Thursday, January 22, 2009

cars


Okay, so I'm going to expose myself a little here as the weirdo that I sometimes am. I collect things. I'm not usually even aware that I am going to start collecting things, it just happens, a little bit at a time until, look! I've got 100 Disney Pixar diecast Cars. (I'm hoping my mom won't read this, but of course she will, and she will be appropriately shocked and dismayed by my wanton spending on such trivial things, as am I.)

This particular collection started a couple of years ago when my friend Shauntel mentioned a cute Woody station wagon and Buzz Lightyear spacecar she had bought for her son. It just sounded so stinkin' cute, I had to check it out at the store. When I saw that it was, in fact, extremely cute, I had to buy one for my son, who was nine months at the time. I figured when the time was right and he was old enough to properly appreciate and take care of them, I would give the cars to him.

So started the collection of ages.

Little by little, I started buying new cars each week when I would go grocery shopping. Some of them were exciting finds--"Look, it's the rarely seen Chuki!" "Who was she in the movie?" "Oh, you know, that Asian news reporter that makes a 2 second appearance in the film?" And so it goes.

I had to have all of them. Not just Lightening McQueen, but Bugmouth McQueen, Tar McQueen, Cactus McQueen, Tongue McQueen, Bling-bling McQueen, Dinoco McQueen, Cruising McQueen, Radiator Springs McQueen, Dirt Track McQueen, Night Vision McQueen. If you think I am making this up, I am not. They really do make all of those versions of Lightning McQueen, and yes, I have every one of them. Nevermind that the only noticable difference between Bling-bling McQueen and Dinoco McQueen is the color of the hubcaps, or that Night Vision McQueen is from the one second of film where he tries on nightvision goggles at the army surplus store.
Each of these cars has been carefully preserved in its box. (And yes, I think of poor Stinky Pete, the Prospector, when I see them.) Several weeks ago I brought home Axle Accelerator (no, I don't remember him from the movie either) and Isaac ripped open the package before I could stop him. You better believe I went right back to the store and got a fresh one. And that brings us to "The Problem"--I think of these cars as mine, and I'm really not sure I could ever give them up to a snot-nosed kid who would chew on them, bang them, bash them, and just generally mistreat them. Yes, they are toys, but they are my toys that I've carefully compiled over two years.
If you're lamenting Keith's lot in life, I would just like to take this time to point out that he has become just as interested/obsessed with them as I am, even if he takes a more layed back approach. If he is going to pick something up at Walmart, I don't even have to ask him to check if they have any new cars, although he is not as familar with our collection and doesn't always know which ones we need.

15 comments:

holli jo said...

I'm in shock. Seriously! What are you planning to do with these if not let your kids play with them?!

Krystal said...

hey im not shocked. all people have their own little "things" and its great you share this hobby with your husband :D you never know when the konichi toy museum in japan is looking for the WHOLE collection :D hahaha!

Melanie said...

I can't wipe the smile off my face.

cassidy said...

Wow. It is a rather strange collection, but I'm more puzzled about how you financed this hobby in this economy. Shoking. But how much is one of these cars, I'm just curious? I'm thinking maybe you get this habit from Dad, since it's reminding me of his coin collection.

Meghan said...

oh my oh my oh my. i am mostly impressed that your house is big enough to store all of these ;)

and as a playing card collector, who does not allow the packages to be opened, i can appreciate having to get a "fresh" one. I can't tell you how many times i have looked for a deck of cards we could actually use...

i would love an estimation of total expense/value.

Lexi said...

umm wow. this is quite the collection you have here. i was going to say i can't believe you would ever do something like this... but i can.

Gardner Family said...

Toy companies LOVE people with your particular...uh....disorder.

Just kidding!!!

I have Barbies that I've never opened and a silver tinsel christmas tree from the 1950's that's still in the box. I think everybody has a dirty little secret.

Fritzsche's said...

Oh my goodness. I had no idea that they had so many cars from Cars. I love that movie. I can totally see you doing this although it is a little shocking. What are you going to do with them? I think you should play with them and start a little town of cars. That sounds fun.

The Dominguez Family said...

Wow Hillari, I knew you got a few but I didn't know you collected All of them. When Carlos was a baby his theme was Sesame Street and we collected the Beanie Characters it was pretty hard searching for different ones you don't have but we only gathered 24. Carlos got a hold of a few and chewed on the tags but we couldn't find them again. There sitting in my closet and Big Carlos won't let me get rid of them...

shauntel said...

Well, I've always known about your secret little addiction. And even though I've teased you before I completely understand it. And you know I'm a little bit jealous when I see all those cars sitting there, pretty in their packages. Ours are all chipped and lonely in a toy bin as their once loving owner plays with star wars toys.

linds said...

i kinda like it. but seriously, where do you store them that the kiddies don't rip into them? perhaps i need to start collecting something random.

scipiosal said...

I had a couple of "TY Beanie Babies with the tag still on them so I thought I was a "collector", but Izzy ripped off one of the tags,so I collect no more. That's what comes with letting the kiddies play with the toys, (isn't that what they are for anyway?)They are really cute Cars, Hillari, I might even go out and buy a couple!

Michele Anderson said...

Wow. What a collection. Can you say "ebay" in a few years? You never know how much you could make on such a collection. We were cleaning things out last month and found a "Garbage Pail Card" collection that Ryan had from a long time ago. Unfortunately he didn't have the whole thing (even though he had a lot of it) or we (it's nice to marry into these collections) could have made around $2000. Crazy, huh?! Anyway, you might want to keep them around and see...if you can find a place to store them.

Amy O'Neill said...

Holy cow!!! That is awesome! I was collecting them all for a while too, buying 2 at a time for each boy. But I did let them open them. Then they started losing interest in them so I stopped buying them. Now, like Shauntel said, they are all chipped and scratched at the bottom of the toy box, feeling unloved... just like Jesse from Toy Story! ;)

Christina Overton said...

Wow! Who would have guessed?! My son Kevin who go crazy if he saw your collection. He is a huge fan of Cars and watches it almost every day. We all have our quirks. I LOVE perfume and have so much more than I could ever possibly use.