GRI Jr's February C4 Experience

It was the third day into February, we've had a couple new things happening and something new that I neglected to tell everyone that started last month.

First off we have started points racing, the points race is only lasting for the first three months of this year, it is just a trial run right now but stay tuned in the future we may make it happen. With the points race, you only get points for one car that went the farthest. For instance, billy has two cars in the semi finals and one car in the finals, billy would only get points for the car that went to the finals...

The second new thing that we had to add in last month were the race-ins. If you go back to last months post, I explain what a "Race-In" is... We have experimented with this before with up to ten cars but this month it was different.

This month we had over one hundred entries. For those of you who do know, our racing bracket is set up for sixty-four cars any other would have to be race in, unless we got a perfect 128 cars. If we were to have 128 cars we could just add another "leg" of the race and it would still boil down to the final two cars without there being any "byes"

And that is what we did, we had a perfect 128 cars to run in the downhill race. By the way, next months race is "Mopar-Madness" meaning the car must be a dodge product...

Today was also a special day because our "sister" hot-wheels club, South Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware(SJPD) was also stopping by to do some racing, trading and selling... One of their members, Dan had won our race today, and he is now in the second place in the points race and he will be back next month to go after the crown in our Mopar-Madness Race..

Next month is going to be special also, not only is it the end of the points race, but if you make it toward the end, you will get double points for not one, but two of your top contending cars. So with that, thank you for enjoying my experience at the C4 Hot-wheels club and have a good rest of your day/night.

GRI Jr's January C4 Experience

It was January 6th, C4 race committee had planed for two races. One would be the "Bow-tie" battle and the other was an invite only race. The invite only race, is for all people that do customs. This will be explained in more detail later in the post.

For the Bow-tie battle, we had a total of 70 entrees, the most we've had in a while. Also, because we had 70 entrees, we had to do a "Race-in" to 64 cars to complete the bracket. What I mean is that we took the last person to sign up to race, which was me, and we took their cars and "raced" them in.

 We used a random number generator to pull out 6 random cars, each car would then go up against my cars to decide which was entered in the bracket. Out of all of my cars that competed in the race-in, only two stayed. Fortunately, the bracket allowed me to enter 4 of my other cars.

I won a couple in the eliminator portion of the race, but when we reached quarter finals no one could beat the blue Chevelle, Alex had brought one and someone else had brought one. My Chevy Stockar couldn't keep up. Therefore I was eliminated before the semi-finals.

In the end, another Chevy Stockar had won, another Stockar took second, and Alex's blue Chevelle took third. Next would be the custom invite-only race.

Anyone who participated in the custom race brought their cars and was able to test them, not many people had prepared for the race, I didn't prepare either... In the end we ended up rescheduling the race until next month because we didnt have enough people to run the race...

I had a great time today and i cant wait to work on my custom for the race next month, and i will be getting cars ready for the stock race as well...

C4 Sizzles in September

The end of the summer draws near and lots of great things are happening with our ever growing die-cast club.  We continue to hold our racing events, raffles and have even introduced some other awesome giveaways. If you attend any of our events and aren’t able to find something that you are looking for and leave empty handed, then you’re doing something wrong.  

Our resident Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung King, James Fortenberry, won a voucher for a free fountain soda just for signing our attendance sheet.  We raffled off a gift certificate to MK Toys & Stuff,  two Free Bowling Parties and a C4 vender certificate to purchase from any of the vendors at the show.  Our two Downhill Racing Events were impressive and saw the return of some veteran racers as well as a few rookies.  Oh, and by the way… there were a ton of trades made along with sales of many die-casts ranging from basic easy to find items to the less produced holy grails that collectors seek at reasonable prices.

The Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class ran first with 30 entries whittled down to 4 semifinalists… Newcomer George Miller and his Ferrari F40 eliminated the GRI sponsored Corvette in the qualifiers, knocked out the Team Raley Ferrari 308 in the heats and drove away from Owen Nesslage’s Ferrari F40 Clone in the quarterfinals.  GRI’s Mustang GT entry had similar fortune in the top portion of the bracket besting Mark Starr’s Twin mill in the qualifier, Nathan’s Zubalic’s Studebaker in the heats and Wayne Heede’s Chevelle in the quarters.  Ultimately the GRI Mustang would be no match for the Miller Ferrari F40 which would move on from the semifinals.  In the lower portion of the bracket, Owen & Bruce Nesslage would meet and compete in the semifinals once again.  We’ve seen this pairing before and it’s always interesting to watch.  Owen’s Sol-Aire entry disposed of Team Raley’s CUL8R in the qualifier, then Team Raley’s Carbide in the heats and the GRI Sidekick in the quarters.  Bruce’s Monte Carlo defeated Jon Issac’s Ford F-150 in the qualifier, Rookie Ian Greenberg’s Olds Aurora in the heats and the GRI Chrysler 300C in the quarterfinals to put him against his son Owen in a semifinal showdown.  Unfortunately for Bruce, Owen would dust his off once again putting himself in a familiar spot… the Finals!!!  This time Owen would test rookie George Miller’s chosen Ferrari F40 entry, but the outcome would be just as familiar.  Owen Nesslage’s Sol-Aire dominated the Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class Bracket to win this September’s Event.  Congratulations to owen Nesslage and his Sol-Aire Hot Wheel!!!

The final event of the day would be the Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung Class Races.  James Fortenberry and his master modification creations would control this event all the way down to the final race.  Fortenberry has been undefeated in every DRRWB Event that he has entered and his Blue Flame F-15o Pick-Up destroys all of it’s competition.  Congratulations to James Fortenberry and the “Blue Flame” Ford F-150 Pick-up, winner of September 2015’s Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung Class Races.

Keep an eye open for our videos on YouTube as well…

September’s Maryland Die-Cast Trade Show was great event and we would like to congratulate all of the winners and thank all of the members who donated prizes, time and items for the FoT.  We look forward to seeing you again this time next month and hope everyone in attendance had a good time.  

The Past Five Months

The Charm City Collector’s Club is still alive and well, but I can’t believe that it’s been five months since my last entry.  There have been a lot of changes since my last post; a board of directors has been formed, we now have sponsors, and there’s even a new website...just to name a few of those changes.

We want to start off by thanking the people who have stepped up to volunteer as members of the board, those who help out at each event, and those who have donated prizes for the raffles that are now being held monthly.  Without these individuals our club would not continue its growth over the past months.

Our racing participation, however, has seen a slight decline over the summer, but with the institution of a race schedule, new race classes and some new rules to the already existing classes, we hope this trend changes.  On April 11th of this year the C4 DieCast Club hosted two racing events, the Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class and the Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung Class.  Cole Raley’s Candy Red Firebird Funny Car took the top Spot in the HW Stock Class and James Fortenberry’s “Blue Flame” was unbeaten in the RWB Class.  May and June would only have one racing event each with lighter than normal fields competing for the Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class Crown.  Tim Raley’s Orange Firebird Funny Car crushed competitors in May’s only downhill racing event while Owen Nesslage would return to his winning ways with a “Hershey” Ford Probe Funny Car in June’s only racing event.  In July there were two racing events scheduled, the DRHWSC and a new DR Death Race Class.  After, first time winner, Calvin Cohen smashed his opponents for a victory in the DRHWS Class, Tim Raley used a maul to literally shatter his opponents die casts to win the first ever Death Race Golden Hammer Award.  Finally, this month’s only event would be the Hot Wheels Stock Class, excluding all Funny Cars, with Steve Langenfeld taking top honors with his Rescue Ranger.

Congratulations, Calvin Cohen on your first Victory in the July 2015 Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class!!!

Congratulations, Steve Langenfeld on your Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class Win in August 2015!!!

There will be two races scheduled for each month the rest of the year, beginning this September with the normal Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock (No Funny Cars!!!) and the Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung Classes.  Other races through the end of the will include the Treasure Hunt Challenge and the IROC Challenge.  Keep checking back for more details on these other classes.

The next event on September 12^th should be an exciting one.  The C4 Diecast Club will be raffling off plenty of great prizes as well as a $25 gift certificate from one of our sponsors, MK Toys & Stuff.  Everyone that donated to the prize vault has also been entered into a raffle that will be drawn on the 12^th. Also, let’s not forget that there will be quite a few vendors in attendance.  So, bring some dough or even some trade bait, plus a racer or two for our Downhill Events and let’s have some fun!!!

C4 Goes On a March

The C4 Crew setting up for the days buying, selling, trading and most importantly... Racing!!!

It’s nice to see that spring is in the air, but there is still snow on the ground.  The grip of winter didn’t keep people away from the hot C4 sponsored meet.  The monthly Maryland Die-Cast Trade Show continues to be a hit with people from neighboring states as well as right here in the old line state.  Representatives from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey were in attendance.  The crowd is getting bigger each month and the downhill racing is getting even fiercer!  The C4 Crew discussed opening a second meeting room to accommodate the ever growing vendors and racing events.  We also discussed upcoming events and started taking orders for t-shirts.  Nick Sickle held another raffle for die-cast prizes that excited the crowd between the two racing sessions.  Also, we have a ton of new ideas for the rest of the year and we are looking for volunteers to help us accomplish our goals.  I am personally excited to see how far this group has come and also can’t wait to see where it is going. 

Now to the races… 

No surprise to anyone, Owen Nesslage came prepared to defend his Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class Title for an unprecedented fourth time.  He has won all three DRHWSC Events since December and it seems like he has an eye for fast stock Hot Wheels.  This month’s competition would put Owen’s entries to the test. The DRHWSC had a full bracket of 32 entries with 7 of the field being Funny Cars.  Bruce Nesslage, Owen’s Father, brought a Porsche 911, a formidable racer, to the event.  The Porsche moved passed Tim Raley’s Preying Menace in the qualifier, then beat Cole Raley’s Rivited in the heats and Jon Izzy’s Mustang GT in the quarter finals in the upper bracket to race against his son’s Ford Probe Funny Car in the semifinals.  Owen’s Ford Probe Funny Car dominated the qualifier beating James Fortenberry’s Subaru WRX, then smashing Bobby Horton’s Sidekick in the heats and pounding Tim Raley’s Ferrari Testarossa into submission in the quarters. The lower bracket saw a new face…Bobby Horton’s Ford Probe Funny Car made its presence known quickly winning in opposition to a Firebird Funny Car of James Goolsbee Jr. in the qualifier.  Bobby’s Funny car cleared the heats and quarters dominating Jon Izzy’s Fast Fish and James Fortenberry’s Ford F-150 only to meet another Thunder Chicken, own by the master of the HWSC races, Owen Nesslage, in the semis.  Owen’s Firebird Funny Car decimated his opponents beating Tim Raley’s Ford Probe Funny Car in the qualifier, then Steve Langenfeld’s Mustang Funny Car in the heats and finally Wayne Heede’s Ferrari 599XX in the quarters.  Three Funny Cars made it to this point with one lone Porsche and that Porsche was tested quickly against the Ford Probe Funny Car of Owen Nesslage.  Owen’s Ford Probe Funny Car blasted passed his dad’s Porsche, even with threats, of having to find a ride home, from his dad.  In similar fashion to the qualifier, Bobby Horton’s Ford Probe Funny Car took out another Firebird Funny Car, this one owned by the three time champ, Owen Nesslage.  The last race was set and it would be a Ford Probe Funny Car Final!!!  Would Bobby be able to dethrone the King…he did have an equal car…but was it enough???  Would they have to go head to head, pedal to pedal, or would the cars settle it on their own with an equal drop? The pins were set, the cars were set… the drop went without an issue, but Bobby would not be able to unseat the kid… the King of the Hot Wheels Stock Class!  Owen went on to win an unprecedented four straight DRHWS Class Events since the month of December.  Would James Fortenberry be able to do the same and set the record for number of wins in the Run Whatcha’ Brung Class???

Congratulations to Owen Nesslage and his Yellow #3 Ford Probe Funny Car, March 2015 Winner of the Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class and Four Time Winner in a row in this class.

The five time winner, James Fortenberry, brought his battle tested brigade of entries for the Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung Class Event and the “Blue Flame” Ford F150 absolutely dominated in the top portion of the bracket beating Gavin Sleeth’s Tow Truck in the qualifier, Owen Nesslage’s Firebird Funny Car in the heats and beating his own entry, a Haulin’ Gas, designated “Ugly” in the quarter finals.  A newcomer, Penny Bisk and her Johnny Lightning Ford GT, was also having success in the upper bracket defeating Michael Wyman’s School Busted in the qualifier, Jon Izzy’s Ford Torino in the heats and Steve Langenfeld’s Ford GTX-1 in the quarters.  Unfortunately, for Penny, she ran into the Fortenberry “Blue Flame.”  The Ford GT was torched like so many others by the Fortenberry “Blue Flame.”   In the lower bracket, Jon Izzy’s Johnny Lightning Ford GT was making waves, surfin’ by Dustin Barker’s Ford Probe Funny Car in the qualifier, His own ’88 Pontiac in the heats and Ken Sleeth’s S’cool Bus in the quarters.  “Ugly Too”, another Fortenberry formulation, also scorched the competition routing the GTO of Jon Izzy if he qualifier, then Jon Izzy’s Dodge Viper in the heats and Mark Markham’s Chevy Van in the quarter finals just to face another Jon Izzy entry in the semifinals.  However, this would be a larger test for the “Ugly Too” and the Ford GT would not go away.  The racing went back and forth… the GT won, then the “Ugly Too”, then the GT, then the “Ugly Too.”  The Semifinals for the bottom bracket would come down to a pedal to pedal battle for the right to race the undefeated “Blue Flame.”  Two test sessions were given…then one final instruction for a sudden win race.  The die-casts were staged, the Christmas tree lit up… yellow… yellow… yellow… GREEN…… Jon Izzy had the quicker reaction time and the GT would not be denied a spot in the finals!!!  Nevertheless, Jon would have to face James again, and this time beside the proven winner…the “Blue Flame.”  The final didn’t turn out to be as dramatic as the semi that ran just prior.  The “Blue Flame” won the first, third and forth runs to claim yet another Run Whatcha’ Brung Class Event!  James Fortenberry has asserted himself as a dominating force in this class, and now a six time victor.  Does anyone have what it takes to end his reign?

Congratulations to James Fortenberry and his Ford F-150 Pick-Up "Blue Flame", March 2015 Winner of the Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung Class and Six Time Winner in this Class.

Congratulations to Owen Nessalge, our C4 Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class Four Time Champion and James Fortentberry, our C4 Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung Class Champion.  Come check us out next month and bring your racers… you never know… you could be the one to dethrone the champs!!!     

C4 would also like to give a special thanks to all who donated to the raffle for this event and congrats to all the winners of that raffle.

The Wheels Keep Turning Right Into 2015

Our little meeting space continues to fill up each and every month.  The C4 Trade show had over a dozen vendors on hand, a full 32 entries filled the Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class, and 18 entries battled in the Downhill Racing Run Whatcha’ Brung Class.  There was a raffle and a ton of prizes given away and the race winners took away more than bragging rights.  The Winner of the RWBC received a Hot Wheels Five Pack, a Free Race Token, and a $10 Gift Card for Toys R Us, while the Winner of the HWSC received a automatic entry into the RWBC, a 2015 Classic Cars Calendar, a Hot Wheels Five Pack, a Free Race Token, and a $10 Gift Card for Toys R Us.

The Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class was packed with a full field of 32 entries and one of those entries dominated the field.  Semi-Finalist James Goolsbee Jr. and his Cadillac Escalade with FTEs breezed by Nathan Talbert’s HyperTruck in the Qualifier, dusted off Dustin Barker’s Firebird Funny Car in the Heats with a small chuckle, and shrieked by Autumn Florendo’s Screamin’ Hauler in the Quarterfinals.  Owen Nesslage’s Black Firebird Funny Car saw similar results clearing away Tim Raley’s Porsche Carrera in the Qualifier, then showing Gavin Sleeth’s Hershey’s Ford Probe Funny Car the end of the road in the Heat Round, and hammered another Porsche Carrera, entered by James Goolsbee Sr., to move into the Semifinals in the top part of the bracket.  The bottom of the bracket pitted Funny Car versus Funny Car.  Tim Raley’s Firebird Funny Car bested Nathan Talbert’s Two Timer in the Qualifier, his son, Cole Raley’s Porsche 911 in the Heats and then James Fortenberry’s Ferrari F40 in the Quarterfinals to get to the Semifinals.  The other Funny Car to make the Semifinals in this part of the bracket was the Side Splitter, another entry from the Owen Nesslage Stable.  Owen’s Side Splitter made short work of Ken Nozka’s VW Beatle in the Qualifier, Stopped Nathan Zubalik’s Two timer in its tracks in the Heats and simply crushed the Porsche Carrara entered by Eric Florendo in the Quarterfinals.  In the top bracket, Owen’s Firebird Funny Car proved to be faster than James’ Cadillac and Owen’s other entry, the Side Splitter, also beat out its opponent, the Firebird Funny Car of Tim Raley.  Either way, Owen was going home with the top spot and some goodies for his win.  We still needed to see which of his entries was the fastest of the day.  After the first two runs tied up the entries at one apiece, the Firebird Funny Car took the last two in a row to become January’s Hot Wheels Stock Winner and receive the HWSC Provisional Spot for the Run Whatcha’ Brung Race.

January 10th 2015 Downhill Racing Hot Wheels Stock Class Video

The 18 entries for the Run Whatcha’ Brung Class were made up of varying types of die-cast from stock Hot Wheels and Johnny Lightning’s to full custom creations with some extra weight added to help speed them down the drop.  In the top section of the bracket, Owen Nessalage’s HWS Class Winner from December made a great showing beating Tim Raley’s Chevy Silverado in the Heats and moving passed Ismail Rashada’s Ferrari F40 in the Quarterfinals.  Both of those entries were stock Hot Wheels, but unfortunately for Ismail, his remaining entry would go no further.  James Fortenberry’s new creation, which he dubbed the Supervan, weighed in at 180.0 grams and absolutely dominated in the Heats laying to waste Tim Raley’s Wraith and squashing Cameron Daly’s Spiderman Van in the Quarterfinals.  The lower portion of the bracket saw Cameron Daly’s second entry, which some of the race fans called the “Hippie Van”, demolished James Goolsbee Jr’s Dodge Pick-up in the Heats and crushed Cole Raley’s Hulk entry in the Quarterfinals.  Also in action in the lower section was James Fortenberry’s proven winner, the Ford Pick-up… this modified beast has won this event in the past two previous times.  The Fortenberry Ford mauled Tim Raley’s “SuperVan” in the Heats then ending Owen Nesslage’s Firebird Funny Car’s chances of reaching the Finals.  The Semifinals were set… James Fotenberry’s “SuperVan” versus Owen Nesslage’s Ford Probe Funny Car and Cameron Daly’s “Hippie Van” versus the Fortenberry Ford Pick-up.  Disappointingly, for Owen and Cameron, both Fortenberry Creations prevailed and there would be a Fortenberry Final.  This final would be no different than the previous outings for the Fortenberry Pick-up winning back to back runs and the top spot in the Run Whatcha’ Brung Final!

January 10th 2015 Downhill Racing Run Whatcha' Brung Class Video

Congratulations to Both Owen Nesslage, Winner of the DRHWSC, and James Fortenberry, Winner of the DRRWBC, for January 2015.

Owen - DRHWSC Winner

James - DRRWBC Winner

Check out the racing on our YouTube Channel...  C4 Downhill Racing 

Also, special thanks to Nick Sickle for running and donating prizes for the first ever C4 Pick a Prize Raffle.

C4 Hot Wheels Trade Show & Meeting w/Downhill Racing!

Charm City Collector's Club Die-Cast Show/Meeting

Hang out with the C4 Gang on Saturday November 7th from 8:00 am through 1:00 pm at the Race Wear Store located in the Marley Station Mall located at 7900 Ritchie Hwy, Glen Burnie, MD 21061-7224. Only 3 more shows this year...

Admission is always FREE!!!

Downhill Racing Stock Competition Information:

- We have 64 slots available for Hot Wheels Stock Down Hill Racing for $1 per entry.
- The die-cast must be a basic Hot Wheels die-cast and originally carded to participate. Judges discretion.
- The Format is Bracket racing, best of three until the final four.
- The final four races with be the first die-cast to win two in a row.
- Racing will start promptly at 10:15 am.

Vendor Information:

- Tables are available for vending on a first come, first serve basis. There is a small fee, please call the number below for more information.

C4hotwheels@hotmail.com or Call 443.850.5738 for more information.