I sat at a table that personified the heart of Hot Wheels collectors-people
from all walks of life-the retired Japanese couple; John,the Grip from L.A.;
Seth, the baseball coach; Burt, the accountant from Burbank, the two Japanese
businessmen, the Japanese couple and their two year old daughter, and me, the
Writer-all from very different walks of life, all joined by our common love,
not for only a simple metal object with wheels, but for the simpler time it
represents, the time when all we had to worry about were our grades, getting
home for dinner on time, and saving up our allowance so we could go buy that
Hot Wheel we wanted. The meal was good, the collectibles collectible-but the
comradery was irreplaceable.
By the by, I interviewed dozens of collectors throughout the day from as far
away as New Jersey, but the winner of the "I travelled the farthest" award
goes to the two guys from Tokyo, Japan (and the mom, dad and daughter, too).
UPDATED 10/21/00
The Madman behind the 14th annual Hot Wheels Convention is none other than
Tomart's Price Guide to Hot Wheels author Mike Strauss. I facetiously refer
to him as "Madman" because anyone attempting to coordinate so many people and
events over a single four day period must surely be crazy. Mr. Strauss'
blend of dry humor and seemingly grouchy demeanor hide what proved to be a
really nice guy.
After chasing him around for a few weeks trying to get an
invitation to attend the event, he opened his doors to me and surprised me
with his unexpected depth. His compatriots informed me that due to his
overwhelming list of things to do that he'd developed an interesting defense
mechanism-kind of an 'out of sight, out of mind' frame of reference. If I
wanted something from him I needed to stand directly before him and bug him
until he gave in. My editor had asked him for a few goodies from the show
that we might give away to you, our readers, in our Lotto contest. Mr.
Strauss promised me that he had "a bunch of things around
here...somewhere...", but then got distracted by a visitor to his room. I
later reminded him again, and again something stole his attention from me. I
finally admitted to him that I wasn't in my nature to be a pest(!), and I asked
him directly if he was going to give us anything. He said to see him after
the show, which, according to his people, is the Kiss of Death (later, at
dinner, he succumbed to my persistence and gave me a car). Now all this
sounds like sour grapes on my part, but it's necessary to illustrate how
contrary this guy is.
Working with about two hours sleep over the past few
days and a gallon or two of Coke (the kind you drink) flowing through his
veins, Mike Strauss hosted an endless parade of Hot Wheels Newsletter Club
members and Convention guests through his hotel room, which is best described
as a hodge podge Hot Wheels collector's Heaven. Guests flowed constantly
through his quarters gawking at his displayed cars like the proverbial
thirtyish kids in a candy shop. On display in a large showcase (whose
contents was valued at 1.5 million or so) was a collection of some of the
rarest and most desirable Hot Wheels known to exist-everything from the
'surfboards in the back' Beach Bombs to prototype after prototype one of a
kinds, Mr. Strauss' treasure trove was eye candy for everyone lucky enough to
get him to open his door.
And underneath that Grinchy exterior beat a heart
three sizes too big, proven when he played Santa to a group of attending
youngsters. Strauss handed out presents in the form of next year's #1
Treasure Hunt and #2 First Edition Surfin' School Bus only to boys and girls
ages 3-14 who had a paid admission to the show. After quizzing them on such
subjects as how many hairs they had on their head to how old their mothers
were, Mr. S traded a hug for the prizes, with strict instuctions "...under no
circumstances are you to give this to mommy or daddy...". Club Members also received a pink Code 3 VW Bug (Code 3 means that the car was altered independently, not by Mattel).
Formerly making a living in the gourmet foods business, Mr. Strauss has
been collecting since 1981. His most famous writing endeavor is Tomart's
Guide, which everyone uses as the Bible when pricing their cars. He started
the Hot Wheels Newsletter, his quarterly publication that provides
information to collectors on all things Hot Wheels, in 1985. Strauss began
these annual conventions in 1986 in Toledo, Ohio, with 120 people showing up.
1987 found him in Long Beach, CA, with 200 conventioneers attending. By
1998 that number had swelled to 1,200, and this year's record crowd topped
1,400 paid guests, with over 300 turned away at the gate (due to safety
regulations and fire codes and such). People came from far away lands like
Germany, England, Australia and Japan to buy, sell and trade. With tons of
special events, designer signings, the Michael Kollins Awards banquet, the
Ronald McDonald House Car Sale and Auction (see separate article), Sizzlers
and Hot Wheels drag races (see separate article), and thirteen floors of room
after room of dealers and collectors hawking their wares, this was an
enormous event that went off without a hitch, except when the lights went out
in the entire hotel, and the fire trucks arrived. It turned out to be a
false alarm (nice try, Dale).
You can get in touch with Mr. Strauss is subscribe to the Newsletter and
become a Club member at the following addresses:
Mike Strauss
26 Madera Ave.
San Carlos, CA 94070-2937
Phone (650) 591-6482, after 6 pm PST-or- at http://members.aol.com/HWNEWSLTR or by typing in 'Hot
Wheels Newsletter' on your search engine.
Believe me, if you attend one Hot Wheels event in your lifetime, this is
the one you want to make it to. I met grandfather-son-grandson-granddaughter
collector families(The D'Angelos of Murietta, CA: Larry, Bill, Ren and
Chey pictured at right), mother and daughter teams, eighty year old single women,
father-son teams, husband/wife teams, business executives, truck drivers-you
name it. all drawn together by our love for a simple toy and a good cause,
and all they both represent. Pretty cool, hunh?
UPDATED 10/24/00
The Fourteenth Annual Hot Wheels Convention drew collectors and dealers from
as far away as Japan, Australia, England and Germany.
They also flocked to
southern California from such U.S. home states as New Jersey, Idaho,
Illinois, Washington-you name it-to join the locals in the fun and games.
Here's a collection of the people that made this such a special event:
Ken Blazer, from Chicago, Il (pictured at left). Everyone knew what convention he was there for!
Susan and Jim from the Hyatt Regency shipped boxes filled with Hot
Wheels purchases for guests. Not an quick task!
Mark Beller from San Gabriel emptys his bank account using an ATM strategically positioned directly across from the Convention souvenier store.
R. Scott Faulkner and Mike Eichinger worked their tails off raising money for the Ronald McDonald House Charity and doubled as bouncers, guides and schleppers thoughout the four day event.
Thanks to everyone who made my time at the Hot Wheels con great!
SCARABOTO
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