Vroom, vroom: International Matchbox Gathering of Friends Convention a toy car collector's dream

Collectors of Matchbox and Mattel cars from New Mexico and around the world will gather to trade, sell and share their enthusiasm of the tiny vehicles and accessories.

The 22nd annual International Matchbox Gathering of Friends Convention will take place Friday, July 26, through Sunday, July 28, at the Albuquerque Marriott Hotel, 2101 Louisiana Blvd. NE. The event will feature a Gathering of Friends Car Show from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, and a toy show and sale from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday. More information can be found at facebook.com/mcgathering.

Vroom, vroom: International Matchbox Gathering of Friends Convention a toy car collector's dream

“We have what we call a meet and greet on Friday and that’s because a lot of the people have not ever been here before and then a lot of times there’s language issues because we’ve had people (from other countries),” said Jim Gallegos, event organizer. “... What we do is we have a meet and greet, and then we have a charity bingo, and we use this whole thing as a charity event. What we do is we make a donation every year and this year it’s going to Alta Mira (Specialized Family Services).”

The meet and greet is open to the public, as well as events on Saturday and Sunday.

“And then Saturday, we have a really great car show,” said Gallegos. “It’s put on by Matt Torres, who is on our staff, and he’s the one that used to do the big Supernationals Car Show at the fairgrounds. So we have that. We bring in the Mattel Superlift, which is a big orange truck. They bring that up from Mattel. And then we also have seminars throughout the day.”

The seminars are presented by experts in the field including Paul Carr who will present “My Life at Matchbox” from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. On Sunday, early birds can get into the toy show and sale at 9 a.m. for $10, or come in at 10 a.m. for $5. A model train display will also be part of the fun.

“We have a model train club here (that) puts on a large display in the lobby, right outside of the toy show,” Gallegos said. “And we’ll have 130 tables full of toys, every price range, every era that there is. And these are dealers from all over the world. These are the top dealers.”

A children’s play area will be part of the Sunday activities included with toy show admission.

“What Mattel does is they bring product and just let the kids just kind of play and sample the product,” Gallegos said. “We have a Mattel signing. It’s an opportunity to go and get either models (signed) or you can have what they call E-sheets, which is the design sheets that they use, and they’ll have those in the largest toy room... And then, of course, we sell T-shirts and stickers, and it’s just a lot of fun.”

Gallegos has been putting on the convention for 22 years and has been a collector since the early 1960s.

“I still find stuff that I’ve never seen before,” he said of the convention. “So it’s pretty cool.”

He said the convention is for the young and the young at heart.

“Mattel tries to focus on the young ones, the kiddos,” he added. “But we have 80- and 90-year-olds that are just totally into it.”