Posted on by jtl46

Lamley is headed to Hot Wheels Nationals: Readers, any questions for Mattel, or advice on attending?

A little later this week, I will getting on a plane and flying to a state I have never visited before.

That state is Kentucky, and I will be there for the 15th Hot Wheels Collectors Nationals.  And not only is this is the first time I am visiting the Bluegrass State, but also the first time I will fully attend a Hot Wheels convention.

I have quickly brushed through a Hot Wheels convention before, but only on a Saturday afternoon at the LA convention, and only on a few floors of the room-to-room trading.  And that was only because I was in LA for the Japanese Classic Car Show, and it happened to be on the same day.  The bulk of my convention experience has been at the Matchbox Gathering in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which I have attended each of the last seven years.

But I have gotten numerous requests to attend a Hot Wheels convention, and an invitation was offered for me to come to Kentucky, and I obliged.  I am excited, a little trepidatious, and fully curious.  It should make for a very interesting weekend.

So if you are attending, I will see you there.  If you are not, hopefully I can provide some coverage on what the experience is like.  I plan to do a full recap of the weekend on the blog next week, as well as drop numerous updates throughout on the Lamley Facebook and Instagram pages.  So let me know what you would like to see.

Also, let me know if you have any questions for Mattel.  There should be a Q&A during one of the presentations, but I will also be having some one-on-one time with some Hot Wheels decision makers.  If there is something you want me to ask, within reason, post it here.  I will try to pass it on and get an answer.

Lastly, any advice?  What should I bring?  What should I avoid?  How will I survive?  What is the part I should not miss?  Let me know the best way to do a Hot Wheels Convention.

I look forward to your questions and advice.  Hopefully I can provide something interesting over the weekend…

The convention models we know of so far:  (I will post pics as I learn about more…)

20 Replies to “Lamley is headed to Hot Wheels Nationals: Readers, any questions for Mattel, or advice on attending?”

  1. Yes one major question, WHY does the United Kingdom, miss out on the majority of lines, and the awful distribution of Matchbox, Will we be getting the new super line, and why is the UK so much more expensive than everywhere else, a single W or Matchbox can cost up to £1.99 or $3.00+, why does Mattel not have a dedicated online sales dept in the UK, where collectors can buy each and every model they want, it would cut out the middleman, the collector would be happy, and sales would be far better.

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  3. 1] Bring comfortable walking shoes for the abundance of room to rooms open, 2] extra cash since ATMs will be either scarce or quickly drained; use your credit card for meals etc etc , and 3] roll a soft/duffle type bag into your large suitcase for all the “extra” cars you didn't know you were going to buy! If this is the first time LAMLEY is going, enjoy it all, drink it all in, its HOT WHEELS [with a sprinkling of other diecast thrown in] HEAVEN!

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  5. I am going to be attending as well, my first hot wheels convention ever, and probably the only one I will ever attend, since it is close to me. Looking forward to it, and hope to meet you at the convention Lamley.

    Later,

    Rod

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  6. I don't know if they'd give you an answer to this question, but I would love to know whether Mattel would be able to sublicense Ferrari through May Cheong even if it means splitting profits with a competitor.

    Also, I'd ask, if Ferrari will be absent from the Hot Wheels lineup for an indefinite period, will Mattel compensate by adding more classic Lamborghinis to the lineup? Mattel has an extensive collection of 21st century Lamborghini castings and I buy them, do not get me wrong, but modern Lamborghinis are all kind of samey-looking (aside from the Aventador J) and I`d love to see them go back to the 60s with a 350 or 400GT or the Espada with the muscle car headlights or skip ahead to the 1980s and put out a Jalpa or the oddball SUV LM002. (I`m assuming a Miura is out of the question because they already put it out as a Matchbox.)

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  7. At the very least, Mattel should put a Lamborghini Countach back in the mainlines… I think it`s been years since we`ve seen them put any of the Countach castings on a blue card even though they still put out the 25th anniversary Countach casting every once in a while in the 5-packs and some series like Speed Machines. I`d love to see a Countach in the Retro Entertainment series; I`m surprised they haven`t already put out one for CANNONBALL RUN.

    Also, speaking of Speed Machines (as in the 2010-11 series), I`d love to see a new series of those, especially if they did them all with die-cast chassis this time.

    I`d also ask if they`re ever considering putting out a version of the AMC Pacer as the WAYNE`S WORLD “Mirthmobile” in the Retro Entertainment line. I'd accept even just the Packin' Pacer painted blue with flames even if the rear engine would be totally inaccurate to the movie car.

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  11. I have some questions:

    1) What's the status of the 2015 Mix E Zamacs? Mix G bins are showing up with the 2nd wave of Zamacs and the 1st wave are nowhere to be found.

    2) What retailers (hobby/online) are going to be carrying Entertainment Mix 4?

    3) Can you express the collectors' displease over the slanted-up lips on race cars? They look horrible.

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  13. I have many
    Why is it each year the atabdard T-Hunts suck
    Why did you lose the Ferrari license
    Why ruin the C7R and Viper with those ugly front lips
    Why not go back to making more real cars and less generic models
    Can you please make the
    Veyron Ss
    Adventador SV
    Zonda Cinque
    Ssc Aero
    Hennessey Venom Gt
    Holden Commodore Ve
    Ford Falcon FG
    Chrysler 300c
    Cadilliac CTS-V
    Aston Martin V12 Vantage
    BMW M5 M6 M4 (With prooer lights)
    Redo the C7R Viper GTS-R
    How about More Australian And Eurpoean models rather than generic shit that kids like when adults want
    Muscle Tuner Exotic

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  17. A Few More questions –

    1) – Can we please have more British models, real, not stupid Taxi's or three wheelers, decent real stuff.

    2) – You have done some stunning Lotus and Aston classics, will you be doing more

    3) – Now you have BMW in the range, what about Rolls Royce, either HW or MBX (MBX Please)

    4) – The Continental GT has been a great model for both brands, could/will you do other models from the range, and maybe a few classics too.

    5) – You seem to have a weird association with Ford, if you take out the various Mustangs, there are very few new models, what about a Fusion/Mondeo, C-Max, Taurus etc.

    6) – Chrysler is a huge brand, why is there not any new models from that brand, 200, 300 etc

    7) – Asia is fast becoming a massive market for everything, would Mattel consider making some Chinese models, MG, Roewe, BYD and so on

    8) – Luxury brands are doing massive business, so where are the S-Class, Jag XJ, Audi A8, BMW 7-Series and the like, why is Mattel not interested in doing cars like these, in favour of cheap, garish plastic generic rubbish (please reword IF you ask the question).

    9) – And Lastly Why does both MBX and HW cost so much more than anywhere else, we have seen HW and MBX in the USA at 79c, which at today's rates is 53p, add on 20% vat and that takes it to 64p, yet we are charged up to £1.99, or $2.97, how can this be right, if we were not being ripped off, there would be far more sales, so why does Mattel not insist on a RRP, like other brands do, and achieve

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