Matchbox Pierce Velocity 100' Aerial Platform...

As a fireman's kid growing up, what can I say? It sure stands up to most HO trucks offered out there. Its only detraction...the boom is 45' long and reaches 35' in the air, a good bit shy of the 100 foot mark on both counts.

LSU 9, Alabama 6....

"...'round the bowl and down the hole...Roll Tide, Roll!!"

M1358 CH Mack truck desk set...

...I finally found out the origins of my desk set. This set was offered in the Mack Shop catalog back in 1990-91 for the princely sum of $82.50 at the time (...that's $136 in today's Monopoly money, but that's another story...).




That the truck is facing in the opposite direction is most likely a preproduction change rather than something done later in life, there is no evidence of tampering with the felt bottom.

The name plate shown was a separate piece, left loose to be engraved and then mounted with double side tape.

Many thanks to the Mack museum curator for helping me identify this piece.

Go to a home school swap meet with your wife...

...you never know what you'll find.

Transitioning from a field man to management appears complete, I now have a pewter Mack tractor desk set. Picked up at a nearby thrift store for $2, it has all the qualities a modeler would want on a desk set. This one is about 1:64 scale...

UPDATE 6/20/11: Looks to be a model CH613, help....I can't find these anywhere....

HO scale Mercedes tractor/trailer DHL promo...

I put the 'cuss' in customer when I find out you have promotional diecast---just cough it up and I'll go away....

1:12 John Deere Model 3020 with plow...

...been prepping for a garden today, prompting my son to pull out his Deere tractor for some yard work of his own. Thought I catch some pictures before he readies it for restoration as only a 9-year-old can...







It has an unusual third tire, hoping you farm folks out there can explain how it works...

Classic Metal HO GMC #4103 Trailways Bus, Washington...

Breaking out of my laziness to take pictures in a proper scale setting, I present to you this model of a Trailways bus. I bought it in honor of my dad, a devout union man who, as a temp driver for Trailways, refused to cross a Greyhound picket line when those guys were on strike...sigh.

2004 Fleer Collectible 1:80 scale Peterbilt Conventional cab and trailer...

They're back. No matter who you cheer on...football is back, the temps are falling, the leaves are turning...all is right with the world for at least a few hours on Saturday.

Now let the serious modeling begin...



UPDATE: LSU 30 NC 24 ...to their credit, they fought it to the end, being beaten by the clock, not LSU.

Action Racing Collectibles 1:24 Martin Truex Jr. #1 Bass Pro Shop 2008 Impala SS...

Wherever I work, if they have a race car, I'll get a model of it---especially if it's clearance priced with an added employee discount...









Yesterday was my first---and last day there. I had to face what men have had to face since Adam and Eve were first booted out of the Garden, namely, a body subject to the effects of aging. I simply couldn't live up to the physical demands of the job.

In any one situation, I am plenty brute enough to lift engine blocks and small environmentally friendly cars. However, the constant repetition involved in unloading truckloads of canoes, outdoor smokers and a near endless stream of boxes and repacks very nearly put me in the hospital yesterday (no kidding) and, had me bawling like a school girl at 4 o'clock this morning trying to loosen up my back and joints for another go at it.

This morning I had to humble myself before my supervisors and take myself out of the game, before pride put me in the hospital---or---they were forced to take me out of the game themselves. I now have some understanding as to why older football players tend to stay on a season or two longer than they should.

Unlike Brett Farve though, I don't have Sears ad revenue to fall back on, so the hunt for work continues next week...after a weekend of recuperation.

Upper Deck Collectables 1:80 scale Peterbilt conventional cab tractor/trailer New Orleans Saints...

It's unexpected gifts like these, given to me out of the blue by individual residents I serve, that carry me through the bad daze on the job. This one was from a fellow Saints fan whose sibling had picked it up as a bonus in a recent order. When offered to him, he said that he knew just the person who would appreciate it.



A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. (Pro 22:1)

1/18 scale International Farmall 1466 Turbo...

...in well played with condition.

I was visiting a friend's house when my son pulled this out of the corner of the storage shed. Seeing how my son enjoyed playing with it, my friend gave it to him while reminiscing his own childhood play involving that tractor.

I figure I'll clean it up and restore it once my son is finished with it, as it is something I've wanted to do ever since I stumbled upon Toy Farmer magazine and the many restored pieces they show in there.

Until then, it's got a few more scars to pick up along the way...



...I just love that 70s Polaroid effect, don't remember how I did it either...sigh...

Road Champs 1:87 scale tractor/trailer "Mayflower"...

...purchased at a thrift store the day before the Super Bowl, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of the prophetic in finding it. Anyone familiar with the Indy/Baltimore story knows that it was 12 Mayflower vans that moved Baltimore's beloved Colts away on a snowy, rainy March 29, 1984.

Payton Manning probably could've used one to haul the look on his face---all 74 yards of it---home when Tracy Porter snagged that pass...



...of course those sad toy wheels had to go...



...replaced by ones salvaged from Reader's Digest firetrucks*** and battered NASCAR 1/87 team rigs found in yardsales.

True, it's not a cab-over tractor but hey, I'm not picky...

Laissez les bons temps rouler.

***If you're willing to part with a sawbuck for one, I can dig up a couple for you---and make a 900% profit off of you to boot. ;-)

Assorted Lesney Matchbox vehicles...

Been dealing with vertigo the past couple daze...amazing how a speck of calcium in the inner ear can throw a 275 pound man into a drunken tizzy...so I'll just post these and slowly lay back down...









As a kid I revered these things, amazed at their detail and working parts. That they were acceptable for use on most HO layouts at the time, even those in the pages of Model Railroader magazine ( John Allen even used Tootsietoy vehicles modified with paint ), just added to the mystique for me.

Matchbox 1991 Ford Aeromax/low bed trailer, 1993 NFL New Orleans Saints Team Transport...

Been waiting for this for a long time--but--any realistic Saints fan knows that, if it weren't for the greasy ball the Vikes offensive line seemed to be using, moods might be a little different on Bourbon Street today...



...my boys are going to have to find a whole 'nuther self come February 7 if they expect to come away with the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Thanks for giving us your best, Brett...you had us puddlin' our britches all the way...

Geaux Saints...

Franklin Mint 1/24 1967 Volkswagen Cabriolet...

...alas, not one of the premier editions as seen by the lack of a numbered gold plate under the...pick one; trunk, hood, bonnet, boot...

This one also came from the resident I've refereed to in the past, and is one of two that I purchased for myself, the other being the 1/18 Anson 1932 Cadillac Sport Phaeton.

I had been commissioned by his friends to try to find homes for the other three but, with no boxes and the minor body flaws on them (very minor as you can see in the pictures, but enough that I'd have an awful time making a listing on Ebay), I will likely be hanging onto them after coming up with a fair offer. One simply cannot have too many things gathering dust on one's shelves, there's always room for more...sigh...









One thing the cars do emphasize is the finiteness of our lives, how much we feather our nests with the things of this world, what little value most of it has and the burden it can be on family and friends to dispose of it when we pass on. This is not a complaint so much as it is a plea to give us all pause, to make sure of our eternal footing before it is too late, that we're not too grounded into the things of this temporal life. Sometimes the best collections are made better with a really good yard sale...starting at our own houses.

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:15-21)

Burago 1/18 scale Mercedes-Benz 300SL

Still another from the estate of a past resident, shown here posed next to its 1/87 scale little sister from Malibu Classics. When I was a kid, I always thought it was this one and not the Astin Martin DB5 that James Bond rode around in.







Personally, I always wanted the Lotus Esprit Turbo from "For Your Eyes Only". There's something to be said for a car security system that blows up the car, leaving the bad guy wishing he had taken up flipping hamburgers at McDs.

Road Signature 1/18 scale 1958 Ford Edsel Citation...

Another one from the estate of a former resident...I think of "The Godfather II" whenever I see this one..."Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer..."







***Yes, they are rough movies, but they were well done and offer an intriguing insight into family, crime and piety. I well remember back in the early '80s, eating lunch, listening to the the news coming across the Delaware Bay from New Jersey on my truck radio at work..."Joe Bananas" Bonanno, "Little Nicky" Scarfo, the Gambino family and "Big Paul" Castellano... Add to that the workings of nearby Atlantic city, barely 7 years into legal gambling and there was quite an earful to be heard back then.

Road Signature 1/18 scale 1949 Cadillac Coupe De Ville...

From the collection of a resident who passed away late last year. Even though it's not the same model car used in the scene, I can't look at this one without thinking of Clemenza in "The Godfather" as he tells Rocco..."Leave the gun, take the canollis..."

It's calender printing time again...

...leaving me with a computer that has no picture files or editing capabilities that I'm familiar with...sigh...so I'll draw from my Photobucket account and post pictures of my Road Signature 1:18 scale '67 Camaro, a resident castoff for a minor body flaw that buffed out with some 1:1 scale Turtle Wax...

Anson 1:18 scale 1932 Cadillac Sport Phaeton...

Father Bill was a retired parish priest who lived on my property. He didn't start out as a priest, but became one in his 40s after being a lay minister in the Catholic Church. Before that, he served in the Army as a tanker and did a stint in Korea during the Korean Conflict.

He collected antique firearms and had a small collection of diecast cars which become our point of commonality. He had a car in particular that caught my eye, this Anson Cadillac, a model of a car, not designed in the halls of Congress, but by folks who knew what "Sweet Ride" meant. While no Franklin Mint special, it is an attractive model, even with its missing side wind deflectors and hood ornament.

I mentioned to him that I had a blog and would like to take and post pictures of it someday, an idea he seemed to enjoy. Sadly, that day did not come until I found myself assisting the people settling his estate, as he had passed away earlier this month. It now is a part of my collection of cars and posted in his memory...