While riding a jeep today, I saw a father caressing a Mini 4WD toy car in his hands while his son sat across him, not minding him at all. I guess the kid was too young (or probably wasn't born yet) to appreciate the craze that swept the country a decade ago.
Battery-operated toy cars were nothing new. But the Japanese somehow managed to create hype for an otherwise ubiquitous toy. They sold the toys and rolled out an excellent marketing campaign in the guise of a cartoon show, Let's Go!
When I was in first year high school, almost everyone in the class had a toy car (preferably a Tamiya model) stashed in the bag. During recess time, boys would discuss how to make these cars go faster with a seriousness best reserved for high-end diplomatic negotiations. In the malls, toy shops at one time only featured rows and rows of these toy cars (and they still would several months after the craze died).
My siblings and I also had our cars. But while my brothers tinkered with theirs by buying various parts, batteries, and rollers, I was sifting through my uncle's encyclopedia set looking for various industrial materials that could make up the car's body and drawing my own car models from scratch (I don't know what I was thinking then).
Like all good things, it came to an end. And soon after, a lot of other toys popped out to replace the void ranging from pokemon cards to bey blade yoyos and other weird stuff. By then, I was too old to care.
Still, some feelings never die and I couldn't help but smile while the dad held a toy from our common past.
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