It wasn’t easy to get a guy as busy as Hot Wheels® Graphics Manager Wayne Scott to sit down and fill us in on his experiences and impressions at the 9th Annual Hot Wheels® Collectors Nationals held recently in Reston, Virginia. The southern native of North Carolina wasn’t so sure about it at first. But when we pointed out that he already had his shoes off, he figured he might as well start typing…You might have to excuse the toe jam on the keyboard.

Plane trip out to Reston was good. Met a PR guy from another company. Another moment confirming coolness of job. Decent flight I must say -- 'twas a new airline for me that made it somewhat bearable... I don't mind flying, but it is very boring; would much rather drive. Poor lil' boy on flight had seen better days... rough trip for him and the mom. I usually carry Hot Wheels® on me for instances like so and luckily had our '77 Dodge Van (with some o' my handiwork on it, of course), and that soothed him for a few split seconds anyways. I tried.

Arrival in Reston was interesting.... first time I had ever been "attacked" by taxi drivers post-luggage-location. The town car was nice, but I'd be lyin' if I didn't say that -- for at least a second -- I thought I'd been scammed and was gettin' takin' for a ride. The thoughts of bein’ scammed were soon overcome by the ol’ positive attitude and, before you knew it, I was safe and sound at my five-day hotel home.

Nationals gang was already takin' good care o' me on arrival, and I was all settled in no time at all. Moseyed on downstairs to wait for a dear ol' friend o' mine to show up and have a lil' dinner and do a lil' catchin' up. Of course, I had to get the initial Hot Wheels® collector madness explanation over with first and foremost.

Unfortunately the only "classic" car I saw during my entire stay in Reston/D.C. was an '81 Cadillac Seville -- or, I should say, the only 1:1 scale classic that I saw, anyways. Lucky me… I got to experience this ride first-hand. What a beaut! ‘81 is considered a classic now, right?

Ahhh... dinner/evening is over and time to call it a night. Was lookin' forward to catchin' some shuteye after that flight -- and the night before -- of my sleepless kids keeping me up all night. Of course that didn't happen, as the ol' jet lag kicked in. Jet lag doesn't usually affect me like it did this time. Oh, well… so much for sleepin' right?!? I don't think anyone sleeps at a Hot Wheels® convention anyways (my neighbor never did…). All was well in the morning. Rested or not, I felt good and ready to meet all the collectors.

Had to hit the local grocery store up and get all my hotel survival foods, of course. Can't do hotel food and restaurants non-stop five days in a row... can be a bit much!

First two hours of signing, all went great. Great people, great attitudes, lots and lots of appreciation from everyone, and good fun talkin' and messin' with all the convention goers. The Nationals folks sure can make you feel at home… as best they can, anyways -- I always miss my wife and kids like CRAZY! Next time, all three girls are coming with me. Speaking of family… my folks drove up for this one, so it was a nice treat to get to hang out with mom and dad in between the craziness. Seems some of the collectors thought it was a treat as well, as it didn't take long for my parents to work the crowd. Proud parents. Hopefully my "old man" wasn't tellin' too many stories about me?!?

Man, what a turnout at this show in regard to my fan club! Larry Wood, you've got nothin’ on me! Not exactly fair, though, as all my relatives and friends from home came out to support me on this one. My sister... my cousins... and their kids... and my friends and their kids all showed up and drove a decent length to come see me in "my element" so they say. Was great, and the Nationals gang was again more than accommodating. I think they were all left with an everlasting impression. Thanks to ALL of you that took such great care of them all and showed 'em such a good time. The kids were already Hot Wheels® fans -- but now, they are collectors! I guess you could call mine a fam club?

Thursday was a busy day... signing... checkin' out the rooms... and of course the most significant day of the whole convention. Larry Wood's dinner was the reason for it being so significant. Not just for this show, but for all the conventions, this was a big one. It was a powerful, moving and historic Hot Wheels® evening. I had the utmost respect for Larry prior to this evening; as a matter of fact, my first day at Hot Wheels®, I asked for his autograph, and now I've even more respect. I was apparently one of the few people that already knew about his retirement, but it didn't kick in until that evening for myself, and apparently it didn't kick in for others until that night as well. My hat's off to Mr. Larry Wood and all that he has done for Hot Wheels®. Larry will never be retired, the way I see it.

How does one compare the rest of the Nationals to that? Insignificant in comparison, but I'll do my best...

Friday, saw D.C. with ma and pa and a friend where we found some of my dad's friends on the Viet Nam Memorial wall... crazy. Of course, ran into collectors there... no escaping the Hot Wheels® world, huh? My sister (“sis”) came up this day... drove seven or eight hours to come see her big brother... Thanks, sis -- I'm a lucky big brother. Gotta thank the event for bringing my family and friends together -- even though we had limited time to hang, we'll take what we can get! My family and friends thank the Reston Nationals goers and organizers as well... with their words and their $$$, of course!

I have to say something about my doodling. During the autograph sessions, I doodle when it "slows down" -- and sometimes, I believe I doodle at inappropriate times… like when someone is standing there waiting on me. I know I should be signing when I am drawing, so I apologize. Actually, the collectors are real cool about it and most usually like watching us all draw/doodle -- so thanks. You sit an artist down with a bunch o' pens and paper, and it's all over! So I usually give out the doodles to family (“fam”) and friends but, this year, someone suggested I auction one off... So of course, I did. I actually made some money for the charity, so my doodling wasn't inappropriate at all, now, was it? If the lines "slow down" in the future, you can bet I'll be doodlin' for charity again and again! An awful lot of people mentioned my doodles would make good tattoos... perhaps I have a future in the tattoo industry. Reckon I better get my hands on one of those tattoo machines and start practicing!

I think I'm on Saturday now....

One of my best friends (Durham, N.C. cop... look for the Durham Cop Rod!) and his family drove up to see the show, and now "uncle Wayne" is even cooler than before! Did a lot of showing the fam and friends the way of the convention... buying/selling/trading... checking the rooms out and all that. A group of around 10+/- at all times, we were crowding some rooms up fast. Again, thanks, collectors for being so cool with my entourage and me. The interaction with the collectors and checking out their room stores really made for a great time with my fam and friends.

RLC™ party was a blast as always... Well, except for all the speeches getting in the way of the fun! Hah! Nice question by one of the guys there, though, during the Q&A… He asked about all the challenges and rewards working for Hot Wheels®. That was a hard one, and yet easy one to answer at the same time. So many challenges and so many rewards... could go on and on. Mostly could go on about the rewards! Luckily for the crowd, I kept it somewhat short and sweet.

Between the jet lag, the room-going, the signing, the family reunion, the next door neighbor that wouldn't let me sleep... by Sunday AM, I was absolutely wiped out. Had a blast though! ‘Twas a really, really grateful bunch o' collectors this Nationals. The Nationals organizers were great as well... as always. It really is a great family time in many respects. Really was a blast, but I was ready to get out and get back to my girls. Did my last signing, hung out with family and friends and collectors and took off. Thanks, everyone -- see ya'll in September!

One last thing:

Thanks, Larry. Thanks for everything that you have done and will continue to do. Thanks for making most of my favorite childhood toys. Thanks for making my favorite toys thru all my years, for that matter (I did collect prior to working for Hot Wheels®!). Thanks for making me a dream job!