Two from the Gathering: The cambered & stretched Honda Civic from 78toy4dr, and the uber-detailed Toyota Tacoma from Franklin2700…

Yes, it has been awhile since we did As is the Custom.  Three weeks to be precise.  The Matchbox Gathering will do that.

Prep and the event itself doesn’t give us any time to review all the custom submissions we have received, so we have to wait.  And finally we are working on it.  There are literally hundreds of submissions to work through.  As is the Custom is coming.  We promise.

In the meantime, we have a couple of treats to show you.  We returned home from Albuquerque with two amazing customs, and they deserve to get their own post.  Both were done by customizers we have featured before, but it is really a treat to be able to photograph these customs here at Lamley.

The first is from Albuquerque resident and Instagramer Chris H, better known as @78toy4dr on IG.  We have always been impressed not only with Chris’s immense talent, but his propensity to make creative and clean creations.  So it was a total treat to meet Chris on Sunday at the Gathering Toy Show.  Chris pulled me out of a crowd based on the JDM Legends t-shirt I was wearing the day before (I am predictable), and asked if I wanted to see his customs in person.

Of course I did, but from the work I had seen before, I knew there was another person who would want to see them too, so I introduced Chris to Mattel Designer Miguel Lopez.  At that point I just stood back as Miguel ogled over each of Chris’s customs, even noting that many had been seen by members of the Mattel Design team when they were featured on Lamley.

There was one element in particular that Miguel honed in on: Chris’s cambered wheels and stretched tires, made from Matchbox 5-spoke wheels.  We won’t give away any of Chris’s secrets, but what he has created is simply stunning.

As you will see in the pics, Chris has cambered all four wheels, and then given the wheels a stretched tire look.  And if the aesthetics aren’t enough, the car rolls.  And rolls well.  It is the kind of gap that Stance Nation would be more than proud to show, but amazingly done on a Hot Wheels Honda Civic.

By the end of the day, we found ourselves returning with said Civic in our collection.  This was a tremendous gift to receive, and we wanted to show it off.  Chris was worried that our close-up photos would expose some flaws in his work.  Nope.  This model is truly amazing.

Thanks Chris.

Honda Civic EF by @78toy4dr – Instagram

The other model comes from Brian, aka Franklin2700.  We dubbed him “Steady Hands” awhile ago, because of his ability to detail standard Matchbox and Hot Wheels models freehand.  The details can be big or minute, but he enhances any model he takes on.

Brian was at it again, this time with the just released Matchbox Toyota Tacoma.  There is a lot of equipment in the back of that Tacoma, but little detail.  That is until Brian got his hands on it.  Pay particular attention to the ropes in the back.  That should be enough proof of Brian’s talent and skill.

We love when what seem to be tiny enhancements totally change a model.  If you saw Brian’s collection of customs, you would be more than envious.

Thanks Brian.

Matchbox Toyota Tacoma by Franklin2700

Seeing these two customs was a huge highlight of the Gathering.  We are glad we were able to give them the photo treatment here…