Diecast and Decals
This small business began after graduating from Univeristy of Northwestern Ohio In Lima,
Ohio in 99. Armed with an associate degree in business and automotive engineering I was inspired to do something with it. Tying it in
with my job at Marathon Oil Company, my brother and I got licensed to make Marathon Oil Trucks and we did a commercial run of 4 trucks till our
licensing ran out. (www.idealcollectibles.com) .
Having done commerical runs and knowing how much it costs, I knew it would be impossible to have that many fire trucks made
for our fire department (Cridersville, Ohio FD) as we could not sell those large amounts. Thus began a new sideline career for me,
customizing small runs of trucks for the little guy who wants a customized diecast truck or model police car
with custom decals and cannot afford to have a commercial run made.
There was a huge learning curve when I started this small business over 10 years ago but now we are over the hump and pretty efficient at what we do.
(There are days that are exceptions to statement.)
Being a fire fighter and an Advanced EMT, fire trucks and rescue units are near and dear to my heart. However, I enjoy making the artistic creations
you saw on the trucks on the main page. I have done hundreds of die cast vehicles-only a few of them are shown on the main page. The custom
jobs are occasionally donated and used as fund raisers for local departments and fire victims
and for raising money for the Cridersville Historical Society to support the museum just down the street from me.
Many of the trucks are made from stock taken from commercial runs . The imprinting is stripped off them, custom paint jobs applied if needed,
and the custom made decals are applied. Other cars and trucks are from newly purchased blank stock and custom decals are designed, printed and
applied.
I retired from Marathon Oil Company (Lima, Ohio) and am now doing this business full time. I hope to grow my small business in retirement
