In the wake of the September 11th attacks, a lot of things I view as both
negative and positive have arisen. The most positive is a groundswell of
patriotism and love for our country. People (like myself) long cynical and
jaded to our world and our nation stood up and took notice of exactly how
precious and fragile our freedoms really are. But with every positive it
seems a negative must follow. While many of us sat alone trying to make some
sense of it all, others saw an opportunity to make some money. World Trade
Center and Pentagon memorabilia flooded Ebay. Country singers wrote songs,
stores rushed to stock flags and stickers. And for the most part, these
stores attempting to fill up on red, white, and blue items was okay with me.
A lot of people really needed to hold that flag in their hands to help them
cope. Far be it from me to deny them that. It was necessary.

However, I was immediately disturbed by what was flooding Ebay. But I
usually I am. I view Ebay as a veritable "Needful Things" shop where the
rules of decency are thrown out in the mad rush to make some cash. Doesn't
matter if it's appropriate. "We can look past that, cuz we gotta have it"
seems to be a motto there. So I shrugged it off. I paid no more attention to
Ebay than I normally do, which is about none. But then I started to see
manufactured mementos. Hastily created T-Shirts and bumper stickers. Banners
designed to be hung on overpasses, and a plethora of other quickly made
items that, at least to me, had all the class of a velvet Elvis painting. It
seemed just a bit slimy. It made me wonder if the people who created these
items really had an insurgence of national pride or if they developed a
serious case of "cash in-itis".

You will have noticed by now a "Heroes" series of cars from Matchbox. They
are decorated with fire/police department logos and the colors red, white,
and blue.

So naturally I had to look. I had to know what they were all about. I
stumbled across a fresh case of them in a Kmart and pulled them out, one by
one. And one thought seemed to ring in my head. "How cheap.". I got the
distinct impression that I was holding something that was "slapped
together". Nothing was extraordinary about these cars. No tampos that
distinguished themselves from anything else Matchbox would make (granted the
tampos were unique, but not altogether different than Matchbox would do). No
special wheels, nothing. I just had this empty feeling looking at them. I
imagined someone saying "We need to get these out quick, make a new card and
slap these tampos on them".

It's a shame, because I am sure that Mattel's heart was in the right place,
but this to me seems like a calculated "strike first/quality be damned"
marketing ploy. It was well publicized that both Muscle Machines and Johnny
Lightning would be doing "patriot" cars and I feel Matchbox just didn't want
to get beaten to the punch. And that's just sad.

And it doesn't help to see these cars a few aisles away from that NYC
Firefighter GI Joe-like doll. You know, the one that was never made until
Sept 11th. Like the jobs that NYC firemen did for the few hundred years
prior to Sept 11th wasn't quite worth honoring them as heroes.

I guess that's all I'm trying to say. They are worth the praise, and worth a
bit more of an attempt than Matchbox made here.

-43goalie