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Respect the Classics: RPM #64

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  • Respect the Classics: RPM #64



    Several weeks ago I started a series about the Cars Piston Cup racers with an article on Mood Springs... In this article, we'll continue with a look at another one of the Piston Cup racers and his team - Winford Bradford Rutherford, better known as RPM #64... The RPM sponsor sounds important - Nighttime Backfire Suppressant... you don't want to backfire either day or night.

    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 another one of the Piston Cup racers and the other members of his team - RPM.

    RPM is one of the core Piston Cups Racer body styles... others include Leakless and Nitroade.

    As you'll see in this article, there have been several different releases of RPM and his team...


    Singles


    The RPM racer was first released in the Supercharged series... it was one of the first racers to be released in the Supercharged series that wasn''t released during the Desert Back series... I bought a few and was able to buy a couple more at the flea market at a decent price...

    During the Race O Rama series, the RPM Crew Chief was released... I'm not sure I have a carded version remaining on US cardback... here's an International carded Chief RPM:


    The RPM pitty, Petrol Pulaski, was released during the World of Cars series... I couldn't find my box of pittys this evening as I took photos so it's not in the team photo at the beginning of the article... here's the with and without the New snipe:



    Unlike HTB, Dinoco, Leakless, Octain Gain, Nitroade, Bumper Save, No Stall, Shiny Wax, and Spare Mint, the RPM team was not released as either a Team set with hauler/racer/pitty or Team Crew set with Crew Chief and 3 pittys.

    The RPM #64 racer was released in one boxed set during the Supercharged series - the Speedway 6 set consisted of Dinoco McQueen, Chick
    Hicks, King, Ferrari F430, Nitroade, and RPM #64... I don't have this set and don't have a picture... The RPM #64 racer was released in a Target exclusive 4 pack during the World of Cars Piston Cup Nights series:



    As you can see from the above photo, I swapped out Lightning McQueen and The King and replaced them with N2O Cola and Vinyl Toupee in my "poor man's Speedway of the South" set.

    The RPM #64 racer was also released as a lenticular Car on Night Skyline cardback:



    Launchers


    RPM #64 was released as a Pit Row Race-off launcher with plastic tires in both the World of Cars and Race O Rama series... The above photo shows the ROR version...

    Here's the cardback of the RPM #64 launcher:


    RPM #64 came in ROR launcher case D - the case included Retread (x2), Shiny Wax (x2), No Stall, and RPM #64...


    Haulers and Semis


    The RPM hauler was released in the same case with the No Stall hauler... while the hauler was available at Toys R US stores for quite a while after the original release, I've not seen it (or any hauler) at TRU for quite a while.

    The RPM Semi (cab only) was release #12 during the Mega Size era... it was released on ROR cardback... it was the last new Mega Size (deluxe) semi that I bought - I could still buy Octane Gain Semi at most TRU stores today if I wanted to - I don't want to... it took awhile, but I didn't have to buy both the hauler with trailer and the semi which was the cab only.

    Kmart 4 rubber tire racer



    RPM #64 was one of the rubber tire racers released during the Kmart 4 Cars Collector Event on June 12, 2012... The case assortment consisted of the following rubber tire racers:
    3 each of Dale Jr, Spare O Mint, Sputter Stop, and Transberry Juice
    2 each of Fiber Fuel, Gasprin, RPM, and Vitoline
    as well as 1 each of the lenticulars Lightning McQueen, Tom, Ron Hover, and Sarge.

    Here's the cardback:


    You can see RPM #64 in with my complete set of Kmart rubber tire racers (the Apple is a custom):


    I have one RPM #64 Kmart 4 error Car... the lettering for Lightyear tires is not printed properly on one of the tires.

    RPM #64 was one of the featured Cars on the Kmart 4 store poster:



    In Conclusion - Team RPM

    Here are some photos showing opened RPM #64 team members:

    RPM #64 racer:


    Chief RPM - the same body style as Chief No Stall, Chief Shiny Wax, and Chief Spare Mint:


    RPM Pitty (Petrol Pulaski):


    Team RPM (Cars only):


    Here are photos of Team RPM:

    (Above photo does show the carded RPM #64 Semi).

    Here's another photo showing the launcher, pitty, hauler, and crew chief on the pit box (thank you, GotFrank):


    Here's a photo showing the back of the hauler trailer:


    If anyone owns the Speedway 6 boxed set and can provide a photo of it that I can add to the article, please let me know.

    That wraps up this installment of Respect the Classics... 9 Piston Cup racers done... 27 to go... As always, thank you for reading... I appreciate your comments.
    Last edited by cac1959; 11-24-2012, 02:43 PM. Reason: date correction


    I am cac1959... I am a Cars-a-holic... and a proud supporter of Nathan's Playroom

  • #2
    Wow. Now where's the team set for the other pittys mattel?!

    I never managed to get the hauled but rpm was part of my first trade and introduction to rippers

    Great read cac1959

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    • #3
      chief rpm was one of my first carded purchases last year,i found him in a store called Argos, and at the time there was a half price sale on.i walked out with 18 ROR cards that day and i think even now it was my best cars find ever
      the hauler is a highly sought after item as very few are seen now.
      i do like the combination of colours on rpm and the pitty looks like he's wearing an orange mask with the wrap around effect with the paintwork and he also has a very "olde english " sounding name too.
      another excellent article cac1959,thank's for your efforts

      Comment


      • #4
        The first RPM we got was a lenticular on a night skyline cardback. One of the first cars I bought that wasn't part of the main cast of characters. Got him as rubber tire version just so we would have one as a non lenty. Never got his crew chief, pitty, or hauler. Thanks for another great article, sir.

        signature courtesy of BomBom77
        http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...ars-for-trades

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        • #5
          Always love reading these. Great read once again and thank you

          It is always a struggle for me not to want to go and buy every cars thing I see now thanks to these articles :P lol.

          But I decided to stick to one line...and that is what I am going to do...........that and my gf would kill me lol

          Transformers for Trade
          Feedback: pixarcarsdiecast.com; cybertron.ca; tfw2005.com; ebay.ca

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          • #6
            Great read, I only need the Launcher and the Hauler for my collection (and the Semi but that's in no way a priority!)

            Comment


            • #7
              I wish I had a piston cup hauler, all I have is Mack.




              http://carstoys.wikia.com <--My wiki

              http://flickr.com/carstoys/ <--My Flickr

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