Well, I intended to have this update posted by Memorial Day, certainly before the end of the month. I actually had Memorial Day off, as did many Americans. However, that Sunday afternoon a supervisor called me and advised me that the truck schedule had been changed. The truck was in fact coming in on Monday, so I had to be there.

Obviously this necessitated the shuffling of priorities, and some things were de-prioritized, this update in particular.

This update has fewer photos than usual, because I had to leave the meeting early to attend a friend’s graduation. So, with no further ado, let’s get to the photos!

May 2017

We start off this update with a shout-out to Doug, who RAOK’d me with yet another McTimeMachine! With my own original, and the one I got from Big Tractor Mike back in March, that’s three of just this variation alone.

My DeLorean collection is growing by leaps and bounds!

Here we have the Midas Monkey, the Hot Wheels toy based on the car designed by Gas Monkey Garage for Mattel to make into a Hot Wheels toy. (Feel free to diagram that sentence and get back to me on it.) This specific one features some customizations by a guest from the old Hot Nutz Club (the precursor to Suncoast Diecasters), not the least of which are the redline Real Riders in place of the stock FTEs.

And right now you’re thinking, “But – but it’s still inside the blister!”. Yes; yes, it is.

Back to Doug again. He brought in this hand-crafted hay hauler so’s BTM could fit it with some replacement chains. Did I say hand-crafted? Yes, indeed. The undercarriage is 3D-printed, and the chains are of course metal. But the floor and cage structure are all cut, painted, stained and assembled by Doug.

Young man with a hobby.

This is a Ferrari 512 M, by Solido, at 1/43-scale, from Bob’s collection.

The spoiler on this model is adjustable.

If you’ll recall, back in May of 2014, Bob brought in a nice selection of Gran Toros vehicles. Gran Toros were a line of 1/43-scale cars sold in Italy by Mebetoys under the brand name Sputofuoco (“Spitfire”). Mattel bought Mebetoys, and re-branded (Branding!) the line as Hot Wheels / Gran Toros. They also introduced Hot Wheels models Twin Mill, Silhouette and Mantis into the line. (Yes, at 1/43-scale.)

This is a Porsche Carrera 10. This is actually a pre-Mattel model. It bears the Mebetoys name and logo on the base.

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…And here we have the piece of resistance, a model that’s actually branded as Mattel. In fact, this one is branded like some people get tattoos: Mattel, Mebetoys, Sputafuoco, Hot Wheels and Heisse Räder.

That’s, like, *all* the markets.

This is the Chevrolet Astro II. And no, it’s not just a Mebetoys fantasy model. It’s based on the actual Chevy concept vehicle.

Yes, its spare and cover are missing. This does *not* subtract from the model’s cool factor.

Oddly enough, considering the few photos in this update, I had a bit of time choosing among them for our FotM. In the end (or, at the end, which is where we are), I decided on the Astro II. Older Hot Wheels models are by definition rare. To have a model which is from a native 1/43-scale import line, with frankly a somewhat misunderstood history, and yet is nonetheless legitimately branded as a Mattel / Hot Wheels product, is to have a model that is truly among the rarest of the rare. Congratulations, Bob!; your Gran Toros Chevy Astro II is Suncoast Diecasters‘ Find of the Month(*) for May of 2017!

See you at our June meeting!

~WM