Just over a year ago, the DiecastSpace Magical Weekend of Cars rolled into the Swan and Dolphin Hotel at DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida, and we were fortunate to have Jake and the crew from Tail Fins and Chrome at the event to capture some of the atmosphere and personalities at the convention.

The episode aired on RTV and TUFF TV on May 1st, but the Tail Fins crew has made the full episode available for those who missed it! Segments from the convention include interviews with me, die-cast author Mike Zarnock, die-cast designer Eric Tscherne, DCS Staffer Jason Bennett and female collector, Katerina. As an added bonus, the episode includes a great segment from the Hot Wheels room at the Peterson Automotive Museum.

The convention segments are sprinkled between some cool footage of a pretty impressive police car (1:1 scale!) collection, so make sure you watch the whole episode to see everything from the Magical Weekend!

Be sure to check out the Tail Fins and Chrome website to catch more full length episodes or to see if the show is available on cable TV in your area.

The next Magical Weekend of Cars will be rolling into Anaheim, CA in the Summer of 2012, but there are plenty of great events to attend in the meantime. Check out ToyCarConventions.com for a complete listing of all the DiecastSpace events nationwide.

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

There’s just about a week to go, until the start of the 2010 Magical Weekend of Cars in Orlando, Florida and things are ramping up to bring this event to a whole new level. This time around collectors will get to interact with whole new set of vendors like The Franklin Mint, BBR Models, Spark, Minichamps, LeMans Miniatures and Kyosho – and these new vendors are all in addition the traditional brands that sponsor and attend each DiecastSpace convention.

In addition to the new vendors, Hot Wheels Designer Wayne Scott has been added to the guest lineup which already includes the likes of Big Daddy Don Gartlits, Phil Rhielman, Eric Tscherne, Mike Zarnock, Lee Pearlman, Chris Walker and Bryan Pope. Eric Tscherne recently posted this little teaser of the artwork that he’s preparing for the show that features renditions of himself and Chip Foose done up Pixar Cars Movie style!

The general admission has also been expanded to 30,000 square feet to accommodate upwards of 18 full scale hot rods. Rumor has it that two of those cars will be creations from the popular TV show Overhaulin’.

While most add-on events have sold out, there are still tickets available for the Liberty Promotions Drag Bus Breakfast. General Admission tickets for $60 (with a convention car) or $25 (without a car) are still available until Friday, June 18th. Additional rooms have also been added to the convention room block and are available of a first-come first-served basis. Please visit the official convention page on ToyCarConventions.com for more details.

Its time for another road trip! This time the Diecast Ratpack is gathering in Holbrook, NY for another Saturday Nitro/Car Room TV mash-up show that you won’t want to miss!

Join Jeff Glasson, Joe Kelly Jr., Mike Zarnock and Ralph Riccardi (running the tech!) on the live video stream starting at 7pm EST (4pm PST) on Saturday March, 27th over at the The Car Room TV page on TheCarRoom.com.

While the live broadcast isn’t until Saturday night, you can always catch archived recordings The Car Room TV via the link below!

Click here to jump over to The Car Room TV page

Back in January I shared the new cover design for the all new 4th edition of Mike Zarnock’s Hot Wheels Variations, The Ultimate Guide. While there’s still a short while longer until collectors can have the book in-hand, collectors can ensure they have their copy as soon as its release by pre-ordering a copy directly from Mike!

This new volume contains 5,500 listings, 3,100 color images, secondary market pricing, and weighs in at whopping 504 pages! It truly is the biggest and most complete identification and price guide on Hot Wheels cars variations found in blister packs from 1989-2008.

Pre-order now directly from Mike’s website (via PayPal) for just $25.00 (in the USA). Shipping outside to Canada, Mexico and elsewhere is available. Please note that PayPal purchase will come up as “The Krellman Group.”

With a very successful 2010 DiecastSpace Super Convention now past us, I sit down with Mike Zarnock and Joe Kelly Jr. to talk about our experiences during our week at Circus Circus in Las Vegas. We touch upon all the great events that occurred and all the amazing people who attended – from day one through the Diecast Hall of Fame ceremony to the finale.

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

Hot Wheels author Mike Zarnock spent the last portion of 2009 working hard on the next version of his “Hot Wheels Variations: The Ultimate Guide” series. While the book won’t be available for purchase until May, Mike was able to share this shot of the cover as a sneak peek.

The fact that Mike’s very own Altered Roadster from the Drag Strip Demons series adorns the cover is pretty cool too, don’t you think?!

Click the image to see a larger version of the cover.

The Car Room Magazine’s Joe Kelly Jr. and Hot Wheels Author Mike Zarnock join me for a special Saturday Nitro mash-up show. We’ve combined the standard live audio feed of Saturday Nitro with the video stream of The Car Room TV and topped it off by broadcasting from Mike Zarnock’s hobby room in Utica, NY.

Simulcasting the the show on both BlogTalkRadio and Livestream.com came with its share of technical hurdles, but I think things went fairly well for a first time effort. Please note that volume during the first two minutes of the audio stream on BlogTalkRadio is very low, but gets corrected soon after. We also had a few issues getting the video stream recorded properly in the beginning, so you’ll notice that the first few minutes of the show are missing when checking out the video clips below.

We really enjoyed teaming-up to try out this new format and its a sneak-peek of the direction I’ll be taking Saturday Nitro in 2010. Let me know what you think via the comments section below!

A local NBC affiliate in Utica, NY dropped by the Zarnock residence about 30 minutes before Mike Zarnock, Joe Kelly Jr. and I began the first ever live broadcast team-up between Saturday Nitro and The Car Room TV. The result of his short visit was this great segment that aired on the local news on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

This coming Saturday night, November 21st will mark a first for the live die-cast radio show you know and (hopefully) love! We’re going video! Yes, that’s right! Saturday Nitro will be joining forces with The Car Room TV for a special video edition. We’ll be broadcasting the standard audio stream over on BlogTalkRadio AND at the same time we’ll be making a live video stream available on The Car Room TV.

If that weren’t enough, both Joe Kelly Jr. and Mike Zarnock will be joining me as special guest co-hosts, while we broadcast from Mike’s Hot Wheels Hobby Room in Utica, NY.

The show will be starting at 7PM EST (4PM PST) and will last as long as as we have something to talk about! Use the links below to jump to the audio-only or video stream versions right before show time on Saturday night!

Click here to catch the video-stream on The Car Room TV

Click here to listen to the show’s audio stream (better for low bandwidth connections)

Remember – the show will start on Saturday, November 21 at 7pm EST!

Joe Kelly Jr. from The Car Room Magazine was in attendance at the 2009 Hot Wheels Summer Smash and captured a series of interviews and video footage (thanks Ralph!!) that I’ll be sharing with you over the course of the next week. Here’s the first in the series featuring and interview with Hot Wheels author Mike Zarnock.

Despite the 1 hour delay due to technical difficulties (ala crazy hotel internet) we managed to bang out the first ever Saturday Nitro with a live studio audience! It definitely added a little extra excitement to the show that brought things to a whole new level. We also tried live streaming some video, but had some difficulties with the sound. Thats what you get for trying to add bonus features in the zero hour!

This show features special guests like Chris Walker, Lou Tanahara, Jim Lombari, Mike Zarnock, Lee Pearlman, Joe Kelly Jr and more!

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.

Attendees of The Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6 had the opportunity to gaze upon some of the rarest Hot Wheels in the world. Sid Belzberg, the new owner of RedlinesOnline.com (soon to be ToyCarExchange.com) graciously brought a small portion of his amazing collection to be put on display. Here’s a shot of the main display case. I’m sure Redline and vintage Hot Wheels fans will recognize more than a few gems in this one!

Click the image to see the larger version

Photo Credit: Victor Valle, Valle Photography

You can also watch Joe Kelly Jr. interviewing Mike Zarnock as they go through some of the great pieces in Sid’s collection!

[via photobucket.com]

This time around we were able to take advantage of the good internet connection and did a show from the Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6! Over the course of the show I managed to persuade Jimmy “The Boxman” Chavez, collector Joe Altieri, Mike Zarnock, Bob Parker and CJ Cramer from DiecastSpace to sit down and chat about their thoughts on the Wild Weekend’s events and “come-back” as an annual die-cast event here in New England. 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.

Mike Zarnock & Joe Kelly Jr. film some video while discussing vintage Hot Wheels in-front of Sid Belzberg’s amazing collection

Posted via email from Diecast Convention Updates

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!

Congrats to Mike Zarnock for landing this nice little TV new spot on the release of his Altered Roadster in the Dragstrip Demon series!

Local toy car collector has his real-life race car turned into a Hot Wheels

DEERFIELD, N.Y. (WKTV) – Think your kids have a lot of toys? Try being Mike Zarnock – almost 20,000 Hot Wheels cars. And no, they’re not his kids – they’re all his. And now, the real-life car that he built and raced in his 20s, has become a Hot Wheels toy for a new generation of kids.

[via wktv.com]

One thing certainly became apparent as I was going through the process of grouping my convention photos together. I didn’t take as many photos of the convention attendees as I thought! Guess I’ll make a mental note about that for Reston. With that being said, here’s my set of various folks that I managed to take. Enjoy!

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

Hot Wheels new Dragstrip Demons line has turned out to be one of Mattel’s most impressive series so far this year. Each and every car released so far has been a winner, and collectors can certainly tell just how popular they are by the empty pegs that hang in most brick and mortar retailers!

Well, it looks like the quality will continue as this e-sheet of the upcoming Mike Zarnock Altered Roadster just passed across my desk a few days ago. It’s awesome that Mattel is producing a car for Mike. Especially one that will appear in a mass-market line like the Dragstrip Demons. He’s a veteran collector and a scholar to the Hot Wheel brand. Nobody deserves it more.

Congrats Mike! I’m looking forward to seeing this beauty in person!

After a nerve racking start, our show with George Barris launched into marathon discussions about his career, his many accomplishments and the state of the world of diecast. Several callers added a little extra to this record length show. Without a doubt, George Barris is a master at his craft and has some incredible stories to share. Be sure to check this one out and enjoy the ride!

Special thanks to American Collector’s Insurance for sponsoring the show!

As a reminder, these shows are done LIVE on Saturday nights which means that you can participate by calling in and asking questions directly to our special guests! Be sure to check the official schedule on the Saturday Nitro site for a list of upcoming shows.

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.

Is it just me or does it seem that 2009 will be a great year to be a diecast collector? If there’s one thing to be said about our hobby, its there’s no shortage of diecast conventions in the near future! Here is a quick list of the best multi-day events happening across the country this year (listed in order of occurrence):

2009 DiecastSpace.com Super Convention
I’ve been talking about this “first of its kind” event for a while now, and its really shaped up to be one heck of a time! Its the first time almost all the major mainstream diecast manufacturers will be present under one roof. Mattel, Johnny Lightning, GreenLight, M2 and GMP as well as a gathering of the country’s top diecast customizers will descend on Las Vegas from February 18th – 22nd. If that wasn’t enough, the first ever Diecast Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be taking place to honor somme of the best names in diecast and the automotive industry.

Very few tickets are left to this great event. Visit the official Super Convention site for ticket availability and pricing.

9th Annual Hot Wheels Collectors Nationals
Unofficially dubbed the “East Coast” Hot Wheels Convention, this Mike Strauss run event moves from city to city each Spring. This year it lands back in Reston, Virginia from March 25th – 29th. The week is always packed full of great events and fantastic ion-room trading. This year’s special guests include Howard Reese, Mike McClone, Phil Riehlman, Wayne Scott and Larry Wood.

Tickets are on sale now and will be available until March 5th or when sold out (which ever comes first). They can be purchased online with a credit card or with a check and the mail-in form.

Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6
Randy Price’s Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels returns to Connecticut this year on July 30th – August 2nd. This year’s event will offer a variety of events including a Guinness Book of World Records attempt for the Longest Track. Convention vehiles are being produced by Mattel this year and special guests will include Larry Wood, Mike Zarnock, Bob Parker.

A variety of ticket packages are currently available on the official Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6 website.

Hot Wheels Summer Smash 2
Jim Lombari and the Rhode Island Hot Wheels Club are bringing the diecast fun back to Warwick on August 27th-30th for the 2nd Annual Hot Wheels Summer Smash. This year offers four full days of activities and convention vehicles from both Mattel and Liberty Promotions. Special guests include Larry Wood, George Soulakis, Mike Zarnock and Bob Parker.

The official Summer Smash website is up and tickets are now on sale.

23rd Annual Hot Wheels Collectors Convention
Traditionally the larger of the two “Strauss” conventions, this California based convention is usually the most grand seeing that Mattel is headquartered just up the road in El Segundo. Dates for this event typically land in October with the official announcement coming out shortly after the Nationals in Reston are over.

Some collectors felt that the 2008 convention was a little lacking in its 40th Anniversary year. Perhaps the 40th Anniversary cross-counrty tour drained a little bit too much from the coffer. It should be interesting to see how this convention compares to the others happening earlier in the year – especially since Mattel is participating in the all of them.

The world might be in an economic frenzy right now, but the future is certainly looking bright for the world of diecast!

I feel fortunate to live in New England and be a diecast collector. My location in Massachusetts allows me to access about 6 states within a two hour drive, and that opens up an opportunity to connect with many of the clubs that have been established in those areas.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of being invited down to the 2008 Connecticut Valley Diecast (CVD) Holiday Dinner. Club President Ken Cwikla and his staff put together an amazing day full of diecast activities and surprises. It was an honor to join Mike Zarnock and Bob Parker (unfortunately Charlie Mack could not attend) as part of the special guests in attendance. The morning began with the CVD monthly meeting that featured a packed room filled with buy/sell/trade tables and the club’s fantastic downhill racetrack. The Chinese Auction featured many great items to tempt collectors such as a Since ’68 40th Anniversary set and a Burgundy Sledster that was graciously donated by Luis Tanahara and The Custom Crew.

The meeting ended at noon and everyone moved upstairs to take part in the holiday dinner. The dinner tickets also served as part of multiple raffle drawings that were pulled while everyone enjoyed the buffet. After dinner, Ken Cwikla presented the members of the club staff with some surprise (and well deserved) thank you gifts for all their hard work during the year. Ken was also presented with a 1:18 scale Orange Challenger that was signed by the staff and special guests.

The afternoon continued with a few short speeches by Bob Parker and Mike Zarnock. Both of them provided interesting backgrounds on their careers as well as what collectors have in store for events that they will be a part of in 2009. Mike even hinted that he’ll be making a very exciting announcement (involving Mattel?!) in the near future! I also stepped up to the mic to fill collectors in on what has been happening with diecastAUDIO and the great guests we’ve been having on Saturday Nitro Live. Speeches aside, the special guest who got the most attention was good ol’ Saint Nick who arrived in time to hand out some great gifts to the kids. The day wrapped up with autograph session with Bob and Mike where collectors could order copies of their books and have an opportunity to ask questions in a more up close and personal fashion.

Connecticut Valley Diecast is a great family-friendly club and the staff did an amazing job putting on such a great event. I highly recommend that you check out the club’s monthly meetings if you live anywhere in the New England area. They meet on the first Sunday of the month in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. A meeting schedule and directions can be found on the CVD website. Definitely check them out – you’ll be glad you did!

A recording of my interview with Hot Wheels author, Mike Zarnock is now available on the Saturday Nitro page! Our interview covered many aspects of Mike’s amazing experiences in the world of die cast including Mike’s vast collection, his Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley’s Believe It or Not accomplishments and the numerous books he’s written on Hot Wheels.

This show also featured a call-in from Rhode Island Hot Wheels Club president, Jim Lombari who reminded listeners about the current downhill racing challenge that the club has open to all collectors. Be sure to listen for the details!

Jump straight to the show page here!

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!

Ok, I promise…this will be the only corny pun in this post…but, Hot Wheels Summer Smash 2008 was a “SMASHING” success! An amazing crowd of die cast collectors and enthusiasts took over the two floors and two ballrooms at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick Rhode Island for what was simply the best die cast event New England has seen in years.

Attendees were introduced to non-stop die cast fun right after leaving the registration table where each ticket holder got to spin the Liberty Promotion wheel of chance to walk away with one of over 12 different limited edition die cast pieces including the occasional Drag Bus! In-room trading got off to an early start on Friday afternoon and convention-goers continued to offer up a wide variety of both old and new collectibles from their rooms through-out the weekend.

Saturday offered up a wide variety of events for both kids and adults. Kids downhill and Sizzlers racing kicked off the morning and rolled straight into a visit from the Oscar Meyer WienerMobile as well as Batman and the Batmobile! An additional cast of characters including Spiderman, Shrek and many others joined the mix. One of the highlights for the kids was the opportunity to participate in Batman training school where Batman taught the kids some basic moves, and they were able to help Batman ward off an evil ninja.

The adults enjoyed a variety of racing in addition to the custom contest and the “Create Your Own Custom” seminars. Of course, the highlight of the day was the Summer Smash dinner and charity auction. Despite getting off to a late start, the dinner went smoothly. Convention guests Mike Zarnock, Bob Parker, Lee Pearlman, George Soulakis and David Chang all made brief speeches and got things rolling right into the auction which ran all the way to midnight! Needless to say, the auction attendees didn’t get much in-room trading done on Saturday night – not that the auction left them with any money left to buy!

Sunday’s toy show capped off a great weekend by bringing in fresh faces from the public as well as a few new vendors who weren’t part of the convention. By the time 2pm rolled around, the glazed look on the staff’s eyes indicated it was time to pack up and go. Jim Lombari and his staff deserve a standing ovation for the incredible amount of hard work they put into turning the one day Rhode Island Hot Wheels Club Expo into the full weekend Hot Wheels Summer Smash! I can’t wait to do it all again next year!

For those who might not have followed along with my photo posts throughout the weekend, you can still go check out all the slideshows on the Summer Smash page. Be sure to click on the “Shows” tab at the top of the widget to see all the sets of photos that can be viewed.

diecastAUDIO Bus Update
I’m also proud to report that all 20 of the Pope Designs diecastAUDIO Drag Buses have been sold. 9 of the 10 that went on sale on eBay went in under 2 minutes with the 10th holding out for 44 minutes. During the live sale, 8 of the 10 were sold right away and the remaining 2 went later that night. Thanks again to Bryan Pope for all the hard work in making the diecastAUDIO bus a reality!

David Chang Charity EVO Update
For those who might not have followed the David Chang Pre-Production EVO charity auction on eBay, the winning bid came in at a whopping $1005.00! You can see the auction results here.