by LAMing » Wed May 01, 2013 4:01 pm
Rusty:
Speaking of Christmas and Strombecker...
One of my (if not THE most memorable) Christmas past was the year I got my second Strombecker set (1966?). I had a new brother-in-law (he was 6 years older than I) and that Christmas Eve I unwrapped a huge box. Once the paper was pulled back, it was a no-frills cardboard box with a large and familiar blue Strombecker logo on it. Turns out mom and dad had picked up this mega set from a secondary source: Western Auto. In retrospect, the set appears to have been a no-frills version (i.e. no gadget tracks) of the "European Rallye" set that Strombecker offered in more affluent stores. I think I recall my set having 55' feet of track?
Anyway, excited as can be, I took the set downstairs and set up the exact raceway illustrated in the instructions. It covered almost all of the usable floor in the downstairs den! Thereon, Randy (that new brother-in-law!) and I raced and raced and raced... until about 4 AM Christmas day. We both had so much fun racing that red Dino coupe and blue Cheetah against each other. The den was full of the smell of ozone and hot controllers. (MMmmmm... such a sweet aroma!)
Just last October, Randy went home to be with the Lord via a massive heart attack. Randy's passing has made that wonderful Christmas memory even more special to me.
Yup... lots of GREAT memories recorded around my Strombecker sets.
Andre