PUHI — Mike Gushiken, of Metalhaus, was pleasantly surprised with the number of people that turned out for his “Hot Wheels” and Die Cast show on Sunday at the parking lot fronting the Meatalhaus store adjacent to the Natural Pet Hawai‘i store in the Puhi Industrial Park.
“You know the guy talking to Mike that was in the newspaper?” said Thomas Labanon, a die cast dealer. “That’s David Nobrega. He got me started back in 1998 after talking with me. This event is a Meet Up. They do this on O‘ahu in the parking lot of Walmart. The last one was in the Pearl Ridge parking lot. This is a first for Kaua‘i.”
Labanon was one of the dealers at the meet up that even attracted Judge Randal Valenciano, who wanted to move some of his larger scale vehicles, and Volkswagen enthusiasts Ryan Terao who had two of the original 16 Hot Wheels car models introduced in 1968.
Gushiken said based on the feedback he received by participating in the Kaua‘i Classic Cars show, last week at the Kukui Grove Center, he knew there were people here who would be interested in getting all the distributors and collectors together.
“Eventually, I’d like to see this at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall,” Gushiken said. “This time, I knew we could use the Metalhaus parking lot since the shop is closed on Saturday and Sunday. “
Wayne Allianic started his passion with die cast cars since the Covid-19 pandemic. He takes the die cast cars, retools, repaints, and customizes them before releasing them for sale. These purchased custom pieces become collectibles, accumulating value while sitting in showcases.
“You see this line of cars?” Labanon said. “The creator just passed away on the mainland, and now, the value of these vehicles just jumped a lot. Everyone wants ‘em.”
Labanon said this is what a Meet Up is about — everyone, dealers and collectors alike, meeting up in one place to talk story, buy and sell.
Gushiken said he got started only after meeting a distributor of die casts while attending a convention on the mainland.
“He asked me if I wanted to be a distributor on Kaua‘i,” Gushiken said. “I added (to) my collection by buying someone else’s collection from O‘ahu. A lot of my items come not-from-Kaua‘i.”
Labanon said there is a big die cast meet up coming up in August at the Ala Moana Hotel on O‘ahu.
“That’s one of the bigger events,” the dealer said. “I’m going. I just confirmed by reservation, and I think Mike is going, too. When I go to these big events, I ususally am able to make back the costs of getting there. If I make more than what it costs, I am lucky my wife understands so I can get more items.”
Beyond the August event, Labanon said there is another big event that will combine with comics in October at the Ala Moana Hotel.
