Time to take a trip! With summer vacation plans in full force, consider a stop in Manila, Philippines this August as the 2024 Philippines Hot Wheels Convention will take place at the Okada hotel. It’s a two-day event August 30th & 31st — an exclusive dinner event for Hot Wheels Designer, Brendon Vetuskey on Friday, the 30th, and the main convention on that Saturday, the 31st. The main convention will have events similar to the U.S. conventions like a custom contest, autograph session, and downhill racing. In addition, there will also be a 1:1 car show and a buy/sell/trade toy show event!

Friday’s exclusive dinner event will certainly be a night to remember! Brendon — designer of the famed Hot Wheels #’55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser — will be there for a VIP meet & greet that will also come with a souvenir t-shirt, autograph sheet, this exclusive souvenir car, and to auction off two official Mattel prototypes: a 3D-printed ’55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser and an Engineering Pilot (EP) of the #Big-Air Bel-Air. If you can attend, do it! The event will be limited to only 100 seats. That means, only 100 lucky collectors will get their hands on this very limited souvenir car: the “LUZVIMINDA” Gasser!

#METRICS PH — an acrylic display case company in California — will be putting on the event. The company’s owner, Chris Hernandez would say, “It all started with a sketch” — which is the title of the article I wrote for the Hot Wheels Newsletter (Issue #151) last year. In the article, I outlined how Brendon attended the Southeast Asian Hot Wheels Convention in 2019, and sketched a Bel Air Gasser on a cocktail napkin for one lucky fan. In 2023, the sketch was turned into a 1:64 souvenir piece with the help of Bensan Customs. Only 25 of those were made. Fortunately, this year’s dinner piece will be more attainable. Chris and Brendon sat down with Matthew from Matthew on Car & Hot Wheels for an exclusive interview.

In order to attend the Brendon Vetuskey Dinner Event, you must complete the form to be considered. Registration is still open at the time of this article posting.

LUZVIMINDA GASSER

Here she is in all her glory! The “LUZVIMINDA” #’55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser is a Hot Wheels Code 2 product meaning the casting components were supplied by Mattel, but not finished as an official production run. The finishing aspect was done by a handful of Filipino artists who collaborated on not just the 1:64 car, but also the package, pass, brochure, t-shirt, autograph sheet, and box art. Their names will be recognized at the dinner event.

“LUZVIMINDA” is a combination of the names of the three big islands of the Philippines: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. According to Chris, many women in the Philippines go by “Lucy”, which is short for “LUZVIMINDA”. The name isn’t the only Easter egg here. The whole deco — even the color — is tied into the Philippines. Since the Philippines is called the “Pearl of the Orient” in Asia, pearl white was decided on for the color. Chris also adds that pearl white is considered a luxury color in the Philippines as it isn’t as common as it is in the United States — so you’ll have to pay a premium if you want your new car to come in it.

“MABUHAY” (pronounced: muh-BOO-high in english) means “to live”. It’s a Filipino greeting similar to that of “aloha” in Hawaiian culture meaning anything from a “hello” greeting to an encouraging “go for it”. The music bars represent the last sentence of “Lupang Hinirang”, the national anthem of the Philippines. The words “Ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo” translate to “To die because of you” — which means to sacrifice yourself for the motherland. There are also a few flowers mixed within the notes as well. These are Sampaguitas, the national flower of the Philippines.

Philippine culture extends to the trunk where the black script shown in the photo above says, “LUZVIMINDA” in Baybayin — a historic Philippine script. A traditional license plate was also used with “PHI” for the Philippines and “7641” for the number of islands in the country. For you geography nerds, that’s an archipelago. 😉

Below you’ll from an image of a fabric or textile stretched across the roof. This is called, “barong tagalog”, which is a style of clothing worn in the Philippines which combines elements of pre-colonial native Filipino style with that of colonial Spanish trends.

Naturally, we finish with perhaps the largest, most obvious detail: the large yellow sun on the sides accompanied by three smaller yellow stars and stripes in royal blue and crimson red. White, yellow, red, and blue are all found on the flag of the Philippines, as are these elements. The three stars represent those three large island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao — or “LUZVIMINDA”.

The #’55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser and blister card come packaged in a custom #METRICS PH acrylic display case that has the 2024 Philippines Hot Wheels Convention logo on it. The custom display case fits snug within a black custom rigid box with magnetic closure (not shown). Most of the details discussed within this article can be found on the back of the card. Each card will be individually numbered.

Lastly, the autograph sheet that Brendon will be signing at the convention is shown below. The #’55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser from the back of the card is shown here with flames coming out the exhaust and a mural representing the Philippines behind it. Gold foil is stamped along the outside border and is used for Brendon’s name/title and the METRICS logo. The only thing mine is missing is Brendon’s signature!

This whole package is of the highest quality and I am extremely grateful to Chris for sending over this prototype to share with you. You can bet I’ll be rocking the t-shirt in LA this year, and will certainly be adding this piece as a cornerstone in my collection. Sadly, I will not be attending the event in the Philippines this year. I vow to one-day get out the Manila and see it first hand as the event and the collector-base in the Philippines grows. If you end up going, let us know in the comments below how your experience was!