We’ve Added New Collectibles And Kids Toys To The Petrolicious Shop

Most of us started out young, sitting on Dad’s shoulders at the track, wheeling die-casts around made-up circuits in the carpet, flipping through stacks of old car mags, you know how it typically goes. There are also plenty of enthusiasts who found an interest in automobiles later on in life, but that doesn’t stop anyone hoarding stacks of Hot Wheels and not sharing certain mint-in-box examples them with their own sticky kids.

Certain toys will forever be staples of a healthy youthful obsession with cars and trucks regardless of the DOB on our license, but we think there’s room for something new in the playroom (or office), which is why we’re happy to add these retro-themed models and kids gear to the Petrolicious Shop.

Playforever – Verve Velocita (LINK)

From Playforever we have this JPS-inspired Formula 1 car—which they’ve called Verve Velocita rather than Lotus 72—and along with the Land Rover-style “Drifter” below, it makes up part of an excellent half of a pair of toys that wouldn’t look out of place in an adult collection of scale-models. While clearly not exactly a Lotus copy, the distended air intake and the wide plane of the rear wing combine with the wide side pods to make up a perfectly exaggerated form of what F1 looked like in the 1970s. It’s sort of like those Rat Fink comics where the cars are all zealously proportioned, but pared down and simplified here to be much cleaner.

Playsam – Streamliner F1 (LINK)

In a decidedly different take on an F1 car for kids compared to Playforever’s Verve Velocita, Playsam’s version is Scandinavian minimalism pulled to the limit. The lustrous finishes add a dollop of otherworldliness to the spartan symmetry of these four-wheeled jelly beans. Imagine the Space Odyssey monolith in automotive form and you wouldn’t be far off the mark in describing these—maybe a bit chic, but certainly better-looking that a neon orange dump truck to trip over at 3AM.

Candylab Toys – Candycars (LINK)

We are big fans of Candylab’s models, and we’ve added a new line of toys to our existing selection in the shop. Called “Candycars,” these are the first pieces in the series. Each is just about 3″ long, putting them in a happy medium between 1:64 and 1:43 scale. Perfect for collecting—for one thing, they come in the kind of boxes you might not want to throw immediately away—they are an excuse for stocking-stuffers well past the holiday season. We’d stack them, but if it came down to one that seafoam station wagon with the stripe is speaking to us.

Candylab Toys – Drifter Sahara (LINK)

Another new addition to our Candylab selection is the Drifter Sahara. If you think it looks like a Series Land Rover you’re clearly not wrong, backed up by the little nod to the Camel Trophy that the later Landies ran in—the camel decal on the door is a nice touch. A unique and perfectly engineered modern vintage toy with a top covered in US-sourced, caramel-colored, actual waxed canvas. You know, in case you’ve got to go through the brush to pull out some stranded and less-capable toy 4x4s.  It has a hidden magnet embedded in the rooftop for matching with separate accessories, and it’s all packaged in an old-school, string tie-down collector’s box with silver embossed foil.

Baghera – Vintage Racing Set (LINK)

Baghera is a new brand in the Petrolicious Shop, and their vintage racing set is a cute little bit of kit for kids who want to feel like Tazio Nuvolari even if they don’t know who he is yet. Before the advent of hard-shelled safety helmets, drivers would wear basic fitted leather caps mainly to reduce wind resistance rather than protect anything, and the goggles allowed for better visibility at high speeds, after the bugs were wiped off of course. This set recreates this vintage racing look—if you want to go really authentic with it you’ll have to apply your own dirt around the edges of these goggles—and it goes well with pedal cars or just a good old imagination.