510 Score!

My collecting revolves around my part-time job economy and it being a night gig, which means I get off work at around 3am and often times on a severe budget, watching the ramen and milk near the end of the pay period. I keep a jar of spare change in case of emergency Hot Wheels buys handy.
Of course sanity prevails when the dollars are low and I simply do not hunt and wait for the moments I can go on a hunt trying to score the latest case Treasure and if luck and the smile of the gods a Super-T Hunt, along with the assorted mainlines and premiums. Some items like the Supreme Car Culture Set and the pink Vette from the first Convention of the year slipped away before the purchase button could be hit, so when I heard that the infamous green 510 Bluebird Wagon would be available at the Legends Events I made plans to go to Hot Wheels HQ in El Segundo.
The day would start early for me as I got off work at around 3am and wanted to try and nap until 7am, animals need feeding before I can go anywhere and El Segundo sits about 75 miles from my humble abode and traffic on the 91 freeway can be legendary, leaving early enough would be important and I got a 30 minute late start, gassing up and getting precise directions. I would arrive 45 minutes after the event started and was honestly shocked at the number of people and the never ending shuttle buses, what on earth have I gotten into. Mattel employees directed cars to parking and shuttles took you from the most insane parking lot sale to the Legends Event and sacred vending truck. When I got in line after the quick shuttle ride I was informed that the 510 was already sold out! I was in shock and stepped out of line for a moment ready to hit the parking lot sale and head home for a righteous nap. I got back in line and asked the young lady if it was worth it for me to stay and make a purchase to try a hand at the vending machine I have only ever read about, she said of course and stay I did.
About 30 minutes later we were informed that another round of 510's would be coming after a 30 minute delay, nobody in line complained and we all crossed fingers and the look on peoples faces were evidence they were hungry for this modern Hot Wheels classic. For me personally the 510 hits home as I owned one in the early 80's and it was the transportation machine for my bass amp and gear, no other punk band in SoCal had a cooler car. Like many people the 510 Wagon and the sedan have a home in my collection and standing in line for a chance was something I was willing to do, collector fever was at high pitch but I kept my poker face on and didn't think I was going to win, but I didn't want to lose either.
The event was the perfect atmosphere of small kid antics with tracks set up for kids to take a test drive, video games for the older kids and wall to wall customs entered in the Legends contest had all the grown ups wandering about and taking pictures. And us, the 510 fanatics waiting in line for a chance at Hot Wheels history. The day was an overcast one with a  breeze at times and damn it, I wore short sleeves with no hat and no sunscreen, paying the price after my near 3 hour wait in line. As my portion of the line snaked to the vending truck an employee came out and counted heads, ending the count about 20 people or so behind me. The feeling I got along with the looks on the faces of those nearby told me we were going to score a 510, the line even seemed to move faster after that and when I got my chance to request the car from the vending truck employee I felt like a kid. It was pretty damn awesome to see him hand it to me, green it is, very shiny too! I paid for the car and walked my 54 year old butt as fast as I could to the shuttles, as I wanted to hit the parking lot sale. Sad to say I missed getting in by 2 minutes, I was beat though, on 3 hours of sleep, 1 hour in traffic and 3 hours in line, home sounded good as it was a work night and laundry needed to be done. I scored the green 510 Bluebird Wagon and that's all that mattered!