[***中文版在英語辦之後] [related event: “Toy as Medium” opening 20 November 2016]

Wai and Kel’s Tamiya models remind me of 4WD (four-wheel drive) cars.

Most 4WD cars I had when I was small already turned into fragments.

When did I first learn about 4WD? Probably when I was at Primary 2.

//My impression was that on Sundays cartoon picture series 4WD boy would be on television.

//I am not too familiar with the “4WD boy,” but I remember the characters use a hockey stick to play the cars on muddy places.

Double Diamond brand (AULDEY)

//My first car was a Double Diamond (Auldey brand), then a Tamiya Horizon, which my female cousin gave me.

//Students on my school bus talked about 4WD cars non-stop. Under their influence, I joined their group. One student on the bus had a 4WD catalog, which he allowed us to read and study.

//Back then, near Shum Shui Po Manor Centre, there was a loop of 4WD lane outside a comics shop. Children would line up to play.

// It was 1997 when I was in Primary 3. The cover of the inaugural issue of Co-Co! was a gold-paint Cyclone Magnum.

// I purchased a Victory Magnum with my Dad at the toy store at Apollo Building Shopping Center.

//Co-Co! Serial comics of 4WD Brothers, Let’s & Go ignited the 4WD fad. But it was the TV cartoon picture later that was the real hype.

//In my memory, there was a kind of sky blue color paint, which I applied onto my Horizon and Tridagger ZMC to prepare for a competition held at the Dragon Centre.

//That competition was the first of its kind. Due to bad organization, there was only on-site registration. The line was so line and it was too crowded that I decided to leave.

Co-co! inaugural issue, February 1997 — *Co-co!* – inaugural issue, February 1997

The lane I’ve got was bought at the sales zone of the competition. It’s been 20 years.

//Recalling Dragon Center, about two or three shops back then carried 4WD cars. One of them was a Tamiya specialist. Its interior arrangement resembled the look of the Japanese cartoon.

//At Primary 4, I was in the habit of modifying my 4WD cars with a cutter. One time, I cut my left index finger while “modifying.” The bleeding was so severe that I had to be rushed to the emergency room. My idea was to remove the car window from one of my cars but, instead, I slit open my finger. …

//During that time, I owned different 4WD models, but I did not treasure them much as I enjoyed modifying them. Many of these turned into useless fragments and parts.

The number of 4WD cars that I had destroyed emulated that by the villains in the Japanese cartoon series.

//I was so addicted to 4WD that I failed my mathematics exam and my teacher had to “consult” my parents.

//Some Primary school classmates of mine used to run their cars on the drainage tracks.

//At Primary 5, in the first Summer Animation Fun Show, I participated in the 4WD competition. That was the first time I had joined a 5-lane track competition in Hong Kong. But a part came off the front of my Cyclone Magnum and I lost the game.

Digital toys such as Pokemon and Digimon, as well as simple toys such as game cards, replaced the 4WD trend, probably because these games are less space consuming.

//A few days ago at home, I found the Spoiler part of my old Cyclone Magnum in a messy pile of old toys. That’s the one that brought my failure in the 4WD competition.

Suddenly, Wai’s writing for the show came to my mind. My Cyclone Magnum is Wai’s Tiger 1.

I know I love Cyclone Magnum most of all. I feel it was the converging point of every good memory of mine from my younger days – it connects Victory Magnum, Co-Co!, Dragon Centre, my primary school friends, and the 5-lane competition.

I bought one yesterday, alas! Cyclone Magnum.

/////

偉師傅和Kel 的雙星模型令我想起忘記了的四驅車。

小時候有過的四驅車很多都已經變成碎片和零件了。

說到我認識四驅車，可算由小學二年級開始。

一點印象：星期日電視上重播四驅小子的卡通。

對四驅小子不太熟悉，只是記得主角們可以用曲棍球棒在泥地上玩四驅車。

第一架車好像是雙鑽牌的，之後有一輛雙星的地平線號，是表姐送給我的。

大概是校巴上的一班人每日在不停討論四驅車罷，影響之下，最後加入了他們的行列。還記得車上有一位師兄，他有一本四驅車catalog讓我們翻看和研究。

那時候，深水埗美居中心有一間漫畫店，門口外擺放著一條單一大圈圈的兩軌賽道。好像要收費的，但小朋友會排着隊去玩。

小學三年級時是九七年, Co-Co! 創刊號以電鍍金色的旋風麥林號為封面。

爸爸跟我在宇宙商場上層的玩具店買了一架勝利麥林號和充電池。

Co-co! 連載四驅兄弟的漫畫，這是四驅車熱潮的開始。之後，在電視上播出的卡通片才真正帶動整個熱潮。

記得很淸楚我有一樽藍色顔料，我用它漆上地平線和改裝了的火鳥號ZMC車準備去迎接一場西九龍中心的比賽。

那次比賽好像是香港的第一次。大會安排不當，要現場報名。太多人排隊，所以沒有玩了。

賽道是在這比賽的售賣部買的，快二十年了。

想起西九龍中心。那時候，六樓的那層有兩至三間賣四驅車的店舖。其中一間是雙星專門店，其佈局很像日本卡通。

我的賽道是在電梯旁的那間玩具舖買的。

上了四年級，用?刀改車，錯手?中了左手食指，止不到血要到急症室。改的方式是把車窗?走,最後卻把自己的手?開了……

這段時間有過很多不同的車款，但沒有太珍惜它們。我很喜歡改車，很多車變成了碎片殘䠹。

我拆散四驅車的數目和卡通劇中的壞人所作的差不多了。

都有小學朋友打電話問我有關買四驅車的問題。

玩得太沉迷，四年級時數學不及格要見家長。

小學同學曾經把車放在坑渠上行走。

五年級時，第一屆《夏日動畫紛紛show》中我參與了四驅車比賽。那是第一次香港有五軌賽道的賽事，我的旋風麥林號在入彎時前方的配件散了，沒有勝出。

電子玩具如 Pokemon 和數碼暴龍，簡單的遊戲卡取代了需要頗多空間的四驅車熱潮吧。

我在熱潮過後再學畫畫，有次玻璃畫上畫了一架旋風麥林。

前一陣我在家中的舊玩具堆找到了1998年那架旋風麥林的定風翼散件，就是參賽的那一部。

突然想起偉師父的文章來。說到他同年的鍾愛Tiger 1， 1998年的旋風麥林就是我的「Tiger 1」罷。

我知我最喜歡的是旋風麥林號。因為它大約是一切的美好回憶的連結，又像是一個中間位，想起勝利麥林號, Co-Co!，西九龍中心，我的小學朋友，五軌賽道比賽。

昨天買了一架。

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Andio Lai / 4WD fragments 四驅的鎖碎記憶 [“Toy as Medium” count-down]