Just to give a little update on the 2016 Gathering of Friends in Albuquerque. It was my first time here and I certainly hope it won't be my last ! Jim and his team really made this a great success and I was very impressed by the way everything was organized so well.
Room trading was a lot of fun and I brought a few items that found a new owner. The workshops were extremely interesting. Jim Reid gave a captivating presentation on Matchbox copies, with a ton of pictures of imitations. Ali Sarkarati also presented underrated Regular Wheels and that was a blast. Never thought 1E could have so many different variations ! He really showed us, with other examples such as 2B, 30B or 51C, that the rarest are not always the most expansive !
The Matchbox Team from Mattel was also there to present the new line and explain the different steps in the making of new models. Although I don't personally collect modern Matchbox, they were so cool they almost make me want to start a new collection!
I met a lot of great people there. Steve Beckett, Bill Burgess, Ali Sarkarati, Christian Braun, Greg and Bob from Cincinnati, Everett Marshall, "Mustang Sandy", just to name a few. And of course Jim Gallegos, who is the nicest guy. He also mentioned my name during the Dinner and I was invited to join him to receive a special gift from Ali, in recognition to the work done on the box website. I was as flattered
as surprised for such an honor, but also very happy to find in that little white box 3 RW in E boxes, including the 33C E box without the white line on end flaps !!! 
Funny enough, I never quite realized that so many people consulted the site and used it regularly. It's actually the goal of the site; to share knowledge with other fellow collectors! But it is very cool to actually meet the people in "real life"! Thanks again to Ali and Jim !The auction was a lot of fun and I was able to get my hands on a very nice 57B with the "oily mid-blue" base, SPW in a very nice D1 box. I also got a Canadian Edition 1968 Husky Catalog (had to have it!)
The Sunday toy show was also a great moment, as many vendors were present with many nice items for sale. I found a few early Superfast and got some nice Hot Wheels
...for my daughters !I definitely want to come back if not next year, the year after and I encourage anyone who can to come to this event. It's a must !
- The Banner !
- Banner.jpg (138.15 KiB) Viewed 758 times
- The Truck !
- Truck.jpg (225.92 KiB) Viewed 758 times
- 57B
- 57B Auction 1.jpg (137.36 KiB) Viewed 758 times
- 57B
- 57B Auction 2.jpg (140.84 KiB) Viewed 758 times
