Ron Hogan, a lifelong car enthusiast, shows off part of his die cast Hot Whels cars which he keeps on the wall at his car lot OK Used Cars in Trumann. (Democrat photo/Mark Randall)

Ron Hogan has a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner, a 1963 T-Bird, a 1967 GTO and hundreds of other classic cars in his garage at OK Used Cars in Trumann.

Well, okay, not exactly. At least not the real ones anyway.

The cars are actually a part of his Hot Wheels collection of die cast replicas which he has been collecting since the early 1980s.

The wall at the car lot has over 700 of them on display. And for every one on the wall, he's probably got at least another 700 stored in bins at home.

"That's probably half of them," Hogan said. "I just ran out of space. Then we started putting them over the door. I didn't realize it would take up that much space."

He bought his first Hot Wheels around 1982 for his son, Jason - a silver 20th anniversary edition car - and has been collecting them ever since.

"We'd find them everywhere," Hogan said. "K-Mart. Wal-Mart. Flea markets. Toy stores. I've found them everywhere from Branson to the Smoky Mountains. I'd spend a lot of time looking for them."

Most of the cars sell anywhere from a dollar to $15. But there is one, a Dale Earnhardt race car, which he paid $50 for.

"I just wanted it," Hogan said.

There are at least three complete series of Hot Wheels on the wall at the car lot - everything from a Baby Ruth race car to a He-Man themed hot rod to a '67 Chevy.

"Some of them go way back to when Jason was little," Hogan said.

Hogan said he has always had a lifelong love of cars, and collecting Hot Wheels was just another way to indulge his passion.

His first real car was a 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 which he bought in 1968 for about $300.

Like most first cars, it wasn't in the best of shape. But it got him to where he needed to go.

"We bought it from a neighbor in Ravenden," Hogan said. "It was a beater and pretty well used up. The guy who owned it drove it back and forth to trade school in Searcy."

He found that car recently in a junk yard near Pocahontas. He thought about buying it, but the car was rusted beyond repair.

"We were looking for some parts and we just stumbled across it," Hogan said. "I told Jason, 'hey, that looks like my old car.' We got up close to look at it and the guy said 'that is your car.'"

It even had an old algebra book that could very well have been the one he used when he was in school still inside.

"It was real neat," Hogan said. "I considered buying it. It wasn't wrecked. It had just deteriorated from sitting on the ground and was beyond fixing."

Hogan said he still picks up a few Hot Wheels every now and then when he sees one he likes and adds it to his collection.

If anything, they make for good conversation pieces. People comment on them all the time.

"On a regular basis," Hogan said. "I have people who come to the car lot just to see them."

Asked which one of them he wished he could have a life size version, Hogan replied "Most of them."

If he had to pick a favorite one though, it would be the 1968 Plymouth Road Runner.

"That would be nice," Hogan said.

To share your collection call the Trumann Democrat at 870-483-6317 or e-mail us at t-democrat@centurytel.net.