Matthew: Welcome back to the Dialcast podcast episode number 17. My name's Matt, AKA MiniCarRealm, and in the blue corner, dialing in from Perth, Western Australia. with a record 73 wins, but stay tuned for some losses. Introducing the challenger, boy racer, Ben. How are you, mate?

Pop on top: I'm good, mate. I'm not sure where you're going with this intro. You're kind of making it out as if it's going to be a battle tonight between you and me and our opinions. And I do like that you admitted that I'm 73-0 up on you. But

Matthew: I don't know, just... Yeah, well you never know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, look, I thought it was only fair. I had that number lower but I thought, nah, it's probably a few more. Excellent, that's what I like to hear. Doing well, mate, Doing very well, in fact. Excited, excited for what's coming.

Pop on top: Yeah. But mate, I... Mate, I am ready to crack on. How are you? I to admit I have been sleeping a little the last week on the RLCs. literally slept the releases to tell you the truth. So I'm going to have to fall back and rely on you for the latest news on what's been happening in the RLC and Elite64 news world. ⁓

Matthew: Okay. ⁓ Yeah mate, well ⁓ look you haven't missed out on a lot I would say. had the RC Lamborghini, Tim & Mario, ⁓ that had previously discussed on the podcast that came up for sale, ⁓ sold pretty well straight away as ⁓ we expected. ⁓ I feel like there was as much hype on the socials. around this as we've seen with the with the R32 but yeah it sold out pretty well straight away still so it's obviously still popular enough. Then of course we had the Elite64 Porsche 911 GT2 in the classic PlayStation livery that we were both pretty keen on, obviously the same casting as what we saw with the Advan Porsche, but yeah, in this iconic PlayStation livery. that went up for sale here in Australia, sold out fairly well straight away. I think there was a limitation of two here in Australia, and then it went up for sale in the US, and I think somebody told me it went. it sold out in something like seven minutes but I don't believe there was a limit in the US but yeah ⁓ quite a popular as we predicted and then the latest one to get us right up to speed is the RLC selections the 1972 ⁓ Chevy Nova SS that we had discussed as well ⁓ so that one's available for pre-order ⁓ and it's available for pre-order now as well as we're recording probably by the time we we ⁓ release this episode it would have wrapped up ⁓ but yeah what's your thoughts mate is there you know out of the three was there any that you were pretty keen to get your hands on

Pop on top: Yeah, I saw the price point on the Porsche, the PlayStation Porsche was pretty good. Thirty, thirty Australian dollars. So I'm very reasonable. I mean, it's a bit of a shame that for us, add postage and a thirty dollar car becomes a sixty dollar car. ⁓ But would have been a perfect one to package with the Chevy Nova had I been a little more on the ball. But to tell you the truth, if it sold out in seven minutes, I was probably going to miss that one anyway.

Matthew: Hmm. Yeah.

Pop on top: So yeah, I haven't gone for the Chevy Nova, haven't pre-ordered that one, but I'm still thinking about it to tell you the truth, just how much I liked the last one, the purple variant. This one is also very nice, but I'm just asking myself, do I need two of them? I feel like I do, but you know, a price point of $56 Australian dollars plus postage, you you're looking around $80 and...

Matthew: Mmm.

Pop on top: little bit of a turn off but I'm still contemplating it so we'll see what happens and when it comes to the Lamborghini RC car, yeah I didn't see any hype about this one. Personally don't love it ⁓ much so I wasn't interested in that one and ⁓ I can't see the resale prices on these ones going too high either so ⁓ pretty much where I stand. So didn't get too excited about ⁓ latest RLC and Elite 64. releases and kind of glad I didn't worry about the Porsche because yeah, sounds like it was pretty hard to get hold of.

Matthew: Yeah, it certainly ⁓ looked that way. I actually missed the Australian release, which I was quite annoyed at myself that I'd missed that time frame. ⁓ And then I saw in one of the Facebook groups or whatever, was a lot of people sort posting that they'd managed to get one. So thought, okay, they must have had a bit of stock. ⁓ And so just thought... I'm not getting up at 2am, but I will post in this group and just say, hey, if anyone got two and they want to move one on, let us know. So, I don't know, a couple of hours went by and... good old Warren Pole many people know that name in the diecast circles he ⁓ his wife actually tagged him underneath my my comment and ⁓ and said ⁓ you know it's a jumped on and said ⁓ Matt I got one for you so yeah managed to get one without having to get up at 2am or ⁓ and even missed out on the on the ⁓ the time frame so I said to I sent Warren a DM I said ⁓ yeah you know how much you're gonna sting me for this for this board she said no no mate this just cost price remember you put those covals together for me at the last ade so lucky i put those covals together for him because i managed to score this playstation livery at cost price without getting up in any extreme hour so stoked about that but yeah when it comes to that chevy nova ⁓ i reckon one's enough for me I was the same as you, had a bit of a think about it. I do like it, I do really like it, but that price point, think one's enough for me at this point.

Pop on top: little little disappointed in you that you're starting to use your diecast podcast celebrity status to you know get little favors and little cars around the place. I prefer to stay anonymous ⁓ and pay my way but you know if that's if that's the road you want to go down, look go for it.

Matthew: Ha ha ha ha ha! Hahaha You Yeah, look mate, I, I don't like to flex, you know, I don't like to flex it when I ⁓ have to but when there's a when there's a PlayStation every Porsche on the line ⁓ No, look Warren doesn't Warren doesn't know me from the podcast. I was just this random fellas sitting behind sitting behind the Koval stand that said I'll put your Koval together for you Thanks, mate. So yeah, just remembers the name. I suppose good-looking fella like me, you know, he's like, yeah, I recognize this guy this bloke

Pop on top: I'm surprised, yeah, and I am surprised with your history of cobbles as well, because you do have a habit for setting them up the wrong way or snapping bolts and screws when you're trying to do it. yeah, I'm surprised.

Matthew: Look, extra care was taken, obviously, for ⁓ Warren. That's my own co-force that I'm building. I'll just speed it along. But look, I won't lie. Rosa might be able to confirm or deny this, but I think it did take a couple of coats to get it all together. Put a few pedals around the wrong way and you know the usual but anyway, that's we got there in the end mate. That's the main thing

Pop on top: Yeah, definitely. We also haven't seen a lot released Hot Wheels wise at the moment either. I've sort of been hanging out for a few new releases, a few new lines, know, sets of five premiums, but sort of nothing's coming out at the moment. But say that come release of the podcast, I wouldn't be surprised if a couple pop up. But one thing we have seen released, we've seen another 25th anniversary set, a Silver Series Mix Q.

Matthew: Hmm.

Pop on top: Hot Wheels here and it's Fast and the Furious Silver Lines. ⁓ are your thoughts on these ones? Because I'm looking at them right now and I feel like you already know my thoughts on these because have been quite vocal about ⁓ how do things and ⁓ yeah what do think mate?

Matthew: Mm. My thoughts on this and you know I don't collect a lot of the Silver Series that Pantone series was the only time I've sort of touched that tier I suppose but only thing that I did think when I saw this ⁓ of five was ⁓ is a great ⁓ and the Furious ⁓ as far as the actual cars that they put in the set so you've got ⁓ Civic, you've got the Supra ⁓ you've got the RX-7, the Mitsubishi Eclipse and the Dodge Charger. So I was like, man, that's like the five of the probably the biggest, arguably the biggest cars in the Fast and Furious lineup. And they've put them all in one set. But the downfall, of course, for me, and I suspect the same for you, is that these have no colour. They are just like a Zamek. casting still with the decals and things on them that you'd expect but all the decals are just in grayscale they're a very bland ⁓ set i'm sure there'll be some ⁓ and furious ⁓ know fanatics that will pick these up but it's not for me ⁓

Pop on top: Yeah, it's definitely a good way to butcher what could have been an awesome Fast and the Furious set, especially in the Silver Line, we have seen a few Silver Lines, but definitely not Silver Line set with cars of this status, especially that Honda Civic. I think this is the first time we've seen that Honda Civic custom coupe, which is the black one that did the heist, the triple one. ⁓

Matthew: Mmm.

Pop on top: a black Civic and they've done it in Zamax. So a little disappointing, a set that I'm definitely not interested in picking But yeah, it is what it is. yeah, like you said, just the cars that are involved, I'm sure you'll still have trouble picking them up off the pegs regardless.

Matthew: Yeah, agreed, agreed. Yeah, it's the nature of the Fast and Furious thing. I genuinely think Hot Wheels are sort of running out of things to do when it comes to the Fast and Furious. I know we've seen some sneak peeks, obviously, from that last episode of what they're sort of bringing through in the premium series, but... even that, know, trying to spectra flame some of the previous castings they've done is, you know, it's just, they're sort of just reaching, I feel like, for something different to really milk this Fast and Furious thing as much as possible when really, all of us really just want the gaps. We want to the gaps of the cars, the hero cars that are missing, you know, so. ⁓ I don't know whether there's licensing issues with some of the cars that we've been wanting and haven't been able to get or what the story is but ⁓ anyway it's I'm sure that that we'll see many more Fast and Furious creations and weird and wacky ideas yet.

Pop on top: Yeah, and I think when it comes to Wheels Fast and the Furious, not just a licensing issue, but also a casting issue, you you look, you know, we talked about it last week. You try and make Bow Wow's Hulk Van and you've got one release, don't you? You can't really release it in anything else other than Fast and the Furious. So for me. ⁓ Yeah, I'm just about done with Hot Wheels, Fast and the Furious. I'm really just waiting for Mini GT, Fast and the Furious now. That's what I'm excited about. you know, I think for me, Hot Wheels has come to the end of a line when it comes to Fast and the Furious. There might be the odd car that comes out like Hans custom Chevy truck with the dual wheels that was just recently released. You know, there'll be a few ones that pop up, but yeah, I'm just so done with all the You know, the re-releases, you know, how many times can you do it? And we've seen it too many times. So let's punch on with the Mini GT Fast and the Furious, which brings us to Mini GT. Your favorite one, mate. ⁓ Yeah.

Matthew: Yes. Yes. Mate, look when it comes to that whole Fast and Furious conversation, there has been many, many wild rumours and AI dreamt up images. Look, we've what they have announced for MDX, of course, is where we're expecting to see the first information around the Fast and Furious line that Mini GT will be doing ⁓ ⁓ of course, have the ⁓ guy Veilside, ⁓ which, course, is a pretty ⁓ major from the Fast and Furious series. ⁓ They Cody Walker. So it's obviously Paul Walker's brother. So Cody played Paul Walker in that last movie they sort of ⁓ a bit of ⁓ effects to make it look like ⁓ Walker. they've got the guy behind the Purist group as well. So ⁓ a couple special guests ⁓ along with Juno Mai Carto and Glenn from Mini GT for that MDX event. ⁓ A lot people speculating that with Veilside being there in the room. ⁓ we would be expecting to see a Veilside Fast and Furious car at least, you know, released at that event, or at least announced at that event. ⁓ it'll interesting to see. I've seen some pretty cool mock-ups of what could be, ⁓ it will be interesting to see what they actually do. Any thoughts, mate, on that front?

Pop on top: Yeah, definitely. So yeah, I mean the fact they're bringing Vilside, Cody Walker, to MDX, it's a pretty big deal for a diecast show to have guests like that at the diecast show. So look, I'm going to call it and say, yeah, for sure. We will see the Vilside RX-7 released as a event exclusive at the show. And I think they'll re-release it again afterwards so everyone can get their hands on it.

Matthew: It is. It is.

Pop on top: But it only makes sense, you the car's ready to go, you know, they can't keep holding out on us ⁓ Secondly, the fact they've got Cody Walker. I feel like they almost need a Paul Walker tribute as an MDX car as well. So There will definitely be an announcement, but I'm just going to call it right now and say MDX We'll see a tribute car to Paul Walker, you know, whether it's a Eclipse a Supra

Matthew: Correct. Yeah.

Pop on top: a Skyline. I'm just thinking if there's a casting already created that they can use. Obviously we've got the R34 casting. So maybe we'll see the R34 casting released as a Too Fast Too Furious. ⁓ that's probably is the most iconic Paul Walker car from the series, isn't it? The R34 from Too Fast Too Furious.

Matthew: Yeah, yeah I would say so. I would say so.

Pop on top: I mean, I would like to see a new tooling change because I feel like the casting isn't quite up to scratch. The, you know, the mini GT one that's already out, but they are doing a new casting, aren't they? They've got the sort of the ZTune one coming out. So maybe they'll use that one.

Matthew: Correct. Yeah, yeah, look, that's what I would imagine they would use if they're gonna use any. But yeah, mean, look, they've done a number of the Supras as well, but nothing, they haven't done the Targa, of course, and they haven't done anything in quite that same style as the Supra. So that would be a whole new tooling. So the R34 seems like the most logical, or at least the closest attainable casting that is related to Paul Walker. So it makes sense.

Pop on top: Yeah, so I'm calling it. Yeah, we'll see a Too Fast Too Furious R34 Skyline for MDX as a Fast and the Furious exclusive release. And of course, we'll see that released again later on for everyone. So making the call here. You heard it first on the Diecast podcast.

Matthew: Yeah, You did indeed. ⁓ Yeah, ⁓ logical guess, I But yeah, look, of the other things that we've seen leading up to MDX, spoke about, I reckon it was the episode that we did ⁓ with Lee, but spoke about some of the vintage ⁓ cars that ⁓ Mini have been around with, ⁓ really sort of trying pay tribute to some of those early automobiles, I suppose. ⁓ And so gone right back, ⁓ they sort showcased on the socials, ⁓ they've gone back to the 1885 ⁓ Benz ⁓ Motorwagen, ⁓ many attribute be the world's first automobile. ⁓ And as as I saw this, I thought, Ben would love one of these. This is right down his alley. I could just see a corner of your diorama that is set in 1885 and there's a few of these just peddling around. What were your thoughts mate? How many will you buy for that diorama?

Pop on top: Yeah, we saw a nice picture on the socials with Glenn, the founder of Mini GT, holding up the nice 1885, the first automobile believed to be made. And look, to tell you the truth, I don't know what to think about this. I really would like to hear everyone's thoughts and like the market reaction to this one, because. For me personally, I feel like. Mini GT are just stepping outside the lane a little bit too far. ⁓ I don't think we need this. Same as the last one. We didn't need the last one. And I really just don't feel like we need this. I feel like Mini GT is just trying to, I don't know, but trying to bring some history into Mini GT and. Don't think it fits in with the brand. Yeah, honestly, I don't know what to say about it, but I am very interested to hear everyone's thoughts on it and you know how the market ⁓ react to it because I definitely don't want one in my collection. I would never buy one. It's definitely not going to fit in. Yeah, what about you? ⁓ I don't think you'll buy it either.

Matthew: Look, I'll be honest, I do kind of get it. I do kind of get it. Only because I've seen a lot of content with interviews and things like that with Glenn. And Glenn is a very, like he's just a car enthusiast, out and out. Just a big car enthusiast. And he has a lot of... a lot of time for just all sorts of brands and makes and the history. It really does come back to the history. So he strikes me just from watching various different interviews as the type of individual that will make whatever he wants to make. ⁓ if it's got a story behind it, like if it's got some sort of historical relevance, regardless of where it sort of fits into, because this is obviously well before his time as well, you know, yeah, you know, if it's got some sort of story behind it or yeah, historical relevance, then I think, you know, he feels like, hey, there's an opportunity to replicate this in, in 164 scale. I do think that the audience for this or the, you know, the buyer is limited. you know, not everyone appreciates, hey, you know, this is the first automobile, but there's certainly a market there for it. And I won't lie, I was quite impressed with the casting itself. you know, just it's quite cool that they've made this in 1.64 scale. Just that alone, I thought was really cool. I do agree with you though, that, you know, when I think about potentially buying one, I also appreciate the story and the history behind it, but at the same time I sort of go, you know, it's gonna look really odd in that that in COVID display on the wall. It's gonna look really odd. So, I don't know, unless he goes and does like a whole heap of these, in which case I wouldn't buy a whole heap of vintage cars because it's not really my thing. But I kind of like the idea of it being the first, it's the first automobile. And that story alone kind of me a little bit. But I'm on the fence as far as whether I'd buy one.

Pop on top: I am really impressed with the wheels, the detailing in the wheels, the fine wire wheels. That's one thing I am really impressed with, the sort of like bicycle wheels. I feel like it's only going to be the Mini GT purists and the ones that buy every Mini GT car that are going to be buying these. And I feel like, you know, most people that do buy it, they're just going to chuck it in the back of a drawer and not really appreciate it. And look,

Matthew: Yeah. Yeah.

Pop on top: My personal feeling is I don't think Mini GT needed to go there and I think they're just trying a little bit too hard to get, yeah, take advantage of like, you know, this is a historical piece. Yeah, I just, it doesn't sit well with me. I don't like it, but I don't have to like it, do I? So, and I don't have to buy it. And I guess that's where this conversation can end really, isn't it? But I am interested to hear, ⁓ actually really interested to hear what everyone's thoughts on.

Matthew: It is.

Pop on top: these historical pieces are, you know, will people be buying these people that aren't mini GT purists and ones that are picking them up is, ⁓ know, the random diecast collector just going to go and pick this one up. ⁓ don't think so, but I could be wrong.

Matthew: Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, even with some of these old vintage cars, I will buy some of them if I get enchanted by the story, I'm not gonna lie. As I do, as I do. If I find out a unique story about a car, I'm like, damn, I gotta have it. So I think it will be a divided audience.

Pop on top: I'm going to call it and say that you won't pick this one up for your collection. And if you do, the only reason you will do it will be to prove me wrong.

Matthew: I was gonna say, why would you say that? Now I almost feel like I have to now.

Pop on top: I pretty much phrased it so I can't lose in that statement.

Matthew: Yeah, correct, correct. Well done, well played, well played. Because now, yeah, now I feel like, damn you, I'm buying one. You forced me against the corner here.

Pop on top: Mate, we have seen another release of six cars for the month from Mini GT though. I'll let you run. This is not a bad looking release. So I'll let you run it through it, run through the cars for us.

Matthew: We have indeed. Mmm. Yeah mate, so we had the BMW M4 GT3 Evo number one, Paul Miller Racing. So this is from the 2025 IMSA season Daytona car, 24 hour Daytona. Followed up by of course a Liberty Walk model. We tend to get one in every six at least. And this one is a 35 GTR. and we have seen of course this casting dozens and dozens of times in the mini GT range. This one's in a matte grey, so that jet ⁓ style grey Liberty Walk have ⁓ done a of their cars of late. had a Mazda ⁓ another Pandem Mazda MX-5. one in a mint green which I'm going to be ⁓ straight up front here and say I absolutely loved that mint green. We had a McLaren F1 as well, not the first McLaren F1 that we've seen. This one is the blue black metallic sort of colour. Porsche 911, this was the GT3 RS in the Golf Orange. and to round out our six we had the Aston Martin DB5 of course we've seen them in the James Bond series but this one is in the Fiesta Red. What were your thoughts mate? What are you picking up? Anything. Are you picking up anything?

Pop on top: Look, I'll skip straight past the BMWs. Don't like the BMW too much. Don't like the racing BMWs. Don't like the front end of the new BMWs full stop. I've said that plenty of times before. ⁓ The Liberty Walk in the matte grey. I'm just not vibing the matte grey to tell you the truth. So I'm going to pass on that piece. The McLaren F1 in black. I don't have a McLaren F1.

Matthew: You have? Mm-hmm.

Pop on top: from Mini GT. probably won't pick this one up because Poprace do it, they do it a little bit better ⁓ the opening part. It is debatable, always is debatable. ⁓ It's a debate that you won't win.

Matthew: Yeah, sorry.

Pop on top: The Aston Martin, I don't want it in red and Aston Martin DB5 has to come in silver, doesn't it? So you can't have it in red. It has to. Yeah. You can't change. You can't be changing colors on the DB5. I ⁓ pick up that Porsche though, that ⁓ GT3 RS in orange with the looks like black carbon fiber. Yeah. Black carbon fiber trimming. So yeah, I actually, I don't have one of those Porsches yet. I've skipped out on all the colors that they've released and ⁓

Matthew: It does. It really does. Okay. Okay.

Pop on top: Looks pretty cool in orange so I'll pick that one up and to this Miata MX-5 new tooling. We saw the previous Pandam MX-5 with the big wing on the back. Absolutely hated that one.

Matthew: We did. I did.

Pop on top: I'm with you on the Mint and the new tooling. This one looks so much better than the last one, this new tooling, the little spoiler, duck spoiler on the back, the pop-up headlights, although I don't know if they're lensed or not. The lenses look a little funny on the front, but I really like this one and I'm not a big MX5 fan. So this Mint MX5 is definitely coming home in the collection. Looks very cool.

Matthew: Love it. Beautiful, beautiful, I like to hear that. I was going to say, I don't know how you can say that that MX-5 is no good. It just looks so good. In fact, I would say as well, I do like the other one and I was pretty vocal about that, but I reckon if they released this one first, I might not have got the other one, the one that they released the first time a few weeks, or few back. This definitely better, for sure. ⁓

Pop on top: That's cool. Yeah.

Matthew: For me, for me, I went to, well obviously this six got released and I saw them come out and I thought this is a great, great release from MinigT. I went to order, know, pre-order some of them and BMW was already sold out same day when I went to go and order it. So ⁓ contacted the company where I ⁓ to my pre-orders and I said, are you getting more of those BMWs in? And he said, I can. I said, well, you're better. Cause I really liked that BMW. I reckon it looked great. I reckon the livery looks awesome. And I agree with you. I liked the classic BMW look more, but I don't mind the modern BMWs and I love the GT3 style. So I did cop that one. I also copped Deliberty Walk 35 because I don't mind the Mac Gray fighter jet spec I was on the fence with it at first I put it in the car took it out the car then I ended up with it back in the car Obviously, I grabbed that MX5 and that mint green I was gonna get a McLaren F1, think I would get a different color I Like this one, but I yeah, I left it out of the car. I also picked up the Gulf Orange 911 GT3. I think I've ordered, pre-ordered this once in one other livery. Remember that Malboro styled one? Can't remember the branding that it had on the side, but there was one that sort of looked like it was a Malboro sort of livery, ⁓ wasn't. But I think I pre-ordered that one, ⁓ this would be the second one that I've, that I sort of liked. ⁓ I thought, yeah, I'll pick this one up. ⁓ then ⁓ with you on the Aston Martin. It's gotta be silver mate. I already have four of them on pre-order. With the various different variations from Mini GT on the 007. yeah. Four, four out of the six for me.

Pop on top: Hey It's not bad, mean even two out of six is a big win for me as well, isn't it?

Matthew: It is, it is, nah, it's a solid release, solid release. And to be honest, nothing against that McLaren. It actually looks really nice, ⁓ so does the Aston Martin, but the Aston Martin's just the wrong colour. ⁓ yeah, ⁓ was, all six were very nice.

Pop on top: Yeah, good to see you. Second time this week you've used your Diecast podcast celebrity status to get some, you know, telling retailers to order more BMWs in. Nice. Really.

Matthew: Hey look, this is nothing new, mate. This has happened well before the podcast. I'll just tell them what I want and they get it happening.

Pop on top: Anyway, mate, we yeah, pretty good release from our Mini GT there. Nice set of six. We also saw from Poprace a set of five cars released, and I was just as excited about this set of five released from Poprace as I believe you probably were about that set of six released from Mini GT. And I'm going to call them so you're excited about this set from Poprace as well.

Matthew: I'm going to disappoint you here and say I wasn't as excited about this as I was about the MGT ones. But I thought it was a solid release. I ordered one out of the releases, which I know is going to severely disappoint you. Which one do you think I picked up?

Pop on top: Hahaha, okay. You are a monster. You are an absolute monster. ⁓ look, mate, look. Well, let's let's run through them first. Yeah. OK. Set of five released. We saw another Pandem Fuso truck. the transporter truck. This one is not in the Pandem livery, but this one is in fact in the Advan livery. So very popular livery, the Advan livery. We saw a Pandem Nissan 280ZX.

Matthew: Let's run through them first. Let's, yeah, yeah.

Pop on top: in an orange color with a carbon fiber hood. We saw the Mazda 787B. This is the black one, believe Hot Wheels have done it, with a orange wing. It is a test car model. We have seen a new release, new tooling. We've got the Pandem R32 GTR in gun metal. So the R32 Pandem wide body. We have got an EVA R. a time attack RX 7 so totally different body kit, massive time attack wing on the back in the Eva R, the purple livery we've seen on quite a few cars previously. So that's our five and I'm really struggling to pick up, choose, decide what you have taken. I'm going to narrow it down to two. It's one of the new toolings, it's the Panem R32 or it's the RX7 Time Attack.

Matthew: Wasn't interested in either of mate. I had to keep the 787B running. Yeah look, I'll be honest with you. I do like them, I'm not gonna lie. I do like them. They are very nice castings. I've just never been a huge EVA-R fan. I think I've got one.

Pop on top: Okay, so you've gone for the 787B, the 787 test car. Yeah, gotcha.

Matthew: out of all the various different EVR models that Pop Race have done, I've got one and I think that one was given to me. So I've never been a huge fan of that livery. ⁓ I know that I'm probably the odd one out there. There's a lot of people that are, but that's just me. ⁓ If they bring out this time attack style in a different livery, I'll probably be all over it. But I just decided to pass on this one, but can definitely appreciate it. It'll definitely be a hot model. And the R32, I do really like it but then at the same time there's something about it that I don't like I I had a good long look at it I think and I don't know why this is the case but I think it's the white walls I don't know why that I don't know why that is for me but there's something about it that I just don't like but

Pop on top: Well for starters it doesn't have white walls so don't even know what you're talking about.

Matthew: Well, tyre riding, whatever it is on the tyres. I know you are, because I know...

Pop on top: Yeah. Look, I am bitterly disappointed that Arthur that are 32 is so nice and I'm bitterly disappointed. I don't know what you're doing that wide body could those, you know, the attachments, the that hold on to the spoiler, you know, the supports on the back of the spoiler. They look insane. The intercooler on the front, the the race wheels, like the chunky race wheels.

Matthew: I know.

Pop on top: You know, the bolt holes on the body kit that hold it together, which Pop Race do so well on all their models. I don't know what's wrong with you, honestly. What has what has gotten into that head of yours?

Matthew: I, to be honest with you, I actually, I don't know. I don't know. I know that at some point I'm gonna regret not purchasing it, but I have been, I have been extra, ⁓ I don't know, extra critical lately of ⁓ cars. in a mental attempt to reduce my spending on diecast. But yeah, so I've been really, really getting picky with my selections. And I know that in your eyes, I should have been buying this instead of anything else. yeah, that was my take.

Pop on top: Yeah. Yeah, honestly, I just I just can't comprehend what goes through your mind that you'll consider buying an 1885 like pedal car, but you won't buy the most insane Pan and widebody ⁓ ⁓ the market.

Matthew: Yes! But what's the story behind this Pandam R32? know? Like, what's the story? Tell me the story. No, it needs a story.

Pop on top: It doesn't need a story. ⁓ It's a good looking car. It's a Pandem wide body R32 in gunmetal. Doesn't get any better than that. Anyway, let's move on. I'm actually disappointed. ⁓

Matthew: Not angry, disappointed. Little bit angry. I can sense it. I can sense it.

Pop on top: ⁓ I'm a little bit angry. ⁓ Let's move on to the EVA-R, the Time Attack. I think the Time Attack looks insane. It is a replica of a real car, a Time Attack RX-7. The wing is huge. I've never been a huge fan of a massive wing, ⁓ I really like this casting. I really like the EVA-R and the purple and the green and the ⁓ They've done so many of these before and I absolutely love it. ⁓ Body kit looks pretty insane.

Matthew: Yes.

Pop on top: The only thing I didn't like about this one is I don't feel like the wheels suit the car. I feel like it needed more race spec wheels. not even a tiny bit in my head that made me think I don't need it because I definitely need that regardless of the wheels. ⁓ I'm you. ⁓ The 787B in that black with the orange wing, ⁓ gold That thing looks ⁓ very, nice. ⁓ I'm that one up.

Matthew: Very nice.

Pop on top: Not even a question about it. The Pandam 280ZX. I've got one already in Gunmetal Grey and I've skipped out on the ⁓ couple of releases after that, but this one in orange is definitely coming home with me and it looks good in orange, but more to the point that it matches the first Haka Suka release, the Pandam one and the Ken Mary release. those both in orange and this one in orange it looks really good and it will match those ones and I really like it in orange. I probably would have preferred the bonnet to be orange as well but I can definitely live with the carbon fibre bonnet and the ADVAN truck. This is probably my least favourite from the release but ⁓ you know Poprace and their transporter trucks the price point I don't have an ADVAN truck so I'll pick that one up as well. ⁓

Matthew: Of course.

Pop on top: for me really solid release from Pop Race and I just have to just yeah you're absolutely nuts you're train of thought but um you know I've tried mentoring you tried leading you to the light in the past and I thought we were getting there and clearly we've done a 180 this week

Matthew: Hehehehehe I'll be honest, I do really like that Pentium 280 ZX in orange as well. I didn't order it because I have already ordered a very similar, like it's a different orange, but it's a very similar orange. They've done it in Pop Race with the Enigma series. I don't know if you saw that one. It's more like a burnt orange, I think, from my memory. But anyway. I have ordered a very similar, same casting but yeah, similar colour.

Pop on top: Yeah, yeah, not fair call. Fair call on that one. But yeah, like I said, the RX7 and especially the R32, no sense, but hey, all good.

Matthew: Yeah, hey, I tell you what, I tell you what, as soon as I saw that R32, was like, Ben will be losing his mind right now. And that might be part of the reason why I went, no, I'm gonna pass, just cause I knew, I knew it would, like, you just would not be able to wrap your head around the fact that somebody could skip this model. But anyway, I must admit though, that time attack car, I liked it, but I thought Ben's not gonna like it. it's because of that high wing. I know usually you're pretty critical, ⁓ wings way too high, but it's it's it's it's pop race it's Eva. ⁓ So I was yeah who knows what's gonna happen when it comes to to you mate.

Pop on top: And it's and it's yeah, it is a replica of a real car as well. I haven't just slapped that massive, massive wing on for no reason just to make it look good.

Matthew: True. No, no, you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. We have seen as well, race Tokyo Station exclusive. So Tokyo Station over there ⁓ in Canada. So yeah, they've got their first release coming out. I don't know if it's their first release. I think we've seen maybe some exclusives from various different events and stuff in the past, but this is that Datsun 600 in the, it's like a similar sort of orange to the 280ZX.

Pop on top: It is, yeah, I believe it's got ⁓ the same livery as the white one, the dangerous driving, like support dangerous driving or something like that. Pretty cool, the white one. So yeah, it looks like Tokyo Station might be starting a range of pop race cars exclusive to Tokyo Station. So watch your space, they have actually released a second one as well. Off the top of my head, I can't remember it. So I'm surprised you didn't add that one to the notes since you added this one.

Matthew: I think so. No, this is the only one that I've seen. This is the only one I've seen.

Pop on top: ⁓ Yeah, they've got another one. Actually, it was a Mustang. They've got a Mustang exclusive as well. Color was blue, I believe. Blue Mustang with white stripes from memory. these are, of course, for the North American market. These are ⁓ as the Enigmas. They are coming carded as well. ⁓ to Tokyo Station. ⁓ a bit of a collab going on there with Tokyo Station.

Matthew: Okay, yep. There you go. ⁓ And mate, also saw ⁓ another one those exclusives or collaborations with Poprace as well. This one was the RX-7. ⁓

Pop on top: Yeah, we've had a Bape RX-7. generally when they do a collaboration with Bape, it is in sort of a camouflage livery. And this one is a purple, black, white and blue camouflage. I have got a couple of Bape's and I do generally like them. However, I do not like the camouflage on this one at all. Yeah, just just

Matthew: Yep.

Pop on top: Yeah, not for me, the purple, I don't think it looks that good. So I skipped on this one, but I think it was quite popular. I've seen quite a few people picking it up, but not one that I loved to tell you the truth.

Matthew: I'm exactly the same as you. Exactly the same as you. I have picked up previous bake releases from ⁓ Race, but this one didn't appeal to me either. ⁓ Just yeah, colourway. ⁓ particular camouflage, you know, ⁓ doing anything for me, to be honest. ⁓ I did think was ⁓ though, ⁓ during the week, ⁓ went to go to your page on Instagram for something, I can't remember what it was. ⁓ I think it was to look at your RC video that you've put together. Go and check that out everyone, it's really good. And ⁓ came up with ⁓ AI and it said, are you looking for a boy racer, Ben? And it said this, I don't know if you've seen this, Ben, but ⁓ thought I'll screenshot it and ⁓ it with you. ⁓ said Boiracer Ben is a popular social media personality and content creator specializing in Hot Wheels and Diecast Car content. With over 618,000 followers and 1.1 million subscribers on TikTok and 800,000 subscribers on YouTube, he's established himself as a prominent figure in the Diecast Car community. His collaborations with brands like Pop Race, and Mini GT showcase his passion for diecast cars, particularly rare and limited edition models like the R32 GTR Skyline and Mazda RX-7. Boiracer Ben often shares unboxing and review content, highlighting the intricate details of these miniature vehicles. Now this is where I thought it was ⁓ really funny, because most of that's fairly accurate, right? His content resonates with fellow car enthusiasts and collectors who appreciate his knowledge and enthusiasm for the hobby. We do. Boy Racer Ben's expertise and influence have led to partnerships with brands like Bape, a bathing ape, further solidifying his reputation in the diecast car world. So Ben, this is news to me. I didn't realise that you had a collaboration deal with Bape. Do want to tell us more about that? You

Pop on top: Look mate, that's the first I've heard of this little write-up. It's almost, you know, something I'd expect you to write up. ⁓ And that's the first I've heard of a Bape, you know, just how kind the words were. That's something I'd expect from your mouth. But that's the first I've heard of my Bape collaboration as well.

Matthew: That's not. It's the first I've heard of it too. I thought I'd love to check in with you. I thought I'll save that for the podcast. maybe the rest of the world will find out about this. Bye.

Pop on top: Unless, you know, unless Bape knows something that's going to happen that I don't know about yet.

Matthew: Well, I just, you know, first I wanted to sort of test the waters and see what you said about this vape car. You sort of trashed it a bit and spoke a bit of about the vape camouflage. ⁓ know, you ⁓ this deal going on in the background. thought, hmm, that doesn't line up, you know. So I might have to say ⁓

Pop on top: Yeah, yeah. Maybe the hey, look, baby, I've just shot myself in the foot and the the Bape deal is now off.

Matthew: Well, I must have been after that. thought, I wonder what it says about me. So I searched Mini Car Realm and it said, it said, you ready for this? It said, Mini Car Realm is a guy that does a podcast with Boi Racer Ben. Boi Racer Ben has 1.1 million, ⁓ just went on the same spiel again. That was all it said about me. And I was like, cool, cool, cool. ⁓

Pop on top: Mmm, nice. Hehehehehe

Matthew: It's this, basically talking about Robin compared to Batman. Love it, love it. Anyway, I just thought I had to drop that piece in there. ⁓ Mate, have we seen anything else from Pop Race? Is that about it?

Pop on top: God. ⁓ Nah, you caught me caught me by surprise there. That was that was good. That was interesting. Not from Pop Race, but one of their partners that they work closely with X-Car Toys. We've seen a cool series of the 1087 X drift cars with the GR86, the Supras, the Panam R32s. And it looks like we've got another one and we've got a Lexus, a Lexus drift car here. And again, we've talked Toys just sort of

Matthew: Yes.

Pop on top: kind of stepping outside the outside the boundaries of diecast with these drift cars with the new castings you know these amateur looking drift cars that are kind of half torn apart you know mismatching wheels this Lexus has a removable hood and it looks like it comes with two engines so you can completely slip the engine out I don't know if it's going to be a magnetized engine and you can put a new engine in so it looks like you can switch between maybe a 2J and what looks like a RB or an SR motor. So yeah, pretty cool feature. I am going to tell you, we've got a picture here. It's actually a bit of a release. We'll post it up for everyone to have a look at the 1087X ⁓ drift scene. And it looks like it's got about, it's got some pretty funky cars, some we haven't seen yet. It looks like we could be in

Matthew: Hmm.

Pop on top: for a maybe a chaser as well. Of course we did see the ⁓ BMW previously as well. And yeah ⁓ really impressed with this line from X car toys. I'll be buying all of these cars because they have done an amazing job with these drift cars. So yeah what's your thoughts on the Lexus in particular?

Matthew: Looks that way. Mm-hmm. Mate, love it. Yeah, absolutely love it. I really, really do like any of ⁓ the pop race models with the magnetic pieces. ⁓ a real sort of attraction for me. ⁓ the fact that you can remove the engine, we're really getting into that micro turbo ⁓ now. ⁓ the crazy thing to me is that ⁓ won't be, ⁓ imagine, but ⁓ bet you it won't be much more than the average ⁓ Pop Race or Xcar Toys model. That's the crazy thing. It's not like they just absolutely hike up the price to suit the extra pieces. So yeah, I'll definitely pick this one up. I did pick up the 32. I think I missed the... What was the other one that they brought out already?

Pop on top: We've got the GR86 with the, I believe it's a LS motor, pretty cool. And yeah, we had the BMW as well, the wide body BMW. But I'd almost say these are a bit of a ⁓ gem as well because you don't see a lot of diecast stores selling these and ⁓ X car toys. I think X car toys in general, it's a bit of a hidden gem, a bit unknown and I think...

Matthew: 86? Yeah. I missed that one.

Pop on top: They deserve a little more credit than what they get and I'd like to see these released and sold at more stores. They're very cool.

Matthew: I absolutely agree with you. I'm surprised that there is not more, especially here in Australia, I'm surprised there's not more stockists of them, because there's nothing else quite like what they do.

Pop on top: Well, I mean, after today, there probably will be after they have, you know, finished watching the podcast, you know, all the stores are watching, just got their pen and paper out right. And, know, what they need to stock up. What's what's MiniCarRealm hyping up this this week?

Matthew: Yeah, that's true. That's true. Taki notes. Yeah, yeah. They've taken a few minus points off that R32 from Pomp Race. Canceled two boxes. Actually, you know what I am pretty keen on out of that lineup of 1087s is that is it a car truck that they've got looks like they've got coming with a full roll cage and stuff. That looks cool.

Pop on top: Yeah. Yeah Yeah, I'm interested to see this one. Well, everyone can have a look at a picture, but it's all in the pink sort of 1087 liveries. I dare say we'll see more liveries coming in the future, but I wouldn't say it would be a serious car, but sort of a bit of a display car for shows and that sort of thing where they'd probably get it out, do some, you know, drifting and burnouts and that sort of thing in it. But,

Matthew: Yeah.

Pop on top: Yeah, interested to see that one when we get the release for that as well. It looks super cool. Xcar Toys, they've done a bit of a collaboration with Works Model and we saw the first of this at the HEC in China, the show, we saw some WRXs and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, my favorite one, the Tommy McNam edition. They did it in a chrome color and I called it then I said,

Matthew: It does, it does indeed.

Pop on top: I'm not going to get the chrome color because a Tommy Mackenam Mitsubishi Evo shouldn't be in chrome. I need the original red. And of course, they have delivered with a follow up release the Evo 6 in the Tommy Mackenam. And then we've got the Rally spec version as well in the Rally decals. And we've got the WRX 22B and that one as well will be coming in a Rally spec as well. So ⁓ yeah. pretty cool little collaboration there and these are actually at a really good price point as well so no moving parts on these but you should be able to pick these up for around the low 20 Australian dollars. Yeah.

Matthew: Nice. Yeah, nice. They look really good for that price point. Really, really good.

Pop on top: They do, they do absolutely. yeah, a little bit of a cheaper price point from ⁓ card toys, but yeah, and ⁓ works model, but yeah, they look, they look really good. And I'm pretty keen to pick a couple of them up and check out the quality on them for sure.

Matthew: Yeah, nice. Yeah, I'd be similar. The especially the Tommy Mackinnon models, they look really, really good. Certainly, yeah, in that racing livery have to pick it up for sure. That wraps up Pop Race ⁓ the associated families.

Pop on top: Definitely, yeah. probably lead into Tarmac Works with a little point. We all saw the release from Pop Race, the ⁓ R32, the ⁓ little chopped sort of car style looking thing. what do you reckon it looks like we've ⁓ potentially got something coming from? ⁓ Tarmac Works, very, very similar. It looks like an R32 and something I talked about in a few podcasts, I believe last podcast as well. One diecast company does it, then the next one does it. And I wasn't a big fan of this car in the first place and it looks like we may have Tarmac Works doing it. What's your thoughts?

Matthew: My thoughts are the first time I saw these images of tarmac's ⁓ version was ⁓ somebody's taken the pop race car and photoshopped tarmac logos over the top of it because the tarmac logo kind of looked not the same, like it looked a bit different or something. So I genuinely thought someone had just photoshopped the Pop Race one. But no, Tarmac have officially got their own R32 mini car on the way. And of course, I'm sure that means that at some point we'll see it in 164. For ⁓ me, there is no contest if Pop Race are releasing one and so are Tarmac. I'll be getting the pop race one and I don't need to ⁓ ⁓ that's yeah that's as blunt as I'd put it. ⁓ what I think. What about you mate? mean obviously you're gonna get the pop race if any.

Pop on top: Look, I'll get one. I'll get. Yeah, if any, I'll get one pop race, if any. ⁓ Probably important point to note here, this delivery, it is very and I dare say it is based on it. It's a cal sonic, isn't it? For sure. Calsonica, you know, number as well. You know, it's cal sonic written all over it. ⁓ Yeah, not for me. I think Tarmac works. You know, they didn't need to go down this line as well.

Matthew: Yeah, yep.

Pop on top: I have ⁓ yeah.

Matthew: And look, I don't blame them for doing it. Like if I was in their position, I'd probably do the same thing. These are a popular model. We know that they've gone and purchased that Liberty Walk. R32 that they've been taking around to the various different shows and change the livery on it for various different shows. So it makes sense to have a real, you know, one of one of these miniature R32s and run that around to various different shows as well. So it does make sense. just, you know, Pop Race's one was in a calisthenic themed livery as well. And I thought at least it could have been in a different livery.

Pop on top: Yeah, for sure.

Matthew: But anyway, they're doing one as well. So for those of you that are more leaning into your tarmac versus your pop brace, you're crazy, but that is, they're gonna do one as well. So there it is.

Pop on top: of course ⁓ got another what looks like about eight cars again from ⁓ Works. ⁓ another release. I gonna say it the white Aristo. Are you gonna pick that up?

Matthew: I reckon so. I've picked up all the Aristo's I've done so far, so I think I'll grab that one as well. it's obviously the same ⁓ casting that we've seen in red and what was the other colour we saw? I can't remember the other colour we saw, but ⁓ I probably will. ⁓

Pop on top: Yeah, I thought you

Matthew: I actually thought this this round was pretty decent from Tarmac. feel like I haven't had a decent round of cars from Tarmac for a while. There's been a lot ⁓ of recent releases, or announcements for pre-order that I've brushed over and gone, there's not too much here ⁓ that really catches my fancy. look, we the Mitsubishi Evo, ⁓ this is a rally spec an Advan livery. I've never been a fan of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evos from Tarmac, I've just ⁓ never thought that they have nailed the casting from in my humble opinion. know there's a few guys out there that really do like their casting of the Evo. that's just my thing. But that would be a pass for me. They did do a Porsche 928, I think it is, which they've done a few lately. This one's in a gold sort of colour, probably one of the more common colours that you actually see on the street. So if I was ever gonna get one, that would probably be the colour I would get. Look, I'm not a huge fan of that particular model of Porsche. I want to pass on that They did do a lovely Porsche 959, you know, you know like an Alpine white with a full red bold red interior And that actually does look quite good. I thought look I yeah I'd probably be on the fence with that one they did a Porsche 911 993 cup

Pop on top: Yeah, bye bye.

Matthew: car and that one's in like a sky blue I suppose you'd say but that one does look quite good as well and then they did the 32 so we've seen the John Siebel Widebody 32 in quite a few different liveries and then previously I think you know maybe two episodes ago we spoke about Tarmac doing a collaboration with Sean Witherspoon who's obviously an artist that does that sort of patchwork quilt type

Pop on top: Thank ⁓

Matthew: designs on ⁓ and things, ⁓ there's all just every panel's like a different colour. ⁓ that's what this is. This is a collaboration with ⁓ Siebel, but also with ⁓ Witherspoon. So ⁓ got an R32 in ⁓ sorts of ⁓ different bold, bright colours on different panels. ⁓ I said it then, I'll say it again, it's not really my thing and I have been, I've picked up most of the John Siebel widebody R32s but this, yeah, this different colours on different panels thing is not my thing. I did quite like though, they've released, this is a new tooling, they've released this Camira Evo 37 I don't know how you'd even describe it if you're not familiar with the car. but I do quite like the look of this particular car in real life. I feel like Tarmac have done quite a good job just in the pictures that I've seen here of replicating ⁓ real car. And then finally, I don't know that it was associated with the rest of the pre-orders for the month, but they also did announce ⁓ in their Disney theme, they've brought out ⁓ that van that we've seen ⁓ many time the wide-body hi-ace, ⁓ this with a Monsters University livery. certainly one that, look, if you've got kids or you're into your Disney stuff, then ⁓ that'll ⁓ a for sure. ⁓ tarmac, mate. there anything there that caught your fancy?

Pop on top: ⁓ I'm with you on that camara. I actually don't know the car too well Again, I'm gonna with something you said previously. I'm gonna criticize tarmac here and say who is taking the photos

Matthew: Hmm.

Pop on top: because it's a top shot and you can't see the car properly like you know get something on the side give us a better shot of it. There's a couple of pictures of the packaging it looks quite good the packaging the car on the packaging I mean but it's in a candy red I think yeah I think it looks pretty cool actually I don't know a lot about the car though so I might not pick it up. You might think ⁓ be keen for the Monsters Inc Hiace ⁓ did definitely have a close look at it but ⁓

Matthew: Yes. Yep. Yes.

Pop on top: just didn't tickle my fancy enough on the novelty side of things to pick that one up. I will ⁓ mention to you that due to your influence ⁓ how much you've told me about this ⁓ widebody Nissan Skyline by John Siebel ⁓ how good it is, ⁓ have ⁓ purchased my first ⁓ ⁓

Matthew: Fair. Fair.

Pop on top: Widebody from Tarmac Works and it's not in fact this Sean ⁓ Wetherspoon one, but I have picked up, have, it is indeed the HKS 32 Widebody, you called it.

Matthew: I was gonna say, HKS. Yes, yes. Nice. I did, I did. Yeah, I was like, which one would he have picked? I was like, HKS for sure. That was me thinking out loud then.

Pop on top: So I am keen to check that one out since you braved on about this casting for so long and I will be the final judge of whether this casting is good or not. wait for the call before anyone else thinks about picking this one up. I will be the test dummy. Because you cannot trust.

Matthew: Well done. Everyone's sitting there with just fingers poised over their mouths. Just like, oh, I was just about to order that too. I'll hold off now that Ben's getting one. I'll see what he has to say. Suddenly there's a, you you put your opinion out there and then suddenly there's an influx of orders. But yeah, look, I think you'll like it. I think you'll like it. I think you might even like it more than the pop race, Pandem R32 in Gunmetal.

Pop on top: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha You

Matthew: That's not likely.

Pop on top: ⁓ I think I might like it a little bit. we'll wait and see. ⁓ But yeah, that's about it. Nothing else really caught my eye too much.

Matthew: You Good stuff. Good stuff. That's Tarmac. I have been keeping a close eye on announcements for MDX. I haven't seen a whole lot as yet, but we did, or I did see CM model. have released, we've seen the Pan and BMW E30 from them before, but they've got a almost, ⁓ it's like a light orange version with a four spoke deep dish wheel coming out for MDX. And it looks like they'll have a chrome chase version going by the marketing that they've put out for it. It's sort of got a reflection in the background with a chrome chase version. But what did you think, mate? I was quite fond of this one.

Pop on top: I actually don't, I don't rate it that much. I do really like the casting and we've seen a couple of releases already, different color variants, but I'm just going to stick with the original one we saw, which was just a plain white, a Pandem, a BMW M3 E32. Just the original white one. That's the only one I've liked so far. And I'm not digging this one too much. Just don't like the color.

Matthew: Hmm.

Pop on top: that much, so yeah, I can't agree with you on this one, no.

Matthew: Yeah, look, I was the same as you. That's the only one that I've ordered so far as well as that original plain would that this wasn't an event exclusive, because I'm not going to play, ⁓ you know, crazy for it, but if it wasn't an event exclusive, and the other thing that I don't like is that decal. On the the rear quarter. I if they'd left that off it would have looked like a better It would have been a better car personally in my opinion. ⁓ I really like the color ⁓ I don't really like that decal. I don't even know what it is ⁓ What decal is but ⁓ anyway, see a model

Pop on top: Yeah. I mean, yeah, it is a nice casting though, isn't it?

Matthew: Yeah, very nice casting. Yeah, well, yet to get one in hand. But the other thing that I did actually like on this, which I don't think was on the plain white one, is they've got the yellow headlights on this one, which I thought was cool. anyway, yeah, if you're into your CM model and you really, really like this E30 casting, well, there's another one coming out at MDX, but...

Pop on top: Yeah, yep.

Matthew: That's about all I've really seen that's been officially announced for MDX so far. How about yourself? You see anything else?

Pop on top: No, not in particular. I haven't really been paying a lot of attention to MDX, but I dare say, you know, as time passes, we're getting close to And we will see a lot of cool releases at MDX. I'm interested to see the pop race releases, of course.

Matthew: Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Pop Race won't be at MDX though, will they? They're at the other... it... yeah, TCMS or whatever it is, the other show. Yeah, which, yeah, ⁓ I think they're on at different times this year. Last year they ran simultaneously, but I believe this year they're actually on at different times. ⁓

Pop on top: Absolutely. Actually you're right, won't be. Yes, they'll be at the TSM. Yes. Yes. different weekends you mean this time.

Matthew: Something like that. Somebody told me they're not actually on at the same time this year. I haven't fact-checked that, but that's what somebody told me.

Pop on top: Yeah nice, I guess yeah Watch Your Space, MDX should be and TCMS, Watch Your Space should be some pretty cool cars and Sneak Peek's coming out of soon come. ⁓ What you think? Should we move on to your little segment? Do you need me to... ⁓

Matthew: Mate, it wouldn't be the same without it. Wouldn't be the same without it. Go on.

Pop on top: I'm not prepared for this one. ⁓

Matthew: You

Pop on top: Nah, can't do it. Just play a previous one. Play a previous one and done. ⁓ I have thought about this one and I actually couldn't come up with one this week. So this segment is all yours this week.

Matthew: Hahaha done. All right. Okay. Well, before I get to mine, did have a couple the ⁓ from last episode, and I thought ⁓ I'll those. of those comments came in today from Lidsville and he mentioned the Model T Ford. But I didn't have a chance before we started recording to actually check and see whether there is a die-cast version of that. I would have thought surely there was a 1.6.4 die-cast version of the Model T Ford, but it's quite possible that there's not. But given the direction that Mini GT are going, you can always... guarantee there will be at some point. But the other one that we saw in the comments as well, which I did have to Google to sort of get the right picture in my mind of what we were talking about, came from user ADINAISB. I don't know how it happened. pronounced or if it's supposed to be pronounced but anyway that's the username but it was dear diecast gods please make the fourth gen Mitsubishi Eclipse GT V6 in sunset orange and of course I know what a Mitsubishi Eclipse is but I was like ⁓ fourth gen is that different but I believe this fourth gen and correct me if I'm wrong you're a bit more of a across the eclipse I think than what I am but this is the same generation as what we saw in too fast, too furious, I think? Or is it the model after it? I think it might be the model after it actually. It's tip for slightly different headlines.

Pop on top: I feel like it has to be so... no one wants that. ⁓ yeah, think you'll be the only person that wants this one. So I think it'd be crazy for a diecast company to make this car because look at that thing. That thing is hideous. ⁓ So offense. ⁓ Probably guy's like a dream, you know, first car he absolutely loves. I'm just like, what is this thing?

Matthew: I, yeah, look, I'm not gonna lie. Yeah, dream car. yeah, you know what though? I'm not gonna lie and I'm really sorry, but I thought the exact same thing. was like, nah, that's not something I would buy, but there's. You know, I'm sure that there's got, there's people that, you know, like we were talking about the Toyota crown in the last episode. And the only reason that, it's something for me is cause I had one, right? There's gotta be the scenario here. This guy has had a fourth gen Mitsubishi clips, GT V6, and he's very specific. He wants it in sunset orange. So he's had one, has to have had one and it was in sunset orange because why else would you want one in that colour, in that spec? This has been a car that he's owned, for sure.

Pop on top: And let's face it, it's a GT model. It looks hideous, but it's got a V6. It's probably got bit of power, doesn't it?

Matthew: Three yeah, three point eight liter v6 or something like that. I had a look So they would have a little two-door two-door thing. So hey, look, I'm sure it was a hell of a car to drive But I just I personally have no You know, ⁓ there's no link me to this car. So it's not something that I would pick up

Pop on top: Yeah. Yeah. And we never saw these in Australia either. So, um, yes, yes, yes.

Matthew: Which is why, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I'm sure they are more popular over in the US. But anyway, Diecast prayer, and I know I tend to see ⁓ new cars coming and I go, man, that's awesome. You know, new ⁓ one of ones, course, that's the whole theme of this ⁓ segment. ⁓ This ⁓ saw... ⁓ that there is a company called Evoluto who basically does a very similar sort of thing to Singer and companies like that and they are grabbing the classic Ferrari F355 and basically doing a resto mod on them and turning out these Evoluto 355s and I reckon they look awesome. pop-up headlights, I thought you'd like pop-up headlights. But yeah, I reckon these would look good in a 164.

Pop on top: they would, I can't see a massive difference between just an original 355 and this one, whether I'm not looking hard enough. The mirrors definitely look different. But yeah, ⁓ I you know, there's not a huge difference between that and our standard one, is there?

Matthew: There's a fair bit, I've probably put a bad picture up, because you're right, I specifically put a picture with pop-up headlights to try and sway you over to my side of the fence with like, yeah, that would be awesome. ⁓ But it is quite different. It's definitely got the core frame of a 355, but it's quite different in what they've done.

Pop on top: And that's all they do is at the 355.

Matthew: To my understanding, that's all they've done so far. But I believe they plan to do a similar sort of thing with other Ferrari models, especially those older 90s and 80s model Ferraris.

Pop on top: Yeah, right. Yeah, I don't know if I've been vocal. think I have been vocal on this, but I really love the three 48 to the point to the point I've looked for three 48 Ferraris and Tarmac works are the only ones that I can find that do it. So I'd love to see another company do the three 48 because they look, you know, they got the pop up headlights as well. They look, actually look really good, especially lowered on a nice set of rims.

Matthew: ⁓ You have, Hmm. Yeah, I agree. agree. Yep, look, any Ferrari, I'll be keen on. But anyway, that was my Dear Dark House Gods entry for this Fortnite. that brings us to your favourite segment, which you never miss. You never miss this segment. ⁓ And this one of course, Hidden Gem. What have you got for us?

Pop on top: The Hidden Gem, we have covered a few times Mortal Model. They've been doing a few cool cars. They have talked about the massive wings. They released a S14 not too long ago with the massive wing on the back and they've kind of done a new tooling on the S14. They've deleted the wing. car was in fact ⁓ release at HEC. ⁓

Matthew: Hmm.

Pop on top: believe it was the first release of this new tooling and I think we will see more in more colors. ⁓ This in a red color and I'm looking forward to getting it in a different color. But the new tooling on this one, they've got rid of the wing. bonnet is held on with magnetic pieces. ⁓ It's got a detailed ⁓ SR20, the SR20 comes in that. It's got an intercooler on the front but one feature that is quite notable on this car is the front bumper is removable so you can take the hood off and you can take the front bumper off as if you're working on the car. And it looks really cool. I think the casting is really nice, the engine is really detailed, nice and low, the stance is great. So I'm really looking forward to seeing another color in this one. What's your thoughts? Have you seen this one? Did you see it when it was released?

Matthew: I haven't, no, this is the first time I've seen it, so you've, yeah, you're showing me something new, that's for sure. And I love it, I really like it. ordered one of these mortal, what was it, the... ⁓ We spoke about it a few others. can't remember the model, but it was a Toyota the Cresta. I think it was Cresta. Yeah I ordered one of those and I'm keen I'm really keen to get it in hand and I ⁓ was the same as you I was looking at those previous s14s and they looked really good But I wasn't sold on that massive wing that they had on them But this this is super clean and I actually really like it in red

Pop on top: The Cresta, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Matthew: The only thing that I would question, and you might be able to tell me, my eyes might be deceiving me, but are the wheels chrome or are white?

Pop on top: The wheels look chrome. The wheels are chrome on this model, yeah.

Matthew: I know if I like the chrome wheels, but anyway, the rest of it looks amazing.

Pop on top: Yeah, looks like the wheels might even have a bit of a camber on them as well, slightly cambered, but yeah. have had a look at this one, I think I can pick it up for about $80 ⁓ Australian, ⁓ but you know, as they release more colors, you'll get lot cheaper. This one, course, being a exclusive, it does look good in the red, but I think it would look really good ⁓ in, well, black for starters would look good. It would look good a few different colors, ⁓ maybe even white.

Matthew: Hmm. Yep. course.

Pop on top: but the red looks great, yeah.

Matthew: I white would look really good actually. Yeah, good, good call. The only thing I know you really like your black castings, but the only thing that I don't like about black castings as much is sometimes it hides the lines a bit, I feel. Do you feel that as well or?

Pop on top: I don't think it does. I think it makes it hard to make a video of a black car because it just picks up every time a little bit of dust. We've stated that previously. Anyway, have a, that's enough on that hidden gem. I actually have another hidden gem as well. It was giving me a bit of FOMO this one. I saw them get released. It is this one, they are releasing a black model.

Matthew: Hmm Very true. Yep, Hmm

Pop on top: but I had the Fine Works Chevy Impala. I did a video on it recently in the convertible, the soft top and the soft top off and they have indeed released another Chevy Impala from Fine Works. And this of course is a low rider again with the hydraulics, the hydraulic wheels. They look really awesome. The movement's really great. You can get different ⁓ the wheels, you know, different levels. ⁓ And this is a hardtop Chevy Impala. I believe they're about the 1965 models from memory. I could be wrong. But we've seen three colors. We've seen purple, we've seen black, and we've seen like a pinstripe blue. And these things, I've already ordered the blue one, the black one. So they come in my way. I liked them that much. I got two of them.

Matthew: Nice that I don't get both of them to look to look really really good these are fine works as well do say okay yeah wow the the black one looks does look really really nice ⁓ yeah that pinstripe on the ⁓ on the tires and wire wheels of course yeah plenty of chrome looks great looks great

Pop on top: These ones are fine works, yeah. What do you reckon? You gonna pick one up?

Matthew: I think I have to. I think I have to. Where you ordering them from? AliExpress?

Pop on top: ⁓ You can get them from AliExpress if you're in Australia though, can also pick them up Diecast Culture. I've just received a load of them, which is where obviously I'll be getting mine from. So yeah, check them out.

Matthew: Yeah, Yeah, I love to. love to. I didn't realize you can get them here in Australia. thought it might have been, you know, digging through the depths of Valley Express as you tend to do. The murky waters.

Pop on top: Yeah, well, same thing. have a of a reputation around the place. know, if I occasionally I let give a few hot tips to a few retailers and, you know, they go, yeah, good idea. I better get that in.

Matthew: Yeah, yes, yes. No, good work, good work. You need to do that. ⁓ Excellent. No, I'll definitely have to pick some up. I've got a few of the Hot Wheels ones and I really like those, but these look next level.

Pop on top: you Yeah, I mean that's a good point too. It is a really good substitute for Hot Wheels as well, especially these models. They look really good. The details are probably slightly better than Hot Wheels as well. ⁓ if you missed a Hot Wheels one, I know they're quite expensive. The low riders from Hot Wheels and I missed out on them. So ⁓ was more than happy to pick a couple of these up and they do look really good ⁓ you make the movements. You know, you get one wheel up in the air and ⁓

Matthew: Yeah, yeah.

Pop on top: You know the other three sort of on the ground dumped at the back. Yeah, they're super cool cars these ones

Matthew: Yeah, nice, nice. I'll definitely have to grab one for sure. If not, a few of them. They're definitely a nice looking model.

Pop on top: Yeah.

Matthew: Mate, I reckon that covers us off as far as releases, but we do generally have a look through various different questions that get raised in the comments. And I saw one there that I thought I'll pop in here at the end and we'll have a bit of a chat about it. This one's from Wayne Clark. So ⁓ Wayne from Poprace UK is his Instagram handle. But yeah, top podcast once again, fellas. Going back to RLC, do you think they do enough cars for every member? So this was obviously in relation to the the Porsche Targa that we were talking about on the on the last episode They must know how many they have and you'd think they would do enough plus a few extra for new members Plus on the overdrive they're allowed two models But I also read a few comments saying they got their two on overdrive plus another two via the normal route Surely, if only allowed two per person, that shouldn't have been possible to do. And the reason I sort of put this in here is because I went, hey, I didn't know that Overdrive allowed you to purchase potentially four of the models. Is this something that you were aware of yourself? Or, yeah, this was news to me, ⁓ and hey, didn't, yeah, I thought once you got your two from Overdrive, that's it, you've got your allocation.

Pop on top: Yeah, look, I'm not 100 % sure, but I'm sort of, you know, in the nineties, percent sure. And I, yeah, I think that you do get your two overdrive models if that's what you want your one or two, whatever you select. But then you then have the opportunity when it drops to jump back in and grab the standard allocation again as well. So potentially, you know, some, if you have overdrive, you could be picking up for Targa Porsches. ⁓ Extra chance of a chase, yeah.

Matthew: Wow. Wow, that blows my mind and annoys me even more knowing that.

Pop on top: Especially when we can't have overdrive here because if we could get overdrive here, I 100 % think I would probably get it because a couple of good models a year, you could pick up two of those and you sell them off and your overdrive is paid for and you've gotten the models that you actually wanted as opposed to missing out.

Matthew: Hmm, it's a good point. I haven't really thought about whether I would buy overdrive if it was available here. I probably would, I guess. You're right. Just those couple of models a year, you think of last year's releases, that was the RWB that we whined about for episode after episode after episode. But yeah, models like that where you would have a limited chance. ⁓ Look, I actually think that overdrive would be more valuable, to be honest, in Australia, because you don't have to get up at two in the morning. if you do miss the Australian release. ⁓ So, think it's probably, it would actually be worth it. I think you got a good point there. ⁓ For reason, it's only available ⁓ over in the US. ⁓

Pop on top: Yeah, super frustrating. And, you know, we've hopped on about RLC enough. Do they make enough costs for every member? Of course they don't. They know they don't. I think they don't even care. I think they want that little bit of hype. You know, if they start making enough costs for everyone, I think the hype dies down behind it and they need that hype there. And, ⁓ yeah, let's face it. They, don't care. They don't care. Do they?

Matthew: No, I think it's absolutely their intention that it should fall short. Because like you say, it has people like us on a podcast whinging about it for episode after episode. And that just drives people to run to the checkout faster.

Pop on top: And I think it's gone too far the wrong way though to the point that there's a lot of people like ourselves and you know I've stated I don't think I'm gonna renew RLC membership again. I'm just I've had enough of it to tell you the truth and I don't want to wait up and then miss out and we like I said we've gone on and on about it and but I think for me RLC is coming to an end of an era and Yeah

Matthew: Yeah, I, look, it's not a full departure from Hot Wheels. I'm certainly not going away from Hot Wheels completely, but anything where I have to fight at the checkout at a certain particular time that Mattel choose and I may or may not get the model, just not really interested in it. the premiums and stuff like that that come out and rah rah rah. Sure. Yeah. ⁓ Grab ones that I like of ⁓ those. ⁓ yeah, getting to a point where I'm just, ⁓ you I was really happy ⁓ that obviously ⁓ grabbed ⁓ Was to get me one of those ⁓ PlayStation, Verde Porsches. But to be honest, I was fully prepared to just be like, I actually had already decided I'm not getting up, not getting up at 2am to ⁓ have crack. So when I missed the Australian, I was like, ⁓ That's it. I'll to pick one up after market or that's it. Not having one.

Pop on top: Yeah, I mean, I've got another year. I've got another year of, you know, I only renewed maybe three, four months ago. So I've got quite a bit of time left on my RLC ⁓ membership, but yeah, what about you? We've got that Chevy, Chevy fleet line coming. You're still going to have a crack at that or are you going to give it a miss with the chase?

Matthew: I would like to have a crack at it. ⁓ I'm just not holding my breath to be honest. I think once again it's got the chase so it's just gonna go bunta. I think if you didn't have the chase piece you'd probably have a chance of getting it. Well then again it's in that lowrider style and those lowrider ones are always pretty hot property so I don't know. I think I'll try and probably fall flat on my face again. But seeing as I got the membership sitting there, I might as well at least try.

Pop on top: I think it's going to sell out quite fast, especially with that chase. And we have obviously the overdrive members and last year they're only allowed to get one. They can get two cars. I think that's just consuming so many more cars now and reducing the chance of the everyday punter as well. ⁓ look, mate, I'm going to call, going to call it right now. You're going to have a crack at it. And we're going to talk about how angry you during the process, ⁓ on the podcast, ⁓ afterwards.

Matthew: 100 % it is. Well, as far as what we've seen coming up in the future, it's really for me, to be honest, the only ones that I would be like, I definitely want those ones is that Chevy Fleetline. And then further down the track, probably when my retail membership is ready to expire, the Ferrari. That's it.

Pop on top: Of yeah, yeah, yep.

Matthew: That's it. That's the only ones for me that I've, as of what's been announced so far, you know, to be fair, like we are, there's probably ones that we haven't seen yet that haven't been announced, but of what's been announced, of what's been announced, that's all I've been like, yep, that's the only thing that I would be super keen on. Not bashing the other models, there's some great models coming out, but just not for me. I've either got them in a different colour or, you know, rah rah rah.

Pop on top: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah look it would probably take a Ferrari F40 or a 250 GTO in the RLC line to get me back on board. Which I don't even have to think about. We said it, they bring a car out like that. I'm going to get beaten in the line trying to pick that thing up as well aren't we.

Matthew: I've just gotten to the point where I'm like, you know what? I ⁓ was obviously real mad about this Targa and I've gotten to the point now with this Porsche where I was like, really want this Porsche in the PlayStation livery, but I know it's going to sell out and I know it's going to sell out fast. I missed obviously that Australian date, which I was like right over, I've missed the time slot there. US time slot, I'm not going to try for. If I want it, I'm just going have to pay the dividend. to buy it from somebody who managed to get to that's I'm just gonna be I have to be at peace with that I'm not gonna have it for $30 which you know fortunately I did end up getting it for around that money but the you know yeah, I'm just gonna have to be at peace with it. So I think it's gonna be the same story with the Chevy Fleetline. Be at peace that there's gonna be a bunch of people that are gonna buy two, because they'll be trying to get the chase, and then they'll put the second one on the market when it's not the chase to try and, you know, get it moving on. And I'll just have to try and find the cheapest price I can on the secondary market. That's just getting to the point of where it's at.

Pop on top: Yeah, or you just think to yourself, well, yeah, I'm kind of at the point like I prefer my premium models more than I prefer Hot Wheels. I know you did list Hot Wheels as your number one brand still, so probably different for you. But I've I've walked away from Hot Wheels in a way, in a sense, I do pick up the odd premium that I really like. But yeah, I'm not picking too many up these days. I'm probably at the point where I pick up maybe max 10 to 20 a year premium Hot Wheels now.

Matthew: Yeah, wow, that is a very low number. Yeah, look, do still, you know, it's no secret, I really still enjoy my boulevard.

Pop on top: It is,

Matthew: series and there's still various different car culture ones that come out that I enjoy. Various Elite 6.4s that I enjoy. So there's still enough Hot Wheels that I definitely enjoy. It's these ones though where you've got to be a member or there's a time frame where it's going live and you know the only place you can get it is the US that I just go, nah I don't have time for that anymore. I buy what I can buy from Kmart or Woolies or whatever and that's gonna have to be it. That's where I'm at. Or maybe I'll pick something up at a I cast Expo or something like that but that's yeah.

Pop on top: Look what bloody Wayne started. We've bloody harped on for the last 15 minutes about Hot Wheels now.

Matthew: Good on you, Wayne. Started with Hot Wheels, finished with Hot Wheels. That's how it usually goes. Well, mate, that is episode 17. We are getting dangerously close to episode 20. And I think we've, I think we're very close to lining someone up to jump on the podcast with us. So stay tuned, stay tuned for that. But it should be good.

Pop on top: will it be? Exciting to find out.

Matthew: Yeah, lots of good suggestions, lots of good suggestions. ⁓ But yeah, be interesting to see who it is. You'll have to wait and see. But yeah, mate, pleasure talking diecast with you as always.

Pop on top: Awesome. Absolutely.

Matthew: see you on the next one.

Pop on top: Catch ya. See you mate, bye.