We knew it was coming. A lot of us had the sense of dread that something was going to go wrong. We know there are massive profiteers out there in our hobby and we just know that some people have 10 RLC memberships for PURE profit. 

We were expecting to see a mess. We were gearing up for how bad. Some of us tried to keep it in a positive light, and some of us actually thought it would be worse than anything ever seen before.

Then the Bomb Hit. And it was he worse than I expected. I had thought that Hot Wheels had gotten their act together with the gear to run a sale of such importance. The last five cars had gone well, and as I thought about it I realized the much ballyhooed double releases were a warm-up of the system. But at 9:01am PST, the Bomb exploded all over everyone. Server crashes, timeouts. In my business, I see these things every day. I know how they work. And as I sat there switching between my two machines in an attempt to order it and not having any success, I realized something. This was a NUCLEAR Bomb. Tick tock tick tock.

I had a serious sense of the fact that a LOT of people who wanted it weren’t going to get one. We knew that straight away. 5000 memberships would be left out in the cold. But with ordering problems, a lot of individuals were going to miss out. And for each person who wanted ONE and didn’t get it, there’d be another who got four or five or more. I could hear the noise in my head as I continually refreshed. “Scalpers this and scalpers that”. And I could hear the retorts “Had the chance to buy this and the Dairy Deliver went two days that”…

And everyone who didn’t get one has a right to complain. Not about the people who DID get theirs, but about the way it was all handled.

I am NOT going to get into the scalper argument. I am not going to pass any words on people buying 8 or nine of them and selling IMMEDIATELY. Much like the taxes on cigarettes don’t bother me, the actions of scalpers at large don’t affect me anymore. I don’t smoke, and I don’t buy from Scalpers. ‘nuff said.

But there is an issue here. A big one. And the words that keep ringing in my head are this “Manufactured rarity”. In my opinion (and that is still legal I think), Mattel has been VERY irresponsible of late. To re-produce the most desired casting of ALL TIME, limit it to 5000 LESS than the number of people who will have a chance to have it, AND THEN coming out a week beforehand and saying “The mold will be altered and this will never be offered again like this (or however they said it)” shows as much common sense as trying to douse a fire with Gasoline. 

We are at a critical mass in the collecting world, and as much as I hate to say it, Mattel is driving it. They are not to BLAME for the crumbling bottom we are standing on, but they are not helping to stabilize it. The first issue is exclusives. Target has the Originals, Wal Mart has the Cruisers. Great! If you have those stores near you. If you don’t you are left with three options. Trade with decent people in those areas online, Ebay or head off to the Flea Market. Number one is not so bad, because it only takes one extra car out of the hunt. Two and three are worse, because opportunists only have to buy everything to create a false demand so those who want HAVE to come to them. That is the basis of the dark underbelly of our hobby. And the underbelly of Comic Books, Sports cards, Beanie Babies, you name it.

And now to PLAN to release fewer cars than the demand will surely cover is flat out irresponsible. How could they possibly expect NOT to have a fiasco? Right off the bat they put dollar signs in the profiteers eyes and tied a rope around the ankles and wrists of the people who just wanted one. Just one. They are handicapping the race in favor of the side that is tearing away at the sanctity of our hobby. The ones who make it hard for us to enjoy ourselves. The ones strictly looking to profit off of us.

The drug dealers among us.

And alas we cannot completely BLAME the one who buys strictly to re-sell. Because they have a willing and waiting audience prepared to hand over wheelbarrows full of cash like sheep.

And it’s terrible. At least on the surface it is terrible. But I cannot help but think it will be a good thing. And I also think how appropriate that what is at the center is called a “Bomb”. Because we need an explosion of sorts. Something to shake the hobby down to it’s foundation. So that it can be rebuilt. I noticed that a lot of the Bombs were being bought by the same people on Ebay. One guy had four, and the same guy bought all four. No doubt the buyer was expecting a huge turn around later down the line. I think he will get it eventually not because the interest to own it, but because of this vehicle’s notoriety. Much like everyone knows Harry Potter’s name because he defeated You-Know-Who, (true) collectors in the future will know of the Bomb that detonated in the middle of our hobby on 12/3/02. 

Enough people are mad enough to NEVER buy another RLC exclusive. Enough people are fed up enough to not renew their membership. What could be on the verge of happening here is that Mattel will be making cars, and only prospectors will be buying them. There will be a TON of cars available and no market for them. The weak bottom we have been standing on lately has just had one bomb go off on it. Two more are scheduled. The bottom is about to fall out. Maybe Mattel is counting on it. 

A lot of old school collectors are either switching to other makes or streamlining their collections a LOT. The foundation is shaking. 

Hold on, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. 

I cannot WAIT for this time next year.

--43Goalie