Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The Black (Not So) Beauty

Well, not every collectible we get our greedy little mitts on can be a winner, and today's featured piece is a prime example of what you get for being cheap.

In my quest to build a respectable collection of 1:64 scale cars from movies and TV, I had decided that I really needed a slick miniature Black Beauty, the midnight black vehicle of the legendary Green Hornet. However, any decent versions of the Black Beauty are vintage, rare, and expensive.

Then I stumbled onto an eBay listing for a Black Beauty keychain from the Carl's Jr. Green Hornet movie kid's meal promotion! I got the the bright idea that I'd just buy one of these (because they were literally selling for $1) and just take the keychain part off! Brilliant.

Well, then I got it in the mail...


As soon as I opened up the packaging, I knew I screwed up. Sadly, this wasn't the Hot Wheels/Matchbox style of toy at all that I was expecting. In fact, the wheels didn't even roll, they are cast as part of the car. Lame!


The detail on it isn't half bad at all. I just love those green headlights.


But the biggest fault in this piece is that it's not even the proper scale for my collection. It's just a little too small, making it look more like The Black Go-kart. Double lame.


So, the moral of the story is that I should just hold out until I find a proper Black Beauty, and when I do, just to shell out the moola that it's worth.

In the meantime, I did add this piece to the shelf of TV and movie cars until I can get a good one, but I'm starting to feel like the other cars are making fun of it. And why shouldn't they? It's not like it can roll after them. Triple lame.