Mid-West Hot Wheels Rally
St. Louis, Mo - June 1998

As always I could hardly sleep last night thinking about all of the exciting Hot Wheels and Hot Wheels collectors that I  will be seeing at the Rally this week.  I always arrive early at these events so I took an early morning flight from Portland, Oregon to Minneapolis and then on to St. Louis, Mo.  From there it is a 45 mile cruise to Collinsville, IL. 

Thinking about what to take, what to show, what to sell?  Oh, heck I don't want to sell anything, I want to buy something.  Here is a short list of Hot Wheels I would really like to find.

Custom Barracuda in Orange, Deora in Blue, Custom Firebird in Dark Brown, Olds 442 in any color, Custom T-Bird in Gold, Nomad in Gold, and many more.

Here is a picture of the loose Hot Wheels I brought home from a convention in Indy 3 years ago.

There were several neat cars in there but I am hoping to top that bunch this week. 

I will be arriving at the convention hotel around 5:30 this afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon, a smooth drive to Collinsville and the Holiday Inn.  I received fist class check-in treatment including free drinks and breakfast coupons.   A very nice Hotel, rooms are very clean, and they have a great pool, hot tub and exercise room.

I ran in to Mike Blaylock in the lobby where he was meeting  with the Hotel staff to make sure everything would be ready for the official kick-off of Thursday evening. 

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23rd

I got up early this morning, enjoyed the free breakfast, then headed out to see what kind of town Collinsville is.  Well it is a very neat Mid-America small town.  The kind of town with a main street and all that.  Not to far from downtown I found the Wal-Mart and a Super K-Mart.  At the K I had just missed the opening of 6 new cases of Hot Wheels.  I don't collect too many new cars but I can't resist looking in the cases like everyone else.  While there I found that the 30th Anniversary Deoras, Vickys, and Side Kicks were available off the shelf.    

OK I DECIDED NOT TO WRITE ABOUT EVERYTHING - SO HERE'S THE PICTURES

Click on the thumbnails for Giant Photos - Allow time for loading, they are big and clear!