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

The e-sheet madness continues with all four of the pieces that Chris Walker is producing for the 2009 Hotlanta Collector Experience in June. You certainly can’t go wrong with casting like these and I think you’ll are that they’re looking great!

Each car will be part of a designated event/ticket at the convention. Here’s the breakdown:

• Bingo / Boneshaker
• Convention Ticket / VW Drag Truck
• DiecastSpace Party / ’67 Camaro
• Nightstalker Experience / VW Drag Bus

[via diecastspace.com]

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]

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]