RealTruck x Mattel/Matchbox: Q&A with Designer Tyler Charest

The SEMA Show floor is where dreams take shape, and this year, one of the most exciting collaborations brought a childhood classic to life. For the 2025 SEMA event, RealTruck teamed up with Mattel’s Matchbox to transform a concept—designed as a die-cast toy—into a full-scale, rugged off-road Jeep Wrangler JLU. We sat down with Tyler Charest, the visionary Lead Designer at Matchbox who penned the original miniature, to discuss the inspiration behind this monumental build, what it's like seeing his design realized in steel and rubber, and why this project is more than just a toy come to life. Welcome to Real Answers on RealSource™! 

Frank Bisciotti:  Tyler Charest, thanks for joining us! We're incredibly excited about this collaboration. To start, what does this partnership with RealTruck and Mattel/Matchbox for SEMA mean to you and your organization? 

 Tyler Charest: This collaboration feels like a celebration of two groups of people that are inspired by adventure, and that want to inspire people towards adventure. This is really just a fantastic mashup matchup of two brands, RealTruck and Matchbox, that speak the same language, which is adventure off road, going in and doing things that are maybe a little bit outside of the ordinary to the organization. It is. It's pretty simple. It's the celebration of two fantastic brands coming together to unlock a really cool product 

Frank Bisciotti: This project showcases the transformation from a miniature Matchbox concept to a full-scale, functional off-road vehicle. What's it like seeing your work translated from a toy car into a real-world build? 

 Tyler Charest: Something that's really exciting about, like building a full scale truck or car or whatever it is. And especially when it's tied to a miniature, it's in an open door for kids to see their dreams manifest into larger than life moments. And it's a reminder for adults to bring a sense of joy and playfulness into their day to day. And that feels important. 

Frank Bisciotti: Is this your first toy design that has a matching life-size build? 
 
Tyler Charest: I am blessed to have been part of multiple kind of full scale builds at this point, and none of them are quite as authentic as this build with RealTruck. So this is the most exciting that I think I've been on. 

Frank Bisciotti: Every build has a story. What was the initial vision or inspiration for this particular Jeep build? Were there specific Matchbox models that influenced the design? 

 Tyler Charest: This was an interesting project in the way that it came about, and it was a bit of a project of serendipity where. But Matchbox has an existing JL, JL, U chassis or model RealTruck reached out and said, hey, we're building a JL you. It's going to be over the top. What can we do together? And then the next layer of the next level of creative unlock to really get the two concepts to, to speak together was the graphic treatment and the think the visual overlay that ties everything together.  

Frank Bisciotti: Since this is your first design with RealTruck, what do you like best about it?  

Tyler Charest: What I really appreciate about RealTruck is the palpable passion that that the team has for adventure, for going off-road, for going bear, for making things that allow people to go places that other folks really haven't gone. And that comes through and just the people that work for the team. And that's what I've enjoyed most about this RealTruck collaboration. 

Frank Bisciotti: What is your favorite toy or Matchbox design you’ve done so far?  

Tyler Charest: I've done a ton of phenomenal projects, hard to rank them, but if I if I were to pick one that stands out as one of my favorites, it's kind of unexpected. It is a character car that I did under the Hot Wheels flag, for a Toy Story character named Forky, and it is a ridiculous and phenomenal piece of Pixar culture that's come to life in this really funny way. It's very on the nose, but, I'll throw that out there as one of my favorites. 

Frank Bisciotti: Beyond the SEMA show floor, what do you envision for this Jeep? Were you excited to hear this is headed to Barrett-Jackson now to be auctioned off for charity? 

 Tyler Charest: I was hoping that we were going to go to Moab with it, but I am really grateful to be a part of a project that is going to donation, through the Gas Monkey Foundation. And it's supporting first responders and the research for Alzheimer's. That feels really important. And so I'm taking a step back from my selfish desire to take this thing off road and really feel grateful to be a part of a project that's going to serve a great cause. 

Frank Bisciotti: What advice would you give to aspiring off-road builders or toy car enthusiasts who dream of building their own custom Jeep Wranglers and off-road vehicles? 

Tyler Charest: I'm reminded, after having a one-year-old, that time goes by quickly and that we shouldn't wait to do the thing that we want to do, whether it's building a Jeep, going off-road, whatever it might be. Find your community today and start doing something about it. 

Frank Bisciotti: What do you hope attendees at SEMA 2025 take away when they see this RealTruck and Matchbox collaboration come to life? 

Tyler Charest: When people go to SEMA and see this Matchbox car turned RealTruck, no pun intended. I hope that they feel the sense of creative inspiration that led to it in a way that inspires them to do, then take that next step in their off-road journey, or in their adventure journey. 

Frank Bisciotti: What does adventure mean to you? 

Tyler Charest: To me, adventure means going into the unknown. It means not being ready, but being prepared to adapt and adjust to whatever scenario comes our way. 

This collaboration between RealTruck and Mattel/Matchbox is a powerful reminder that the passion for four-wheel adventure starts early, often with a toy car in hand. Tyler Charest's vision, brought to life by the skill of Doetsch Off-Road, proves that the scale of a dream—whether it fits in your pocket or rolls on 37-inch tires—is irrelevant. We thank Tyler for sharing the story behind this epic SEMA build, and we look forward to seeing where the Matchbox Jeep Wrangler JLU inspires the next generation of builders. Be sure to follow RealTruck and Matchbox for updates as this vehicle heads to Barrett-Jackson for auction to benefit a great cause.