The 2010 Magical Weekend of Cars has come and gone, but not without many great memories of the good times had be all who attended. The weekend was also packed full of many great convention and souvenir cars to choose from.

Collectors who weren’t able to attend the Magical Weekend are in luck as limited quantities of several convention pieces have been made available in the DiecastSpace store on a first come, first served basis. This is definitely a prime opportunity to pick up some great pieces like the MiQ Willmott Dairy and the official Liberty Promotions Drag Bus, Dairy and Camaro.

Speaking of Liberty Promotions, the remaining alternate color convention bus and Rebel Run versions (submitted randomly into orders) are also available for purchase at LibertyPromotions.com.

My multi-part pictorial post on GreenLight’s current Motor World release concludes with the Classics Series. Castings for this series include the Land Rover Range Rover, the Volkswagon 30, the Volkswagon Samba Bus, the Mercedes Sprinter and the Mini Cooper. Be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this pictorial series if you happened to miss them!

Click any image to see the larger versions

As previously reported, Liberty Promotions has a lot in store for the attendees of the 2010 Magical Weekend of Cars which rolls into Orlando, Florida in just over a months time. Pictures of the official MWoC Drag Bus were released a short while ago and will be available to convention goers starting on June 24th.

Can’t make it to the convention? Online quantities will be available to Liberty Legionaires starting with Colossus level members on June 24th as well. However, if you’ve been on the fence when it comes to joining the fun at the convention itself, then you’re definitely in luck. DiecastSpace and Liberty Promotions have teamed up to offer collectors all the “indecisive” collectors out there a little incentive to see what the Magical Weekend of Cars is all about.

Head over to the 2010 MWoC Drag Bus page on LibertyPromotions.com and you’ll find a special coupon code that will save you 20% off your ticket purchase to the Magical Weekend over at ToyCarConventions.com.

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.

To say that Liberty Promotions is participating in the upcoming DiecastSpace Magical Weekend of Cars would be gross understatement. Fans of Liberty’s products, design and commitment to high quality standards will not want to miss the many fantastic events they have planned for the show at Disney this summer.

Here’s a rundown of what collectors can look forward to:

The Liberty Legion Exclusive:

Liberty Legion Members will be able to snag another Limited-edition Hot Wheels^® VW Drag Bus designed to celebrate the Magical Weekend of Cars. Collectors who might not be Legion members can join for free at the convention in order to purchase this bus. Can’t make it to the Florida? Liberty Promotions will also offer the Drag Bus on their website during the convention and will ship it the following week!

Magical Weekend Registration Cars:

Liberty Promotions is also producing two excellent cars that will be part of the Magical Weekend registration package. Each registration pack will include both of the following castings:

• - Hot Wheels^® ’67 Camaro
• - Hot Wheels^® Dairy Delivery

Charity VW Drag Bus:

Liberty Promotions will also be creating the Official charity Hot Wheels^® VW Drag Bus that will be available only to convention attendees who purchase the Drag Bus Breakfast add-on ticket.

But wait, there’s more..and its FREE!

Stop by the Liberty Promotions booth and take advantage of these great freebies:

• - Spin the prize wheel and you’re guaranteed to win!  Hit the Super Prize space and you’ll win something really rare or valuable!
• - Every kid who comes to the booth gets a free car!
• - Free Liberty Legion rank patches! (Discoverus, Commendus, Prominus, & Titanus shield patches available.)
• - Free Liberty Legion buttons!

Liberty Promotions Treasure Quest:

Last, but certainly not least Liberty has created a unique event that is sure to be one of the major highlights of the weekend. Go on a quest for hidden treasure!  Scrolls have been hidden around the hotel resort!  Which means it’s up to you to locate a scroll leading you to the Liberty Loot. 

• - Clues for finding the scrolls will be released throughout the convention according to the following schedule:
  • Wednesday, June 23rd at 10pm
  • Thursday, June 24th at 6pm
  • Friday, June 25th at 8pm
• - Each scroll is a certificate for one extremely limited (only 25 made!) Liberty Promotions car (the loot).

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Well Jeff, you’ve got me all excited about all these new limited edition cars that will be coming this summer, but where are the pictures..?!?! All in good time my fellow collectors. Rest assured that you’ll be able to see these new pieces right here as soon as they become available.

Until then, be sure to visit ToyCarConventions.com to get all the latest information on event tickets and accommodations. This is going to be one event that even Mickey and Minnie won’t miss!

Here’s a look at some of the latest products from GreenLight Collectibles that will be appearing in stores and online.* Found anything that isn’t on the list? Please submit it via the contact page and we’ll update the list to your credit.

Hobby Collection Series, Release 5: ’10 Mustang GT; ’64 Plymouth Fury Sport; ’69 Ford Mustang BOSS 302; ’71 AMC Javelin AMX T/A; ’09 Corvette C6 convertible; and a ’67 Chevy Impala SS. All pictured below.

New Motor World, Release 2: ’55 Chevy; ’56 Ford F-100; BMW Z4; ’53 Caddy Eldorado; Jaguar XK; Lamborghini Gallardo; Land Rover Range Rover; Volkswagon 30; Mercedes Sprinter; Mini Cooper; ’65 Shelby Cobra; Volkswagon bus. All pictured below.

* – Please note that this list was compiled based on information gathered by collectors from online research and personal finds at retail locations. The ability to find select pieces will vary based on geographic location and the frequency that your local retailer refreshes their stock.

The "In the Stores" column is brought to you courtesy of the Connecticut Valley Diecast Club.

Drag Bus collectors attending the 2010 DiecastSpace Super Convention will have the opportunity to snag one of these limited edition creations from Diecast Hall of Fame inductee, Bryan Pope. Each piece features Redline Real Riders, two tone paint, original graphics and will come mounted in an acrylic case.

The sale will take place on Friday, February 19th at 5:30pm in front of Salon 4 at Circus Circus Hotel and Casino. The sale will be on a first come first served basis and collectors may not line up earlier than 5pm. Only 20 buses were created and will sell for $100 each with a limit of one per person.

The 2009 holiday offering from Liberty Promotions is sure to keep your collection warm this winter season. The Regular Run is limited to 1300 pieces and features candy apple red paint, green windows and green-line real rider tires. The Rebel Run version is limited to 200 pieces and features winter green paint, red windows and red-line tires.

Liberty Legion members can purchase the Winter Wagon based on the following schedule:

• Colossus & Titanus: Monday, November 30th at 9am CST
• Prominus: Wednesday, December 2nd at 9am CST
• Commendus: Friday, December 4th at 9am CST
• Discoverus: Monday, December 7th at 9am CST

Make the jump over to the Liberty Promotions website for more details and ordering information.

It looks like we’re still being treated to a few more surprises with just over a week left until the start of Hot Wheels Summer Smash 2 in Warwick, Rhode Island! This time around its a sweet look at Vince “V-Man” Mosley’s Summer Smash Drag Bus and Dairy. I can’t wait to see these in person! It certainly looks like Summer Smash attendees will have plenty of limited edition customs to choose from this year!

Visit the official Hot Wheel Summer Smash website for information on tickets, accommodations and event activities. Please note that the Warwick Crowne Plaza has been sold out and additional rooms are being made available at alternate hotels nearby.

Those who are familiar with Neil Rambaldi’s Redline Poker Tournaments know that the act of winning comes with more perks than just bragging rights. The potential of winning one of Neil’s Mattel-produced Redline Poker Buses is well worth the price of admission to his events. However, if you play play like I do, then the chances of winning that top prize are slim to none!

For that very reason I was pretty psyched to learn that Paul Biddle from The Toy Peddler will be sending one of those coveted buses to Summer Smash to be given away to one lucky attendee. The drawing is open to all members of The Toy Peddler attending the convention that sign up, along with all new members that register while there. You will have the choice of winning the Bus or 250.00 dollars cash. Just drop your registration in the Toy Peddler box at Summer Smash for your chance to win!

Be sure to visit the official Hot Wheels Summer Smash web site for more information on tickets, accommodations and scheduled activities.

Just in case you aren’t on Chris “Night Stalker” Walker’s email list yet (and why aren’t you..?!), you might be interested in taking a look at his newest custom to honor his 2009 induction into the Diecast Hall of Fame. He even cast a replica of the top of the Hall of Fame ring that each person received as part of their induction!

Here’s what Chris had to say about the bus:

“In celebration of my being inducted into the Die-cast hall of Fame, I created a special car to commemorate that. My favorite casting, with my favorite color and graphics. Spectra-flame Pink over chrome, with gold accents. Gold Chassis details, wing, rocker panel, and gold wheels with real riders. This has got to be one of my favorite customs so far. The pink on this one just glows.

This one comes in an acrylic case numbered. Real Rider tires… HOT! I will offer some of these for sale on the website coming this Monday, July 27th. So you guys will get first crack at them as usual. So get them while they’re hot folks.”

This bus is limited to 20 pieces and will be sold for $125 each on a first come, first served basis starting at 6pm PST/9pm EST on Monday July 27th, 2009 on Chris’s official site.

[via alienprojects.com]

2009 has been a busy year for Bryan Pope. His work has not only gained the attention of collectors, but has attracted convention promoters as well. Limited runs of Pope commissioned pieces have appeared at the Super Convention, the Collector Nationals in Reston and the Hotlanta Collector Experience. Even more pieces will also be part of the upcoming Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels and Summer Smash conventions.

With a list of conventions like that you can certainly imagine the great selection of limited edition pieces event attendees have been able to take advantage of! However, Pope Designs has not forgotten their most loyal customers; their ONLINE customers!

On Wednesday July 22nd, at 9pm EST, the classic Pope Designs online sale returns with the VW Dragulance! In order to keep the price down, the quantity has been raised a bit to a total of 23 pieces in the run. This will also give collectors a better chance at obtaining one during the typical online mad-dash. 19 of the 23 will be the standard edition with the remaining 4 being the coveted “Diamond Edition.”

Each bus will sell for $90 (USD) plus $7.50 (USD) for shipping under eBay seller name “pope-designs.” Visit the Pope Designs website for more details on this highly detailed piece that you don’t want to miss!

[via popedesigns.com]

The talented Bryan Pope of Pope Designs has signed up to created a limited run of VW Drag Buses for this year’s Hot Wheels Summer Smash! The bus (shown below) will be limited to just 30 pieces. Each bus will be packaged in a baggy with a matching header card. “…the 30 piece run will be available in a variety of ways during the Smash. Pricing is still to be determined.

And if that’s not awesome enough, rumor has it that Vince “V-Man” Mosley will be creating a matching Dairy Delivery that will also be available at the Smash! Stay tuned!

[via hotwheelssummersmash.com]

Liberty Promotions returns with their next sale featuring a return of the “Surfin” series with the super cool “Cal Woodie” and “Waikiki Wagon.” The standard issue Cal Woodie comes in ocean teal while the Rebel Run version will sport classic white. The Wakiki Wagon standard issue will be adorned in cool coral while the Rebel Run will be dressed in violet.

Both buses are certainly looking great especially with the whitewalls. And how bout that side-mounted surfboard?! Sweet! Here are a few shots to peek your interest.

The standard run consists of 1,300 pieces and the Rebel Run is limited to just 200 pieces. Liberty Legion members will get 2000 points for this purchase while supplies last.

The sale schedule for Liberty Legion members is a follows:

Colossus: starts June 8 at 9am central
Titanus: starts June 8 at 9am central
Prominus: starts June 10 at 9am central
Commendus: starts June 12 at 9am central
Discoverus: starts June 12 at 9am central

Please visit the Liberty Promotions website for more information and additional pictures of these awesome buses. Hang 10!

[via libertypromotions.com]

All it takes is one look at the work of Jimmy “The Boxman” Chavez to know that this is one creative guy who continues to innovate in the area of custom diecast presentation. This time around, Boxman returns with some really sweet diecast offerings to chew on – literally!

The idea for creating these Double Bubble themed pieces has been kicking around in Jimmy’s mind for the last five years. His original concept involved creating a package that resembled the traditional round shaped bubble gum machine. As the project began to come to light, he discovered that the 1950′s vending style gum-ball machines were square, which made for a more realistic blister shape. All the graphics on the blister card and tampos for these pieces were designed by Jimmy as well.

Click any image to see the larger versions

The thing that truly makes this release special is that each one is made on a “build-to-order” basis. Orders for both the VW Drag Bus and Dairy Delivery version can be placed through DieHard-DieCast.

[via diehard-diecast.com]

Attendees of this summer’s Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6 certainly have no shortage of events to choose from and its shaping up to be one heck of a weekend. One such event will be Neil Rambaldi’s Redline Poker Club Tournament. The tournament will include two levels of play:

Open Admission

• - Texas Hold’em-style play
• - Entrants capped at 50 Players
• - $100 Buy-in
• - Winner will receive a very limited
• - Mattel-produced VW Drag Bus “Poker Edition”

Private Game

• - Limited to 16 Players
• - $200 Buy-in
• - Winner receives a “Poker Edition” VW Bus, special trophy, and $1000 worth of BP’d Redlines!

If you’re any good at poker at all, then one look at the Mattel-produced winner’s bus will be all the persuading you need to enter the game! Act fast, as seats are limited.

Click the image to see a larger version

Registration for either of these games can be done thru email via contact@wwhw6.com

[via wwhw6.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

Bryan Pope of Pope Designs continues to knock’em out of the park with this new bus design that will come to life as the “Paradise Road” event car at the Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 6. Each convention attendee who submits a VW Drag Bus or Beach Bomb into the Paradise Road display will receive this Pope Designs creation. Each piece submitted can be loose or carded. Slots are limited and are filling up fast, so be sure to register on the Paradise Road VW Drag Bus and Beach Bomb Reunion page before its too late.

Click the image to see a larger version

[via www.wwhw6.com]

Liberty Promotions popular Superflames Series returns with issue #2 – The Burnout Bus. The regular run will consist of 1300 pieces and features bright green flame on a gloss black body. A second glance also shows the reverse pattern on black flame on bright green! The Rebel Run version consists of 200 pieces and will be blue on black (and black on blue!). As always, Rebel Runs are randomly inserted into orders.

Here is the sale schedule for Liberty Legion club members:

• – Titanus: Starts Friday January 9th at 9am CST
• – Prominus: Starts Monday January 12th at 9am CST
• – Commendus: Starts Thursday January 15th at 9am CST
• – Discoverus: Starts Monday January 19th at 9am CST

The price is set at $26.99 each. Be sure to act fast as Liberty buses sell out every time!

[via libertypromotions.com]

Back in November diecastAUDIO readers were treated to a glimpse of the e-sheet rendering for the upcoming Pope Designs Saturday Nitro VW Drag Bus. Now you can feast your eyes on this photo of the completed “Diamond” Edition of the bus featuring Red Line Real Rider tires!

[via diecastspace.com]

Just in case a little extra nudge is needed to convince you to attend the DiecastSpace.com Super Convention next February, I’d like to submit this image of the upcoming Pope Designs Saturday Nitro Drag Bus! From the looks of it, we’re guaranteed to see this one sell out in minutes! Besides, you just can’t go wrong with Shane at the wheel and me riding shotgun!

Click to see the full image

Stay tuned for additional information on when, where and how much!

[via diecastspace.com]

Customs fans rejoice! An extra special 1 of 1 Pope Designs “LOCO AVENTURA” VW Drag Bus has been put up for auction (only on eBay) for those Pope Designs fans who can’t make it to the die cast exhibition in Mexico [and even for those who can; Pope doesn't discriminate!].

It features a FIERY PEARL RED, WHITE, AND GREEN FLAMED paint job to honor the Mexican exhibition. It also features Real Rider White Wall tires and a gleaming chrome chassis! This unique bus will be complemented by a 10 bus run of an alternate paint schemed bus to be sold exclusively in Mexico City at the Sunday September 8th toy show. That version will feature an enamel red, white, and green flamed paint scheme with Pro-circuit rimmed tires.

It’s not often Pope Designs offers a 1 of 1 of anything so you can expect this bus to be highly sought after!

Bookmark this auction, break out the piñata, salsa and cervezas, and celebrate Pope Design’s first international exploration! It’s the start of a “world” of possibilities for Pope Designs!

Click either image to see them up close!

Note: at the time of this posting, the bus has 5 bids and is currently selling for $314.99!

[via pope-designs on eBay]

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.

We’re only one day away from the start of Hot Wheels Summer Smash 2008 in Warwick, Rhode Island and the excitement is building! Liberty Promotions is playing a huge part in the Smash by producing many of the awesome convention cars that will be available to convention attendees. An e-mail blast from Liberty has confirmed that the official Summer Smash Drag Bus will be made available to members of the Liberty Legion starting with “Titanus” level members who can purchase on Saturday, August 23rd.

What the bus actually looks like will be kept a secret until it is revealed live at Summer Smash on Friday, August 22nd. Until then, Liberty is only letting collectors know that “sparkling sunbursts light up the sides of this bus, and the stylish Hot Wheels Summer Smash logo adorns the roof.”

Pictures of the bus will be made available on the Liberty Promotions website once the bus in unveiled. Alternatively, you can follow all the action from the convention right here on diecastAUDIO where we’ll be posting photos and video to share the fun with all you can;t be there in person.

Its with great pride and pleasure that I introduce to you, the first ever diecastAUDIO VW Drag Bus! This ultra-limited piece is the result of the hard work and incredible talents of Bryan Pope of Pope Designs and had been designed to appeal to diecastAUDIO and VW Drag bus fans alike. Not only is this the first time I’ve ever commissioned a piece of die-cast that will be available to collectors, but its also the official debut of the brand new website logo that was also created by Pope Designs!

The diecastAUDIO VW Drag Bus sports a sun-kissed silver custom paint job, hand painted details and will be mounted in an acrylic case – all for only $80.00! We also couldn’t let these special debuts go by without cranking up the exclusivity of the bus by making sure that there’s a Diamond Edition as well! The Diamond Edition will feature white letter, Real Rider tires to set it apart from the standard edition.

Unlike the traditional offerings from Pope Designs, there will be 2 ways that everyone can try to obtain this exclusive bus. It will be sold ONLINE and LIVE at this year’s inaugural SUMMER SMASH Convention in Rhode Island. There will be a total of 25 buses produced in all, with 20 available for sale. We will hold back (1) Diamond Edition and (4) Regular models for special guests. Here are the details of the sale:

Online
• Date: Friday, August 22nd 2008
• Time: 9PM EST, 6PM PST
• Where: eBay, Seller Name: pope-designs
• Sale Name: diecastAUDIO VW Drag Bus
• Quantity: 8 Standard; 2 Diamond
• Price: $80.00 + $10 S/H

Summer Smash

• Date: Friday, August 22nd 2008
• Time: 10PM EST
• Where: Hotel Room TBA
• Seller Name: Bryan Pope
• Quantity: 8 Standard; 2 Diamond
• Price: $80.00, Cash Only!

Pope Designs guarantees all sales of the Diamond Edition version (both online and live at Summer Smash) to be completely random and fair so that everyone has a chance at obtaining one. Once all the buses are sold, no more will be produced, so we hope that everyone interested will be able to purchase one.

Special thanks to Pope Designs for all the time, effort and hard work that went into making this bus a reality!

Take care and we look forward to seeing you at SUMMER SMASH!

[via popedesigns.net]