I was born in '69, so I missed out on the spectraflame years. I do remember what was probably my first Hot Wheel, an orange Turbofire. I also remember a red Sweet 16. Sadly, these two were lost or destroyed over the years.
I really got into Hot Wheels during the blackwall years, and still have most of my childhood collection. Check out my zippo display; those are all mine and my brother's original "one-owner" cars.
I stopped collecting about 1982 when I got "too old" for toy cars, but started up again in 1995 for my 5 year old daughter. We ripped open a lot of blue cards, and got down on the floor and played with 'em.
In 2003, we installed a floating wood floor in the dining room of our current home, and that perfect racing surface brought me back into Hot Wheel collecting. I bought some mainlines, and discovered hotwheelscollectors.com, and decided to become an "official" collector, buying FE's, series cars, chasing Treasure Hunts, etc...What madness!!
About three years ago, I decided I didn't need tubs and tubs of cars that I don't really like, so I've come back to my first love: the blackwalls of the 70's and 80's. I have replaced almost all the blackwalls I lost as a kid, and then some. I am trying to build a small collection of bp's, with one of each of the card styles from the Flying Colors era to the Blue Card era.

The spectraflame bug has bit! A couple of redlines have weaseled their way into my collection (including an orange Turbofire), and now I find myself looking more and more at the RL B/S/T.

Work for a small ISP

Hot Wheels, fishing, hunting, staring blankly at a television for hours at a time, avoiding household chores, contemplating the mysteries of the universe...