"It's having a little bit of a resurgence": Dale Earnhardt Jr. sees a bright future for key element of NASCAR merch industry

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently shared his predictions about one of NASCAR's most important pillars concerning fan experience - diecasts. The earliest diecast models, those in 1/24 scales, date as long back as 1956. However, the 1/64 scale diecast was first introduced in 1980 by Ertl.

Currently, several companies sell NASCAR diecasts of different drivers and paint schemes. But arguably one of the biggest companies, Lionel, has dominated the market in the last few years.

And if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is to be believed, the culture of diecast is about to see a big comeback. During a recent episode of Dirty Air, the NASCAR Hall of Famer said:

"Diecasts for me, sounds like it's having a little bit of a resurgence. At least, I'm more of an avid collector of diecasts now than I've ever been which is strange to me because you would think when I was younger, as big as souvenir world was in the 90s, I would've had a ton of those. I enjoy collecting specific cars, not just anything, but specific cars. We get some of the samples, those are fun to have. The samples is a very special prototype." [1:14:00]

Earnhardt further revealed that his diecast collection 'is slowly growing' to the point where he wants to show it off. However, Junior remarked that instead of making a video on his phone, he wants professionals from Dirty Mo Media to take 'good quality videos' of his collection.

Earnhardt Jr. has 'two full towers', each of which contains 40-50 cars, in his collection. He added that his collection is growing beyond those towers too.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared his opinion on Kenny Wallace's cynical take on the diecast industry

During a recent episode of 'Coffee with Kenny', Kenny Wallace gave a cynical view of the diecast industry. The former NASCAR driver said 'those days are gone' considering the souvenir industry got greedy and 'killed it.'

The veteran claimed that it wasn't NASCAR's fault, adding that as people grow older, they start getting rid of their diecast collections. Wallace gave his example, mentioning that he's older now and doesn't want to collect anything, so he doesn't want to be gifted or sent anything, more so because he's a father of three girls who want 'none of it.'

On the contrary, Dale Earnhardt Jr., a father of two girls himself, reacted by saying:

"I must not be getting old (yet). Cause I'm still collecting stuff! Hallelujah"

That said, it'll be interesting to see if, in the coming years, the NASCAR diecast industry and the souvenir/merchandise business see an upswing in sales.

Only time will tell if Dale Jr.'s prediction of the industry returning to the mainstream holds true.