And while the cars, at this time, do not replicate any actual SEGA-raced cars, the value of the exposure of the SEGA brand to an audience of youth numbering in the millions is impossible to ignore.
“They [Mattel] came to us with this idea,” Stott says. “We didn’t call them…never made the first phone call to them. They just wanted to use our logo, and of course, that makes you feel good.”
Stott goes on, staring “A few years ago, Steve Matusek tried to run a tribute car in Pro Mod for Tom McEwen and Hot Wheels wouldn’t let him use their name, and here they are calling up some little Gasser deal asking us to use our name. I thought it was a joke at first. Steve just wanted to give them free advertising, and they turned him down. He has more money than I’ll ever have, and when they called, I said, ‘Aw, they ain’t going to want to do anything with this pissy little organization.’ ”
“Everybody says I’m underestimating what it [SEGA] is, and I guess maybe I do since it’s mine, but it doesn’t seem like its that big of a deal to me,” he continues. “But everyone else is freaking out over it.”
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