Found in the Letterbox
The following are responses to 'Tales of Toy Cars'. Your letters are welcome and may be submitted via e-mail


"Doug, I'm 38 (father of a 5 y/o, 3y/o and an 8 mo. old) and have been collecting diecast for at least 33 of those 38 years. Your web-site and webzine are both great resources. I especially enjoyed your references to Play-art from the early 70s. While most of my 1:64 collection is Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Corgi and Majorette (with some very recent Maisto, Welly and Motor Max), I do have a handful of Play-Art from my early childhood. Your mention of Play-Art inspired me to go on an expedition to my Mom's where I found an old 48-car HW case with a red Play-Art Toyota 2000 GT, a 67 Camaro (with ridiculously tiny wheels), and an Opel GT. I remember I also had a Tow Truck and a Nissan convertible, but those were nowhere to be found. I remember purchasing these at the local Woolworth store when I was a kid, and they were Woolworth's "house-brand" diecast. Thanks again for the great site,

Wendell Callahan - San Diego, CA

p.s. It's nice to see a collector who opens his cars! I'm also a big fan of the Plano 48-car plastic storage case.

Editor's Response: It sounds like we both share our collections with the kids. Glad you enjoy the Webzine.


SPECIAL REPORT - Local Matchbox Club meets with Mark Curtis of the Matchbox Collector's Community Hall

The local Washington State chapter of the Matchbox Club welcomed Mark Curtis, host of the Matchbox Collector's Community Hall to a special meeting at the home of Tom Larson. Mark has built his Matchbox Community website into the primary communication forum for collectors of all 1:64 scale diecast manufacturers. Special community boards for Matchbox, Corgi, Johnny Lightning and others are joined by boards that specialize in everything from emergency vehicles to my favorite, Mac Ragan's Community.

Tom Larson's home allowed us to again marvel at his amazing (and well-displayed) collection of Matchbox models. Tom is also expanding to collect other manufacturers and loves to share his toy cars with visitors. Here are some images from the gathering.


Club member Micky Kosko (left) talks of toy cars with
Tom Larson (center) and Mark Curtis (right)


The Tom Larson Collection


The Tom Larson Collection (continued)


The required group photo (including Tom's girls in front) left to right: Tom Larson, Mark Curtis, Jerry Foster, Jerry Guintoli, Mike Wall, Micky Kosko, Don Windham in the back and Doug Breithaupt

You may know them by their Matchbox Community names; matchboxtom, mark c, Jerrboe, jerry, mrwall, mickster5, windy57, doug


The Tom Larson Collection (continued)


The Tom Larson Collection (continued)