The Weekend of Wheels combined two events, The Diecast Super Convention and Toy Show. The first day of the show was Thursday, so we arrived early to find our way around. The show as unique in the fact that the whole hotel (Ahern Hotel and Conference Center) was reserved for the show and its participants. They allowed in room trading so buyers and sellers could go from hotel room to hotel room throughout the whole week which added a new dynamic to the experience.
The convention area was two floors in a building adjacent to the hotel. You enter on the second floor to exhibits and vendors. Some exhibits were already set up and some vendors were still in the process of getting set up. The first exhibit you see is a CARS exhibit done with Matchbox size cars. The owner of the exhibit runs a website to help other with similar interest in finding Disney Pixar Cars and Plane collectables. You can visit his website CarsTheToys.com.
His private collection which was on display was very impressive and had a lot of detail. The longer you looked the more you noticed.
We wandered around the second floor looking a some of the exhibits but before we went downstairs, we just so happen to see Eric Estrada who gave the wife a big smile
We then headed downstairs where most of the displays were set up. As you can imagine, the main focus was collector model cars, but did have other items like knife displays and custom bags for the ladies from 3knuckleheads.com.
The conference ran from Thursday to Sunday evening. Saturday and Sunday they brought in many celebrities to allow patrons to get autographs and selfies with their favorites. The Celebrities included:
Erik Estrada – Chips
Noel G – Fast and Furious “Hector”
Chad Lindbert – Fast and Furious “Jesse”
Luis Da Silva Jr – Fast and Furious
Fit Rich – Vin Diesel Stunt Double
Steve Villegas – On my Block and SWAT
Michael Heralda – Hot Wheels and Matchbox
Miq Willmott – Legendary Hot Wheels Graphic Designer
Brendon Vetuskey – Hot Wheels
Bryan Benedict – Hot Wheels
Eddie Castro – Art Director Maisto
Robert Rosas – Hot Wheels Engineer
Tony Karamitsos – Round 2/Johnny Lightning/Autoworld
Mike Groothuis – Round 2/Johnny Lightning Designer
Sean Taylor – M2 Machines
Julian Koiles – Hot Wheels Art Director
Bob Parker – Hot Wheels Author
SGT Slaughter – WWE Hall of Famer
Catherine Bach – Dukes of Hazzard
Big Citric – George Lopez Show
Ryan Ochoa – Lanny on the Disney Series Pair of Kings and Chuck Chambers on the Nickelodeon series iCarly
NEXT: Part 3 the Banquet