Collectors who also frequent Facebook now have the ability to let their fellow Facebook friends know about DiecastAudio posts they like. Each post here on the site now has a “Like” button that allows you to automatically share it in your Facebook news stream. You’ll be prompted to log into your Facebook account if your browser doesn’t remember your login information.

Give it a try and let us know what you think, and thanks for helping support DiecastAudio!

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine got me in front of the camera to talk a little about DiecastAUDIO and the state of the hobby online.

The diecast collecting hobby recently suffered a great loss with the recent passing of Shane Whittenbarger on August 5, 2009. While I personally had only know Shane for a little more than a year, the impact of his presence in the diecast community was unsurpassed, and it became readily apparent how amazing Shane was only after knowing him for such a short time. I’m proud to have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.

Many people might have known Shane as an up-standing collector, a tireless worker, a dedicated father and as someone you could always count on to get the job done. Not only was he a major force in helping ensure that the 2009 DiecastSpace Super Convention was as successful as it was, but he was also the producer for Saturday Nitro and always made sure there was an amazing guest lined up for me to interview for your entertainment. I am honored to have called him a friend.

Now that Shane’s battle with cancer has ended, the reality of his funeral expenses has come to light. Its an expense that without financial assistance, would force Shane’s parents to mortgage their home to cover. In honor of Shane, members of the diecast collecting community are stepping up to bare the financial burden. Amazing companies such as GMP Diecast, Liberty Promotions and GreenLight Collectibles have donated some amazing pieces to help raise funds at several upcoming charity auctions.

Beyond that I am asking you, my fellow collector and DiecastAudio reader, to consider donating to our cause via the Chip-In widget on the right column of the site. Clicking the Chip-In button will bring you to PayPal where you can contribute with a credit card or your own personal PayPal account. The Chip-In donations are being managed by Mr. Jerry Yates who is an Administrator at DiecastSpace.com.

Please get in touch with me personally via the contact page if you are not comfortable donating with that method, but would still like to contribute. I would be more than happy to provide you with my mailing address to apply a donation via personal check to the cause. Each an every dollar gets us closer to our goal of making sure Shane is remembered in a way that he and his family deserve.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Jeff Glasson
DiecastAudio.com

A recording of my interview with GMP President, Tom Long is now available on the Saturday Nitro page! Our interview covered many aspects of GMP including how Tom started the company, their close relationship with collectors, and of course lots of talk about their many fabulous die cast products.

This show also featured surprise call-in guests Doug Shore who spent many years as Director of Communications at Irwindale Speedway and Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room!

Jump straight to the show page here!

If you didn’t have a chance to catch my live interview with hot rod design legend Thom Taylor, then be sure to take a listen to show archive that is now available on the official Saturday Nitro Live site or on the Saturday Nitro Live page here on diecastAUDIO!

Thom Taylor is an award winning rod and custom designer whose drawings have been published in nearly every automotive magazine out there. He’s authored several books on hot rods and car illustration, like “How to Draw Cars Like a Pro” and “50 Years Of Rod & Customs.” Many of his designs have transcended paper to become real cars. Infact, his designs have won the prestigious America’s Most Beautiful Roadster on 4 different occasions! He’s even a member of the National Rod and Custom Hall of Fame.

Our interview covered many aspects of his design career, his numerous accomplishments and awards for automotive design, and of course, his experience working with several die cast brands over the years.

Jump straight to the show page here!

As of today, you can share diecastAUDIO posts with other people via e-mail or friends on various social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon and many others. Simply click on the “Share This” button located at the bottom of the post you would like to share and a window will appear allowing you to select from all the different sharing options. Please note that the bottom of the window has a link to sign in. Creating an account IS NOT required to use the widget and share die cast information with your friends.

If you’re a fan of diecastAUDIO, then I encourage you to give this new feature a try. Its a great way to help me spread the word about the site and your help is greatly appreciated!

Last night marked the launch of DiecastSpace.com’s Saturday Nitro, the web’s first LIVE radio show focused on collecting die cast. The inaugural show was host by “yours-truly” and featured the amazing and uber-talented “Big Lou” Tanahara!

After a few technical problems were solved the show got off to a blazing start and continued on for almost a full hour and a half. Lou and I talked about how he got his start in design and the die cast industry, touched upon his years with Jada and his more recent projects at Tanahara Design and the new Custom Crew brand. Of course, we saved the best for last and revealed (almost) all the additional details about his highly anticipated Sledster. I believe one of the only details left to be discovered is what lie inside that gorgeous trailer!

The fun part of using BlogTalkRadio for the live show platform is that the listeners actually get to be a part of the show. Several collectors called into the guest line and were able to ask their questions directly to Lou himself. Collectors also gathered in the chat room and were able to ask from there that I would then pass on to Lou. Once the live show ends, listeners can continue to submit their questions through the Saturday Nitro group on DiecastSpace.com.

Each an every episode of Saturday Nitro will be recorded and made available for everyone to listen to if they can’t be part of the live show. I’ve made the show available here in this post and will also be providing access to this and all future shows via a special Saturday Nitro page here on diecastAUDIO. Of course, you can always find the shows on DiecastSpace.com and their BlogTalkRadio profile pages as well.

Future episodes of Saturday Nitro have already been scheduled and will feature special guests such as Tom Zahorsky from Johnny Lightning, Hot Wheels author Mike Zarnock, Tom Long, owner of GMP Diecast and Lee Pearlman, owner of Liberty Promotions. The hosting duties will be split up between myself and Alan Paradise from DiecastX Magazine.

We hope you enjoy(ed) the first show and we look forward to providing more excellent die cast oriented entertainment in the future!

The look and feel of the diecastAUDIO site has been the same for quite some time. In preparation for next weekend’s Summer Smash, we’ve decided to mix things up and launch something brand new! When its finally complete, this new design will be much more functional and will do an even better job at presenting collectors with the best of whats happening in the world of die cast cars.

Not all of the new sections are 100% functional yet, so please bear with us as we put the finishing touches on the site this week. Let us know what you think of the changes by leaving a comment or sending us a email.

Stay tuned for more announcements on the new site changes as they become available!

Thanks!
-Jeff