MYSTERIOUS AMERICA

I know this gal. You know her too. This past March she turned 62, and she still has the perfect gure. Her name, Barbara Millicent Roberts. We all know her as Barbie.

Recently, while on a visit to the Millville Army Air Field Museum, I came across something just a tad out of place and slightly a mystery to me – why there would be 300 Barbie dolls, along with an original sculpture and model of the curvaceous lady, in an Army Air Base Museum. But, there was more – much more. Probably the second greatest collection of Hot Wheels Cars in the world. More on the rst later. My mechanic, Mark, has a most serious collection of Hot Wheels, and I know that Rathjen has gotten carried away with collecting them over the last few years. It seems that once Shira got used to her husband getting excited about spending $1.09 on some tiny, wacky toy car, she got into it herself. She even got him a Hot Wheels Mars Curiosity Rover. They now have a decent collection of cars and a fold-away track with dual loops. Covid be damned – they raced them down the hallway. Hot Wheels have an interesting history…For more than ve decades, Hot Wheels has provided adrenaline-fueled vehicle play that ignites the challenger spirit in every kid with the most outrageous and innovative cars and track systems. Hot Wheels was born when Mattel cofounder Elliot Handler challenged his design team, which included a General Motors car designer and a rocket scientist, to create a toy car that was cooler and performed better than anything on the market. They answered with the rst-ever trackable toy car. Handler was so impressed by the car’s groundbreaking new wheel design and performance that his rst response, when he saw it rolling along the oor was: “Those are some hot wheels!” Thus, a toy legend was born. When I toured the museum (oh so impressive on its own), in truth, I was really looking for the Hot Wheels collection about which I had heard rumors. But it was not to be found. Well, not in the main museum building. It took a bit of convincing to have the single volunteer, Mr. Bush, to close up the main museum just so he could open up the library for ve

minutes so I could have a quick gander at the mighty collection of tiny, but fast, Hot Wheels. Barbie was a bonus. But, isn’t she always? But why would these be here? The museum is lled with World War II memorabilia. However, it also has an extensive collection of 300 Barbie Dolls and 4,750 Hot Wheels toy cars. Well, the story starts with World War II and a bunch of pain and sadness. Let me elaborate. The collection was assembled by Robert Hasuike during his 35 years as a master model maker for Mattel Co. “Hasuike was incarcerated with his family from Los Angeles, California in 1942 along with 120,000 Japanese Americans because they looked like the enemy,” according to a historical description near the collection. After three years in detention, Hasuike and his family were released. They eventually settled in Seabrook – a part of which is now a detox/rehab facility. Don’t ask me how I know this. Hasuike graduated from Bridgeton High School and eventually enlisted in the United States military. After he died, Hasuike’s will stipulated the collections should only be exhibited for the bene t of the general public, according to the museum. One of the Hot Wheels cars on display is the only of its kind. No other car like it was ever produced. People are very serious about these little cars and some might be tiny, but can sell for big money – BIG MONEY! These days, Hot Wheels remain a subject of endless amusement to kids of all ages, but there’s only one King of Hot Wheels, and that’s Bruce Pascal. In 2016, Pascal said the Pink Beach Bomb was worth $150,000. Today it’s probably closer to $175,000. Widely heralded as the most collectible Hot Wheels extant, the rearloading Beach Bomb is a prototype that for years remained in the possession of a Mattel employee. Unique in that its surfboards load through the rear window, the Beach Bomb proved to be too narrow and top-heavy, so the design was replaced with a slightly different version that featured side-mounted surfboards and a full-length plastic sunroof for a lower center of gravity. Although a few additional copies in different colors managed to slip into public hands, only two Pink versions are known to exist. Hot Wheels, still today, are some of the most collectible miniature cars on the planet. Many collectors keep them in the original packaging. I’m with Brian and Shira. I say free them and let them do what they were created to do.

Go fast, do loops, and beat the other car; and tracking (pun intended) down at the Millville Army Air Field Museum just shows that Mysterious America can be found just about anywhere. When you head to Millville and the New Jersey Motorsports Park for the next round of MotoAmerica, make a short detour and visit this stop on Mysterious America. O’Life out! ,