The New Wave

Some of you may remember the firetruck pictured below on the left. I'm not sure why, but it's always been one of my favorite toys. It's pretty awesome because all the doors open and close and all the little spools spin. It used to have a retractable hose and ladders that snapped on the sides but those are along gone, of course. It's also made out of a pretty solid metal, so it's got some heft to it. When I got older I realized that it wasn't made in the US because it had some weird foreign number down the side instead of 911. (Last year, a simple glance at the bottom told me it was from France, but this was quite the exotic mystery for awhile).

When my nephew stopped by a couple of months ago I gave him my beloved firetruck to play with. He loved it. He loved it so much that he thew a big fit when he had to leave it with me.

That's when the New Wave firetruck entered the story. A couple of weeks ago I found this truck in one of those $1.99 toy bags at Value Village. It's not quite as cool as the original (it's plastic) but it does have several things going for it: 1) It has a cool ladder that spins around 2) We discovered that it's one of those toys that you pull back to wind up. It picks up a lot of speed across the hardwood floors!

As for the new firetruck? It seems to be a success. It didn't leave his sight all night!

On the left: The OG firetruck. On the right: The New Wave firetruck.