I think blogging should cover everything! Who we are, what we do, what we like, don't like, where we live, where we've been and where we want to go!

Everything I read about blogging says, "Be yourself, so people get to know who you are." Ok then, here's a bit for you. Since I can remember, I've always loved cars. From little ones, to big ones....I've loved them. If I ever won the lottery, I'd truly need a warehouse to park them all...and someone to keep me on track on which one to drive next!

I mean, I think before I knew I liked cars, I was posing in front of them! Yes...that's me waaaaaay back and the car is my parents '66 Olds 98 Regency. Oh what a car!

When I was in Junior High, I use to visit the local Ford/Lincoln dealership every day at lunch. I use to see the new cars, hid in the garage before they wanted them in the showroom! I knew all the makes, models and everything about them. If I would of been old enough to sell, I would of made a fortune! That love has carried it's way today.... That's my 1979 Lincoln Mark V Bill Blass Designer Series that I owned up until a couple years ago!

I still have one baby left, altho she does not get the love and attention that she needs...

She's a 1969 Buick Wildcat Convertible that my Mom gave me! Yep! It had sat in a barn on our ranch in Montana after my Dad passed away and she finally realized she was not going to drive it anymore, and so off to Georgia I shipped her!

My love of cars continues today on a minature scale. Since the picture by the Olds, I've collected Matchbox cars. I'm sure many of you remember them? They still make them today, but as with all old things, the quality is nothing like it use to be.

The Matchbox name started in 1953 as a brand name of the now-defunct British toy company Lesney Products (named after its co-founders Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith), which had been founded in 1947 as an industrial die casting company. Almost immediately after assuming production, the company began producing toys. A 1948 model of a road roller, based on a Dinky toy, was their first foray into the transportation theme. Their first major sales success followed in 1953, with the million-selling model of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Coach.

Shortly thereafter, Lesney co-owner Jack Odell (b. 1920 or 1921 - d. 2007) created a toy that effectively provided the final, missing link to the company's future. It was designed for his daughter: Her school only allowed children to bring toys that could fit inside a matchbox, so Mr. Odell crafted a scaled-down version of the Lesney green and red road roller. This toy ultimately became the first of the 1-75 miniature range; a dump truck and a cement mixer completed the original three-model release that marked the starting point of the mass-market success story of the Matchbox series. As mentioned above, because the one defining factor for the toys was that each model had to fit in a match-box, the idea was born to sell the models in replica matchboxes - thus yielding the name of the series. It also resulted in the description (either derogatory or admiring) of the models' scales being "1:box" (as opposed to more "serious" scales such as 1:87, 1:64, or 1:43).

Additional models - mostly British at first - continued to be added to the range throughout the decade, including cars such as an MG Midget TD, a Vauxhall Cresta, a Ford Zodiac, and many others. As the line grew, it also gradually became more international, including models of VWs, a Citroën, and American makes. To make such miniatures, the designers took detailed photographs of the real models, even obtaining some original blueprints. This enabled them to make models with surprisingly high levels of detail, despite the small scale. The size of the models (and their clever packaging) allowed Matchbox to occupy a market niche barely touched by the competition (and certainly not by Dinky); the associated price advantage made Matchbox models affordable for every child, and helped establish Matchbox as a household word for small model toy cars - whatever the brand. Although used generically, "MATCHBOX" (in capital letters and quotation marks) was registered as a worldwide trademark to protect the Matchbox brand from competition.

I still have my collection, altho I have not purchased any additions to it in probably about 10+ years. I thought I'd share a few photos of my collection.....

The case on the left is about 6' tall, and 4' wide and is PACKED to the gills with my collection. In fact, some still are in boxes in the basement! That's alot of cars!

The display case on the right might bring back memories? These were used by retailers to display the smaller 1-75 models. I have two of these!

I was lucky to have over the years slowly shipped the collection from my parents home in Montana to my home in Atlanta. In September, 2005, my Mom's house burned, taking everything with it. I still had an old Matchbox City play set in the attic! I found a book about Matchbox, and started to inventory my collection. Today, it's value is well into the thousands of dollars!

And one day, when my real estate business is where I want it to be.....