Last Friday I regretfully deleted David's Hottest Hot Wheels from my diecast bookmarks. I say regretfully, because while I was a frequent visitor to David's site, I was not a regular. And when I did log on, it was usually to see the coming attractions on the front page, not to read the message board. The constraints of time kept me from knowing and enjoying both David and the folks over there, and for that I am sorry. I am happy to see many new names at the boards I do read as people choose new hang-outs, and I do hope David himself won't be a stranger to the online collector's community.

At one point I think I was trying to keep up with as many as nine or ten different boards each night. But that required me to park myself in front of the computer from the time I got home to the time I went to bed many hours later. It wasn't long before that had to end. I was getting burned out from the sheer volume of posts and the Belle insisted that I have a family life away from the computer. So I cut back to just a few in order to find a proper balance.

The first diecast board I followed with any regularity was Rec.Toys.Cars. It was, and is a very wide open board with no rules and no moderator. It contained mostly sale and trade posts, but discussions would take place, often running to dozens of postings. Without a moderator, flame wars were constant, and could be at once creative, entertaining, and quite vicious. A few strong personalities set the tone for RTC, and woe to any that got on their bad side.

While looking for diecast info on the web I discovered sites like the Kentucky Hot Wheels Association, the original Hobby Talk Johnny Lightning board, and of course Treasure Hunt Alley. It wasn't long before Hobby Talk, and the renamed Alleyguide board were my main hang-outs. Then Mobilia closed alleyguide and it seemed that dozens of new sites sprang up to fill the void, and some sites that hadn't been all that visible came to the fore. Of course, Alleyguide was re-launched as Diecast Illustrated for a time, but the message board there outlived the site.

Now I'm primarily on four different boards. The Hobby Talk board is my main Johnny Lightning source. The GTR board is the continuation of the Diecast Illustrated board that was my home for so long, and I am a creature of habit. I'm a regular here at Joe's since he is kind enough to host these monthly scribblings. And for general diecast information about brands around the world, I go to the Matchbox Collectors Community hall. I wish I had more time to delve into sites like Redlines Online, because it is always a good read. And I don't worry much about going to HotWheelsCollectors.com because I've come to the conclusion that anything really interesting posted over there soon turns up on the boards I do read, sparing me from wading through all the bulk posting over there.

I've come to look at the various message boards as kind of like local bars. On the one end of the spectrum is Rec.Toys.Cars, which is like a biker bar out on the highway, built of cinder blocks and neon signs, with a burnt out police car around back. You can have fun in there, but it's not for the timid or the thin skinned. On the other extreme is HWC, which is a very polished and professional corporate them restaurant, rather like the Planet Hollywood of diecast. Again, a great place, but a bit big and fast moving if you're looking for a more intimate atmosphere. In between are all the other sites that are like your corner bars with Norm and cliff always holding down one end and the tone is set by the bartender. These come and go dependent on the inclination of their owners, and their ability to attract a clientele. And while an evening spent bar-crawling might hit a bunch of these places in a night, there's always going to be some you just didn't get around to. But that doesn't mean you don't miss them when they're gone.

So fill your glasses ladies and gents, and lift them in honor of David Allman and David's Hottest hot wheels. It was a pretty good hang-out while it lasted, and it's going to be missed. That's as much as any board could hope for, and that's high praise indeed.

Contact the Gent directly at ramckee@mindspring.com