You might be a Hot Wheel Collector if.............

.....Your wife/girlfriend/mom sends you
to the grocery store with two bucks to buy
bread for dinner, and you come home with a HW
Bread Truck and an Oscar Wienermobile


.....You have more invested in your
collection than you do in the real car that
you drive


.....You refer to your car as a 1:1 scale
model


.....You have ever tried to find a HW Model
of your real car


.....You have ever argued about calling the
new wheel Saw Blades, Directionals or
Tri-Blades


.....You see a new wheel and buy as many
different models with that wheel as you can
find


.....While trying to decide where to eat out
on Fri. Nites, everyone but you rolls their
eyes at the mere mention of Chuck E. Cheese
Pizza


.....The local Toy's "R" Us runs out of HW
stock, and they call you for a
shipment


.....You own more than one color of a model
just because it has a different wheel,
interior or base variation


.....You look in Rec.Toys.Cars more than
three times a day


.....Your teenage son says that he saw a new
car today, and you ask, "Target or
Wal-Mart?"


.....No matter HOW much you are in a hurry,
you absolutely, positively, without a
question CANNOT pass a Wal-Mart, Kmart,
Target, etc. without stopping to go in and
check the pegs!


.....And if somehow you DO manage to pass by
that Wal-Mart, KMart, Target, etc., you feel
terrible...like you're "missing"
something...for example, the Treasure Hunt
car that you imagine is sitting there,
hanging on a peg and waiting for nobody but
YOU!


.....Your car automatically turns into the
parking lots of where Hot Wheels are
sold


.....When you go shopping with your mate, you
still automatically park at the Garden/Auto
Center Entrance


.....The light's got turned off, cause you
"forgot" to pay the bill, but you remembered
to put the Great New Finds into
Protecto-Pacs


.....You ever donated plasma to get a HW
car


.....You have a weekly budget including HW
cars


.....You get up at 5 AM in the morning on
weekends just to be the first to the flea
market so no one gets that car you might
want


.....Your heart rate goes up just thinking
about spotting a new Treasure Hunt on the
pegs!


.....Your son asks if it's OK to take HIS
cars out of the BP's !!!


.....All your relatives just received a free
years supply of Coronet Towels


.....Every time you pass an Chevy dealer,
#505 flashes before your eyes


.....You had your driveway painted orange
with a checkered mailbox


.....You turn in your recycled pop cans for
money to buy cars


.....You see a Mazda 626 drive by and think:
"cool.... ultra hots!"


.....You look at real cars on the highway and
pick out ones that there are HW versions of,
and call them by that name


.....You look at real cars' wheels and start
identifying 3 spokes, 5 spokes, etc.


.....You refer to real cars as "real cars" or
1:1 scale


.....You look for excuses to go to the
store


.....When you go on vacation, you stop at
every TRU, Wal-mart, K-mart, and Target in
sight along the way


.....You reference places by what toy or
department store they're near


.....You have dreams of walking into TRU and
finding vast isles of HWs with all new
cars



.....You're going out of town on a business
trip or vacation, and you research in advance
where all the Wal-Mart, Target, Toys-R-Us,
and other stores are located, then plan your
meetings to allow you time to hit them
all!


.....and if the meeting runs long and you
start getting anxious, and lose track of
what's going on, because you know you won't
have time to make them all before you have to
be at the airport


.....While having never eaten Malt-O-Meal,
you have six unopened boxes in your
cupboard


.....You had actually developed a taste for
Fruity Pebbles, and long for the days of free
Flintmobiles to return


.....You get up in the morning, have your
Lucky Charms, go to work, lunch at McDonalds,
go home, fix Van De Camps fish sticks & Kraft
dinner for supper, or on special dates go to
Chuck E. Cheese's, and before bed, brush your
teeth with Aquafresh


.....You've ever bought a car somewhere,
paying $2 or more, and then later finding
that SAME car on the pegs


.....If you've ever told people to WAIT, they
will come!


.....You've ever traded thru the snail mail
and don't mind paying twice what the car is
worth to ship


.....You have $15-30 Dollars in HW's and
$60-90 in paint


.....When someone is looking for a wheel
variation, you say you have one, only to
realize later that YOU made that one


.....You get up in the morning read the
Diecast Digest, get your coffee, and head to
the shop, (the custom shop you have in the
garage)


.....You have more variations of a 65 Mustang
Convertible than HW ever imagined


.....Your grass in the backyard is dying, but
looks cool as Magenta & Ice Blue


.....At least 1/2 of your collection are
homemade


.....You've ever bought two cars just to get
the wheels off of one, and the body off
another


.....You've ever gone thru your old box of
cars and brought a lot of them back to
life


.....You've ever made a Custom, and it looks
better than you 1:1 car


.....You've figured out how to tap the rivet
and put a jewel screw in the hole


.....Your workbench in the garage has more
HW's (and parts) on it than tools


.....Your workbench in the garage has it's
own pegs, and they are all stocked better
than Wal-mart


.....You've ever looked at a HW and said it
would be awesome in another color, then
bought it and the paint to go with it


.....When someone brags about buying HW's for
$.67 and you know you can't cause paint cost
$2.50 a can


.....You have a big enough pile of rivet
shavings on the garage floor to mold another
HW


.....You've ever found a dealer that will
sell your extra cars


.....You go to Flea Markets/Yard Sales/Junk
Dealers to buy red lines that are in BAD
shape


.....You start buying Matchbox's when there
aren't any new Hot Wheels on the pegs


.....The coffee mug you drink from has as
much paint on it as the garage floor


.....The ashtray in the garage is full, your
collection shelf is full, and your wallet is
empty


.....You have ever gotten home from work to
find 5 priority mail packages sitting on your
front porch


.....You have ever thought about driving 2
hours to go to another city (or area) just to
look for cars


.....You make lists of Hot Wheels in the
blank spaces on the church bulletin during
the sermon


.....You've ever opened a Target or TRU
charge account and only use it for
HW's


.....Tears come to your eyes, when you
realize that your charge card is over limit,
and SOME of the cars have to go back


.....You have at least one closet in your
house dedicated to Hot Wheels only


.....You've ever run out of stamps to mail
your bills, but you get those eBay auction
wins & trade boxes mailed on time


.....You lie at the checkout counter and say
"they're for my kids/grandkids"


.....You stash your current finds under the
bed so your mate won't find them and make a
scene


.....You go to a HW show and only take a
limited amount of cash so you won't go
overboard


.....You study the new Tomart's more than
you've ever studied a schoolbook


.....You have at least one room dedicated to
Hot Wheels


.....You convince your mate to build new
shelves in the guest room to display your Hot
Wheels


.....You can remember to dust your
collection, but forget your clothes on the
floor


.....You've ever had to purchase another
suitcase on vacation to bring all your finds
home


.....You map out the best/fastest route from
one dept. store to the next


.....You go to the grocery store to buy
groceries and end up spending more on your
Hot Wheels


.....you go to wal-mart, target, etc. before they close and fix the cars
on the pegs, so when they open in the morning you know where to look
for the new cars!!!!


.....You make up lists like these from your
own experiences!


.....You read lists like these, and realize
that they ARE YOU!!!!!!