Food Trucks

Before they became trendy, food trucks were often referred to by the unflattering nickname of "roach coach".

Chef, 2014

I used to think the name was unique to Hawai‘i, since that was where I first heard the term, but apparently it had been used on the mainland since the 1960s.

The Manapua Man

Wikipedia claims that food trucks originated from chuckwagons, but I prefer to think that they evolved from the food cart, as does this post from Cheapism.

Both Hot Wheels and Matchbox make models of food trucks, though none are truly 1/72 scale.

Hot Wheels produced food trucks in various liveries, based on their Good Humor Truck.

I don't have a model with the Good Humor tampos, but i do have a generic ice cream truck with scary clown tampos, and what I presume to be a Rasta bowl truck.

Around 2014, it seems that the base and interior were retooled, resulting in the ice cream man turning into something closer to an ice cream ghoul.

Quick Bite, 2017

Finally in 2018, the metal body was replaced with an all plastic body.

The Hot Wheels models are all similar in dimensions to the Combat Medic, which is to say they're very wide.

The Matchbox vehicles I have are the Ice Cream Van, and Chow Mobile.

The Ice Cream Van looks like an old style Bedford van, while the Chow Moblie is similar to a coffee/canteen truck, except without the quilted stainless steel body. Both models are all plastic.

A comparison of the metal and plastic Hot Wheels models with the two Matchbox models reveals they are all similar in size. The Chow Wagon might pass for 1/72 scale, but the Ice Cream Van is definitely overscale.

News at 11

猫 シ Corp. : NEWS AT 11

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

– Amendment I to the United States Constitution

Denigrating the news industry has been a popular pastime in many quarters, but I still have the utmost respect for the journalism profession (even if specific media people and news outlets make me shake my head on a regular basis).

I have my own views on opinion disguised as news, the 24-hour news cycle, national media outlets (including social media), their c-level overlords, and how they gain access to the news they report to us, but I won't bore you with them.

Instead, if you like, you can watch a clip from the Patriot Act which is more entertaining (if you're not using headphones be warned that Hasan has a bit of a potty-mouth).

Anyway, on to more pertinent issues. In the 1/72 world, there are four sets of modern news crews that I own and am aware of.

The first figures are from the News Crew set from MJ Figures (not to be confused with MJ Miniatures).

There are a female reporter, photographer, and security contractor in the set as well, but I seem to have misplaced them somewhere.

The next three sets are from Elhiem, and they're pretty much the same figures in different outfits.

The first pair are the Afghan/Al Jez TV crew (AFC03), then the TV crew in casual shirt and trousers (OBJ10), and finally the TV crew in body armour (OBJ11).

The Afghan news guys are dressed in Pashtun clothing for some reason, but whatever. Most Middle Eastern news crews I've seen in war zones look more like the TV crew in body armor, and their regular TV news people also wear modern dress.

Several news vans are also available for your 1/72 reporters.

The first van is a 1/73 Mercedes TV News Truck by Matchbox. The one I have is in Sky News livery.

The camera can be raised out of the truck, but only rotates when it is in the lowered position. The satellite antenna isn't entirely convincing, but it can rotate in either the raised or lowered position.

The next two vans are Hot Wheels Custom '77 Dodge Vans similar to the one I wrote about in my van post. I bought these in particular because they represent the local So Cal region.

The Action News 68 El Segundo van is a reference to the year that the first Hot Wheels car was released, and the city where Mattel is headquartered. It has a clear roof which I'm guessing is supposed to showcase the interior of the van.

The KVWN 4 San Diego van is from the movie Anchorman. A 70s style satellite dish antenna is mounted on the roof.

Last is an overhead comparison of the three different roof styles for the Hot Wheels '77 Dodge Vans along with the Matchbox van.

If this van's a-rockin'

The Van, 1977

I was not aware of the term, but apparently there is a film genre called vansploitation from the 70s. I've never heard of any of the movies associated with the genre, and will likely never see any of them either.

I make no judgement on these films or the times, but apparently there was widespread belief that girls were really into guys who drove vans back then.

In any event, there are many potential uses for vans in gaming, so I will present some of the models that I have in my collection.

First up is a Hot Wheels Super Chromes Custom '77 Dodge Van which is a Dodge B series custom van.

The model has the wheelbase measurement of a long wheelbase van, but the length of a short wheelbase van in 1/72. It does seem overly wide, but not enough to be too noticeable next to my other vans.

Next are a pair of Hot Wheels Super Vans, which are undefined 70s model Dodge vans. They are a bit longer and narrower than the Custom '77 Dodge Van.

Matchbox makes a Ford Panel Van which represents the Ford E-150 Econoline.

The van is sold as 1/80 scale, but the Matchbox wiki suggests that it is 1/72 scale (based on the wheelbase).

The next pair are Matchbox '75 Chevy Vans in 1/74 scale which are 3rd generation Chevrolet Sport Vans.

All four van types compared.

I actually really want a white panel van, but none of these vans are sold in plain white. One of these days, I'm going to look for some cheap used Hot Wheels that I can repaint as plain undecorated panel vans.

The next group of vehicles are step vans.

First up are a bunch of Matchbox Express Delivery vans in 1/70 scale.

The van with the open side doors has a metal body, while the others have plastic bodies.

Next is a Toyota Quick Delivery Van in 1/72 scale made by Tomica.

Hot Wheels also makes a non-scale Combat Medic which is the length of the Tomica van, but looks to be 1/64 based on width.

It is almost 10mm wider than the Matchbox and Tomica vans, so I left it in the original packaging in case I decide to sell it.

The final group are various types of modern vans.

First is a 1/72 Tiny City Ice Cream Van in the livery of Cream Bro (a British Shorthair who apparently was the former manager of a convenience store in TST East).

Next is a 1/72 2000 Toyota Esteem (known as the Previa here in North America). The model was a premium available from 7-11 in Japan for buying Suntory Coffee BOSS products.

Last is a 1/74 Mercedes Benz Sprinter ambulance in a promotional Hong Kong Fire Services Department livery by Realtoy.

A comparison of the five van types.

I get the feeling that the Ice Cream Van might be overscale, while the Esteem may be underscale, but I haven't actually looked up the dimensions to verify this impression.

Pink Cadillac

The pink Cadillac became a popular culture icon because of Elvis Presley There are no specific models of his car in 1/72 scale, but there are several diecast Cadillacs that come close in size, and not a few of those that are pink.

The first two models are made by Matchbox. The car on the left is a 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood in pink with a silver top, while the other is a '69 Cadillac Sedan DeVille in metallic lavender.

The Fleetwood scales out to somewhere between 1/73 and 1/74 scale. This particular model is all metal, but I think that most of the more commonly available versions of this model are made with a plastic top. Despite the cheaper material, the plastic-top versions come with chrome trim and the Cadillac lettering on the sides.

Graceland Collection Pink Cadillac

The DeVille is stated to be 1/75 scale. A pink version exists, but I've never seen it in stores.

The next two cars are a Matchbox 1956 Cadillac Eldorado in sea green, and a Tomica Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz in pink.

The Matchbox Eldorado does not have a stated scale, but the wheelbase is almost spot on for 1/72. There is a purple version of this car in the Graceland Collection, but no pink one. The body of the car is slightly longer than the Tomica car, but they are about the same width. The Tomica car is 1/75 scale, and represents a 4th generation Eldorado.

The final cars are Hot Wheels 1959 Cadillac Eldorados.

The width is about 1/78 scale, but the length is 1/64 scale. I'm not quite sure what to do with them right now, but maybe they can be a source of parts for future conversions.