Club spins wheels, spreads enthusiasm over tiny cars

Former Edgemere resident James Goolsbee has about 20,000 cars parked around his Essex house.Thankfully, each vehicle is only a few inches long."I started collecting Hot Wheels after I graduated from high school [in 1993 from Sparrows Point], Goolsbee said Monday.Goolsbee is a co-founder of the Hot Wheels Club of Maryland, which meets at Edgemere Elementary School on the first Saturday of every month.

"Anyone is welcome," Goolsbee said. "I mean, we get together and play with toys, right? So kids are always welcome."At the meetings, 25 to 35 members hold downhill gravity races on a 17-foot-long track and custom design competitions, according to Goolsbee."It's mostly a get-together of people who share the same passion," he said. "My son loves it."Membership, which is free, is open to anyone who loves tiny, die-cast vehicles, not just of the Hot Wheels variety, Goolsbee said."We have people who collect Matchbox and Ertl [brand] cars," he said.


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