The Month of January is named for the Roman god janus, who had two faces; one looking forward into the future, and one looking back into the past. However, since I have only one face, I find it easier to talk about where we have been than where we are going. So this is going to be my year in Review for 2002, touching on the events and occurrences that, to my bleary eyes, most affected our hobby.

In Hot Wheels, the elephant in the living room that no one could ignore was Hotwheelscollectors.com and the Redline Club. Whether you joined or not, the year's discussions revolved around what was coming out next, whether the models selected were the right choice, how they looked, how they rolled, would they hold their value, and of course, could you actually get one ordered through HWC's cockamamie system. The powers that be at Mattel have decided they would rather not sell one dollar cars to adult collectors and the Online Exclusives are the top tier of their marketing strategy. For years now, Mattel has gussied up regular models as Treasure Hunts and watched as dealers and speculators scored the real value of these models Mattel released as loss leaders to boost sales of the regular line. But Treasure Hunts don't necessarily increase sales, they just create backlogs of regular cars in stores from cases with the Treasure Hunt removed. Now with the proliferation of Mattel's Preferred lines and the Online exclusives, grabbing all the attention, Treasure Hunts have seen a resulting drop in value, bringing them more in line with the models that, I dare say, are replacing them.

As for Mattel's one dollar cars, the basic lines, that got everyone hooked in the first place, there was the usual assortment of hits and misses. The First editions ranged from grand slams like the Ferrari 330 P4 and the Corvette SR-2 to the solid hits like the 68 cougar and the 40 Ford Coupe, to such god-awful disgraces like the Nomadder What and the Custom Cougar. Would somebody in El Segundo please go stand on a busy street corner and count all the cars with orange tinted window glass that don't go by in a day. Somehow, someone in design must have gotten the idea that nothing succeeds like excess and once they get started, they don't know how much is enough. The result is a bunch of four car series that were the weakest in years.

As for Mattel's other brand of diecast, Matchbox remains the red-headed stepchild of the company. Matchbox's designers have obviously been given direct orders: don't cost the company too much money and don't compete with the favored brother. Mattel celebrated Matchbox's 50th anniversary this year while reducing MB's regular line to mostly boats, planes, and fantasy castings of trucks, ignoring MB's traditional forte of realistic castings. Yet when allowed, Matchbox can turn out such excellent work as the Barrett-Jackson collection and the well-made but hideously overpriced Military Premiers. One can't help but wonder what the other side of the house could turn out if Mattel were to put as much money into its orange blisters as it does the blue.

The big news in Johnny Lightnings this year were not the cars, which remained excellent, but the tempest in a blister pack that became known as White Lightning Gate. Was Playing Mantis producing more than the stated 1% of each run as White Lightnings? And did a favored few have access to White Lightnings in bulk direct from the company? PM's clumsy damage control was a textbook example of how to squander a lot of customer good will in a hurry. What saved them was their turning out some of the most consistently good diecast on the market, including some hotly desired series like the VW's, the Boogie Vans, and the Super 70's. Johnny Lightning remains too much attached to it's chase car concept but is maturing nicely as a diecast provider.

For me, some of the most interesting developments in diecast this year came from the Independents. Jada has been slow getting its distribution sorted out, but its castings have been excellent so far. The Modifiers line from the Tech Deck people have also been impressive, although I would like to see them offer more than just Tuners cars. One innovation from both Jada and the Modifiers is the use of screws instead of rivets to attach the bases to the cars, making them a customizer's dream. Muscle Machines, although not my particular cup of java, have succeeded enough to prompt Mattel to start imitating them in both the basic line of '03 and with some purpose built Tuners to compete directly with MM. I did like Muscle Machine's tuners enough to buy a set, although they are a little out of scale to the rest of my collection.

However, the most curious development among collectors in 2002 was a sense of being overwhelmed. Faced with a mounting flood of diecast, both good and bad, from established companies and new upstarts, many collectors chose to throw up their hands in frustration. I lost count of how many collectors said they were cutting back, concentrating on classic models, or just going after only the cars they liked. This shows a maturing hobby. The little boys who played with redlines are now in their forties or older. Perhaps the boom years of diecast collecting are passing. Maybe now we will see more niche collecting and manufacturers catering to more specialized tastes. While I don't see diecast collecting going bust the way the Beanie Baby crazed did, I do see the long-term collectors setting themselves a steadier pace than the all-or-nothing frenzy we have seen. This may result in fewer diecast offerings down the road, but the cars we do see should be better.

Contact the Gent directly at ramckee@mindspring.com