Race Car Driver Costumes for Kids
The Action Joe Race Car (5305) is too big to fit on my photo table, so enjoy a spin set up in my Joe room. The car is difficult to find both because of limited production, and the reality of handing a race car to a kid: how many of these got launched down the stairs or off the driveway into the street with a disastrous ending? In addition, the blow molded plastic can be come very brittle, so the car is sometimes found in pieces.
The car has been reproduced by DeSimone, so don't grab a repro thinking it's the real thing. Here are some details to help you tell real from fake.
The tires have a sharply molded tread surface that is sanded in the repro and the knock-off axel caps have vanes that bend out rather than inwards on the original. The body of the original car also has a textured surface where the reproduction is smooth. There is a variation of the car that has the roll bar mounted in the back of the seat rather than attached to the engine unit behind the seats, so if you can find that you're a lucky collector!
The Race Car Driver outfit is always in high demand, though not too uncommon. A warehouse find of bagged uniform sets was made a number of years back, though most of those have made their way into collections. Note that the driver has black rimmed goggles, not the white rimmed ones found with Ski Patrol and Mountain Troops sets.
