People Wearing Masks While Driving

  Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the mask mandates took place, people got way too panicked. You've probably seen people walking in public spaces wearing a face mask. I think it's stupid to wear a face mask in public. COVID-19 isn't airborne. One of the things that really irritates me, is people who wear face masks while driving alone in their car.

  Wearing a face mask while driving alone in your car is really stupid. You're not going to get COVID-19 from your car. I understand that certain driving occupations require wearing a mask, such as a ridesharing service, or bus driver. However driving with your mask on while you are driving is stupid. Whenever I see someone wearing their face mask while driving alone, I can't help but laugh at them.

  You look like an idiot for wearing a mask while driving. Why do you have to be so afraid that you must insist on wearing a mask while driving your car? That's it that's why people wear masks while driving. They are so afraid of COVID-19. It's true there a lot of people who are so afraid of the virus that it's not even funny. I've seen people so afraid of COVID-19 that they are wearing safety goggles to protect them from the virus. They think that you can get COVID-19 from eyes. It's really sad to see how a virus has changed the whole world. Crazy times we are living in.

  When you wear your mask while driving, you look really stupid. I mean really, driving alone while wearing a face mask doesn't make any sense at all. I'm fully vaccinated and I find this amusing to see people wearing their masks while they drive. You are only making an ass out of yourself when you do this. 

  So please take the damn mask off while driving alone. Everybody who sees you doing this thinks you are an idiot. Wearing a mask while driving is like wearing a condom alone at night.

Obscure Hot Wheels Car of the Day: 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS

  I love collecting Hot Wheels cars. I like to showcase some of my favorites from my enormous collection of cars. Today's obscure car is the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS. Now why is this car obscure? Well it's an obscure SUV in itself. The Isuzu VehiCROSS was unlike any other SUV in it's day. It was very unique and had features that weren't found on most SUV's. These features included a matte black resin shield on the hood of the VehiCROSS that was intended to reduce glare from the sun.

2000 First Editions

Another interesting feature of the VehiCROSS was a locking gas tank. How many new vehicles come with a locking gas tank?
 Here's a little production history for the VehiCROSS. In 1997 Isuzu debuted the VehiCROSS in Japan. They sold from 1997 to 1999 in Japan. It wasn't until 1999 when Isuzu debuted the VehiCROSS in the United States. They sold the VehiCROSS in limited numbers from 1999 to 2001. 1,805 were sold in Japan and 4,153 were sold here in the US.
  When the VehiCROSS debuted here in the USA in 1999, it got a lot of buzz from the automotive world. So It made sense for Mattel to get the Isuzu license so they could produce the VehiCROSS for the Hot Wheels line. So in 2000 the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS debuted in the Hot Wheels 2000 First Editions series. It was released in Astral Silver Metallic paint for the First Edition release.

The Tiki Torchers version

  Onto the obscurity factor. The 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS was released only 4 times in total. The first 3 releases were in regular VehiCROSS color schemes. The second release came in 2001. This time it was painted in Proton Yellow. In 2002 the third one was released in Foxfire Red Mica. The 4th one is often forgotten. The fourth one is unlike the other 3 VehiCROSS's that Hot Wheels released. The 4th one was released in a 5 pack from 2004 called Tiki Torchers. The 5 pack release features different wheels than the previous 3 had. For the Tiki Torchers release it had the Off Road 5 Spoke Wheels or OR5SP's.
   Fun Fact about the Tiki Torchers version, it was used as a background vehicle in Robot Chicken. They actually use Hot Wheels cars depicting traffic scenarios. So Robot Chicken doesn't always use action figures. You got to keep an eye out for the Hot Wheels cars seen in the background.

  So the 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS was never seen again after the Tiki Torchers 5 pack. It's likely that Mattel lost the Isuzu license and never bothered to renew it. It's a shame because the Isuzu VehiCROSS would make a great car for their Car Culture Japan Historics series. The VehiCROSS has a cult following among off roaders. Some day it might be a future collectible.

Nobody wants your VHS copy of Titanic

   I went to The Salvation Army to look around for a bit today. I did my usual browsing and checked out the DVD's/VHS tapes. There were more VHS tapes than DVDs. However what caught my attention was there were 3 copies of Titanic on VHS. Last time I went there there was one copy. My God they are multiplying, 

Tons of Titanic VHS at a thrift store

  I have a theory that every thrift store in the Untied States has at least one copy of Titanic on VHS. At least every thrift store I've been to has a copy of the 2 VHS tape set. You can't give these away. Nobody wants your dizzy ass copy of Titanic on VHS. Why is that? Well for one, Titanic was one of the best selling VHS tapes of all time. You probably know that Titanic was at one time the highest grossing film at the box office. So it sold even better on VHS.

  However some VHS versions of Titanic are in Widescreen, but most of them are in fullscreen.  The original DVD release of Titanic was in non anamorphic widescreen. However later DVD releases corrected that and Blu-Ray's are anamorphic
. So with the fullscreen VHS version you are losing a lot of picture. Nobody really has a VCR anymore. VCR's went out with high button shoes. So the question is, why does every thrift store in America have copies of Titanic on VHS?

  I think the reason why is that nobody wants them anymore is because most people have completely upgraded their VHS library to Blu-Ray or DVD or streaming for that matter. I'm not saying that there are people who don't still use VHS tapes, because there are people who still use them. VHS is an obsolete media format that still has a niche market. However the market for VHS copies of Titanic isn't existent. Maybe the people who collect widescreen VHS tapes there are but nobody wants Titanic on VHS. They just sit on the shelves and collect dust. 

  If I owned a thrift store I would literally just throw VHS copies of Titanic away. Literally every thrift store should do this when someone donates a VHS copy of Titanic. Some thrift stores have literally a shelf full of Titanic on VHS. Who knew a VHS tape would be a shelfwarmer? A shelfwarmer is a collectors term for an item that just sits on the pegs or shelves in a store for what seems like an eternity. AKA an item that nobody really wants.

  Titanic on VHS is something that nobody wants anymore. Seriously it's amazing to see these rot on shelves at a thrift store. I don't manage a thrift store but I would definitely throw them out when someone donates them. What was once all the rage is now just a common everyday item at a thrift store. So please stop donating your VHS copies of Titanic to thrift stores or charity. Nobody wants them. If you are in the market for Titanic, just go buy the Blu-Ray it is 4 discs of entertainment.

Spin Master Monster Jam Megalodon Ride Truck

   When Mattel lost the Monster Jam license in 2018, I swore off on buying any Spin Master products. However in the summer of 2020, I took a trip down to the Outer Banks in NC. On our way there, we passed Digger's Dungeon, the home of the world famous monster truck Grave Digger. We couldn't stop but passing the place made me want to revisit the Monster Jam line. I was semi paying attention to the Spin Master line when they took over the Monster Jam license, but I swore off on buying anything. Well after we passed Digger's Dungeon I just had to break my promise and buy the Target exclusive, Evolution of Grave Digger 5 pack. Once I got that 5 pack, I was instantly hooked on the Spin Master trucks.

  Anyway starting in 2020 Spin Master added a series of chase trucks to the line like they did in 2019. The chase trucks in 2019 were training trucks from Monster Jam University. In 2020 they were ride trucks. You know the trucks that give rides. Anyway the first ride truck chase that I found was the BKT Tires ride truck at Kohl's. That was the one that grabbed my attention even further. I then acquired a Grave Digger ride truck on eBay. I never found the Blue Thunder ride truck or the El Tor Loco ride truck or the Earth Shaker one. I wanted the Megalodon one so I found one for $9.99 on the Monster Jam merch site.

  So I ordered the Megalodon Ride Truck from the website and they shipped it via FedEx SmartPost. I never had a problem with FedEx SmartPost till now but boy did my package go on an incredible journey. My package was shipped from MD. From there it went through different FedEx facilities. until it hit NJ. This is where the bouncing back and forth came in. For some stupid reason, FedEx kept sending my package back and forth from our local FedEx hub in Pittston, PA to Keasbey NJ several times. It took a month and 2 days for the package to arrive in the mail. After this whole ordeal with FedEx SmartPost I began to realize that The Pony Express was more reliable than FedEx SmartPost. I bet the Pony Express would have delivered the package sooner than FedEx SmartPost. So I'm not the only one who's in this boat. I have a friend who ordered some WWE figures and they were being shipped through FedEx SmartPost and from what he's telling me they are going on an incredible journey to WI.

  Now that the FedEx SmartPost thing is behind let's talk about the Megalodon Ride truck. As with all of Spin Master's ride truck chases, Megalodon sits on a leaf spring chassis. I think the reason they sit on the leaf spring chassis is due to the rear of the truck lacking an engine. You see the rear of the ride truck is where the riders sit. The way they have the seats and roll cage in the truck, they can't put an engine in the back. Also the front lacks an engine as well. So don't think your truck is defective. It's not missing any parts.

Megalodon Ride Truck from Spin Master

  The Megalodon Ride truck has nice big BKT Tires on it. All of the Legacy and Ride Trucks with the exception of the Grave Digger ride truck have the BKT in white on the tires.

The Real Megalodon Ride Truck

  Now the body of the ride truck isn't really that accurate to the real ride truck that I have pictured to the right. The roll cage on the ride truck is separate from the body whereas the real one it is all one piece. However the toy is great too. Don't get all upset that it's not accurate to the real thing. The Grave Digger ride truck isn't accurate to the real thing also. The big difference is that the real one has a full open roof whereas the toy has part of the cab enclosed with a roof that has Grave Digger ontop of it. 

  The Megalodon Ride truck is a great truck if you love ride trucks. However since it's a chase piece, they aren't packed in every case. Sadly this is the reason why I won't have a Blue Thunder, Earth Shaker or El Tor Loco Ride truck. They can be quite expensive on eBay.