Biography

I was born in San Diego in 1966, but my family moved to Michigan when I was an infant.  My father left my family when I was in first grade.  I grew up in Hamtramck, Michigan and graduated from Hamtramck High School.  I got involved with video production in high school and I've been doing it ever since. 

Growing up, TV shows and movies were my main sources of entertainment.  My mother would take the family to the dollar show and we'd see two, sometimes three movies in a row for a buck.  I have distinct memories of seeing Star Wars, Smokey & The Bandit and Grease at the movie theater.  I specifically remember hearing my mother laughing hysterically during The Cannonball Run.  My first Bond movie was Diamonds are Forever at the drive-in.  Since then, I've seen every Bond flick with eager anticipation. 

I remember coming home from school and turning on the TV, watching The Brady Bunch, Batman, The Munsters, I Love Lucy and The Monkees in syndication.  In the evening, my family would gather around the TV (back when we only had 5 or 6 channels), order a pizza, and tune into The Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team or Knight Rider. 

When my mother passed away in 1989, I decided to move to California.  I really fell in love with L.A. When friends and family visited, I'd take them into Hollywood.  While there, I toured the studios and sat in the audience for various TV shows.  Highlights included watching the entire cast of Cheers rehearse on the set, and getting to run around The Brady Bunch living room and kitchen.  I also bumped into Drew Barrymore at Venice Beach.  She was young then, but I was a fan and she was kind enough to pose for a picture with me (right).  Once, while touring Universal Studios, I started grinning like an idiot when I spotted the Delorean Time Machine parked on the Hill Valley set for the filming of the Back to the Future sequels.  Although I loved everything about Hollywood, I couldn't find work in video production.  The field was too competitive. 

After one year, I found myself back in Michigan (The Motor City) and continued my career in video production.  I've been working in the field over 20 years now.  Some of the highlights of my career include meeting celebrities such as John Travolta, Adam West, Billy Crystal (left), and some of the actors from the Star Wars films.  It's been a fun 20 years.

Years ago, I discovered Johnny Lightning had released some great little cars as part of its Hollywood on Wheels line.  I thought it would be cool to put together a little display of die-cast cars from the TV shows and films I enjoyed while growing up.  My first display case held 24 cars (below, right) and when it was full, it became quite the conversation piece when friends visited my apartment.  As I discovered more and more cars, my collection grew.  After seeing my collection, my buddy Dennis was inspired to begin a collection of his own.  In the amount of time it took me to collect enough cars to fill up my 70-car display case, Dennis put together a collection of more than 400 CARS!!!  The two of us searched eBay and other online sources obsessively.  We visited hobby shops, flea markets and garage sales trying to discover new TV and movie cars.  We were frustrated there wasn't one definitive resource to help us in our quest. 

At the beginning of 2003, I decided to photograph the cars in our collections.  We brought our cars into my TV studio and photographed every single one of them.  Soon after that, I bought a domain name, located a host and created Hollywood Die-Cast.  I decided it was up to me to create a die-cast TV and movie car resource for collectors like myself. 

Before long, I began receiving e-mails from collectors all over the world.  When I began tracking visitors to my site, to my astonishment, I discovered that over 900 people visited my site EVERY DAY! 

Today, my collection consists of hundreds of 1:64 scale cars and dozens of 1:18 scale cars.  Dennis' collection numbers in the thousands, including some very rare and valuable pieces.  My site averages approximately 1100 visitors per day and I continue to get e-mails from all over the world, and encourage visitors to post comments in the forum.  Dennis and I have been invited to take part in two television specials about TV and movie cars that have aired in the UK.  One interview took place in Tennessee at the Star Cars Museum (left) in 2004, the second one took place in Los Angeles in 2005.  Most recently, I've created a Checklist/Price Guide that includes over 1000 TV and movie die-cast cars.  It's available for download from this site. 

TV and movie cars have become a passion over the last few years, but so far, nothing more than a hobby.  It's my dream to someday make it my career.   I hope someday to publish a magazine or produce a TV show about TV and movie cars.

Thanks to everyone who has visited my site, sent me e-mails, and submitted photos over the last few years.  Here's to many more years to come!

Other Little Facts:

- Single. Never been married.
- Has Performed Stand-Up Comedy occasionally.
- Has seen the last 5 Presidents in person.
- Was an extra in the HBO film 61* directed by Billy Crystal.
- Produced an award winning short film called The Big Game (which you can view by clicking on the link in the left column).
- Wrote a book called Not Like Other Guys (still hoping to get it published).
- In addition to die-cast cars, collects figures from TV and movies, focusing on Batman, Star Wars and The Simpsons.