I've been featured in a newspaper article

I was contacted by a reporter from The Waterloo Region Record earlier this month. She did a short phone interview and wrote this nice article I thought I would share:

Hot Wheels fan can't wait for museum visit

Jason Norton is always on the lookout for another exotic car for his collection.
The 32-year-old design draftsman has been playing with Ferraris, Porsches and Camaros since the mid-'90s.
He tries to keep most of them in their packaging.
"But I don't mind a few to zip around on my desk," he said.
It's become a bit of an obsession, he admitted.
Norton's not sure how many tiny Hot Wheels cars he has, but there are "many thousands," he said. He scopes out department stores and will buy up to 200 of the $1 or $2 toys every year.
"I don't consider it an investment," he said by phone from his home in Smithville in the Niagara region. "I think of it as more of a special treat."
It might be the lifelike mini car models or it could be the way they fly across toy race tracks with ease. But there's something about Hot Wheels that's attracted generations of boys for 40 years.
"It's so iconic at this point," said Nancy Modrcin, a marketing manager for Mattel Canada. "It's a toy that's been around because kids play with it, and they keep playing with it."
Kids -- and their parents -- will have the chance to play with the toys when a life-size Hot Wheels car rolls into town for two weekends in August. It will make a pit stop at the Waterloo Region Children's Museum in Kitchener on Aug. 7 to 9 and at the KidSpark festival in Victoria Park in Kitchener on Aug. 17.
Modrcin said she's not surprised many adults still adore the toys. With more than 200,000 registered users of Hotwheelscollectors.com, the cars are a vehicle for nostalgia. "It's like a generational toy -- it gets passed down."
She said although the core target market is three- to six-year-old boys, there are lots of young girls and adults who like the cars, too.
"It becomes quite the family experience," she said.
The Hot Wheels car and interactive trailer will have "really awesome tracks and challenges," she said. They'll also give away free toy cars.
The Hot Wheels brand has been around since 1968, when Mattel recruited designers from real car companies to develop miniature California hot rods. Now, more than 800 models and 11,000 variations have been released.
Norton, who hosts two websites and a blog about his passion, said his wife and three-year-old son are "very supportive" of his hobby.
"I've always been a car guy," he said.
He drives a Mazda Miata with HOTWLZ on the licence plate.
"It's my own little Hot Wheels car for real life."

Looking forward to more Ferraris

I am finally getting around to blogging again. Recently I have been directing most of my on line activity to my other Hot Wheels websites. I have revamped the Hot Wheels Ferrari collection site and I hope to have a new addition to it soon. The Ferrari FXX has been seen in a few different colours for 2008 and it is pretty cool. What I am most looking forward to though is the near future release of the 288 GTO. That one happens to be one of my favorite car designs of all time. I will make a point to get some pics posted as soon as I find one.

2008's So Far

March is almost over and the 2008 models are well represented on store shelves. I have personally seen about half of the entire mainline at stores over the past few months. Some 2008 First Edition models worth noting are the Corvette Grand Sport, the Ferrari FXX, the Audi R8 and the 69' Dodge Coronet Superbee. Mattel are continuing the trend of releasing multiple colour variants for most First Editions models and keeping collectors on their toes. I look forward to seeing the rest of them as they come along. I am trying to keep up with the latest local releases on my website, check it out for a more thorough run down of what I find.

Hot Wheels Invader Invades 2007

I love this tank-like vehicle design. It looks mean and dangerous. Pictured here is the sand camouflage paint scheme released as a blueline last year and the sinister dark grey blueline for the 2007 model year.

2007 Mustang 5 Pack

This 5 pack made a great gift for a young Hot Wheels fan. The yellow '65 has an opening hood and the tooned '68 is a bit more geared towards his tastes than mine. The red Mach 1 is probably the best looking of the bunch and the gold GT is a great casting with a classy paint colour. I suppose the blue cobra is ok too :)

2007 First Editions '69 Ford Mustang Variations

Some of you may be new to the hobby or just have a passing interest in collecting Hot Wheels and might wonder what to consider. This model is a typical example where there are 3 completely different variations in colour. Other variations would include the tampos (paint decals applied over the main paint), rims (dozens to pick from) and other materials (glass colour, base colour, etc.) The variations here are pretty obvious, but some variations might take a keen eye to spot.

Also, you can imagine that one of these three might have been produced in a smaller quantity and so it would be more rare and therefore more valuable to collectors. Keep them in good shape, sometimes you don't know which one turns out to be the rarity until they are no longer available.

5 Pack Informaiton

Many collectors might not be aware of the full contents of a 5 Pack gift set. Of course there are the 5 cars, but there is also a collector card that is punched out of the cardboard below the peg hanger. Look at this: