The thing about collecting is that every piece that you acquire comes with a story. That's what makes it amazing, that plus I actually remember where most of my things come from. Well, maybe I used to, but my collection is growing so fast I had to start this blog to document it. I hadn't really started collecting Bears items seriously, just a few key chains here and there, and maybe a few odds and ends. Anyway, I volunteer to take my Mother-In-Law to The Quad Cities Airport which is about an hour from here. We arrive and are awaiting her departure when I wander into the Gift Shop. There on 1/2 off closeout was this metal Chicago Bears Truck made by a company called Ertl. Well, of course I bought it because it was pretty cool looking. Next thing you know I am home researching Ertl and discover that this truck was known as a 1:24 scale die cast Goal Line Classic coin bank (I failed to realize that it was a bank). The date on the truck was 1993, and it was 1st in a series.
To make a long story short, now I had become addicted and determined to get these Goal Line Classics every year. It was difficult at first, for my area never really had good distributors for NFL stuff, and Ebay was not yet born.
Ertl manufactured these banks in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. 1995 and 1996 were hard to come by. 1996 was a nice blue 1957 Chevy, which I acquired from a middle man online. He found the darn thing for me and shipped it to me at no profit. I tipped him $10.00 anyway...
I didn't even know there was a 1995 model. Ertl also made a Helmet Bank that year, so I bought that and assumed it was part of the series. Later on, however, I found the next truck at a Flea Market and the lady woud NOT budge on her price (I even let her sleep on it...LOL) It's a cool panel delivery van:
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