THE COLLECTION /

Holding true to the fact that he's a self-proclaimed dork, Denn Pietro is the proud owner of the world's largest collection of TV and Movie related 1:64 scale cars and vehicles. The collection can be blamed on Denn's friend and collaborator, Joe Johnson, who relentlessly encouraged him to start collecting something… anything like him, often inciting a haunting chant of "One of us… One of us… One of us."

The year was 1998 and soon there was nothing Denn could do to block out the harassment from Joe except cower in a corner and give in. After regaining his very manly composure, Denn wiped the tears from his face and announced that he would soon be collecting hot wheels / matchbox sized entertainment cars. While others laughed, Joe turned away from Denn to an invisible camera in his own head and secretly grinned knowing that pursuing such an endless collection may destroy Denn and the collection could soon be his.

By 2001, it was clear that Denn was much tougher mentally than Joe had previously imagined. Not only was Denn amassing quite a large collection of toy Entertainment cars and vehicles from stores and Ebay, but it was obvious that he was not going to crack from the immense pressure of trying to own everything TV and Movie related ever created in such a small scale. Joe decided that, for now, he would put aside his pursuit of trying to steal Denn's collection and the two collaborators began working on ideas of putting the collection to a website in hopes of branching out and meeting other TV and movie car collectors. Many nights were spent sharing ideas about the website with Cherry Cokes and Honey Buns outside of various 7-11s and other bottle return depositories about town in Metro Detroit. After photographing Denn's entire collection, the website was ready.

The website was unveiled in February 2003. One thing was missing. Joe had forgotten to add Denn's name and photo to the website and it quickly became Joe Johnson's Hollywood Diecast. By March, Joe had become a sensation of the internet and so had the website. Apparently, Denn and Joe were far from the only collectors of such fine collections and a community of collectors now had a home base where information could be exchanged. Other contributors began adding to the list of available TV and movie cars and toy and distribution companies began sending toy car and vehicle release information, dates and photos to the website.

Entertainment cars became so popular with a nostalgia-thirsty audience that in 2004, Denn and Joe were asked to participate in a TV show on Sky One in the U.K. called "TV's Greatest Cars" from Brian Waddell Productions. Denn and Joe were sent to Tennessee for the interview and enjoyed attending the 25th Anniversary of the Dukes Of Hazzard TV show at Dukesfest and also visited the Star Cars Museum in Gatlinburg. The show later aired and the two toy collectors were a hit with the audience and producers with their keen wit and self-depreciating humor.

By the following year, the collecting collaborators were best remembered for their on-camera bickering and insults and the duo scored yet another appearance on a new U.K. show, "Movies Greatest Cars." This time, Denn and Joe were off to Hollywood where they were able to attend movie premieres and a special visit to, famous TV and movie car customizer, George Barris' shop to meet the man and his famous cars. Needless to say, the boys were asked to leave after being caught trying to steal both the Dukes of Hazzard's General Lee and Batman's TV show Batmobile from the showroom. The lesson learned is that ol' George Barris is much quicker than you could imagine and packs a mean punch for would-be-car thieves. Duke boys they are not.

Denn's car collection continues to grow as his list of missing cars from his collection is now countable on his hands. Though the end of the tunnel is near, as long as 1:64 scale Entertainment cars are made, the collecting will never cease and neither will the voice in his head that chants "Oh my god, what have I started?"

HOLLYWOOD-DIECAST.COM /

For more information about Hollywood Diecast, Joe Johnson or Denn Pietro's car collection, please visit Hollywood-Diecast.com. Please visit often and more importantly, we encourage you to start collecting something… anything. And one day, who knows, perhaps you too will hear our echoing words: "One of us… One of us… One of us…"

To access a little slice of heaven, click on the link below:
www.HOLLYWOOD-DIECAST.com