I hope you will all bear with me, as I most likely bore you to death, with a reminisce of my youth....
I have been on a quest for a few months to acquire an item from my youth... The item was branded and sold for only 1 year, only. And that year was 1966... I was a scrapping 12 year old going on 30... I worked part time as a "pump jockey" for a local Flying A Gas Station. And felt that I was "above" such childish things as Slot Cars and especially "battery powered Slot cars" that ran on there own with no hand controls...
In 1966 Ideal Toys, came out with their Motorific "Car and Torture Track" along with other Motorific Slot Car "Set Ups"... But, Ideal did something different with the "Car and Torture Track"... They branded certain one's with the DX Oil Company name and logo on the boxes...
And they also branded a "set up" with the Flying A name and logo...
As I said, in 1966 I was working at a Flying A Station and selling these tracks and the accessory kits as fast as we could get them into the Station.. My Father who had been collecting "Gas and Oil" items since the mid 40s... Advised me to buy a couple of the tracks and a few of the 2 different accessory kits that went along with the track.. (the tracks and kits, were $1.99 ea in 1966)... His reasoning was that "sooner or later" the tracks and kits would become collectibles not only for Petro Collectors, but for Toy Collectors... Of course, I always meant to "squirrel" away atleast one track and kit set ups... But, I never did....
Fast forward to 2013, (at times the years flew by and other times... well you've all been there)....
Today, I was able to receive the 3rd and final piece to "MY" 1966 Motorific Flying A "Car and Torture Track" and Accessory kits....
The "Toys of my Youth" now sit on a machine that "Breathes for me" at night... LOL - So I am living that 'ol adage I heard as a child and didn't understand at the time... "He is a kid at heart, trapped in an Old Man's body"....
I just had my 59th Birthday, this past week... And that birthday and this "present" to myself... Reminded me, to "keep digging"... Even with Cancer and a Heart not worth "spit"... It is never too late to reach out and grab the Brass Ring... It just takes some of us longer to decide what "is the Brass Ring"... LOL