Shane Warne
Shane Warne aka 'The Spin King', continues to race ahead of the pack and reinvent himself, be it on Australian or European soil.
He's endorsed video and audio companies, online poker, and now toys (no, not dolls), cars... Hot Wheels cars from Mattel to be exact.
Today he appeared at a press conference in Surry Hills, Sydney, to tell us all about what he sees in Hot Wheels.
On the surface Warne looks to be a pretty good match. He loves his cars (owning a number of real sports cars in his private collection), is known for his fast women (now just one - lucky Liz), who has him in good shape thanks to the "Liz Effect", as Warnie puts it, and who knows what else is in the pipeline. Young men around the world may do well to note that Mr Warne has settled down now with the one lovely lady now and that commitment to the one lass can be a very good thing.
A couple of whispers overheard at today's presser went something like "Doesn't Mattel also do Barbie and Ken dolls (TM)." For the record there was nothing on Ken or Barbie.
The Hot Wheels 'Spin King' has supposed to be a bit of a secret, but we suspect that was all part of the media and marketing plan. You know, make something a secret, so it gets written and talked about. If that's the case, Mattel and Team Warnie have done their jobs well. Warne is understood to have "collaborated" with Mattel's Hot Wheels for about 6 months, and the financial terms of the deal are not being released, at least at this stage. It must be good, since Warne and his management are used to cranking deals with online poker brands and the like, and those don't come cheap.
'The Spin King' signature range designed by Australian sports stars sure looks hot (if your into toy cars).
This is not the virgin car deal for Mr Warne. Last year Warnie was named Lamborghini's Australian ambassador and gifted a $600,000 Murcielago as a "long-term loan car", and a couple of Lambos' were seen racing around East Sydney earlier today, so perhaps he was driving one of them. You can bet Warnie and Liz's kids are doing to have a ball of a time playing with all the toys they will be gifted by Mattel and Hot Wheels.
Warnie's press statements included something along the lines of "I've always has a passion for cars. I used to play with Hot Wheels cars as a kid, so when they offered me the chance to design my own, I jumped at it". Containing his excitement he also shared "I loved every minute of the design process and working with the team at hot Wheels was great fun. The 'Spin King' is a fusion between all of my favorite fast cars and its been great seeing my vision come to life". To Australian press (and public) he had an equally important message: "When Liz and I settle down in Melbourne please respect our privacy and don't throw rocks at our place at 2am in the morning. I've told Liz Melbourne is beautiful".
It was a hot looking brochure and media kit, but sadly no Hot Wheels car in the pack, but Christmas is coming, so here's hoping.
Thanks for the great photos Warnie. Sydney is the quick and the dead, and we did our best, so we're hoping you like them.
Verdict: Shane Warne and Mattel's Hot Wheels gets the green light. They are to hit stores in March 2012, and we're told they are worth the wait. Catch them if you can.
Websites
Hot Wheels
Mattel
Shane Warne official website
Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
Eva Rinaldi Photography
Music News Australia
Splash News
Splash News Online