Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://positiveapeindex.blogspot.com/2007/10/matchbox-collectors-catalog-1969.html

I used to be a serious toy, er, miniature car collector; only the lack of money in my then-six year old pocket kept me from buying them all. As an adult, that urge is still there -- although the quality of the cars is significantly down -- but then so is the need to live in my own home rather than my parents' basement. Looking at scanned-in catalogues of the models from that period is remarkably gratifying and pretty much covers it.

I still wish I could have bought the cars. All of them.

As a vague aside, the cover of the US Edition is the standard British one but with the steering wheel flopped to the other side. Take a look at the roundabout sign (which is subtle) or the side of the road the cars are on (which isn't.) And the slot car track? Now we're into arcana. Matchbox produced a relatively standard slot car track with little adhesive spikes that could be attached to the bottom of standard diecast cars. It was very cool indeed. If only I knew quite when the one I had disappeared from my life...

(Via BoingBoing)