H-hobby Kyosho 1:64 Silent Auction is happeing!

H-hobby Kyosho 1:64 Silent Auction!

H-hobby Kyosho Silent Auction

Start Date: 10 August 2011

Visit here for more info!

H-hobby Facebook

Milo Promotion - Milo Trucks Diecast

These cars were changed using the barcodes of Milo's products, long queue to get them, and stocks were running out fast!

More detailed photo of them soon!

H-hobby Mustang Week

Mustang week is coming up soon! Stay tune for continuous post of the wild horse!

H-hobby Give Away! Hot Wheels Custom Convoy!

Another free car from me :) Anybody can take part, and it's easy!

Starting date: Now!!

End date: 25 April 2011 12AM

Here is what you need to do to participate:

1. Go to this web:

http://says.my/hokuan/invite

2. Sign up an account and share an ads.

3. Your name will appear in my list if you sign up using that link, so I will randomly choose a winner from there!

Just 3 easy steps guys! And one more thing, you can ask your friends or relatives to join too as long as you know their names when I announce the winner.

After you have sign up, and afraid that your name didnt appear, please select " I am attending" here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124017331008843

What to do when your item is being hold at customs?

Just got my parcel from customs office today and I paid RM60 for taxes today , so I'm here to share the information of how to get your item if yours ended up being blocked.

The first step is to check whether your items are blocked by customs or not. If you're using USPS, you can check the status at USPS.com, the result will be as below:

Notice that there are two " Into Foreign Customs", this indicates that your items are now being held at customs.

A letter will be sent to you in few days, usually 2 days after the block, and with that letter, go to the Pos Office at LCCT. It's a big building so you can't miss it.

You need to bring along the invoice or receipt of your payment, to prove the value of the items. They will not trust the value declared.

At the office, you will go through 3 departments, quite easy, they will ask you to open the parcel, and you can tell your story there. But do remember, the officers there are very experience, cheap lies such as these items are gift won't help you. If you want to avoid tax, get a better story or just pay the tax.

So that's all you need to do. I hope these infos help!

Chill out, enjoy the hobby!

4 years had passed since I started collecting diecast cars, and I've seen a lot off collectors come and goes, most of them who started at the same time as me had quit due to the change of interest or they just cannot cope with the price anymore. And throughout the years, I've seen many different types of collectors, some just having fun with collecting, others are seriously into this hobby.

We cannot expect everyone to be nice to each other, emotion has been with us since the evolution of mankind, but we do have the ability to control it. Just ignore what we don't like, we're not here to educate them about virtues, we're here for the passion towards car models! So let the scalpers buy as many as they want, it's their money. Let those who talk trashes continue to do so, it's kinda entertaining. Let those who has attitude problems play with themselves. Hell yeah we just don't care.

So guys, no point cursing scalpers, no point arguing about differences in opinions, just chill out, and enjoy the hobby!

By the way, check this out :D

Join me at SAYS.MY! A hassle free way to earn some money :)

Vintages are here, Garages next, will it works?

Finally Malaysia Hot Wheels collectors is able to purchase real riders off local market. We have seen the first batch of Vintages being sold out at Toy R Us, and more are coming at major departmental store such as Jusco and Sogo. So one big question, will it works? or the hype will just die off?

First of all, Mattel is being really clever for selling the Vintages at RM19.90 ( Just as what I've suggested long time ago). It is affordable by most collectors. They will sell like hot cakes if Mattel is able to maintain the selling price.

Since the price is already suitable for Malaysia's market, the Vintages and Garages will not have any problem in contributing profit to Mattel. But it will not last long if Mattel do something stupid. No, not increasing the price, the stupid mistake is to supply the market with the same batch of stock over and over again. Although Mattel might offer special price for outlets that take in a large quantity of stock, but this will only create losses rather than profit. Short term profit, Yes. But when the stock is no longer moving, the profit will no longer come in. So long term profit, total lost.

What Mattel can do is to provide only limited amount of stock to outlets. Do not overflow the market. Dont get too cocky with the right price, even Hot Wheels Basic selling at RM5 is left without buyers when they're too many of it. People just get tired of seeing the same cars over and over again.

That's all I have to say, thanks for reading!

Chinese New Year Give-Away!

Chinese New Year Give-Away!! Win yourself a CARDED 2010 BATMOBILE!
Just go to my facebook page for more info :)
H-hobby Facebook.

Christmas Gift From H-Hobby!

Starting from today, 1 question will be posted at my facebook page each day until Dec 24 2010. Whoever get the most correct answers win!

How to play:

Step 1: "Like" the question.

Step 2: I will send a message to your facebook account asking for answer.

Step 3: I will inform the fastest person(based on who "like" first) who answered correctly.

Here's my facebook page.

H-Hobby Free Car!

Thanks for the support all these while, I'm going to give away this model for FREE!

So who should I give it to?

I'm going to post this link at my Facebook page , all you need to do is to comment there, I'll write down the names and draw lots the old fashion way!

This promotion runs for a week, closing date is 9/12/2010.

No entry fee, no extra charge, TOTALLY FREE!

Here's the page of mine.

7 Eleven Hot Wheels Promotion 29-11-2010

Another Hot Wheels promotion is coming up! Most of the store will restock Hot Wheels Basic, Speed Machine and Matchbox. Expect to see a lot of custom 53 Caddilac wave, where the gold Delorean is also available. . The hot cars in the matchbox wave is the white mini and blue civic.

Price:

Hot Wheels Basic: RM4.90

Matchbox: RM4.50

Speed Machine : RM12.90

Good luck hunting!

H-hobby is on Facebook!

Facebook is the trend now, so I'm not going to lose out on this (soooo kiasu :P ) . So here's the link to my facebook page:

Facebook Page

Thanks for looking and "like" it if you like it :D

My brother The Star Article

WHEN there is a sale in town for toy cars, Ho Kwan Lun makes sure he is the first to grab the best selection before everyone else does.

The mechanical engineering student will roam the streets for a 24-hour convenience store just to purchase those Hot Wheels toy cars at a cheaper price.

“Whenever there is a promotion or sale, my older brother and I will drive around looking for a 7-eleven store, they usually offer discounts and we don’t want to miss out,” said Kwan Lun who calls it their little ‘hunting’ expedition which they continue to pursue even though the brothers are now studying in different states.

Special privilege: As members of ‘Under the Hood Collector’s Club’ the brothers were also able to buy limited edition cars such as the 1970 Pontiac GTO ‘Judge.’

The duo, who hail from Seremban, said their craze for toy cars started after watching the movie Transformers in 2005 where they spotted their first love — the Bumblebee Camaro.

“We tried looking everywhere for it but only managed to find a red-coloured 2007 model in the end,” said Kwan Lun.

During their bid to find their favourite toy car, the brothers often go on the Internet and visit toy shops.

That way, they also found other collectors on the Internet including a collector’s club which they joined to get to know others who enjoy the similar interest as them.

“They will share tips and information of new cars through online forums as well as organise gatherings among the collectors,” said Kwan Lun, who brought some of his collection with him during the interview at a relative’s home recently.

Kwan Lun showing off the different types of cars in his collection which is shared with his elder brother.

Sharing the collection with his brother definitely helped in saving money as the cars can be quite pricey at times.

“The cars can be quite expensive and often difficult to find too. Instead of taking the job of ‘hunting’ for it alone, I have my brother, Kwan Wei to help me, which is great,” he said.

Among those which the brothers treasure are the Audi R8, Nissan GTR T35 and the BMW X6M (dealer’s edition) which all cost RM300 and above.

Also in mint condition is the 1970 Pontiac GTO and two 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 in different colours.

The yellow Lamborghini Diablo GTR is still intact in a box and Kwan Lun would only take it out to polish and clean. Otherwise, he says, it stays in the box.

In their home’s living room, there are four cabinets filled with different cars which they had purchased throughout the years.

Every two months, Kwan Lun would take on the duty of polishing and cleaning the cars.

When asked if their parents were supportive of their hobby, he said it was difficult in the beginning as they did not see the benefit of collecting cars.

“They often tell us how we are wasting our time and money on toy cars because we have to depend on them to buy,

“Now, they understand us better, when they see that we are serious in collecting and not just for the fun of it,” he added.

The brothers who are both studying engineering, said they would collect and purchase what they could afford until they eventually graduate and earn enough money to purchase the more expensive cars.

“Hopefully next time, we will have a room dedicated for our cars,” said Kwan Lun.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/10/26/central/6896261&sec=central

7 Eleven Hot Wheels Promotion 26-07-2010

Although it's starting on 26/7, but you can expect the stock to arrive by Sunday. Some has already restocked.

What to expect in this promotion:

1) Won't come in full box of 72 cars.

2) Mosty Chevelator or Ratbomb wave.

3) Speed Machine wave include white Evo and Mclaren F1 GTR.

3) Matchbox wave that contains Audi R8 and Route Master.

Good luck hunting :)

Joy Ranting by hokuan

Many years has passed and the number of Malaysian Hot Wheels collectors has increased, which should be a good news - the more the merrier. But things are not that merry given the current market status of Hot Wheels here.Price increases every year, and many old timers are quitting due to nostalgic reason, they missed the old price. We're treated more like a child rather than a serious collector. We adults like rubber wheels, but we can hardly get any of that series here, for example the Larry's Garage.
But hey, Mattel is a big company, they must have their reasons of doing so. They brought in Ferrari Racer, which at some points are selling well, but most of the time left hanging there. They've brought in CARS, but not selling like hot cakes. Speed racer? That's not worth to be mentioned. And recently we have the Speed Machine, and yes, this is really nice and selling well here :) So Mattel, why speed machine could sell well, but the others failed? Lets first look at the price.

Ferrari Racer - RM9.90-RM14.90
CARS - RM Not-worth-buying
Speed Machine - RM WTF
Speed Machine - RM14.90
Ferrari 1/43 - RM40

Does price really affect the market? At certain point, it will. But it depends on what you are buying. Malaysians are smart shopper, they know what they should be paying for. We won't pay a chicken for a price of a cow.

What if the rubber series we're brought in here? How will the price be? Given the fact that our cars here are much more expensive compared to oversea, ironically, so lets assume:

Ultra Hots - RM34.90
Larry's - RM29.90
Phil's - RM29.90
Classic(non-rubber) - RM 19.90
G-machine - RM34.90

IF Mattel are going to sell them here, my guess is the price should look like the one above. Will it sell like hot cakes? I guess not.
So what can Mattel do if they want to sell it here(day-dreaming)? Easy, Mattel has the brand power compared to other diecast company, for some reasons we like Hot Wheels more than Maisto or Jada, so if Maisto is selling real-riders for RM19.90-RM29.90, and Jada selling for RM24.90 - RM29.90, the price range of Hot Wheels should be around that range.

That's all from me, thanks for reading!

Audi R8 1/18 - Kyosho

Bought this beauty along with the GTR, and finally I'm able to share it here. Details of this model is on par with its price, but the headlamp disappoints me. Look closely in the photo and a gap can be noticed.

Enjoy the photo below :D

Coming soon

Slow wave - Poor distribution or marketing strategy?

Once again we're facing slow wave of Hot Wheels. There are only two things happening in Malaysia Hot Wheels markets now - Stuck with the Qombee/Chevy wave, or no stock at all. So what really happened to the distribution?

We all know Mattel is a big toy company, but they seems to have problem in distributing the stocks. We could see the wave arrived at Australia, USA and Canada accordingly, but in Malaysia and Singapore, we're puking everytime we went to the toys department for Hot Wheels. I wonder who is in charge of the stock distribution, this guy is not doing what he's paid for.

Or, is this a marketing strategy by Mattel? Giving USA and Canada the priority (obviously) and leave us with whatever stock they left. If so, the one who planned this strategy is an idiot. You feed us with leftover stock, but they're all of the same stocks, we already have all the cars you offered to us in the stock , and we're not buying anymore of it. And by that, the cars will be left hanging and Mattel won't get any profit with slow movement of stocks.

Whatever the reason is, one thing is obvious here, collectors in Malaysia is starting to get bored of it. It happened once during the Evil Twin wave, then it happened again with Crysler wave, and then Viper wave, now we're stuck with Qombee. Come on, how many of this shit could we take? During these periods, many collectors have given up on Hot Wheels due to boredom. When collectors quit, Mattel will lose more money, but I don't think Mattel care. They're too successful and don't really need us Malaysian. I don't think they need diecast lovers too, as you can see the crapiness in their molding and detailing. They usually don't paint the head lamp, and they might say they focus more on the tempo. But the tempo is all out of place, and even you did paint the lamp, it's hardly on the right spot, it might be a little right or a little left or up or down, you name it.

So Mattel, if you don't need Malaysia, and don't need diecast lovers, who do you need? Oh, you need your loyal fans. Lets just see how loyal can they be. I consider myself as loyal fans, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. Due to the crapiness of the quality, and the slow wave, I spent more of my money on other brands than Hot Wheels. I've bought more cars from Welly and High Speed recently. Moreover, I don't think I'm alone, if I'm doing this, I guess there are many more other collectors that are doing the same too. Yup, we're spending more on other brands than Hot Wheels.

Mattel, I hope you change the distributor, hire someone from Gardenia, they're doing a great job in distributing their breads....

Recent haul - Hot Wheels

These are my recent haul from Ebay and forumers, since I can't go out to hunt recently, so all I can do is just purchase them online. I will post individual picture of them soon :)