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Biography
Michael Zarnock
is an American author and columnist,
who writes collector guides and articles about
Hot Wheels toy cars and accessories.
Michael's knowledge and his massive Hot Wheels collection
has earned him notoriety around the world.
Whether it be because of the 8 books and countless articles
that he has written about Hot Wheels toys
or the sheer size and diversity of his collection,
this extensive knowledge has earned him the label,
"One of the worlds leading Hot Wheels authorities."
Michael is also a 2 Time Guinness World Record holder!
First in 2003 and then again in 2007!
He is in the record books for owning the
"Largest collection of different model cars".
He is also featured in the 2008 "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!" book #5 "Prepare To Be Shocked!"
Michael was born April 21, 1958 in Utica, New York into a working class family. As with most young men of that era, he grew up with aspirations of getting married and working with his dad in their family body shop repairing cars. His parents divorced in 1974 and his dad moved to Florida. Michael stayed in Utica with his mom and attended local schools while working as an auto mechanic at Nichols Department Store. He has worked full time since the 11th grade. "Everybody thought it was pretty weird that I came to school with my blue work shirt that had "Mike" on it everyday. They couldn't understand that I worked 45 hours a week while I was still in high school. They were all playing sports and hanging out while I was turning wrenches and fixing their parent's cars." He graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 1976.
Some of Michael's accomplishments over the years include racing Moto Cross as a teenager to building and driving many show and drag cars as an adult. Some of those drag cars ended up being street racers for other people. Michael has many stories about those street racing days including the time that he got kidnapped at a street race. This story has made it all the way across the country to Hollywood where he was asked to write a screenplay about it for Actor/Producer Christopher Titus. He has also rewritten that script to be published as a novel.
The late 1980's brought another challenge to Michael when he became a singer/drummer and co-wrote songs in a band called "The Blister Tones". After 3 years and 3 albums, the band split and he went back to working on his house and collecting Hot Wheels again.
Michael has spent so much time and effort on his collection that it prompted him to write a best selling Variation Guide called "The Ultimate Guide to Hot Wheels Variations", that was published in 2002 and went into its second printing a year after it was released. That book is now out of print and sold out.
September 2003 brought great joy to Michael as he was awarded a Guinness World Record ,, for his collection of 3,711 Different Model Cars. Although Michael has more than 15,000 toy cars in his collection, that record was for 3,711 different Hot Wheels model cars. The old record was 1,500. In 2006, Michael's record was broken by a man in Argentina with 7,000 different models cars. Michael has since brought his title back to the USA in February 2007 with 8128 different Hot Wheels model cars! Part of this collection is on display at the Childrens Museum in Utica, New York.
2008 brought another amazing honor to Michael when he was featured in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!â€, for his Hot Wheels obsession.
Since the release of his first Hot Wheels book, "The Ultimate Guide to Hot Wheels Variations", Michael has written a total of 8 books including the Hot Wheels Collector Number chapters in "The Standard Catalog of Die-Cast Vehicles II & III", and in the 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16th editions of "Toys & Prices." He was also under contract with Toy Cars & Models Magazine for 6 years where he wrote a monthly Hot Wheels column and price guide, has written countless articles, and currently has a monthly column in Die Cast X Magazine.
Michael makes his home in the small upstate New York town of Deerfield with his wife Tina and youngest son Cody. His oldest son Christopher makes his home in Mt. Airy Maryland and is a Hot Wheels collector himself.
Michael also makes appearances at schools, conventions, toy shows and Hot Wheels club functions across the United States and Canada. He has even made a few appearances on film. He made his screen debut playing Artie, the sleazy comic book publisher in the "Catch Your Breath Productions" film Detour, and returned to take on the role of Freddy Grecko, talk show host extraordinaire in The Death of Daniel Whately.
Mike's latests movie quest is playing Chester Greenfield II, the wealthy father of the main character in the movie "Anchor Eddy’s."
Click here
to see the movie trailer and what the movie "Anchor Eddy's" is about and who the players are.
This movie will be on it way to all the Indie Film Festivals around the world in October.
Below is a clip of Mike’s role in "The Death Of Daniel Whately".
Hot Wheels Guru Mike Zarnock as Freddy Grecko.
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Below is an interview with Michael on News 10 Now about his feature in "Ripley's Believe It or Not"
Below is a video taken from a FOX TV Christmas show back in the late ..80s. Check it out and look for a very young Mike Zarnock with some Christmas garland through his earring. And by the way, he quit smoking 15 years ago, so this might put some date to the video. Sorry for the bad quality, but this was found out there on MySpace. Thanx to who ever put it out there!
Christmas at Patrick's Cantina
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Another video from “The Vintage Video Vault†of the Blister Tones (circa 1989?).
This one is called "Talk Without Lying"
Notice Mike Zarnock at the end sporting a very cool Fu-Man-Chu!
Bibliography
2008 to Present-Die Cast X Magazine, Hot Wheels Column
2002 to 2008-Toy Cars & Models Magazine, HW's Column & Price Guide.
2002-The Ultimate Guide To Hot Wheels Variations
2002-*The Standard Catalog of Die-Cast Vehicles II
2003-Warman's Hot Wheels Field Guide
2004-Hot Wheels Variations, The Ultimate Guide 2nd Edition
2004-*Toys & Prices 11th Edition
2005-Hot Wheels Accessories, The Ultimate Guide
2005-*The Standard Catalog of Die-Cast Vehicles III
2005-*Toys & Prices 12th Edition
2006-Hot Wheels: A Warman's Companion Guide
2006-*Toys & Prices 13th Edition
2007-Hot Wheels Variations, The Ultimate Guide 3rd Edition
2007-*Toys & Prices 14th Edition
2007-Warman's Hot Wheels Field Guide 2nd Edition
2008-*Toys & Prices 15th Edition
2008-Once Upon A Street Race (In Production)
2009-*Toys & Prices 16th Edition
2009-Hot Wheels: A Warman's Companion Guide 2nd Edition
* denotes (Hot Wheels Collector Number chapter only)
Discography
Albums with The Blister Tones
1986 — My Town (Krellman Records)
1987 — Born Again Losers (Krellman Records)
1988 — Welcome To Our Neighborhood (Krellman Records)
Filmography
2004 — Detour (CYB Productions)
2005 — The Death of Daniel Whately (CYB Productions)
2006 — Anchor Eddy's (CYB Productions)
Below is Jeff Glasson interviewing Mike Zarnock on "Saturday Nitro"!
Listen to Mike Zarnock being interviewed live by Jeff Glasson on "Saturday Nitro"!
This is a great candid interview with all kinds of questions!
View my page on DiecastSpace.Com
Check out Michael Zarnock at Celebrity Link
