First Look: Hot Wheels 2013 Convention RLC Party Exclusive '70 Dodge Power Wagon...

I finally hit a Hot Wheels convention.

Well, kind of.  The Hot Wheels Convention in Garden Grove happened to hit on the same weekend as the can't-miss-for-me Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, so it gave me a chance to have a looksie.

So no events, no VVM's, no dinners, sneak peeks, autograph sessions, waiting in line, etc.  Just a bunch of room-to-room wheelings and dealings and putting some faces to names.

The only other diecast convention I have been to is the Matchbox Gathering of Friends in Albuquerque, New Mexico, every July.  And I have been there six years straight.  It is MUCH smaller than maybe any Hot Wheels event, but that smaller size is one of its strengths.  The group is very close-knit, the focus seems to be more on "gathering" than buying, selling, and accumulating models, and it is very relaxed.

I didn't feel that in Garden Grove, but then again I didn't really experience the entire thing, so I really cannot give any definitive comparison.  Maybe if in the future the Convention falls once again on the same weekend as JCCS I will give it a full shot and actually attend all the events.

But let's talk models.  Like it or not, the exclusive models bring a lot of people out.  They might not be the reason collectors return, but the limited numbers and big, heavy castings sure to appeal to a lot of collectors.  Drag Buses, Chevy Panels, Blown Deliveries.  Collectors can't contain themselves.

But those models, including the Dairy Delivery and new Drag Dairy, don't really appeal to me.  I can get behind the occasional Gulf-deco Drag Bus or clean-looking Blown Delivery, but most of the time those models don't appeal to me.  So the incentive to go is that much smaller.

But then I saw the Dodge Power Wagon made in pink (as is the tradition) for the Friday-night RLC party.  The Power Wagon, seldom used, is a casting I really like (this city boy has a thing for old pickups), and my goodness it looks good in pink.  And that was in photos posted on HWC.  It wasn't until I saw one opened and on display in the room of HWC member "beerchamp" that I knew it was a must-have.  So I got one.  I paid a hefty price for it, but it was worth it.

Why was it worth it?  Uh, easy.  All you have to do is look at the photos...


(Want it?  Your only chance to find the RLC Party Exclusive '70 Dodge Power Wagon is on ebay...)


Hot Wheels '70 Dodge Power Wagon (2013 HW Convention RLC Party exclusive):

Tell me how you can keep this thing in this packaging?

oooooooo....shiny.....