About
how it all started
On July 28, 2005 Jeff Glasson turned the hobby of die cast car collecting on its “ear” by launching the world’s first audio podcast on the subject. Each episode brought collectors a compilation the most interesting things happening in the world of die cast across major mainstream brands such as Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning, Jada and Matchbox. The popular show format allowed enthusiasts to get a quick and entertaining overview of content that they might have otherwise missed.
Traditionally, web sites geared towards die cast car collectors have been based on the popular “discussion forum” format. Jeff once again broke the mold by offering “best of” highlights in a more modern blog format. This content presentation style allows readers to get a quick scan of the coolest things that are happening across the most popular collector sites.
fast foward
Jump forward to the fall of 2008 and the original podcast that started it all as taken a backseat to several career changes and new ideas. A partnership with DiecastSpace.com revitalized the “audio” of diecastAUDIO in the form of LIVE die cast oriented talk-show called Saturday Nitro. Each show features special guests like Larry Wood, “Big Lou” Tanahara, Design Legend Thom Taylor, Carson Lev and Tom Zahorsky from Johnny Lightning. The live show format allows listeners to participate by calling into the listener line via phone or joining other listeners in the chat room.
looking ahead
What does the future have in store for diecastAUDIO? Only time will tell. Lets just say there are a few more innovative ideas to be unleashed on the world of die cast collectibles. Until then, enjoy the blog, check out Saturday Nitro Live and stay tuned for more to come!
Have an idea for a column? Interested in writing about die-cast models or the die-cast collecting hobby? Contact us to talk about how you can become a contributing writer here on DiecastAudio.
Contributing Writer: Robert K. Stickels
Robert Stickels holds a degree in automotive design and a degree in advertising/design from the University of Hartford. By day he is Art Director for Valassis Inc., the worlds largest media agency, were he oversees a team of 20 designers. His true passion is 50 era rods and customs, and he owns some real cool full size customs including a rare ‘50 factory show car that he’s currently restoring.
Bob’s other passion is the RK Stickels Auto Graphics design business. where he does auto concept renderings (like Chip Foose) in addition to custom auto graphics. He is also one of the top 25 nostalgic (50’s style striping, Von-Dutch type) pinstripers in the USA and has worked with Ed Roth and other famous artists. Bob’s custom pinstriping and flames has been featured in the pages Rod & Custom, Rodder’s Journal and American Rodder magazine. He also designed an original car for a Rodding magazine/organization that was built to full scale and then later sent it to his shop for the paint work and stripes. Once complete the car was auction off.
Bob is the Vice President of the Connecticut Valley Diecast Club (CVD) and is always interested in buying, sell, swapping and restoring original Redlines!
EMail: rkstickels [at] comcast [dot] net
Phone: 860-478-1974
Contributing Writer: Joe Altieri
Joe Altieri is a long time collector of die cast models. Starting in 1982 and continuing through today, Joe has collected almost every make of small scale die cast. He currently has a collection of over 20,000+ Hot Wheels cars plus several other 1/64 makes such Siku, Majorette, and Tomica and many other makes. Joe has also collected Matchbox and Johnny Lightning cars; amassing over 3000+ Matchbox models and 2000+ Johnny Lightning models before selling the bulk of each make in the recent past to better concentrate on the aforementioned models. He still picks up a few new Matchbox and Johnny Lightning cars, as well as Greenlight and M2 models that really catch his eye. Parts of his Hot Wheels collection have been featured in several Bob Parker guide books as well as his variation for several Majorette guides.
Joe collects every line of Hot Wheels from redlines to mainlines but also truly enjoys collecting “orphan” or discontinued makes like Yatming, Playart, Ertl 1/64, and Corgi Junior. It’s the chase of these vehicles and to find them in mint shape that he enjoys the most.
Joe began attending diecast car shows since 1990 and conventions since 2001 and since then has tried to attend as many as possible each year that are either within his allotted vacation or budget. By going to so many shows and conventions he has gathered a wide variety of knowledge about diecast as well as getting to know so many wonderful and varied personalities which makes Joe uniquely able to give a great collector’s perspective on modern day collecting.
