First Gear, Inc. - The DL S4E3
First Gear, Inc. - The DL S4E3 is now available on your favorite podcast app!
In this episode of The DL, Diesel Laptops’ Founder and CEO, Tyler Robertson, is joined by Erica Reiss, National Accounts Manager of First Gear, Inc.
First Gear has been recognized as an innovative, world-class, top-quality leader in the diecast replica custom imprinting and custom tooling business since its founding in 1992. Our product line expands far beyond diecast replicas. We now offer custom toys, building block sets and other novelty and promotional items.
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As always, thank you for watching and listening!
CONNECT WITH Erica Reiss at First Gear, Inc.
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericareiss/
Website - https://www.firstgearonline.com/
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Transcript for First Gear, Inc. - The DL S4E3:
Tyler:
So if you're anything like me at all, you are a big kid at heart. I got an 11 year old, I got a nine year old. Both boys, both love playing with toys. Although, I will say, they get way into more Minecraft and Roblox these days, but that's okay. But this episode, it's all about toys, whether you're a kid or in the industry. So if you're watching the video portion, you can see now, I have a beautiful truck held up right here. And this is actually from McKay Company, John McKay. He's the owner of it. They're a great company or industry, but this is one of the trucks that they had built over at First Gear. So First Gear is the company that makes these things. It's a very interesting process. This is not buying a Matchbox car at your local Walmart. This is something much more intricate, much more collectible.
They've been around for 30 years. They're celebrating their 30 year anniversary. My company's been around for eight years. I can't imagine making 30 years in surviving as a company. Especially in the toy industry that's really been kind of decimated a lot with online retailers, Toys "R" Us going bankrupt, all these things. But they've carved a great niche, a great product. It's not just trucks they do. They do all kinds of things.
Erica, is on this episode. She's going to talk a lot about their company, what they do, how they do these things. So I hope you enjoy the episode and without further do, let's go ahead and we'll kick you into the episode.
Welcome to the DL everyone. We are here today to talk about my favorite subject matter of all time. And this is not only because I have boys, I consider myself a big kid as well. And that is we are going to talk about diecast trucks, toys, all these things. You're going to see a whole bunch of them. I'm sure you've seen them around in our industry. So I brought in someone today. Her name's Erica, she's with First Gear. Erica, welcome to the DL Podcast.
Erica Reiss:
Thanks for having me, Tyler.
Tyler:
So first of all, I'm going to hold one up here and you remembered. I was telling her beforehand, "Yeah, we got one of your truck." She's like, "Yeah, it's a Mack Anthem." So we got one of these guys and first of all, I'm sure people in our industry have seen these before. But I got to say this, the level of intricacy that goes into these things is absolutely unreal. This is not like buying a Matchbox car from my local
Walmart. But I'd love to hear a little bit about First Gear. As I understand it, you guys have been around for a little bit and you got some milestones you're hitting here over at your company.
Erica Reiss:
Absolutely. So we were founded 30 years ago in Dubuque, Iowa, which is right down the road from where our current headquarters is right now in Peosta, Iowa. And for 30 years we've been making these highly detailed diecast replicas for all different types of customers. We target different industries, which is the trucking, construction, utility companies, you name it, we do it. And you're absolutely right. Our replicas, they aren't your standard Hot Wheels vehicle that you may pick up at Walmart. When we go and design these products, we make sure that we are making them as authentic as possible and we also incorporate a lot of detail.
Tyler:
So I guess what I'm interested in is the process. So I know we went through this with your company and when I first started I was like, "Oh, just call up and order a truck and I'm sure we'll have it in 30 days and a whole bunch of them." But it's a bit of a process, from what I understand, with the design and everything. Can you talk a little bit about what happens when a customer's like, "Hey, I'm interested in buying a bunch of these trucks." What goes on? What's the process like?
Erica Reiss:
Absolutely. So a lot of people are familiar with making custom hats, custom t-shirts where you just call and within a week or two you've got a bunch of swag on your doorstep. Unfortunately, our products do take a lot longer because we actually shoot these metal diecast parts. Then once we shoot them, we have to go and take them apart, make sure we go and paint them appropriately, add graphic decoration where it's required. And then even from a packaging standpoint, if the customer would like their package decorated with their logo or company information, we can do that as well. And all of this is done overseas, so typical lead time is about six months for a custom product.
Tyler:
Yeah. So do you guys have to do that every... I mean, it seems like you have every make model possible at least... Let's talk about commercial trucks first. Is it like the sky's a limit or is there certain models you can't do and do you have to retain the rights from Mack or how does that work when it comes to making a diecast replica?
Erica Reiss:
Absolutely. So we work with all the major OEMs, Mack, Peterbilt, Kenworth, International, Freightliner, Volvo. You name it, we work with them. And we have all officially licensed product. So when you get it from us, you know that we are working with them and we are meeting their specifications for what they would like with their replicas. Now when we go to production with these units, a lot of it is OEM driven. So if they want to have specific features on the diecast replica, we make sure to incorporate that. And part of the reason why the lead time is so long is because a lot of times when we go and produce these for customers, each model is unique and it's not economical to have thousands of these just laying around because everyone will be different. And it's not easy to just go and paint them a certain color or add graphics as needed.
Tyler:
Yeah. Again, they're just so intricate and so different. So another example I have here... So John McKay, we've had John McKay on the podcast before and as I understand, he's got actually quite a collection of diecast in his lobby at his office [inaudible 00:05:39]. I can imagine he's had quite a few of these come through with you guys, but this is an older one. This is a Ford, right? Ford's been out of business selling commercial trucks. I know Sterling. And then Sterling obviously was discontinued by Dahler. So what do you do in these old ones? Is there still IP? If I asked for an old model truck that doesn't exist, can you just do that or do you have to go track somebody down or what's that look like?
Erica Reiss:
We can do that. So with your newer model trucks, we partner with the OEMs and they provide us with actual engineering files that we can reference when we are laying out the 3D patterns and doing the tooling process. Now, if it is a model that's been discontinued for years, what we can do is possibly reach out to OEMs who may have that information. But if they don't have that information, we'll find the unit out in the field. We'll have our engineers go out there, take measurements, write down details about what features would need to be incorporated into the design. And then we'll go ahead and roll that out into new diecast tooling.
Tyler:
So I see behind you here... For people watching the video portion, you have all kinds of other things besides trucks. Honestly, up until recently I thought you guys only did trucks because I guess I'm in the truck market, right? But it looks like you got farm tractors and excavators. What else do you have there? Is there really a limit here?
Erica Reiss:
We do. Yeah, so our specialty is your diecast truck replicas. This is a 1/64 scale model. It's similar to your Mack Anthem. But in addition to that, we can do different sizes. We work with Komatsu to make replicas of their mining equipment. This is an example of one of their dump trucks. It is 1/50 a scale. It is quite heavy. And what's awesome about it is even when we're doing these larger models, we're still incorporating lots of different features. So this particular one, you can open up that dump. And even if you look at the front, you can get all that ladder detail in there.
Another industry that we work with quite a bit is some of your construction... So this is a front discharge mixer and same thing where you can even get that drum to roll. And on the side if you want your graphics on the cab or go and put a year on the tank so that you can designate when it was produced, we can incorporate all that. And even the back ends of these can even open up to show that engine detail.
Another item that we can do is a dump truck. That smaller scale, this one is considered 1/34 scale, it's a Mack Granite. You can even put that snow plow feature on the front, which is a lot of fun. Farm and egg industry is really big. This is an example of a Case Steiger 45 that we produce for them. All of these have free rolling wheels, so you can go and drive them wherever you like. And if you're looking for something other than diecast, we can do things such as holiday ornaments. This is an example of a waste management truck that we did for them. Another fun product line we have are our Lego compatible building block sets. And these are all customizable as well. You can pick the colors, you can even pick what detail you would like on these little action figures. So it's a lot of fun. We can cater to all different industries and help people with their brand and promotional product needs across the board.
Tyler:
Yeah, no, that's awesome. I didn't realize the Christmas ornaments and then you have the Lego compatible stuff. Now my mind's going now. I'm kind of smiling here to Kara across the camera. I'm like, "Can we get some of this cool stuff around here?" Because again, I'm just kind of a big kid at heart when it comes to these. So a question though about the different ratios, right? The 1/64, the 1/50th, is there some things more desirable or is there a reasoning behind those or is it just like people want certain sizes? What's the meaning behind all those?
Erica Reiss:
Absolutely. A lot of it is driven by how desirable things are. So historically, your tractor trailers such as this one, which is 1 64th, it's about 12 inches long. That's what we do for the trucking companies. We've even done models for the towing industry that are that same scale and they still have a lot of fun functionality to them. As far as the construction equipment and utility companies, whether it's a bucket truck or a Derrick, a lot of those items are 1/34 scale, they're a bit larger. And it's just kind of then industry driven as to what people prefer. But in addition to that, there's also a lot of feedback that we take into consideration from the collector market. And a lot of the collectors want certain sizes of product depending on what it is that they're doing with them. A lot of them will set up dioramas and they want all the trucks to be the same size that everything is to scale properly.
Tyler:
So that's interesting you bring up the collectors. So I know when we did our truck, I think you guys... I don't know if you guys did a press release or put something out there on social media. But all of a sudden I'm getting handwritten letters from people in the mail like, "Hey, I know you guys got a truck. I don't care what they cost, can I buy one?" And I was like, "What is going on?" Is that just like the collector market knowing these are harder to get things because they're one off runs and people are trying to find these things?
Erica Reiss:
There is a huge collector market for this type of product and we as a company have one side of the business that focuses on doing custom programs for customers like yourself. But another side of the business is dedicated just to the collector market and we call that our showcase product line. So there is a tremendous following and you do get some crossover between those two. When the collectors find out that there is a Diesel Laptop's truck out there, they want to make sure that they can add that to their collection. So it's a lot of fun and it's kind of wild to see how prices can escalate very quickly with these products. Typical 1/64 scale diecast truck may cost around $100. But depending on how rare it is and how unique it is, there's some out there that'll go for upwards of a thousand dollars on eBay.
Tyler:
I was going to ask that question. It feels kind of like baseball cards almost, right? There's that rarity out there and I'm sure someone's got one sitting on a shelf somewhere that's probably valuable. So that's absolutely amazing in that marketplace. Yeah, but we did put them on the website, we put some for sale and I think we actually sold a couple on there. And by the way, I know I told our team to like, "Hey, go talk to First Gear. [inaudible 00:12:12] set coming." Is our team working with you yet on that?
Erica Reiss:
Yep. There are some discussions going on. I think your team is still kind of narrowing down the scope as to what direction you'd like to take.
Tyler:
Yeah. Well I appreciate everything you guys are doing in that industry and one of the things that you mentioned before we came on the air was the fact that you are saying, "Man, there's not many companies left in the industry." Can you talk a little bit about what's happening? Is that just the toy industry in general? Is it the collector industry or consolidation? What's kind of happening in your world?
Erica Reiss:
Sure, sure. Well, a lot has happened in the 30 years since our company was founded. Our founder actually came from Ertl. And over the years some of your bigger toy companies, they've been acquired and bought out. Even for us, that first year we purchased Diecast Promotions. That company was a leader in the 1/64 scale tractor trailer market for decades. And we ended up purchasing them and that's how they were acquired. But a lot of that has happened in the industry and then even from a collector following, some consumer preferences have changed over the years. And if you're not evolving in this industry, unfortunately you go to the wayside.
Tyler:
Well, let's talk about supply chain a little bit. I always like to ask other companies how they're dealing with it and how they're handling. I know with us, man, two years ago we came with this new tool, it's really [inaudible 00:13:32] the phone had a bunch of chips in it and then we sold out and then it took us a year and a half to get more. Have you guys... How's the supply chain? Because I know obviously you're doing some stuff overseas and whatnot. Are you guys okay there? Is it backlogs? What's it looking like from your side?
Erica Reiss:
Oh, absolutely. It's been wild, especially with COVID we experience a lot of the same delays that other people were experiencing who import product. Even though our headquarters is here in the United States, we do produce these overseas. So we have containers being loaded on boats and once the boats hit the ports, whether it's west coast or east coast, you need to get it loaded on the rail.
And unfortunately if the rail's not moving, your product's not moving. But once you do get those trains moving, the final leg usually is on a truck with a chassis and then it's delivered to our facility. A lot of talk this week has been what's going to happen with the rail and it sounds like we may have some good news there. So luckily we won't have to experience those delays. But that is something that we always take into consideration when we are doing these programs is what does the typical lead time look like? And if our customer has a big event or show that they need the product in hand for what can we do to accommodate it and make sure that those items are there for them when they need them.
Tyler:
Well, sounds like you guys are working through it just like we're trying to work through it. And I think if any, it's actually really interesting. Two years ago everyone was kind of upset things weren't at the stores and they couldn't get things or took two months to get a washer and dryer. Everyone kind of now seems to be like, "Eh, it is what it is." They got to deal with these things. And I guess I was looking there... People at Diesel are always asking me, "Well, do you guys do automotive?" And I try heck to just not do automotive. I kind of get [inaudible 00:15:18] into a little bit, but I didn't see any samples of automotive. But that seems like a big market. Is that just something you guys stay away from and stay in your lane or is that a piece of the puzzle as well?
Erica Reiss:
It is a piece of the puzzle as well. We work with OEMs such as Chevy, Ford. For a while there we were working with Dodge and typical scale for those is 1/25, which is a bit larger. So there's still definitely a market there for it. But as far as popularity goes, it is a little less popular than some of our other items.
Tyler:
Yeah, well I love everything you guys are doing over there. Again, it sounds like every industry it's got its challenges, it's got its ups, it's got its downs, it's got all things going on. Anything big coming down the pipeline? Driver appreciation week, you were just saying, sounds like it's your busy season. What do you guys have going on over there?
Erica Reiss:
Yeah, driver appreciation week is very big with not only trucking companies but also companies like yourself that help, whether it's truckers or 3PLs, that sort of thing. A lot of these companies will make custom replicas to use as giveaways. Another big thing that happened for us this week is with our 30th anniversary, we've been dropping limited production runs of trucks and we dropped one earlier this week and it sold out within a matter of hours. It was just wild.
Tyler:
Well I was going to ask that. Do you guys do some normal stock runs then, it sounds like of just generic stuff to sell and the custom? Is it two different things you guys do?
Erica Reiss:
Absolutely. It's two different things that we do. So one side we do that custom,. And the other side we cater to the collector market and that would be our showcase product line.
Tyler:
Yeah. So when you do the runs, is that just on your website or do you guys have distribution or where do people find those things?
Erica Reiss:
Absolutely. So when we do those runs, you can see them a lot of times on our website. We also partner with an extensive dealer network where some of these dealers, they're exclusive runs that they get their hands on. So you need to reach out to them if you want to get your hands on certain items.
Tyler:
Yeah, I can see the whole collector angle here. I remember Beanie Babies and McDonald's back in a day. People would be lined up for hours just trying to buy Beanie Babies because like, "I might be the one that comes out just this day," or whatever it was. So I get it. I've been looking for a hobby and I mean I always go back to the diecast stuff. I'm like, "Man." But I know myself. I'm like, "Man, I'm going to go on eBay. I'm going to go these place and just buy a bazillion of these things and probably screw myself up doing that." And then I'll get somebody who's probably not happy at me at home. But it is a pretty amazing collection. Like I was talking about McKay and the company. Just seeing pictures of their lobby, I can just imagine there's a lot of collectors at their houses with these big displays. Have you seen some of these? They're like mini museums out there that have collector items like this?
Erica Reiss:
Absolutely, yes. The crew down at Freightwaves, I know they have Freight Alley, which is a whole area full of trucks over the years. Some of them are fallen flags trucks that are no longer out there on the road. Some of them are trucks that you look out your window and you might see running down the road. There's a big variety for it. But even from a collector standpoint, our company has a Facebook group for our collectors and sometimes it is just wild. The rooms full of die cast that you see with some of these collectors.
And it's interesting because our subject matter varies so much. We dabble in a little bit of your pop culture. So we did an Elvira truck last year, we've got some AC/DC trucks. If you're big into rock music, you can pick those up or if you just have a passion for trucking. Like I said, we have a lot of fallen flags trucks that maybe growing up you used to see it going down the road next to your house or maybe your dad drove that truck. So you want to have that in your collection. There's a little bit of something for everyone.
Tyler:
Well, again, I'm a big kid at heart. I love these things. I love anytime a company comes up with something I enjoy. You guys make a great high quality product. I've never seen one or heard anyone complain about the quality coming out of First Gear. So you guys do a tremendous job there. If people want to learn more about First Gear or connect with you, where should they go?
Erica Reiss:
Absolutely. So you can go to our website, firstgearonline.com. And when you're on that website, you can find all of our showcase products. So if you're looking to put something in your own personal collection, you can shop there. Or if you want to learn more about our customization capabilities, we also have a section on the website dedicated to that. And if you'd like to reach out to me directly, I'm on LinkedIn, you can check me out, Erica Reiss or you can drop me an email or send me a... Or give me a phone call.
Tyler:
Well, I know for sure now that I'm going to go on Facebook here tonight and go join up to the First Gear Fan Page it sounds like, because that's the exact stuff I like to look at on Facebook.
So thank you very much again for coming on. We're going to call this an episode. As we [inaudible 00:19:58] every episode, it's not just diagnostics, it's diagnostics done right. And while these might not need diagnostics, they are awesome to collect and have in your collection. Definitely conversation pieces. I love them. My kids love them. Adults love them. Check out First Gear. So thank you for watching and listening. Like, comment, share, subscribe. It all helps us. We'll catch you on the next one.
