This was a great little project that started back in 2001 as a fun project for the guys on the Polar Lights message board. The Mystery Machine had just come out and the idea was to ship the kit around the country and around the world and have it's picture taken everywhere it went. Lisa Greco from Playing Mantis was able to get a kit for the project.
As usual with this sort of thing, it was a great idea when it started, but somewhere along the way it petered out. We had a few problems when someone would hang onto the kit for an extended period of time, or if someone could not figure out where it was supposed to go next. A few people lost interest, and pretty soon the project faded away.
Occasionally, someone would make a post asking about the status of the kit, wondering who had it, where it ended up, and no one seem to have an answer. Thankfully, nothing really disappears on the internet. On a whim, I decided to try and find the kit. Most of the answers were in the Hobbytalk archives. I was able to track down the kit, which had ended up in storage somewhere. I rounded up the list of participants and got the project going again. In the months since the project had withered, our good friend Lisa had lost her job at Playing Mantis, the company had been sold, and Polar Lights had been virtually shut down. A lot of people had moved on and no longer wished to participate.
We shipped the kit around for another couple years, trying to get it to as many of the original participants as we could. I sensed that interest was waning again and figured we had to bring the project to an end before the kit disappeared again. There was a big discussion on Hobbytalk as to what would be the most appropriate way to conclude the adventure. We decided that it should ultimately be given back to Lisa Greco. Lisa was known as "The Queen of Styrene" to many of us and was the heart and soul of the Polar Lights board. She had fostered the little community of modelers that really grew to become a force in the hobby. Without Lisa, there never would have been a Polar Lights forum, what became The Clubhouse may never have happened. CultTVman may never have became what it is today.
So in May of 2005, the Mystery Machine made it's final appearance at Wonderfest and was presented to Lisa. The plastic container that it was packed in was signed by all the people that participated in the project. The web page with all the photos is the final record of the event and journey. It is a small monument to the people that made the Polar Lights forum a special place in this hobby.
Check out all the photos on The Magical Mystery Machine Tour page.
