There’s just a few weeks left until the Collector Experience rolls into Nashville from June 16th thru the 19th, and from the looks of things its going to be one heck of a convention! Collectors who have never attended a DiecastSpace convention before will see first-hand why these events are truly an “experience” and not just cookie cutter show. There’ll be something for everyone in Nashville no matter if you collect Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Johnny Lightning, Greenlight or M2 Machines. All brands of diecast are featured at the Collector Experience!

The three main days of the convention are packed full of great activities like Diecast Bingo, Diecast UNO, Downhill Racing, in-room trading, autograph sessions and vending machine pull sessions featuring the debut of the DiecastSpace Vending Machine that will be packed full of all sorts of goodies and special surprises. Add in the RAOK Party, Legends Dinner and Charity Auction and you have the recipe for a fun filled couple of days.

A variety of special guests are scheduled to attend the Collector Experience as well! Diecast personalities include Hot Wheels Designers Larry Wood, Eric Tscherne and Wayne Scott as well as Diecast Authors Mike Zarnock and Bob Parker. Ben “Cooter” Jones from The Dukes of Hazard is also set to make an appearance, so be sure to bring your General Lee castings for the autograph sessions! You’ll also find several of your favorite Pro Diecast Customizers like Bryan Pope and Chris Walker in attendance with some special limited edition diecast pieces for sale.

Of course, the main reason to attend a convention is for the cars, right? A wide selection of custom convention cars have been created for the weekend. Collectors attending the premium events such as Bingo and UNO will receive their special cars for those activities during the events themselves. Those attending the convention under a general admission ticket will still have the ability to browse and purchase any of the Collector Experience branded souvenir cars. Here’s a sneak peek of come of the various cars that have been created. Click on any image to see a larger version.

If all this weren’t enough, Liberty Promotions will be giving away a FREE VW Drag Bus to anyone who books three or more nights at the convention hotel on the trading floors! Information about tickets and accommodations can be found on ToyCarConventions.com, or you can book your hotel directly by calling (615) 259-2000 and using the group code “DIECAST.”

We hope to see you there!

Dips in the economy aside, its a really good time to be a diecast collector. There have never been more options to attend a live event and connect with fellow collectors for some fun in this hobby that we all know and love. This year features large events that will definitely peak your interest no matter what brand or scale you collect. Here’s a quick rundown of each in order of occurrence including links out to their respective sites to get more information:

The Nashville Collector Experience – June 16-19, 2011 – Nashville, TN

Diecastspace returns to their “Collector Experience” style convention that will include special presentations from sponsoring manufacturers as well as your favorite standard events like the Legends Dinner, Camaro Bingo, the RAOK Party, Diecast UNO, In-Room Trading,  Charity Auction, the Customs Contest, Downhill Racing, in-room trading and much more. This convention also marks the debut of the Diecastspace Vending machine which will be packed full of amazing diecast surprises.

Special Guests for Nashville include Hot Wheels Designers Larry Wood, Wayne Scott and Eric Tscherne, Hot Wheels Author Mike Zarnock, Tom Zahorsky from Johnny Lightning and Ben “Cooter” Jones from the Dukes of Hazzard TV Show.

The Canada Convention – July 13-17, 2011 – Toronto, Canada

The Canadian Diecast Convention returns for its second year at an all new location in Toronto. Mattel will be in attendance with the Hot Wheels Live Tour Trailer featuring awesome Hot Wheels displays and exclusive Hot Wheel merchandise that will only be available on the tour. The Official Hot Wheels Vending Machine will also be on hand which is always a blast. Other events will include the Legends dinner, RAOK party, downhill racing, Diecast UNO, Diecast Bingo, the customs contest, a Redlines seminar, in-room trading and much more. Sears will also be sponsoring a special event thats not to be missed!

The Special Guests for this event are still to be announced.

Lightning Fest - July 15-16, 2011 – Dyersville, IA

Lightning Fest is the main event to attend for the die-hard Johnny Lightning collector. Held each year at the RC@ Outlet store in Dyersville, Iowa, this FREE two day event is packed full of great family-friendly activities. Such activites include Gravity Racing, a customs contest, daily raffles, a Design forum, Diecast Bingo, charity auctions, a full-scale car show and in-room trading. The Diecastspace vending machine will laso be on hnad and stocked with lot s of great JL products and surprises.

A yet to be announced special celebrity guest from the Dukes of Hazzard TV show is also planned for the event.

KustomKon – August 4-7, 2011 – Dallas, TX

The Diecastspace KustomKon returns to Dallas this summer and features activities for diecast customizers and regular collectors alike. The focus of the conference will be a series of seminars for those who have never customized before all the way up through the advanced customizer. Regular collectors will enjoy in-room trading, the Legends Dinner, the RAOK Swap, limited edition convention cars and the Sunday toy show. All of your favorite professional diecast customizers are set to attend.

Special celebrity guests George Barris and Little Daddy Dennis Roth will be in attendance as well.

Hot Wheels Summer Smash – August 25-28, Warwick, RI

The Summer Smash returns for its fourth year and is New England’s ONLY diecast convention for 2011. All of your favorite activities are scheduled including a Customs Show for kids & adults, the Sunday Toy Show, Sizzler Racing, the Bob Parker trivia contest, the Liberty Promotions Treasure Quest, a Charity Auction and Dinner, Room to Room Trading, a Saturday Car Cruise, Down Hill Racing for kids & adults, an Interactive Customs Seminar by East Coast Real Riders and more. The Diecastspace vending machine is also scheduled to be on hand.

Special guests schedule to attend include Hot Wheels Designer Larry Wood,  Jimmy “The Box Man” Chavez, Tom Zahorsky from Johnny Lightning, Hot Wheels Author  Mike Zarnock, Hot Wheels and Matchbox Author Bob Parker,  Lee Pearlman from Liberty Promotions,  Chris Walker “Night Stalker”, Vince  V-Man Mosely, and Dave Chang

Last week the latest installment of Mattel’s “Ask a Designer” video series was released on the Official Hot Wheels YouTube channel, and this time around collectors got to have their questions answered by the legendary Larry Wood.

Larry provided some great answers to many of the common questions I’ve heard collectors ask over the years about the Hot Wheels design process and how cars get selected to be made. We also get an update on the 1:1 scale COE that Larry’s been building over the years. I can’t wait until he’s able to bring it around to the conventions!

Collectors who would like the opportunity to meet Larry in person should check out on of the conventions he’ll be attending this summer. He’s currently scheduled to be the guest of honor at the 2011 Collector Experience in Nashville, TN on June 16-19 and at the 4th Annual Hot Wheels Summer Smash in Warwick, Rhode Island on August 25-28.

Collectors who regularly attend conventions are most likely familiar with Mattel’s popular Hot Wheels Vending Machine that has become a feature attraction over the years. Standing in a massive line of fellow diecast enthusiasts while waiting for a chance to see what mysterious Hot Wheels goodness will fall from the innards of the giant metal box is one activity that many collectors look forward to at each event.

If you haven’t had a chance to attend one of the many conventions that the vending machine makes a stop at then, picture if you will, a snack style vending machine – the type with spiral bars that moves your selection towards you after making your desired “letter/number” selection. However, the snacks have been replaced with premium limited edition Hot Wheels products that are normally available for members of the HotWheelsCollectors.com Redline Club, and the identity of the item you’ve selected remains hidden behind frosted glass until its pulled from the spring-hinged door at the bottom of the machine. Add in the antics of Mattel’s Chris Parker, who runs the vending machine events and you have a recipe for fun turned up to “11!”

Mattel’s Hot Wheels vending machine has appeared at many conventions over the years including numerous DiecastSpace conventions, the annual Summer Smash in Rhode Island, the Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels and of course, the official Hot Wheels Conventions that occur each spring and fall. Unfortunately, the vending machine is not always available for every event. The team over at DiecastSpace recognized the value that the vending machine has brought to their events and has come up with a solution to ensure that the fun continues on.

This June, the brand new “Diecastspace Vending Machine” will make its debut at the Nashville Collector Experience in Nashville, Tennessee. As you can see from the rendering, it will be decked out in flames and will proudly display the Diecastspace logo – but, while the outside looks great, collectors know that its whats on the inside that counts! Convention attendees can expect to find all sorts of products from the major diecast manufacturers being stocked in the machine. This means collectors could find Hot Wheels products, convention pieces, White Lightnings, Green Machines, Liberty Promotions products, M2 Machines Chase Pieces and much more coming with their pulls. Rumor has it that even the customizers will be getting in on the fun and will be producing limited edition pieces that will be part of the mix!

The new vending machine is certainly an exciting new development for the DiecastSpace family of conventions and I’ll be sure to share photos of it when the vinyl-wrapping process is complete. Be sure to visit ToyCarConventions.com for information on tickets and accommodations for the Nashville Collector Experience so you can be part of the fun!

I’m sure those who attended the GMP Experience during the Hotlanta convention would agree that it was quite possibly the highlight of the weekend. The event was spectacular from start to finish. Everything was top notch – from Tom Long’s (GMP’s President) gracious hosting, to delicious the BBQ and the amazing parting gift. Oh, did I mention the cars!?! Attendees got a first-hand look at almost every model that GMP makes. I think more than a few collectors left with a future GMP purchase on their brains! Not too shabby for a $25 premium event!

If that weren’t enough, the trip also included a side excursion to Milton Robson’s private 1:1 scale car collection. Getting a first-hand look at his spectacular award-winning collection of muscle cars and classics was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Here are some photo sets of both the GMP Tour and the side trip to the Robson collection. Enjoy!

The GMP Experience

Milton Robson’s Private Car Collection

This time we have a special round-table style, two-hour re-cap of the DiecastSpace.com Hotlanta Collector Experience with special guests Joe Altieri, Lou Tanahara, Eric Tscherne and Joe Kelly Jr. Each guest brings a unique perspective to their experiences at the convention. We even devote some time talking about the potential the next Collector Experience will have in 2010 at Walt Disney World, Florida. Enjoy!

Listen to the recorded show from the audio widget on this page or check out the catalog of previous shows on the Saturday Nitro page.

From Mild to Spicy to Hot, the customs contest had some pretty strong entries from Amateur, Admin and Pro classes. Here’s a large set of all the participating pieces:

One noticeable change made between the Super Convention and the Collector Experience was in the quality of the convention cars. The decision to stick with top-tier customizers for the production was a smart move and it definitely paid off. Here’s a set of some of the cars from the weekend:

If you weren’t able to attend the Hotllanta Collector Experience or would just like to own some of the fine pieces that came out of the event, be sure to keep an on the DiecastSpace website for special sales of the remaining limited run cars.

The dust has settled from the die-cast whirlwind know as the Hotlanta Collector Experience that roared through Georgia a week ago. This smaller, more intimate event could almost be considered “Son of the Super Convention,” which is not to say that it was any less of an show. In fact, the DiecastSpace.com Admin team did an amazing job of listening to the attendee feedback from the 2009 Super Convention and applying it to the Collector Experience.

Registration was streamlined, plenty of time for in-room trading was added to the schedule, and the quality of the convention cars spot-on all the way around. Without a doubt, the weekend was a great success and one that those in attendance will not soon forget. I’ve got plenty of pictures to share and will be posting sets through-out the next few days.

For starters, here are a few shots from the first pre-convention session run by Mike Zarnock on Thursday evening. The session was called “What’s It Worth?” and spawned some great conversations amongst the attendees on how collectors differ when it comes to determining what a specific piece is worth. Mattel’s Chris Parker started some great collector interaction by posing questions about the HotWheelsCollectors.com
Redline Club cars as well.

Friday morning got off to a great start with the opening session which included CJ’s announcement of the 2010 Collector Experience in Walt Disney World, Florida!

The Diecast Hall of Fame began its formation in the summer of 2008. The idea behind the prestigious award is to recognize all of those who have impacted the diecast and automotive world together for their accomplishments. In maintaining integrity and credibility, the Hall of Fame Committe was formed and currently consists of:

Tom Zahorsky – Johnny Lightning
Katie Roland – GreenLight Collectibles
Bruce Pascal – The Beachbomb “Holy Grail” owner
Luis Tanahara – Custom Crew and Sledster Designer
Chris Walker – Customizer
Carson Lev – VP Foose Designs
Bob Parker – Hot Wheels author
Mike Zarnock – Hot Wheels author
Joe Kelly Jr. – Car Room Magazine Founder

A person has the opportunity each year from March 1 until May 21 to submit applications online for consideration. The committee also has the opportunity to make their recomendations which is then compiled and placed into an online transparent voting process. Once the data is collected and the results are in, each committee member is sent the results and they must affirm the inductees in order for it to be a recognized induction.

At the Super Convention each year, inductees are recognized in a dinner/ceremony environment where they are presented with a plaque for their accomplishments and then issued a hand crafted diamond studded Hall of Fame Custom Ring manufactured by Jostens.

The Class of 2010 will be as follows:

Automotive Legends
• Dale Earnhardt Sr. (Post Humous)
• Tom McEwen
• Don Prudhomme
• John D’Agostino

Diecast Designer
• Ira Gilford (Hot Wheels Designer)
• Phil Riehlman (Hot Wheels Designer)
• MiQ Willmott (Hot Wheels Graphic Designer)
• Tom Lowe (Owner, Playing Mantis/Johnny Lightning)

Diecast Customizers
• Bryan Pope (Pope Designs)
• Lee Pearlman (Liberty Promotions)

Diecast Historians
• Charlie Mack (Matchbox Author)
• Mac Ragan (Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning Author)
• Fred Wagenhals (Founder of Action Racing Collectibles)

Intriguing Collectors
• Jeff Glasson (HEY – Thats me!!)
• Dan Spaulding
• Bob Rosas

Carroll Shelby Lifetime Achievement Award
• Fred Blood (1-Stop Diecast)

RAOK Award
• Jim Lombari

Here’s a video of the announcements delivered by The Car Room Magazine’s Joe Kelly Jr. who MC’d that portion of the night:

Please visit http://www.spinyourtires.com for more information about attending the 2010 Super Convention and the Diecast Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

One of the cool changes at the Hotlanta Collector Experience (coming up later this week!) is the switch from the traditional poker tournament to a more family friendly UNO Tournament! Making this move will definitely streamline the event and will make it more accessible to convention attendees of all ages!

Not sure how to play UNO? Here’s a quick refresher of the basics. The rules being used at the convention have been slightly tweaked so one UNO deck can be used per table. Please read them and, if you have a deck available, practice the game using these rules. The streamlined rules aren’t too far from the original game rules.

OBJECT:
To be the first player to win 5 rounds of UNO or the most rounds in 5 rounds. Each table will have a winner, who will go onto the next UNO round..Winners from Tables 1 to 5 and 6 to 10 will play in the Final Table round against each other, and the winner of the Final Table will be the DiecastSpace UNO champion.

HOW TO START:
Each player is dealt 5 cards(instead of the standard 7 cards) Afterwards, the top card of the DRAW pile is turned over, which starts the DISCARD pile.
The first player has to match the card in the DISCARD pile either by number, color or word.

For example, if the card is a red 7, player must throw down a red card or any color 7. Or the player can throw down a Wild Card. If player doesn’t have anything to match, he must pick a card from the DRAW pile, If player can use the drawn card, they can use it. If not, the next player goes next.

If you have one card left, you must yell “UNO”. Failure to do this, results in the player picking up two cards from the DRAW pile. They can play their drawn cards or next player plays.

The first player has no cards left, the round is over and is the winner for the round. First Player with 5 rounds won, or the most rounds won, is the winner for Table and goes to the Final Table Round. All the rest of the players leave and cant continue in the competition.

CHOOSING A DEALER:
Each player picks up a card. The player who picks the highest number deals. If you pick a “Word” card, this doesn’t count. Players with “Word” cards cannot redraw another card from the DRAW pile. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game.

CARD MEANINGS:

Reverse Card:
Simply reverse the direction of play.The play going from the left,now goes to the right and vice-a-versa.

Skip Card:
Player that is next after this card is played, has their turn skipped, and the next player from the left or right of them, plays next.

Wild Card:
The player using this card, can call out any color choice. This card can be used even if the player has another playable card in their hand.

Wild Draw Four Card:
The player that uses this card, calls the color of their choice, & the next player has to pick up four cards(4). The player can use any cards they picked up to discard, if not, their turn is down.

NOTE: The cards pictured are older, and newer cards may have updated designs, but the symbols remain relatively the same.

This incredible limited edition poster from MiQ Willmott will be just one of the cool things collectors can get their hands on during the 2009 Hotlanta Collector Experience next week. The poster is limited to just 100 copies and will be given out for FREE at MiQ’s scheduled autograph sessions.

Click the image to see the larger verison

[via diecastspacecommunity.com]

Just when you thought the line-up of amazing convention cars for the upcoming Hotlanta Collector Experience couldn’t get any better, Bryan Pope of Pope Designs has announced that a new Legends Dinner Drag Bus will be added to the mix! As previously mentioned, dinner ticket holders will receive the Pope Designs Legends Dinner Camaro as part of their ticket purchase. This new addition will be an additional purchase to be sold immediately following the Legends Dinner. The location, time, quantity and price are still being ironed out.

I’ll be sure to post an update when those details are made available. Until then, feel free to drool over this awesome e-sheet!

Click the image to see a larger version

This past Tuesday, the convention promoters at DiecastSpace.com announced that Nascar racing legend Bobby Allison will be the official guest of honor at the Legends Dinner during the Hotlanta Collector Experience this coming June. The announcement states:

“On Saturday June 13, 2009 Hotlanta Collector Experience Legends Dinner is proud to announce a Nascar Legend as our special guest, Mr. Bobby Allison will be on hand to spend time with our guests. The Allison family is a fixture in the auto racing world and is bringing along a very special collectors piece for the charity auction.”

The Legends Dinner is a premium event and requires a ticket purchase. Each ticket includes access to the dinner, a special limited edition Legends Dinner Camaro from Pope Designs and memories that will last for a long time to come! Tickets to this great event are almost sold out. Visit the Hotlanta Collector Experience website for more information.

[via diecastspace.com]

This week we chat with Pro Die-cast Customizer Bryan Pope and dive into how he’s quickly risen through the ranks of customizing in a very short time by combining is expertise in graphic design with his passion for Hot Wheels. Additional topics include Bryan’s great convention parties, on-line and live sale pieces and the upcoming convention pieces he’s been commissioned to create.

Listen to the recorded show from the audio widget on this page or check out the catalog of previous shows on the Saturday Nitro page.

Several of the convention pieces for the upcoming Hotlanta Collector Experience have been announced and based on the looks of things, this is turning out to be one heck of a show! An e-sheet for the Pope Designs Legends Dinner Camaro has been posted on DiecastSpace.com for the past few weeks and a Drag Truck from Nightstalker Customs was also announced. The e-sheet for the Drag Truck should be available soon.

This week, a picture of the convention exclusive Batmobile (Limited to 50 with Real Riders!) has surfaced and the RAOK Party Drag Bus from Pope Designs was also just revealed. Pile that on top of the online-only Camaro SS from Johnny Lighting and you can start to see the great level of quality this event will provide! Be sure to visit the Official Collector Experience website for more information on all the cars that will be available at the show.

Click any image to view them up close

[via diecastspace.com]