February 2023 Blog Post

This time of year is always amazing to me, we get a whole host of new car owners looking to spend tax refund dollars on modifications for cars they just got.  Some of these new enthusiasts are first time car owners, and some are people who come to us fresh from being introduced into the world of modification through a friend or loved one.  However, they happen to find their way to our shops or into our website, it's always great to get new perspectives on alterations that can be made to individualize a vehicle of some kind through the eyes of someone who hasn't been doing it for a long time.  I know you're thinking "they don't know anything, it has to be frustrating to explain the basics time and time again!"  In all honesty, it's really not, we love the gleam in someones eyes when you teach them something new about how their vehicle works or how they could do something modification wise they hadn't thought of, and those ideas lead to other tangents and next thing you know, we've got a customer for life.  There is just no replacement for that feeling when you do your first upgrade or customization and make something set apart from all the others to make it yours.  Let's face it, that's what modifications and upgrading are all about, we all strive to set ourselves apart in some way from others, in order to create our own personalities.

While, this is all such an ever lasting routine over our 23 years (by the way, this month does celebrate our 23rd year in business!) there's always the question I ask from our team, "What first modification do most of our customers do?"  Most of the guys think the first modification is going to be a set of wheels and tires, while other say a simple sticker or trinket like a key chain or lanyard.  This month, I would really like to get your thoughts as readers, please comment below and let us know what your first modification or upgrade was, and if it was exciting for you, what made it exciting?  I made a promise to write more blogs this year and try and contribute to making the website better with my experience, but it would be amazing to have some involvement to see people actually read these things.

Bringing More Stock to Inventory

At the end of January we made multiple deals to bring a large variety of products into our physical inventory from a warehouse who was no longer going to carry some of the brands.  Checkout our various clearance sections for products from the following brands:  RaceChip, Zex, ATI, MechanixWear, Protekt, and a few others that will be added staring in the next week.  We also added distribution for a few new brands this month, some of which are already on the site, and other which we will be adding later this month: Bride, RapFix, Splash, WorksBell, Moonface, Laaptorr, Monster Sport, Fishbone Offroad, UMI Performance, ProCharger and Rock Slide Engineering.  Our catalog is already one of the largest online for performance and accessories, but we are continuing to grow it with brands and products that we know our customers will benefit from.  That being said, you can always use our customer request form here if you can't find something you want or just find difficulty in navigating the site.

Back from Japan and Ready for Another Adventure

If you read my last Blog Post you know I was headed to Japan to visit TAS 2023 which was a complete and total success and beyond an amazing adventure.  From the interesting culture in Japan to the kind and humble people, to the organization and thought that goes into this country this i living in 2033 while we are all in the past; I can't say enough about how cool this experience was.  During my travels I was joined by HondaPro Jason, who treated me to a visit to Type1 and Spoon Sports where not only did I meet Keeichi Tsuchiya (DK) or the original Drift King of Japan (the fisherman in Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, who is a real life legend in Japan) I also met the President and lead international sales manager for Spoon Sports who I got to spend some great time with the day before enjoying some traditional Japanese cuisine with along with a great new friend ChrisFix also known by his popular YouTube channel and great skills as a mechanic.  Along the way I met up at TAS with Jonny Grunwald, an RX7 aficionado and amazing person, along with the man himself Mad Mike at the Mazda booth where they were discussing the upcoming craziness that will be cool offerings coming from Mazda.

Just because this wasn't cool enough, I also got to visit multiple Hobby Shops in Tokyo and bring back some crazy JDM diecast stuff which helped me to pay for the trip and get some people some super hard to find stuff.  It was amazing to see such an opposite side of the world that lives in a completely different way than we do in the United States.  Here are some key take always from the trip, in no way any sort of complete guide, but I'm around if you have more questions, ask in the comments below and I'll take the time to email you back if I have an answer:

1. When in a train or bus in Japan, don't talk! Its considered disrespectful to talk loudly, and most of the time there is pin drop silence.
2. Just because a restaurant is open, it doesn't mean they will regularly service you.  Many of the nicer ones reserve the right to seat you or if at what they feel is a certain capacity (not full) they will ask you to come back later politely.
3. Pay little attention to names when riding a train or using the public transit system, Numbers and letters are your friend unless your are somewhat fluent in Japanese.
4. Don't Litter!  It's an offense the police can beat you over if they see you doing it,or something like spitting on the street.  They care very much about their surroundings and want to keep them well maintained and organized at all times.
5. Bowing is respected no matter where you are from, so take up the custom and practice it everywhere you go in this country, it will get you much farther even if you don't speak the language.
6. Don't be afraid to ask someone something even though there is a language barrier, and be sure to use Google Translate as much as possible.  It helps to show the people you are making an effort,and unlike most countries, they speak Japanese primarily and very few people are fluent in English or care to be.
7. Get a Suica card downloaded to your phone before you leave!  It is a massive help to pay for things, and they don't take dollars anywhere in Japan so be prepared to do some currency exchanging as there are many places that only take cash unlike the USA.

There's much more I can tell you about my travels, but I would say, go and follow us on Instagram right now, we will continue to add videos I took there and make them available for you to watch, some will also be on our YouTube as they are too long to watch on other forms of social media.  One specifically you can't miss for a new point of view on auto parts stores in Japan is my visit to Up Garage.

More New Things

This year we plan to blow our SPDZ1 brand up by adding tons of new products and creating some crazy clothing for you.  So far we have added our VIP2 series mufflers, our 350Z/370Z Long Tube Headers, new Shirts, and new Steering Wheels!  If that wasn't enough, we have a ton of other plans to set ourselves aside from any other brand and provide you with some amazing limited items coming really soon.

In the diecast world, I've expanded my reach to bringing in tons of new brands and we are creating the collectors room in our Kissimmee location which will be a guaranteed stop if you are in Central Florida and a collector of anything small car related.  Until next time, I leave you with a simple question to answer in the comments, what do you collect?