Attendees of the upcoming Magical Weekend of Cars in Orlando, Florida will have the opportunity to snag one of these fantastic limited edition VW Drag Buses from Pope Designs. The bus comes as part of the purchase of a ticket to the Pope Designs Experience event and is limited to just 100 pieces!

Click the image to see a larger version

Tickets to the DiecastSpace Magical Weekend of Cars are selling fast, so be sure to visit ToyCarConventions.com for the last information on events and accommodations.

Legendary artist and ex-Hot Wheels graphic designer MiQ Willmott has teamed up with pro customizer turned diecast manufacturer, Chris Walker to create one of my favorite pieces for the upcoming 2010 DiecastSpace Super Convention. This amazing Dairy Delivery has been made in celebration of this year’s Diecast Hall of Fame and certainly pulls out all the stops.

Each Dairy will come on a custom card as shown in the mockup. The run is limited to only 75 pieces and will sell for $80 each (limit of 2 per person).

Attendees will certainly have a challenge deciding where to spend their money with pieces like this and some of the other limited edition customs being produced for the Super Convention!

See you in Vegas!

The Lincoln Johnny Lightning Race Club recently announced the availability of their 2010 custom club car. The club selected Johnny Lightning Ford, Chevy and Dodge (shown) van castings as the base for this year’s run.

A total of 15 were customized for the run by M & S Customs who have also done a number of cars for the Rhode Island Hot Wheels Summer Smash conventions. Each car is being sold for $20 to non-club members and $15 to club members.

Contact the club through their official website for more information.

2009 was a year of accomplishments and milestones for pro die-cast customizer Chris “Night Stalker” Walker. The convention circuit saw the end of his lengthy world tour which was filled with destinations that spanned the globe, and of course, brought more accolades and wins in the customs contest arena.

While traveling the world and raking in awards, Chris actually had a hidden agenda brewing, the second half of the year brought hints of change from the veteran customizer. Those hints finally grew into an official announcement of the launch of “Alien Projects” – a new business entity that would allow Chris to grow beyond graphics and customs based on existing product.

Along with that announcement came a glimpse of a project that has been two years in the making. Chris’s vision was to create a new casting that combined retro styling with a futuristic 50’s edge. The result is now known as the “Dreamliner.” Collectors got a glimpse of the Dreamliner’s basic design via a resin cast earlier this year, and we’ve more recently been treated to this set of prototype shots.

Click any image to see a larger version

These shots really show how the piece will be coming together, and I can hardly wait to see it with paint and graphics. Speaking of paint and graphics, Chris already has the ball rolling in the way of partnering with some very talented artists in the die-cast and automotive world to lend there talents in bringing there artistic twist to the Dreamliner. One such talent is non other than “Lil Daddy” Dennis Roth!

The word from Chris is that the first official release of the Dreamliner that collectors can get their hands on will be happening sometime later this month. The quantity of that release and its price point are still to be determined, but you can bet that I’ll be posted as soon as its available! You can also stayed tuned to updates on the Dreamliner and other happenings over at the official Alien Projects website.

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine talks to Pro Diecast Customizer Chris “Night Stalker” Walker about his background and early influences for his one-of-a-kind designs.

Thanks again to Ralph Riccardi for manning the camera and all the great editing!

Get ready to witness some of the most detailed 1:64th scale die-cast customs you’ll ever see. I literally couldn’t believe my eyes after seeing Doug Woods’ work first-hand at the Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6. Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine sat down with Doug at the convention to talk about his amazing one-of-a-kind creations.

What happens when you combine fashion accessories and Hot Wheels? You get a handmade die-cast belt buckle! This weekend I spotted this item for sale on Etsy and had to share it.

In addition to the car, the buckle features shards of plum and blue Van Gogh stained glass, grouted in black and sealed for durability. I’m impressed that the artist actually mounted the car with the hood in an open position to reveal the engine! However, I can’t say the same for the price thats set at $83 (USD)!

Click any image to see the larger versions

[via etsy.com]

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:

UPDATE: I’ve just received word as of 7:30pm EST on Sunday March 1st that the CVD/Liberty Promotions Passion has officially sold out. Congrats to CVD for selling out in less than 48 hours!

The Connecticut Valley Diecast Club just announced availability of their 2009 Club Car. The club chose Liberty Promotions to produce their third club car offering ,so you know you’re guaranteed a high-quality piece.

This ’49 Merc Passion has a flat satin black finish with amazingly detailed pin-striping and real-rider white walls. Each piece will ship in a clear acrylic case. The release is limited to just 250 pieces which is a rare quantity for Liberty Promotions run.

These will go fast, so order yours today at the CVD website for $27.00 with FREE shipping.

[via the CVD website]

Being the first year for the Super Convention, the majority of convention cars offered were Code 3′s created by various customizers. Limited runs and great quality will keep these selection in the “highly sought-after” category.

The two Johnny Lightning pieces at the beginning of the set were part of the general admission ticket. The black Shelby was the standard offering while the red Mustang was the chase piece. Please note that this set does not contain pictures of every car offered. I will add additional pictures as I go through the cars I was able to bring home.

I also include several shots of the many Jimmy “The Boxman” Chavez pieces that were available at the Diehard-Diecast booth. Enjoy!

Special thanks to my sponsor, DiecastSpace.com for making my trip to the convention possible!

As I re-capped in a previous post, great times were had at 2008 Connecticut Valley Diecast (CVD) Holiday Dinner. To my surprise, club president Ken Cwikla sent me one of their cool 2008 Holiday Club Cars as a thanks for attending. As you can see from the pictures, they did a great job with both the car and the custom card. Get in touch with Ken via the CVD website if you are interested in obtaining one of these beauties!

Be sure to check out Part 1 of my Holiday Diecast Surprises series to see what arrived from Johnny Lightning.

Collector Diecast Lover shared these first twenty shots of entries into the customs contest from the 2008 Hot Wheels Collector’s Convention in Los Angeles California. With plenty more customs than these first entered into the contest, we can expect to see additional picture posts in the upcoming weeks.

[via diecastspace.com]

The guys at DiecastLive.com recently released these sneak peek “spy shots” to get collectors revved up for the upcoming release of their new 2008 club car. Once again they’ve teamed up with Greenlight Toys to produce an fantastic looking Daytona Charger that truly lives up the “White Hot” name its been given.

Each car ships with a custom backing card inside traditional sealed clamshell packaging. The entire run consists of 2016 cars that are made up of 1824 Regular Edition and 192 Green Machines. This year, the Green Machine will not only feature a white-to-green body, but will also come with a green interior, green bottom and green tires!

A recent price drop on the cars is really making this piece a great buy for collectors. Right now you can purchase (2) regular edition cars for just $9.99 (+S&H) which will give you the chance to have a Green Machine randomly inserted into your order (in place of a regular edition). Alternatively, you can guarantee yourself a Green Machine buy purchasing a Regular Edition and Green Machine with matching numbers for $49.99 (+S&H).

Pre-orders for the Charger are currently being accepted on the DiecastLive.com site and are available to DCL members only. Membership is free, so be sure to register first if you aren’t already part of the DCL community!

[via diecastlive.com]

*** See the latest updated information at the bottom! ***

Last week, “Big Lou” Tanahara of Tanahara Design unveiled several shots of an amazing new custom creation that is sure to make the die cast collecting community stand up and take notice. Lou’s new piece is call “The Sledster” and will be sold under his new Custom Crew brand.

Not many details about the piece have been revealed however, a few things have been mentioned on the announcement thread over on JoesDiecastShack.com. So far we know that the first release will feature two different paint schemes and will be VERY limited. Each piece will be numbered on the base with a hologram sticker and come in a acrylic case. Big Lou has stated that the total length is “just shy of 10 inches long.” A post on JaeBueno.com also stated that “the detailed bases are screw on, the headlights are jeweled among other things.” More recent photos have also shown that the Sledster is actually two pieces with the cab being removable from the trailer.

Its evident from the discussion on the thread, that the excitement and anticipation over “The Sledster” will continue to build while we wait for additional release details and pricing. For now, we can all just drool over these great photos!

***UPDATE***
“Big Lou” revealed all the information we’ve been waiting for during the very first LIVE broadcast of DiecastSpace.com’s Saturday Nitro!! Here’s the scoop:

• WHAT: Pre-order sale!
• WHEN: Monday, September 15th at 12pm PST / 3pm EST
• WHERE: www.customcrewstore.com
• HOW MUCH: $49.99 each (limit: 2 of each color variation)
• HOW MANY: 1248 of each color
• CHASE PIECES: None

[via joesdiecastshack.com]