The founding, growth and success of Spoiler Diecast has almost been told before. A side business started by two friends has its humble origins in a basement. What begins as a “side hustle” over a shared interest quickly grows into a successful business through passion and dedication. The figurative word spreads, and traditional full-time jobs are quit to keep up with an explosion in demand. The business moves into a larger location, starts a more customer-facing approach and growth continues unabated.
Though Spoiler Diecast’s trajectory and prosperity follows a similar path to other successful business, there is no discounting how impressive the Fort Wayne, Indiana, company has established its market share and reputation in just four years.
‘A little side hustle experiment’
Spoiler Diecast was founded by Evan Dove and what was then his younger brother’s friend, Tyler Christlieb. Dove jokes the business is a “one-and-a-half-man operation,” with Christlieb handling most day-to-day duties while Dove puts in late hours after working as the part-owner of his family’s furniture and appliance store.
With his business acumen, Dove said he saw a chance to break into the diecast retail sales in 2021 as a “little side hustle experiment.” Dove said he has always been a racing fan, and though he stopped collecting diecasts in high school, he would still talk to Christlieb about them as both were avid NASCAR fans. One day, Christlieb sent Dove an eBay link to a diecast. Dove said he began feeling nostalgic for his collecting days in his youth. With his interest in diecasts re-stoked, he saw an opportunity.
“I noticed there weren’t a lot of retailers,” he said. “Basically, there was a void in the market. Through some dumb luck, blind emails and making connections, we started (Spoiler Diecast) out of a basement. It was just a random hobby experiment.”
Spoiler Diecast began online sales in 2021 with that basement still serving as headquarters. As the company expanded its digital footprint with its website and Amazon, Target, and eBay sales, it increased its physical footprint by moving into a 1,500-square-foot airplane hangar in Fort Wayne.
The business’ growth continued, fueled in part by the positive experiences of its customers.
“Word of mouth means everything to us, we’re thrilled and honored by that,” Dove said. “It’s such a tight-knit circle, it’s kind of like one big family. We saw people mentioning diecast retailers on Twitter, and it just tickled us to see our name with all the other big names out there.”
Another expansion was in order.
In October 2023, Spoiler Diecast signed a lease on a flex space at 6106 Highview Drive in Fort Wayne, featuring warehousing — to keep up with the company’s increasing sales — and a retail space. In March 2024, Spoiler’s brick-and-mortar sales began.
“It’s been fun to have that, it’s kind of a flash from the past,” Dove said. “There’s nothing like it close. Fort Wayne used to have a brick-and-mortar diecast retailer, but it closed in the early 2010s, so it’s been over a decade since northeast Indiana has offered people somewhere to go and purchase in person. It’s been nice to bring that back to the community. Not a lot of businesses are looking to invest in our space right now, and we are having a lot of fun doing it.”
As Spoiler Diecast fortified itself as a leading retailer, the needs of the business surpassed what could be accomplished by moonlighting. It became a full-time, daily operation.
The day-to-day of diecast sales
Dove credits Christlieb with fulfilling the daily needs of Spoiler Diecast, and for taking a significant risk on the business.
“[Tyler is] the man behind the scenes, and he’s great for us,” Dove said. “It was really a leap of faith. He was working in the insurance industry and quite his full-time job in 2023. He’s really been such a big part of it. I wouldn’t have the time or manpower to do this without him.”
Christlieb’s responsibilities include fulfilling orders each day, anywhere from dozens to hundreds of items. He also manages the warehouse and the pre-order diecast shipments as they arrive.
“Our inventory does fluctuate based off the order we have coming in,” Dove said. “Everything is container-based, so sometimes 20 cubes show up at once, then we get nothing for a few weeks.”
Christlieb also operates the storefront from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., processing online orders and more.
Meanwhile, Dove manages pre-orders, vendor relations, works with the company’s sponsors and its B2B partners, and manages buying and inventory. This includes building relationships with vendors, including Lionel, IXO for IndyCar diecast, Checkered Flag for apparel, and more.
“There are no huge challenges, we’re just spread thin,” Dove said. “It’s one-and-a-half guys operating it, so we are wearing different hats every day and juggling a lot of things at once. No day looks the same.”
Spoiler Diecast’s points of pride
One aspect that has particularly pleased Dove and Christlieb about Spoiler Diecast is its part in helping to celebrate NASCAR. At least on one occasion, the lifting of the sport can be done with a tongue-in-cheek approach. Spoiler Diecast partnered with NASCAR driver/commentator Parker Kligerman after his win in the 2025 season-opening race at Daytona was nullified due to a post-race penalty. The shirt, bearing artwork of Kligerman’s winning truck, his celebration and “height sticks,” is adorned with the words, “DAYTONA WINNER*” with text below reading, “*FOR 45 MIN,” a play on the fact Kligerman was disqualified 45 minutes after taking the checkered flag.
With the success of Spoiler Diecast has come the added benefit of the company’s ability to further deliver on what Dove considers to be its specialties. For instance, Dove said Spoiler prides itself on offering same-day or next-day shipping whenever possible.
Another focus is to always have plenty of diecast in stock.
“What we kind of wanted to be was the place that had it in stock,” Dove said. “We are not afraid to get something produced and to worry about selling it after the fact.”
This tenant was underscored when Dove learned Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Daytona 500 Raced Win 1/64-scale diecast might not be produced.
“We learned the 1/64-scale was on DNP status, and what a shame it would be if we can’t have a fricking Daytona 500-winning car produced,” Dove said.
So, Spoiler Diecast stepped up, increased its order, and pushed the car over the minimum order quantity (MOQ) to have it produced.
“We are racing fans and collectors, and that kind of thing makes a better racing community for everybody,” Dove said. “It’s a shame when you look back 20 years ago and see what the production numbers were and what the collector hobby was. I would love to be a part of getting that back to even a fraction of that. That would be amazing.”
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