Racing Champions was founded in 1989, by Robert Dods, Boyd Meyer, and Peter Chang~ Dods and Meyer had met in the 1980's, as Dods was a sales rep for several toy manufacturers, and Meyer was a buyer for a small chain of nickel and dime stores~ They formed a partnership called Dods-Meyer, Ltd., and had seen the rapid growth, and interest in NASCAR~ Before long, Dods was flying to Hong Kong to secure deals to get the cars made in China~
Dods and Meyer still had a long road ahead of them, having to secure licensing deals not only with NASCAR, but the sponsors, car manufactures, the tire manufactures, as well as the drivers~ Surprisingly, they achieved all of this with relative ease, and the first Racing Champions cars hit the stores in 1989~
The front of the card~
I was surprised to see when I opened the package, the names printed on the bottom of the card~ They were tucked behind the car in the package, and I never noticed them~ Sadly, the only 2 people who could write properly were Dods, and Meyer~ The first person might be Peter Chang, but it doesn't look like that's what the name says~ I tried my hardest to find out who the other 2 people were, to no avail~
In my opinion, this is by far one of the coolest Racing Champions cards ever made~ It's the only one I know where the people in it are drawn like a cartoon~ It's like the King of the Hill of Racing Champions cards~ haha~ However, the front of the card is where all the fun stops~ I imagined that even though I couldn't read the other names on the card, I would be able to just flip it over, and the names would be written on the back~ Makes sense, right?~ Well... this is what happened~
The back of the card~
First off, I wanna point out that I'm an avid fan of yesteryear NASCAR... I enjoyed this little story on the back of the card.. it was nice to have a little bit more information on the back of the card, instead of just the drivers signature, date of birth, and where they are from~ However, in this one instance.. I'm calling bullshit~ lol~
It's as if the 2 guys who couldn't legibly sign their name on the front of the card are just trolling us now~ Why isn't their name spelled out on the back of the card?~ It's a never ending riddle that's gonna haunt me for life, I'm afraid~ Maybe one day, they'll read this blog post.. and leave a comment, stating who they are~ I know, I know.. yeah right!~ But it's not the most unimaginable thing I could think of.. it could happen~ *UPDATE* I found out that the third guy is Fred Wagenhols, who left Racing Champions to form RCI, and the first guy is Peter Chung, not Chang~ Anyway, let's just get to the main event, the car~
Racing Champions #51 Ford Talladega Series (1 of 5,000)~
Up until last year, I never knew this car existed~ A friend I met on another site had showed it to me, and my hair instantly blew back~ I knew I had to have one, but didn't think I'd ever be able to find one~ I had seen them on Feebay a time or two, but they were like $16 bucks, and I didn't want to pay that for one~
I ended up paying 12 bucks to a guy at the flea market~ I asked him if he had one, and a week later he had it there for me~ About 3 weeks later, I found this double at another flea market near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for a dollar~ So it averaged it out to 6 bucks a piece~ Not to shabby, and it just goes to show, it's better to find these out in the wild, at a swap meet or flea market, than it is to jump on Feebay and pay way too much, just to have it sooner~
All in all, I really enjoy owning this little car, and the card being "signed" on the the bottom made it a little cooler~ I had heard that it was assumed the guys on the card were execs at Racing Champions, but it wasn't confirmed~ Now that I opened it up, it's totally confirmed~ I give this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ It lost some points for not having the names of the people printed on the back~ Thank y'all for stopping by the blog, I hope you enjoyed it~ Happy 4th of July, stay alive, and I'll see ya' next time!~ Below are some old NASCAR videos~ :)
The good ol' days~
NASCAR 1969~
1970 NASCAR~
NASCAR 1970-1978~
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