Page 12 - HWNewsletteVolume33Issue1#132

The

by Jerry Rouselle
Vending By Sredia Davis The Convention Mania game to play at a quick and competitive pace. There was yet another 1st
Machine Review game continued the in he history of Convention Mania game. The final table has pitted brother

The 2018 Los Angeles 32nd Hot Wheels Convention Vending Machine sessions were excitement at the 32nd against brother, husband against wife and friend against friend. This final
Annual Hot Wheels
table had three first time players. John Sharkey, who finished in 2nd place,
a good time had by all. Jimmy Lu from Hot Wheels Marketing always brings great Convention with a sold and writes “Had a great time. Did not expect to make it past the first
RLC cars and prizes. This year was no different. We had over twenty bonus prizes this out room of players. round. The game is very easy to play and the rules are simple. The game
year for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Hot Wheels brand and Brendon Vetus- All participants had an is a lot of fun and can be enjoyed by young and mature alike. Well worth
key once again mixed the old with the new: out of the cage of Larry Wood, new old equal chance of winning the donation to a wonderful charity”.
stock Real Riders, Speed Demons and Hot Ones with the Mattel Archives New Old the great prizes that
Stock Sticker on each one and signed by Larry Wood. They were placed randomly were up for grabs. With Another first time player and winner Anthony Varuolo tells us “Playing
in the Vending Machine. Thank you Jimmy Lu and Brendon Vetuskey for putting this the room about equally Convention Mania was a tremendous amount of fun. It took me back to
together for even more special Vending Machine Pulls. divided with 1st time when I was a child playing classic family board games. This was my first
This year Mattel added three different past RLC Pink Party Cars so that were plenty players and repeat time playing and everyone was kind and helpful explaining how to play. It
of prizes to go around, the Ferrari Elite 1/24 scale, White 1/18 Volkswagen Drag Bus, players the tables quick- took no time getting into the flow of the game. This is definitely a great
plus more. ly filled. Some of the Convention event!” With all of the money raised going to Children’s Mira-
constants of the Mania cle Network, your next chance to play and experience Convention Mania
There were a lot of new faces this year in vending along with all the regular faces. game includes the will- will be at the 19th Hot Wheels Collectors Nationals April. Myself, along
The vending sessions sell out quickly so buy your vending pulls early! Thanks to Carl ingness of the regular with all the players, would like to thank Collectors Events Unlimited and
Pomponio for everything you do! Thanks also to Cindy Kehus, Steve Reddell, Jeff players at each table to Mattel for donating the great prizes. See you in Illinois.
Buchanan and Jason Hayes! help any new players with the simple rules. It does not take long for the

Thanks to Mark And Jennifer Millhollin for all the time and hard work you do First place winners received a trophy as well as a Hot Wheels Ultimate
Make a wish The Kids scavenger hunt By Greg Hall Garage track set.
Second place received a trophy and a cool Hot Wheels Track Builder
system.
As always, we had a great time at the Make-A-Wish Charity Poker tournament at the 32nd The kid’s scavenger hunt is one of the events I look forward to every con- Third place received a trophy and a Hot Wheels Monster Jam set.
By Greg Hall Collectors Convention in LA this year. I always enjoy getting to see all my poker-playing friends- vention. I get to see all those smiling faces as they come thru registration I’d like to say thank you to everyone that helps in any way with this event.
bright and early on Thursday morning. Everyone who signs up to play in this tournament and sign up and watch them as they try to find all the items on the list. The kids really enjoy it and it gives them something to do while the
Also the parents that lend a hand that makes it easier for those younger
received a special orange ‘69 Plymouth GTX, limited to only 50 pieces. participants. The scavenger Hunt has two categories, 8 and under and parents are doing a little “hunting” of their own. Congrats
9-15. This way the younger “hunters” wound have a better chance at to all the winners.
This year was the 50th Anniversary of Hot Wheels brand and we had an amazing crowd of winning as well. We had about 80 kids join in the fun and only about 45
1700 attendees. It’s no surprise that we ended up with a sold out group of 45 poker players, of those kids turned in their bags by the cut-off time on Saturday. All the
and those 45 there were quite a few first time convention attendees, some of who had never kids found a few extra Hot Wheels in their bag when they picked them up
played poker before. I would like to thank everyone for signing up early for these charity at the coloring contest.
events, it makes it so much easier to run when you know ahead of time, for it enables us to In the 9-15 age group
raise as much as possible for our charity. 1st - Kale Wargo
In the 8 and under group 2nd - Leah Nieves
We started with 5 tables of 9 players, and played down to one winner at each table who 1st - Madalyn Farmer 3rd - Morgan Cassel-
received a limited gold ‘69 Plymouth GTX. Those 5 were Chris Stangler, Jim Fite, Bob Danylak, bury
Marion Taddeo, and Dave Ross. Before we started I let them know that first place would re- 2nd - Jazmine McCormick
ceive a pink Volkswagen Drag Bus limit to 60 pieces, a bronze ‘69 Plymouth GTX limited to 49 3rd - Jason Peters
pieces, a lime ‘69 Plymouth GTX limited to 50 pieces and the 2018 Toy Fair Drag Bus, as well
as a trophy at the finale on Saturday night. Second place would receive a gold Volkswagen T1
Drag Bus limited to 100 pieces, and a lime ‘69 Plymouth GTX. 3rd place received a yellow ‘69
Plymouth GTX.
After about an hour of playing we ended up with our winners. Third place went to Chris Stangler, Second place went to Dave Ross, and this year’s first
place winner was Bob Danylak. I would like to thank everyone that plays in the Poker tournament as well as my great dealers. Everyone does a great
job and it makes this event a lot of fun.

Chapter Meeting 10-19 we discussed were around recruitment, social media usage, amount of
rules/regulations, racing, sharing collections, family oriented environment,
By Carl Pomponio prizes and rewards, communication and leveraging community events to by Joe Alvarado
On Friday at 9am the Hot Wheels Newsletter held our chapter leader support your chapter. There was plenty of detail on how to execute these Once again I was honored to host the Custom Car Seminar at the 32nd
meeting. We had 11 chapters in attendance. We also had a new attendee ideas and concepts. Personally, I left with a few great ideas to implement Annual Connectors Convention in LA. The room was filled with conven-
looking to start a chapter in Hawaii. I am definitely looking to visit them!! in my own chapter. I want to recognize the leaders for being an inspi-
rational leader and continuing to foster new ways to lead your chapter. tion attendees. some of whom had been to several Conventions but had
Without your vision and energy, your chapter may not be as great as it is never attended a customizing seminar before. Everyone was eager to try
The meeting opened up with our introductions and a remembrance of their hand at something new. And though they may have never attempted
Steve Tscherter. Steve was the original Chapter coordinator of the HWNL today. Thank you for all that you do! customizing Hot Wheels before they all had the fire in their heart to give it
prior to my introduction. I credit Steve for inspiring me to continue his a shot. I always say, “There is no wrong way to make a custom car.” How-
work in being the coordinator of the Newsletter chapters. We will miss I want to thank the following chapters for their participation enthusiasm, ever, by attending the seminar attendees can learn some basic techniques
you Steve. feedback and support. All Iowa HWC, New Jersey DCC, NE Ohio Diecast,
Top of Iowa HWC, Rocky Mountain HWC, Windy City HWC, Minnesota and tips to maybe jump start their process and maybe even unlock their
We did something a little different at this meeting after the normal Northland DCC, Indy HWC, South Texas Diecast, Arizona Outlaws, Thurs- hidden talents. With a Power Point presentation, some short videos and
an open forum for questions and answers everyone had fun. I can’t wait to
business activities were satisfied. After 10 years of being the chapter coor- day Night Wheels. Without your chapters and participation none of this is see what this new group of customizers can do in the future. I know that
dinator, I was almost out of ideas and needed the leaders support in how possible. Thanks….See you in Chicago!!! somewhere in the crowd there was a future Custom Contest trophy winner
they are leading their chapters. We had an open forum to discuss what is for sure. I hope to see even more new faces at the 2019 Nationals. If there
working for the chapters that were in attendance. Every leader in atten- is something you’d like to see at the next seminar, please email your sug-
dance had a unique story, action or event that’s helping them succeed gestions to me at Loride57@gmail.com. See you in the Spring!!
and keep their chapters vibrant, interesting and fun. Some of the items

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