With Summer Smash just 4 months away, collectors can look forward to upcoming sneek peeks of the many event car to be acquired in August. This first peek is certainly an amazing addition to the ticket holder goodie bag!

One of these ultra-limited edition Make-A-Wish Foundation Corvettes will go to the first 500 ticket holders. Until Summer Smash, these pieces have only been given away by Make-A-Wish for special occasions, and its forbidden to put them up for resale. This means that attending Summer Smash might just be the only way a collector can ever get their hands on one. Have you purchased your ticket yet..?!

Rhode Island Hot Wheels Club President, Jim Lombari has also revealed that about 100 Liberty Promotion Rebel Runs will be mixed into the Summer Smash Drag Bus to be given out at registration to the ticket holders - Awesome! Stay tuned for additional information and more Summer Smash sneak peeks as the event gets closer!

[via hotwheelscollectors.com]

Now that the Hot Wheels Nationals are over, collectors with enough coin to cover the flight to Japan will be able to snag some great souvenir cars at the 2008 Hot Wheels Custom Car Show in Osaka on May 24th & 25th. This year’s castings are the 1955 Chevy Panel and the 1967 Chevy Camaro. Over on HOTWHEELSCOLLECTORS.COM, Airland is reporting that the cars will be priced at about $36 (U.S. dollars) each, but unless you can be there to buy them in person, expect to pay MUCH more than than in the secondary market. A small sample of the castings are shown below, and you can also check out the e-sheets on the official car show site.

[via hotwheelscollectors.com]

This week David Chang managed to get a quick sneak peek of the new Drag Team Series GT and SS EVOs in the Kustomcity Newsletter just prior to jetting off to Chicago for the Hot Wheels Nationals! Once again, David is coming through with some amazing pieces that are sure to sell out as quickly as ones in the past. Expect information about the sale of these pieces coming in the near future. Click the image to to see the full version.

[via kustomcitydesigns.com]

Last week, I posted a video featuring GM car designer Amaury Diaz-Serrano speaking about the opportunity he was given to design “The Chevrolator” for Mattel. This week, Amaury gives collectors a quick tour of his diecast room - otherwise known as the “Man Cave!” Enjoy!

[via vimeo.com]

diecastAUDIO wishes Hot Wheels author, Mike Zarnock a very Happy Birthday!

There’s a diecast racing storm brewing here in the northeast and YOU are invited to participate! Here’s the scoop straight from Rhode Island Hot Wheels Club President, Jim Lombari:

As you all know, here in Rhode Island we love to race. Well, it was always my belief that Hot Wheels were faster than any other diecast company - until now. Another member of the RLC Club is my friend Hatchit who took a laser wheel Datsun by Matchbox and has become public enemy number 1 of the downhill race world. This car has been turning times in the 3.7’s which is faster than any other stock car we’ve seen on the 50ft speedway, and has proven itself on the shorter tracks as well.

I’ve put out a challenge for anyone who can break this Matchbox curse. I am offering a healthy cash prize plus a Rhode Island Club car by Liberty Promotions for anyone who can take this car out. I also encourage Mattel to step up with a prize just to save the face of the Hot Wheels brand.

We will take any car that can break the 3.8 time and face this animal to a best out of 3 race.

If you think you have what it takes, post a picture of your car here and send it to the Rhode Island Hot WHeels Club, PO Box 19167, Johnston, RI 02919. Your car will be returned or crushed depending on what you prefer. If you win, you will be rewarded with honors. There is no time limit. We will race until we take out Hatchit and his evil Datsun. Good luck and don’t be shy - we need to save our brand! Good luck and always have fun!

Are you up for the challenge..? Here are some shots of the Datsun and a few of its upcoming challengers:

[via hotwheelscollectors.com]

If you happen to be attending the Hot Wheels Nationals in Chicago at the end of this week, then you’ll want to pay attention to this special offer from Bryan Pope and Pope Designs!

Download the survey by right-clicking on the following link and selecting “Save As”:
Pope Designs Survey Form

[via popedesigns.net]