The Ancestry  The Rebel Rods series came to be from the ashes of the Street Freaks series. The "spoiler" type cars have always been a favorite of diecast collectors. After the Street Freaks series died out there was a gap for a while where there wasn't any "spoiler" type cars being made. Playing Mantis (PM) then delivered more numbered cars in the exclusive KB Toy Store 5 packs, which were afterthoughts from the Steet Freak Series. Then the Rebel Rods bomb exploded in the fall of 2001. Rebel Rods series 1 came out and flew off the shelves like hot cakes. Cool new cars with meatball numbers, a decal sheet and 2 tire combinations. So if you were a racer or had the preference of the rubber (Real Riders) series tires, you could be satisfied. The Rebel Rods series ended after 4 releases in June of 2002.