A former war veteran and car enthusiast is creating quite the buzz on TikTok thanks to his remarkable Hot Wheels collection.
Port Kennedy man Ben Dawson, known online as ‘Boy Racer Ben’, is TikTok’s latest star, sharing his hobby of collecting toy Hot Wheels cars with his 967,400 followers.
Mr Dawson’s impressive $10,000 collection has helped him become TikTok’s fastest growing Hot Wheels creator.
He is also enjoying fame on YouTube, racking up 100,000 followers in August.
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In 2022, the ex-serviceman turned FIFO worker started collecting the toy cars as a way to bond with his son Willoughby.
“I started collecting after setting up a Hot Wheels track for my then two-year-old son and seeing him jump around with excitement watching the Hot Wheels race around the track,” Mr Dawson said.
After watching a few Hot Wheels videos on YouTube, he started collecting and has not looked back.
“I decided to start collecting Hot Wheels and ordered a racing track for my son’s birthday, which was probably just as much for me as it was for him,” he said.
“I’ve always been a car guy so I think if you’re into cars, you also tend to have an appreciation for model cars too, although I didn’t realise this until we had our son, so I’d say this would have never started without him.”
It was not overnight success for Mr Dawson as he worked through the kinks to create his very first TikTok video, but he said his passion for creating had been the driving force behind his success on the social media platform.
“The quality of my first videos were pretty average, however it didn’t take long for my passion in making videos and the fun I was having to show through in my videos,” he said.
Within a week, he saw his TikTok following grow from 30,000 to 150,000, with one of his more popular videos gaining 35 million views.
Since then, Mr Dawson has been inspired to recreate some iconic scenes from one of his favourite films, The Fast and the Furious.
The TikTok star’s life now is a far cry from his early 20s, where he spent five years serving in the military, including deployments to East Timor and Afghanistan.
Mr Dawson said the transition to civilian life was difficult but moving to Perth and meeting his wife had helped him move forward.
“As many veterans do, I also struggled regulating and adjusting back to normal life,” he said.
“I feel I have come out stronger and view my experiences as positive and I’m more appreciative for my life now, which is not always the case for many veterans as it’s a different story for the majority of my veteran friends,” he said.
Mr Dawson said his videos reminded him “not to take life too seriously and enjoy the little things”.
“Starting my social media accounts and creating videos, it has had an enormous positive effect on my metal health, especially since having our first child; it is important to have some time and a hobby for yourself,” he said.
“Being a FIFO worker, I’m lucky enough to work a week on, week off roster, which is great, although I still find the week away from my family hard and like to make sure I spend as much quality time together with my son.”
“Collecting Hot Wheels has been an awesome way to bond with my son as I have a small studio set up in my shed and it’s like a young boy’s dream where we spend many hours.
“I hope as he get older he can help me create videos and it’s something we can do together and continue to bond over.”
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