HOT WHEELS® Collectors Convention Official Website

Phil Riehlman started working for Mattel about seventeen years ago, although for the first eighteen months he worked as a temp, designing such things as the Attack Pack line, deco projects, track sets and working with Bruce Baur on the Silhouette II and Twin Mill II. When he saw an opening for a permanent position in Male Action, he applied for the job. Six months later he transferred to the Hot Wheels® division where he worked mainly on Attack Pack and track sets.  The first Hot Wheels® model Phil designed was the VW Bus, in 1996. Although he did not design any models for the 1997 line, that year he became one of the main designers for the basic line, designing a number of the 1998 basic cars (most cars are not issued the year they were designed).    Since then Phil has created some of the most popular cars among collectors including the’56 Ford Truck, ’70 Chevelle SS, Fiat 500C, Anglia Panel Truck, ’68 El Camino, ’41 Willys, Mini Cooper, Surfin’ School Bus, La Troca, Ford Thunderbolt, Plymouth GTX, Fright Bike, ’40 Ford Coupe, Rocket Oil Special, Volkswagen New Beetle Cup, Corvette Stingray, Swoop Coupe, Meyers Manx,’69 Dodge Charger, ’68 Chevy Nova, VW Pickup, ’49 Chevy Fleetline, Mustang Funny Car, Hummer H3T, ’69 Pontiac GTO, Karmann Ghia, ’69 Corvette, 2006 Dodge Viper Coupe,’55 Chevy Panel,’70 Dodge Hemi Challenger, ’66 Chevy Nova and the ’66 Batmobile.  Phil’s 2009 designs include the 2010 Ford Mustang GT, ’71 Dodge Demon, ’70 Chevelle SS Wagon, Dune It Up, 2010 Camaro SS, ’70 AAR Barracuda, Jeep C2A, C6 Corvette Convertible and the ’66 Ford Fairlane GT.

Steve Vandervate started in Hot Wheels® graphics in February of 2003 after a mutual friend told him that MiQ Willmott was looking for a new guy. Steve sent him some samples and MiQ called back immediately. They met and he started working...just about that fast. Before that, in fact for the last sixteen years, he had been working in the commercial sign industry doing lettering, pinstriping, design, the whole bit.   Steve, or Van as he is often called, has always been around the car scene, primarily muscle cars and traditional rods and customs. He has been pinstriping at California shows for the last ten years or so and has been doing illustration for magazines, record labels, clothing companies, etc. for just about that long.    For 2009 Steve developed and directed graphics for Larry’s Garage, Delivery, Classics, Mustang Mania, Dragstrip Demons, and Municipal (Cop, Fire and Military) Rods for the adult group, while creating an equal share of graphics for the basic, customized, mini, trend and RLC lines.  Steve’s contribution to the 2009 23rd Annual Collectors Convention is the ’70 Camaro Sales Car

Jerry Thienprasiddhi graduated from Cal State Polytechnic University in Pomona with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design. After graduation he worked in the surf industry for about four years and then freelanced for various companies, including Mattel, for the next four years.Jerry has been with Mattel on the Hot Wheels® Graphics Design team for several years, designing graphics for basic cars, adult collectibles, mini vehicles and trend. For the 2005 Collector's Convention, Jerry designed the graphics for the VW Bug. For the 2005 Nationals he designed the graphics for the '67 Camaro, collaborated with Wayne Scott on the '34 Ford Sedan, the Saturday giveaway car and collaborated with Dave Weise on the '67 Charger, the dinner car.  The following is a listing of cars Jerry has worked on in 2009. Track Stars - Synkro and RD-10; HW Racing – Acura NSX, GT Racer; Muscle Mania – ’70 Plymouth Roadrunner; Special Features – Jet Threat 4.0; HW Designs – Nitro Scorcher, Pony-Up;  HW City Works – ’07 Chevy Tahoe; Heat  Fleet – Baja Breaker, Custom Volkswagen Beetle, Jeep Scrambler; Faster Than Ever – ’09 Corvette ZR1; Rebel Rides – Airy 8; Dream Garage – Lamborghini Murciélago, Ferrari F430 Spider; Modified Rides – Tail Dragger, ’40 Ford Pickup; Mystery – Corvette Grand Sport, Shadow MK IIa, Ford Shelby Cobra Concept, Shelby Cobra Daytona; Treasure Hunts – ’37 Ford Woodie, Neet Streeter.

Mike McClone studied fine arts at the Art Institute of Chicago and digital design at Columbia College Chicago. He worked in Chicago as a freelance designer doing web illustration and a short stint designing stained glass before moving to California in 1999. In June of 2000 he joined the Hot Wheels® graphics team designing tampo for some of the 2001 basic line.   In the last eight years Mike has worked on basics, adult collector (64^th & 18^th scale), trend, track sets, play sets, RLC cars, Moto X, and many other customized lines. Mike created the tampo for many of the cars from 2002 through 2008. Since there are too many to list, we only listed the vehicles from 2005 through 2008.       For 2005, Mike created the tampo for the '67 Camaro (Treasure Hunt), Rodger Dodger (Treasure Hunt), '67 Pontiac GTO (Treasure Hunt), '59 Caddy, '69 Dodge Charger (G Machines), Two 2 Go (Wastelanders), Vulture Roadster, Plymouth GTX (G Machines) and the  '70 Roadrunner (G Machines) and  for 2006, the '50 Chevy Truck (Convention), CUL8R (Treasure Hunt) and the Asphalt Assault (Treasure Hunt).   In 2007 Mike decorated the Beach Bomb Too (convention charity car), Bone Shaker (convention car), ’55 Chevy Panel (Since ’68), Custom Beetle (Since ’68), Dairy Delivery, ’56 Ford Truck, ’52 Chevy Truck,  ’56 Flashsider, ’41 Willys (Hot Wheels® Racing Team), Mitsubishi Eclipse (Ragtops & Roadsters), Rivited (Track Stars), ’69 Chevy Custom (Treasure Hunt), Hammer Sled (Treasure Hunt), Nissan Skyline (Treasure Hunt, 1:50 ’68 Mustang (NY Toy Fair), Phastasm (Fright Cars), ’57 Buick (Ultra Hots), ’70 Chevelle (G Machines), ’67 GTO (Flashbacks) and the ’67 GTO (G Machines).    Cars Mike created the tampo for in 2008 include the ’55 Chevy Panel (Chicago Nationals), ’70 Chevy, Camaro (Chicago Nationals), Gangster Grin (Chicago Nationals), ’64 Riviera (Treasure Hunt), ’70 Roadrunner (Treasure Hunt) and the Qombee (Treasure Hunt).   New cars for 2009 include: Connect Cars '62 Chevy, Dodge Dart, '70 Cuda, '67 GTO, '65 GTO, & Whip Creamer II.  Dragstrip Demons Crazy Horse '71 Mustang Funny Car (& full size car!).  In 1:50 scale: '57 Bel Air, '49 Merc, & '41 Willys, Nationals '69 Chevelle SS 396, '69 Camaro & '55 Chevy Panel.  Faster Than Ever Straight Pipes, HW Racing Chevroletor, HW City Works Hiway Hauler, HW Special Feature Ground FX, Muscle Mania Superbee, Rebel Rides '32 Vicky & Dixie Challenger, Treasure Hunt '55 Chevy and '34 Ford Sedan Delivery.

Alec Tam is the first 2^nd generation  Hot Wheels® designers.  Like his father, Paul Tam, who is credited with the Whip Creamer®, Six Shooter, Open Fire and other Hot Wheels® products from the early seventies, Alec holds a degree from the Art Center College of Design with a major in Transportation Design.  Prior to Mattel, he worked at numerous design firms with clients that included Ford, GM, Kia, Lancia, Kenworth, Peterbilt and Shelby.  After two and a half years at GT Bicycles, developing high-end mountain, road and BMX bikes, he joined Mattel in 2000.  Working his way up from designing Hot Wheels® basic cars and toys, to his current position as Director of Design, he currently oversees the Hot Wheels® die-cast design team. His responsibilities include the creation of products for basic cars, all scales of adult collector, Red Line Club and select toy lines.  As a designer Alec’s basic cars include: Monoposto, Hyperliner, Mega-Duty, Super Smooth, Ballistik, Whip Creamer II, Nissan Skyline Honda Civic Si, Zotic, Qombee, Buzz Bomb, ’65 Mustang Fastback and the ’69 Ford Torino Talladega.

Jun Imai  now celebrating 5 years as a Project Designer for the Hot Wheels® design studio, Jun Imai is an automotive/industrial designer who graduated from ArtCenter College of Design’s transportation design major in December 2003. During his ArtCenter education, he also worked at Volkswagen Design Center California and Honda R&D American Studios, where he developed much of his design skill and techniques.   In the spring of 2004 he was brought into the Hot Wheels® design studio as a vehicle designer for the basic car line. Since then he has created many vehicles for the Hot Wheels® car lineup, including the HW40, the design created to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Hot Wheels® cars.   Jun’s 2009 designs include the following:  Datsun 510, Ferrari 250GTO, ’70 Buick GSX, AMC Javelin AMX, Circle Tracker, Avante Garde, Brit Speed, Volkswagen Type 181, Barbaric; Racing Rigs – Jet Threat Hauler, Blastin’ Big Rig and the Launchin’ Big Rig. His 2009 1:50 scale vehicles include the ’64 Lincoln Continental, Maybach 62, Scion tC, Dodge Magnum, ’07 Cadillac Escalade, Nissan Silvia S15, Toyota AE86, Scion xB, Honda S2000, ’65 Mustang, ’70 Mustang Mach 1, ’68 Camaro, ’69 Charger, ’67 GTO, ’71 Challenger and the Dodge Magnum.   Prior to joining Mattel and going to ArtCenter, Jun was a custom painter for the action sports and motorsports industry, creating designs for various athletes and racers. During his free time, Jun enjoys off-roading, mountain biking, skateboarding and other action sports. Both he and his wife are members of the Hot Wheels® Cycling Team.  You can also find him working on his house on the weekends, doing design work for his personal projects, and traveling the world for new experiences.

Mike Nuttall graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles in 1969 and started working for Mattel in 1970 in the pre-school division. He worked at Mattel until 1978. He then worked for Tomy Corporation for the next 8 years and Universal Product Innovation, an independent research and development company, primarily in the toy industry. A couple of items they developed for Mattel were the Key Force line and the Up and Downtown playset. In 1999, he rejoined Mattel in the Hot Wheels® division where his main job is working on track and play sets including Shark Park, Cyborg City, Turbo Jet City, Octoblast and Serpent Cyclone™ sets.   He recently has designed some new models, including the Metrorail, ’57 Roadster and Jaded. Mike designed Bedlam and Mustang Fatbax in 2004, Blings ’67 Chevy 2 for 2005, Hot Tub for 2006 and the Spider Rider for 2009.

Rob Matthes a car freak all his life, Rob graduated from the Art Center College of Design in 1992 with a degree in Transportation Design. Rob did freelance design and worked with various product design firms until joining the Hot Wheels® Innovation Group in 2002. He has worked on many of Mattel’s toy lines, including: Atomix, Hot Tunerz, Moto-X, Monster Jam®, G Machines, Formula 1, Crashers, and Ferrari. Rob is currently the Design Manager for Hot Wheels® Collector, Mini Vehicles (including Color Shifters and Speed Cycles), IRL and Ferrari.  In 1:64th scale, Rob has designed the Batmobile (from the 1989 movie) Fatbax Silhouette, ’Tooned Splittin’ Image, HardnoseToyota Celica, Blings Ford Bronco Concept, BlingsHummerH3, HummerH2, ’70 Trans Am, Ferrari 599 GTB, VW GTI, Custom ’62 Chevy Pickup, ’69 Cougar Eliminator, and the Custom V-8 Vega. His original designs include Slikt Back, Wail Tale, Formul8r, Preying Menace, CCM Country Club Muscle, Croc Rod, Draggin’ Tail and Bye Focal II.  When he’s not designing Hot Wheels® cars, Rob lives for snow skiing, cycling, collecting 1:18th scale die-cast, model building, auto racing and restoring his 1950’s ranch house.  

Bryan Benedict is a Design Manager on the Hot Wheels® team.  He has been with Mattel since 2004, briefly managing the basic car line before focusing on the brand’s entertainment and innovation efforts.  Bryan has been instrumental in the development of the Hot Wheels® animated series Battle Force 5.  Bryan is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and worked for 10 years in the car industry before making the jump to little cars. Madfast and Ford GTX1 are a couple of the Hot Wheels® basic cars that Bryan has designed.  He also manages the Monster Jam® line and has designed some of the Monster Jam® trucks that appear on the circuit. 

John Violette has been with Mattel since October 2006. The Hot Wheels® lines he has worked on since then include Ferrari, Ferrari Formula 1 special editions, Crashers, Color Shifters, as well as his basic car design work. In 2008 John designed the ’08 Mitsubishi Evo X, the Custom Ford Bronco and the Ferrari F430 Challenge in the Ferrari line.  New models for 2009 for John include the Ford F150, Fast Gassin’, Tri & Stop Me, Triumph TR6, Ferrari California and the Ford GT LM race car.  His new models in the international Ferrari line are the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Ferrari 308 GTS Quattrovalvole and the Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder.

Leeway Chang born in Asia and raised in Latin America, Leeway traveled extensively before settling in Southern California. Leeway received his AA degree in Communication Design from International Fine Arts College in Miami, Florida and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from California State University Fullerton.  Before joining Mattel, Leeway worked for several major surf and action sports companies, designed concert merchandise for top name rock bands, worked on visual effects for major motion pictures at Disney Studios, developed websites, and had worked in traditional print and advertising for 17 years.  Leeway is passionate about auto racing. He is an avid fan of NASCAR, NHRA, off-road and rally racing. In fact, he’s not just a spectator but is also a regular at So Cal AutoX scene where he races his STU Class-prepped STi. For several years now, he has competed in RallyX AWD Rally Class in the California Rally Series.  Since 2007, Leeway has been on the Hot Wheels® consumer products design team designing a variety of items including boys' T-shirts, bicycles, scooters, golf clubs, toy decos and a Danica Patrick leather jacket.  For the 2010 basic car line, Leeway designed the Datsun Bluebird 510 (Nightburnerz), Phantom Racer (Race World – Volcano), ’56 Flashsider (Race World – Desert), Bad Mudder 2 (Race World – Desert), Sand Stinger (Race World – Desert), Toyota Off Road Truck (Race World – Desert), Demolition Derby (5-pack) and the Road Course Race (5-pack).