In the eternal quest to fill out their diecast collections, hobbyists have many sources for news about model cars new and old. There are, of course, official sites of manufacturers like Hot Wheels or Johnny Lightning, but sometimes you just need some information that crosses between brands and interests and might even include some commentary that isn’t always 100 percent sunshine. Here’s a list of hobbyDB employees’ favorite “nonpartisan” diecast blogs and websites. (Besides our own ever-growing database, of course!) This isn’t a ranking, by the way; each one of these is at least one hobbyDB staffer’s favorite go-to site.

One more note… this list includes only sites primarily written in English… we’ll do a roundup of sites based in other languages soon!

HW Newsletter Facebook Page

This might be the largest Hot Wheels related group on Facebook, with over 12,000 members. With that many participants, you can find commentary about pretty much anything related to Hot Wheels. As a bonus, other Mattel brands such as Matchbox and Disney Pixar cars are sometimes covered as well.

The Lamley Group

John Lambert specializes in 1/64 diecast of all brands, particularly new releases. His beautifully lit photos can sometimes fool you into thinking the cars are much bigger, maybe even real. And the insightful commentary goes into great detail about, well all the details that you might never have noticed on these models. And it’s updated daily, so it’s worth frequent visits.

Live & Let Diecast

This is one of the Gawker Media sites that survived the parent company’s bankruptcy, so be thankful it even exists. Several staff writers comment on anything and everything diecast related, as well as aggregating and linking useful items from other sites. There are several posts throughout the day, so anytime is a good time to check in. The comments section is usually pretty lively, read that part too.

Model Auto Review

Model Auto Review was a British print magazine that was published for 31 years until 2013. The title lives on as a blog site combining original content with articles that are aggregated from other sites of interest. Since it’s European based, they offer a different perspective from most sites listed here.

Model Collector

Speaking of U.K. Publications, Model collector is still very much alive and well as a print magazine. They cover a lot of the British model brands like Corgi and Dinky that don’t get as much press stateside, so it’s a valuable resource if you collect these brands whether new or vintage.

Die Cast X

This magazine is published quarterly in print, but they produce additional digital articles for the months in between. Die Cast X cover all brands and scales with a strong emphasis on the high-end large scale offerings. Some online content is available to everyone; full access requires a subscription (the offer deals for digital access or a print plus digital combination.)

Orange Track Diecast

As you might have guessed from the name, Orange Track keeps you up to date on the latest Hot Wheels news with in depth reviews of upcoming models and store exclusives such as Wal-Mart or Target-only offerings. It’s updated every week or so as news warrants.

Darthvaderr’s Very Hard To Find & Limited Edition Hot Wheels

The blog site with very long name referencing a Star Wars character is actually a good source of information about custom diecast and the artists who build them. And despite the “hard to find” moniker, there are in fact a lot of super rare customs and limited run models for sale, easy to search right there on the site.

ZA3 Collectibles

ZA3 is a great place to keep up to date on GreenLight Collectibles models new and old. While they are not as big a player as Mattel or many other companies, Green Light makes accurately detailed diecast in a premium but not over-the-top price range. In addition to selling, this site also encourages trading if you have some extra old stock you want to deal.

HW Stangs

At first, this would seem to be a kind of limited page.. how many Hot Wheels Mustangs could there possibly be? Well, if you search for just that on hobbyDB, you’ll find over a thousand catalog items including variants, so, yeah, that’s a lot to write about. Jason Ray Duncan, the founder, is also very active on the HW Stangs Facebook page.

Racegrooves Youtube channel

This is a large collection of videos reviewing track playsets and virtual driving games, with quite a few fail/crash/glitch videos thrown in, because that’s always fun to look at. (For collectors who like to keep their cars in the blister, Race Grooves also features “unboxing” videos to show what comes in crates direct from the manufacturer.) All in all it’s good reminder that many of these collectibles are in fact toys designed to be played with.

Got any other diecast blogs that you just can’t get through the day without checking at least twice? Let us know in the comments!