Apr 30 2007
That is a Cool Minivan
(Note: force a refresh to load the new banner)
I once pulled up to a red light, looked at the vehicle beside me, and said, “Hey, that minivan’s kind of cool looking.”
Friend in the backseat: Dude, what did you just say?
I blame this on an old Hot Wheels car from my (as) distant (as it can be) past. It was a white vehicle, emblazoned with the image of Iron Man. As timely as all this may seem with that movie’s impending release (with Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead role), it’s a coincidence.
Recently I opened up one of my two cases of Hot Wheels cars and let Ben pick three. The Iron Man vehicle was one of them. Before you take a look, remember, this toy was designed and first sold in 1981.
This look anything like a certain type of vehicle on the road today?
Hot Wheels designers created a minivan before the term was coined, and certainly before Chrysler’s 1983 release of their “innovation,” which was not an attractive ride. The Iron Man van was so cool that somebody is currently offering $41.25 on eBay for it (as of 4/30/2007 at 10:00 p.m. CDT). I think I ruined any chance of selling mine when I painted the silver strip down the center of the roof.
More than 25 years after this toy’s release, why doesn’t my Odyssey have an option to jack up the back wheels? I know, I know, anything’s available after market.
Iron Man is scheduled for a May 2008 release. You think it will feature him driving one of these?
Regardless of how the filmmakers present it, I know that when I’m behind the wheel of my minivan, I’m a freakin’ superhero.
He will have to be driving that thing. My mom saved all my Hot Wheels, tracks and accessories. They are from the late 60’s and early 70’s. A favorite is the Red Baron and of course the Gulf Porsche Steve McQueen drove in the movie LeMans.
Most of the cars are still in pretty good condition. I wish I could say the same for the movie poster I convinced the local theatre owner to give to me.
BK - I just retrieved my Hot Wheels (and, admittedly, some of my brother’s — but he’s welcome to them) since Ben was born.
All the track pieces still are in our toy barrel at my mom and dad’s house, and our sons play with them when they’re there. They tend to play sword fight with them as much as push the cars on them, but oh well.
Most of our cars are in pretty good shape, but some are dinged pretty badly from playing crash’em up.
I always preferred Hot Wheels to Matchbox. Hey, that’s a good question for guys (or gals). Were you a Hot Wheels man or a Matchbox man?
McQueen was awesome on screen. He fell before his time.
Never mind the minivan, that’s one hellacool banner, Mark! (Reminded me to update my own… thanks!)
I had no idea there was an Iron Man movie coming out. I knew about the Ed Norton remake of The Inc. Hulk, but am I really so far out of the mainstream info that I missed out on Iron Man? (The answer, obviously, is yes.)
I’m sorry, I am in the habit of not using the words…cool and minivan in the same sentence! :) hehehe. I am a girl…not hot wheels in my past…but my husband still has all of his so I so somewhat understand the appeal.
I can’t really say I cared Hot Wheels or Matchbox. They were they same to me and not the prime toy of my childhood. I liked my action figures from a young age.
Although I now find myself envious of minivans and using the term “cool” in association with them, I am reminded of a little poem my friend Matthew (who also penned the phrase “I wish I had all my brain cells” for those of you how may know that that means):
Fall of the Wild
Call of the Mild
“Man…I love those minivans!”
Also…great banner.
Thinking of adding a “kiss my butt” button to our minivan that would stick the rear end up like that. AWESOME banner, but it’s missing the four horsemen. That coloring would make a sweet graphic for my gas tank.
Moksha:
“… but now many are gone.”
I don’t think I’ll ever reach the stage where I think minivans are actually cool. They are exceedingly useful, to be sure, but fly well below my cool radar.
PS — Moksha, wow… you really don’t look at the screen while you’re typing, do you?
Nope….I can’t be bothered with such trivialities as proof reading. I leave it to you to figure out what I meant to say. And if you can’t…just assume I said something marvelously witty and carry on. Besides…you can’t really expect me to reread what I type. I can barely stand to wade through my BS the first time.
And come on…there’s something at least kinda cool about any vehicle with four captians chairs. I mean…anyone driving a minivan would really be in contrll of three captains…making him an Admiral. And that’s pretty cool, right?
I am with you Moksha…proofreading just isn’t my thing. My apologies for all the mistakes I make as I comment!
Simon - Thanks. I shot that picture a couple years ago in Monett, Missouri. One thing we had there more often than any other place I’ve lived — memorable sunsets during thunderstorms.
I only know about the Iron Man movie because I get RottenTomatoes.com in my RSS reader.
Anna - I don’t try to convince people that minivans are cool, because admittedly it’s a relative term. A minivan is cooler than a Ford Contour when trying to travel with two adults, a cocker spaniel, a baby, and all the many gadgets that come with that. And, I gotta say, ours is more stylish.
Cooler than a Mini Cooper? A Lotus Elise? No. But cooler (to me) than any SUV out there.
MG - I loved the poem. And, although I’ve heard the song only once, the chorus of “I Wish I Had All my Brain Cells” popped into my head the minute I read the words. Ha!
I liked action figures too, but not to the exclusion of toy cars. I can’t imagine how I would have filled the hours of early childhood without Hot Wheels.
Don’t fret your errors, man. Simon’s an incurable pedant when it comes to that. Of course, that’s one of the reasons I like him, but still. Personally, I re-read things I’ve written at least three or four times. Not always just to check for errors, either. Is that vain?
Josh - When you get that installed, you call me. ;-)
The clouds could be the four horseman, if you smoke enough weed (so they tell me).
Oh, I welcome Simon’s pickiness…it makes me all the more eager to pounce on his errors. Well, actually I guess I would have done that anyway…but it makes me feel less guilty about it ;)
I’ll admit to re-reading one or two of my own comments when I think it’s particulalry clever. a) I want to make sure the cleverness isn’t overshadowed by a typo. And b) I like thinking to myself, “My that’s clever.” (So, I guess we’re vain together) But usually…I just ship it off into the void and wait for the mockery.
Mark, your banner is freakin’ awesome! It looks more like a lava field than a sunset. If I had looked up and seen that sky, I’d be making myself right in the eyes of the Lord!
I used to “customize” my four brothers’ Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars for them with metallic model paint. Probably knocked down their street value a few pegs…
Mokker, good thing we let this kind of thing roll off our backs, huh? … and “Brain Cells” was my theme song for about a month and a half… ;-)
I fully realise being a spelling and grammar pedant totally sets me up for retributive strikes when I leave a chink in my armour. But there’s a part of me that loves to get that kind of feedback since it’s confirmation that words are being read and picked over with enough diligence to merit an affectionate amount of snark. I sort of feel like Lily Tomlin making a horrible Oscar acceptance speech, only with less hair and a little more testosterone.
The vanity comment thing is a common trait among bloggers. Hence my occasional dinosaur-riddled grandiloquent essays.
Speaking of movies, I found out today that Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe are teaming up to do the next remake of Robin Hood. But this time from the perspective of the Sheriff, who will be played, of course, by Crowe. Hood is more the bad guy, with Marion caught in a bit of a love triangle. Hopefully this will help purge the image of Kevin Costner as the man in tights from my mind forever.
Sadly, when I moved from my house in midtown to downtown I had a huge garage sale/donation movement in my household…star wars, hotwheels, matchbox, rock/shell collection…you name it, it went. I still have all my pictures, journals, letters, band t-shirts, etc. But of course, who’d buy or appreciate that crap?
C