Longtime Matchbox and Hot Wheels designer Ryu Asada has died of cancer at 42 years old. Asada started with Mattel in 2004 designing mostly licensed, not-too-outrageous vehicles based on real cars. Even his original Matchbox concepts were vehicles that looked like they could be miniatures of actual production cars. In 2009 he started “guest designing” […]
Guest Post from Andy Goodman Andy organizes car and collector events, collects Hot Wheels, Funko, Jada, M2 and more, works for M2 Machines and has consulted for many other toy companies. He is also one of our Inductees (Model Historian in 2014) and has organized a number of the Annual Ceremonies for the Hall. Here […]
John Ragsdale, 63, passed away in Ennis, Texas on Thursday, March 28, 2019. John ran the DFW Toy and Diecast Fair for the last 15 years along with his brother George. in 2013, he was honored by the North Texas Diecast Collectors Club for “Outstanding Performance”. John was Inducted into the then Diecast Hall of […]
NASCAR artist and 2012 Model Car Hall of Fame Inductee Sam Bass passed away on February 16. If his name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, his artwork certainly should. As NASCAR’s “First Officially Licensed Artist,” he created dozens, if not hundreds of works of stock car related art for posters, t-shirts, and other merchandising. That […]
Earlier this year the world of diecast has lost a legend in Otto Kuhni. If you don’t know his name, you surely know his work. Otto was a freelance graphic designer in California in the 1960s when he got the call from Mattel… They needed an illustrator with a passion for cars, for their new […]
Tiny left us on the day nominations closed and immediately a number of Inductees and Nominees suggested an Obituary for Tiny. Anita and other members of Chickluu’s Fabulous Redlines wrote it and we gladly publish it This post has comments enabled to allow you to share your moments with Tiny. Tiny was born and raised in Detroit, […]
Larry Wood has recently unveiled a collection of trading cards that encapsulate some of the artwork from the legendary Hot Wheels designer. Entitled “The Ones That Got Away,” this high-end, 10-card set features the never-before-seen work of the Model Car Hall of Fame class of ’09 inductee. Larry has the distinction of being a two-time […]
The Model Car Hall of Fame is proud to announce the 2021 class of inductees for several categories. Each person or brand is worthy of their inclusion because of current or historical contributions to the model car collecting world. Model Car Designer of the Year – Ryu Asada Ryu Asada found his dream job right […]
The Model Car Hall of Fame is proud to announce the 2021 class of model vehicles for several categories. Each model represents the finest achievements in detail, innovation, and character for various scales. 1/10 Scale Model of the Year – Schuco Zündapp KS 50 Once known primarily for their basic but nice windup car models, […]
