After a short absense during the middle of 2007, the Hot Wheels K-Mart Collectors Day event returns to your local brick and mortar on Saturday, September 22nd! This is always a great event for those who don’t get out to hunt for cars as much as they’d like to, and as usual, there will be a few special event cars to be found as well. This time around you’ll find three 2007 basic vehicles featuring all-new Kmart exclusive colors/deco:

• - Chevy Camaro Concept in hi-lite gold afflair
• - 1964 Ford Galaxie in pearlescent white
• - Buick Grand National in blue

This event should be happening in all continental US Kmart, Big Kmart and Super Kmart locations. Be sure to check with your local store to confirm that event is happening near you. September 22nd also marks the start of a special Hot Wheels/Kmart promotion. Buy 20 selected Hot Wheels basic cars and you can send away to receive a Hot Wheels Collector Edition 1970 Chevy Chevelle convertible. For more information on the Kmart event or the Chevelle promotion, use the link below to jump over to HOTWHEELSCOLLECTORS.COM.

[via hotwheelscollectors.com]

Collector kagey3 took a recent trip to the Chicagoland area and was able to swing by for a visit with Russ and Carla at Milezone’s Toys. Here are some of the shots he brought back of Russ’s sweet retail location and posted on JOESDIECASTSHACK.COM:

[via joesdiecastshack.com]

Mark Hosaflook, organizer of AutoFest 2007 let collectors know that the hotel rooms at the event location are beginning to sell out! All rooms for Saturday night are 100% booked, while a few rooms are (maybe “were” at this point) still available for Thursday and Friday night.

The good news is that there are at least 4 other hotels within walking distance, so all hope is not lost. While this news might not be so great for those who haven’t booked their rooms yet, it is certainly good news for AutoFest in general. Its great to see that loss of true JL support has not damaged the spirit that the event has carried in previous years.

[via hobbytalk.com]

The folks at DieCast Plus have teamed up with Jada Toys to put on not one, not two, but THREE excellent contests for your diecast hobby entertainment! The fun takes the form of a Trivia Contest, a Customs Contest and an Essay Contest.

In order to participate you must be a registered DieCast Plus forum member (Free) and have at least 20 posts under your account. That is definitely a easy task to complete for the opportunity to score some prizes like these:

Thanks to both DCP and Jada for making these contests possible and for spreading the diecast love! Use the link below to jump over to DieCast Plus for more information or to get registered.

[via DieCast Plus]

This past weekend Bill Wooddell (Woody68RS on the forums) contacted diecastAUDIO to let us know about a special offer that his car club is running. Bill is a member of the Northern Kentucky F Body Association and they are currently teaming up with the folks at Greenlight Collectibles to offer a limited edition 1:64 scale 1985-1989 Trans Am.

Here are the details straight from Bill:

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting pre-orders for the first official 1:64 NKYFBA diecast vehicle which will be produced by Greenlight Collectibles. The car will carry the logos of both the NKYFBA and our favorite speed shop, Cincy Speed(both on window banners). Not only are we very excited to offer a club car, but we’re delighted to announce that this will be one of the very first runs of a new casting by Greenlight — the 1985-1989 Pontiac Trans Am! Collectors have long been waiting for this casting to be released.

We have chosen Wayne & Holly Best’s 1986 Pontiac Trans Am (photo below) as the model for this casting. This car will be blue with silver ground effects at the bottom and will likely sport a black spoiler. Greenlight is hoping to have the Pontiac wheel design available for the launch of this casting as well.

A very limited number of this production run will be “Green Machines,” the chase version of a Greenlight. As a Green Machine, the blue portion of the paint job will instead be painted Emeraldish Green. The silver ground effects and black spoiler should remain the same. Additionally, the base of the car will be green.

Each car will be individually numbered and this production run will be limited to no more than 1536 units. Only 10% of the total run will be Green Machines.

For those collector’s wishing to guarantee themselves one of these highly limited and truly unique Green Machines, we have set up a package deal. Our Green Machine Box Set will include nine (9) of the regular production blue vehicles plus one (1) Green Machine. The Green Machine will be number matched to one of the regular units (for example, if you have Green Machine #19, one of the regular units will also be #19 so you have a numbers matching set). Box sets are priced at $70.00 plus shipping and insurance. Due to the limited nature of this product, we will be selling only 100 box sets. When they are gone, they’re gone, so order yours today!

Also available for purchase are the regular production units in single quantities. The cost of an individual unit is $9.99 plus shipping and insurance. A few lucky folks will be randomly selected to receive a Green Machine for free with their individual unit purchase!

Finally, the units will be in clamshell packaging. The packaging will carry the NKYFBA and Cincy Speed logos along with a custom design and information about the association.

This is definitely a great opportunity to own a limited run Greenlight piece in addition to helping out an excellent car club. Use the link below to jump over to the order page!

[via www.nkyfba.com]

Hot Wheels author Mike Zarnock will be making a personal appearance at this weekend’s Steel City Con in Pittsburgh, PA. This con is a great event featuring over 450 dealer tables covering New & Vintage Toys, Gold/Silver/Modern Age Comic Books, Anime, Gaming, Sci- Fi/Horror, Godzilla, Military Toys, Slot-Cars, Star Wars, Action Figures, NASCAR, Johnny Lightning, Diecast, Movie & TV, Model Kits, Hot Wheels, Non-Sports Cards, Matchbox, Corgi, Disney, Barbie, G.I. Joe, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Mcfarlane Toys and much more.

If you’re within driving distance of Pittsburgh on Saturday or Sunday this weekend then be sure to swing by a say hi to Mike! Use the link below to jump over to the official Steel City Con website for more information.

[via steelcitycon.com]

Be sure to go out and check these great diecast events happening around the country!

Peach State Hot Wheels® Show

Where: North Metro Tech. 5198 Ross Rd. Acworth, GA
When: Saturday May 19, 2007
Admission: TBA
Featuring: Kids and Adults Downhill Racing
More Information: www.peachstatehotwheels.com

Bluegrass Hot Wheels® Club Spring Swap Meet

Where: Mike Miller Park Draffenville, KY
When: Saturday May 19, 2007; 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Admission: $1.00
Featuring: Swap/Buy/Sell; Racing for prizes and trophies
More Information: Wade: ptrob@vci.net

Hot Wheels® Show in Westland, Michigan

Where: Wayne Ford Civic League, 1645 North Wayne Rd. Westland, Michigan
When: Sunday, May 20, 2007 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Admission: Early Member-$5; Spectator-$15; Regular Member-Free. Spectator 16+: $3; Under 16: Free
More Information: Sheri Abbey: 810-688-3606; Email: LCA@tir.com

East Coast Real Riders Meeting

Where: Marlboro Moose Family Center 1129 67 Fitchburg Street Marlboro, MA
When: Sunday, May 20, 2007. 8:00 am - 12:00 noon
Admission: FREE ($2 to sell at a table)
More Info: Joe Small (fgxl500@aol.com) or Joe Harrington (jbnjaa@yahoo.com)

Southern New England Hot Wheelers

Where: The Eagles Club. 64 Stack St. Middletown, CT.
When: Sunday, May 20, 2007 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Admission: Early Member-$5; Spectator-$15; Regular Member-Free. Spectator 16+: $3; Under 16: Free
Featuring: Buy/Sell/Trade; Racing and plenty of fun for the whole family; Raffles and Prizes
More Information: http://www.snewh.com

If you have an event that you would like posted or mentioned on the podcast, simply email us with the details and we’ll get the ball rolling!