were several license plates culled out of my father%27s extensive collection of same%2C because Rob collects American license plates.%0D%0A%0D%0A%28Dad never throws out license plates.  There%27s a wall in his garage covered in them%2C and a drawer full of them in his workbench.  If I ever track down another 1984 Oldsmobile and want 1984-vintage plates to put on it for Antique Car purposes%2C he probably has the ones that were on the original one I had in high school.%29%0D%0A%0D%0AFast-forward a couple months%2C and lo%2C %5Blink%3Ayoutu.be%2FH3uOcm9knJY%7Cthis video%5D dropped on Matchbox Garage%2C in which Rob unpacks my package and does up the Shark Shifter %28albeit in the opposite order%2C since he puts the unboxings at the ends of his videos%29.  Which was kind of a neat thrill.  It%27s fun to see video evidence that you made something happen on the other side of the world.%0D%0A%0D%0AFast-forward a few %5Bi%5Dmore%5B%2Fi%5D months%2C for the wheels of the world%27s postal services grind exceeding slow in these times%2C and in the middle of last week I found a note from the postman on my door informing me that there was a package I had to sign for.  I wasn%27t able to get to the post office until Friday%2C and when I did%2C the package I was waiting for me was a little box completely covered in customs forms%2C within which awaited...%0D%0A%0D%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2FG-GFX%2Ffast111s.jpg%0D%0A%0D%0A... not only my custom Shark Shifter%2C but the Cyclone 3 that prompted the whole affair as well%21  The latter was a complete surprise.%0D%0A%0D%0APlease pardon the slightly iffy picture quality%3B for some reason the flash picked up every single molecule of dust.  In person%2C the paint jobs on both of these cars are %5Bi%5Dgorgeous%5B%2Fi%5D.  He gave the Shifter a little bit of a Mako Shark fade%2C styled after the paint job on the Chevrolet Mako Shark concept car that was the progenitor of the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray.  It%27s beautiful work%2C especially when you keep in mind how small the car is.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo that was nice%21%0D%0A%0D%0ACheck out Rob%27s channel if you%27ve a mind to%3B unsolicited plug%2C he does good work and is pleasantly low-key%2C which is a nice change on YouTube.  I%27ve been watching him for a year or two now%2C and it%27s been fun to watch his skills %28both with diecasts and video production%29 advance.%0D%0A%0D%0ASpeaking of YouTube channels%2C GweepCo%27s very own %5Blink%3Awww.youtube.com%2Fchannel%2FUCW0EBkeu5-7O2nuRNE00lBQ%7CAndrew Petrarca has one%5D as well.  He%27s starting up a channel for teaching science%2C which is a thing that he%27s done professionally.  This is a pretty bold undertaking on YouTube%2C the natural home of flat-earthers%2C anti-vaxxers%2C and counterintellectuals generally%2C so he can use all the support he can get. %3A%29%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
1|1|0|||1||RE%3A Look%21 Li%27l cars%21|Verbena||23:38:38|08/09/2020|I was never into toy cars myself%2C I admit%2C but that is pretty awesome.%0D%0A%0D%0A------%0D%0A    Authors of our fates%0D%0A    Orchestrate our fall from grace%0D%0A    Poorest players on the stage%0D%0A    Our defiance drives us straight to the edge
2|1|0|||||RE%3A Look%21 Li%27l cars%21|BZArcher||13:24:30|08/10/2020|That is intensely neat%21
3|1|0|||1||RE%3A Look%21 Li%27l cars%21|SpottedKitty||20:52:25|08/10/2020|Bringing back memories of when I used to spend my pocket money most Fridays on a new Matchbox car. Ah%2C those were the days...%0D%0A%0D%0A-- %0D%0AUnable to save the day%3A File is read-only.
4|1|0|||||RE%3A Look%21 Li%27l cars%21|BlackAeronaut||03:06:15|08/12/2020|That was really awesome of him to not only fix up the Shark Shifter for you.  But also send the Cyclone 3%3F  That was some righteous shit right there.
5|1|0|||||RE%3A Look%21 Li%27l cars%21|Meagen||01:48:56|10/04/2020|Very nice video.%0D%0A%0D%0AI have been following Marty%27s Matchbox Makeovers%2C another channel in that same vein. Similarly soothing narration%2C a bigger focus on restoring cars to look original %28his long-term goal is to put together a display of the entire original Matchbox by Lesney line%2C if I understand correctly%29 and occasional appearances by a mischievous koala %28plushie%29 named Kevin.