A letter in the mail from Hot Wheels... what could it be?
Here's the letter with Certificate of Authenticity for a genuine Speedway of the South set...
One of the earliest boxed sets and at the time of release the most expensive boxed set was the Speedway of the South set... Limited to a run of 1000 pieces, the SOTS set went on sale in May 2008... To be eligible to purchase the SOTS set you had to join the Hot Wheels Red Line Collectors club... I joined in April 2008, and bought one set when they went on sale.
One of these days I'll put the Cars in the display box and put it out on display... For various reasons, many collectors did not purchase the Speedway of the South set when it went on sale... Several of the Piston Cup racers had already been released and they didn't want to purchase Cars they already had... they wanted to purchase just the Cars they needed at the approximate $4.00 price of a single... Unfortunately, Mattel didn't cooperate with those hopes... most of the racers were released, but in various formats and with other Cars or accessories that you might or might not have wanted... In this article, we'll take a look at 6 more of the Piston Cup racers from the Motor Speedway of the South set.
This set was originally advertised to be numbered as a limited release... when they shipped, they were not numbered and there was no certificate of authenticity... Due to the threat of lawsuits, Mattel did mail letters containing a hologram with the number on it... Mine is 283 of 1000... I'll add photos showing the letter and envelope that it came in.
The Box
The Speedway of the South set came in a large box:
The display box from the Speedway of the South set is huge... I finally took pictures earlier this week - over 4 years after I got mine...
The thin brown box underneath the display box contains the 2 trays containing the 36 Cars.
Here are close ups showing the back of the box:
Side of box:
Other side of box:
Piston Cup Racers
Of the 36 Piston Cup racers in the SOTS set, Apple was only released by Mattel one time, in this set... This is currently also the only official release of Tach O Mint with plastic tires... At one time, there was a prototype of a Tach O Mint launcher... if they ever release Tach O Mint as a Pit Row Race-off launcher (or Lightyear Launcher) I will buy it... If they release Tach O Mint with plastic tires in a boxed set I will buy it.
The rest of the plastic tire Piston Cup racers have been released again as either singles, Lightyear Launchers, Pit Row Race-off launchers, or in multi-packs... in fact, some of them have been released on new 2013 and/or 2014 cardback - King, Chick Hicks, and Nitroade come to mind - or as part of the Toys R US Radiator Springs Classic cardback (Octane Gain, Shiny Wax, Lil Torquey Pistons, etc.)
While Mattel won't release the #84 Apple iCar, there are PCD members who make great Apple customs, including Scavenger.
Production Codes
Here are production codes for my Speedway of the South set... you can see pictures for each racer, including the production code, in a series of 6 articles:
http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...uth-set-Part-1
http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...uth-set-Part-2
http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...-the-South-set
http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...-the-South-Set
http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...-the-South-Set
http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...-the-South-Set
Tow Cap 2777 EA
Nitroade 2777 EA
Mood Springs 2777 EA
Shifty Drug 2777 EA
Easy Idle 2777 EA
Transberry Juice 2777 EA
Gask-Its 2777 EA
Retread 2777 EA
Apple 2847 EA
Lil Torquey Pistons 2777 EA
Bumper Save 2777 EA
Shiny Wax 2777 EA
Vitoline 2637 EA
Leakless 2637 EA
Tank Coat 2637 EA
Rev N Go 2707 EA
Gasprin 2637 EA
Chick Hicks 2637 EA
Dale Jr 2847 EA
No Stall 2847 EA
Clutch Aid 2777 EA
Faux Wheel Drive 2777 EA
View Zeen 2777 EA
Trunk Fresh 2777 EA
RPM #64 2847 EA
Octane Gain 2847 EA
Fiber Fuel 2847 EA
Lightning McQueen 2637 EA
Sidewall Shine 2847 EA
N2O Cola 2777 EA
Spare Mint 2637 EA
Revolting 2777 EA
Sputter Stop 2707 EA
Vinyl Toupee 2637 EA
Tach O Mint 2637 EA
The King 2777 EA
Since the articles were originally published I have assembled my Speedway of the South set; I can look at it:
Apple, Dale Jr, and Tach O Mint join the display:
More join the race (and some switched positions)...
The gang's all here...
The view from the stands... I mean the stairs...
The view from even higher up the stairs (lighting is not great)...
Back under cover...
Racing 5 wide!
I feel like I'm watching NASCAR on TV from a camera at the entrance into turn 1:
Where am I going to find a place large enough to put this? It can't stay on the card table in the middle of the room...
How about on top of the Cars (china) cabinet for now...
This will work for now...
In Conclusion
I'm glad to have my Speedway of the South set on display... I can enjoy this more than looking at the cardboard box that it came in... I'm not sure how many of the 1000 sets are still together as I know of people who sold their Apple iCar shortly after the sets were released... some of the letters of authenticity have also been sold separately from the set.
As always, thanks for reading... I appreciate your comments.
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