I rediscovered my favorite Hot Wheels car from my youth yesterday, and it brought back a stream of memories. My favorite Hot Wheels car was "The Demon" (see photos). One reason why "The Demon" (later known as "The Prowler) was my favorite Hot Wheels car was it was the fastest hot wheel car ever made (don't even argue this point as you will lose all credibility with me). But speed wasn't the only reason "The Demon" was my favorite car.
As memories of "The Demon" began resurfacing in my mind, I realized something about myself, The Demon, and Spiderman! My number one superhero has always been Spiderman. One of the primary messages from the Spiderman Movie series has been, "With great power comes greater responsibility".
It suddenly dawned on me yesterday that I too had exercised great responsibility many years earlier when I harnessed the power of the "The Demon" for peaceful purposes only.
When it became obvious that "The Demon" was the fastest Hot Wheels car ever known to kid kind, I began racing The Demon less and less. I saw no reason in lording the power of The Demon over my racing competitors. What's the point in having the fastest hot wheels car in the world if no one wants to race you?
The never ending dejected faces of those who raced and lost against the Demon made me realize it was time to retire The Demon from racing and move on. I would use my other Hot Wheels cars to battle it out on the Hot Wheels Race Track. No other car ever came close to the dominance of The Demon, and we were all the better for it.
Although I no longer raced "The Demon", from time to time the legend of The Demon would be brought up and I would be cajoled into bringing it out of retirement for show and tell. I would first point out how cool looking "The Demon" was. The color, the shape, the menacing gravity defying downward slope that seemed to give this Hot Wheel car a head start even before the race had begun.
But then came the coup d'etat. Asking for silence, and getting it, I would ever so gently drop "The Demon" from a scant millimeter or two above the table so all could hear the independent four wheel springy suspension bounce into action, made all the more impressive by the unflinching plastic tires that seemed to enhance The Demon's four wheel springyness.
The drop and spring was always followed by acknowledging oohs and aahs that "The Demon" was indeed, in a Hot Wheels league unto itself. A league of champions that would make even Stan Lee Proud.
The drop and spring was always followed by acknowledging oohs and aahs that "The Demon" was indeed, in a Hot Wheels league unto itself. A league of champions that would make even Stan Lee Proud.
I have a memory of one time bringing "The Demon" out of retirement because some trash talking second guessers were wondering if maybe "The Demon's legendary status" was all hype.
The Demon surpassed itself that day as the margin of victory over the next fastest hot wheels car seemed to be even greater than any of us could ever recall. (The extra margin of victory had nothing to do with us dropping, crashing and unknowingly bending the axles on all of our other Hot Wheels cars from all the racing and over use we inflicted upon them while the Demon was in retirement.)
Soon, others bought Demons as well, but something strange happened. No other Demon seemed to be as fast as MY DEMON. But I never lorded my Demon's prowess over anyone else, because as Spiderman says, "With Great Power, Comes Greater Responsibility".
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