In the first SPECIAL REPORT since 2021, Catalyst_0 sits down with Valiénté founder and owner, MXZBRO.
MXZBRO - Image Credits: Catalyst_0 (Carblox)
Interviewer: Catalyst_0, "Cat"
Interviewee: MXZBRO, "MXZ"
Interview
Cat: Thanks for coming on for this interview, MXZBRO.
MXZ: My pleasure. Cat: We're mostly going to focus on Valiente's plans and ambitions, alongside what your brand vision is. We'll touch on how things are going right now and conclude with looking how you've grown since Rovero's debut in 2021. MXZ: Awesome! Cat: Any questions before we begin?
MXZ: I can’t think of any, should be alright!
Cat: Great! Starting off here, what is Valiénté exactly? I know it's a really basic question, but it's something that one could say, is good to begin with.
MXZ: Well Valiénté is just hard to explain what it truly is just yet because it hasn’t passed the first year since it’s conception, but I should start with saying it will be a successor to Rovero and accomplish milestones I couldn’t accomplish in Rovero, but to what exactly this brand is at the moment, who knows yet.
Cat: How does this affect running it with 20JQZ? For example, would it mean you take more care with decisions if you end up walking them back?
MXZ: To answer the first one, it’s basically been a lot more immersive with 20JQZ, or poss as he likes to go by mainly, he’s taken really good care of the design and making sure to interpret every characteristic of the car from sharp edge to elegant curves. To answer the second question, yes I would take more care of the decisions I make, If I had to go back to when Rovero was still in it’s prime, I would’ve decided against revealing the bravado very early on because re-revealing it was a mess all over the place, timing of reveal to release was very bad and as you could see, it never released.
I will make sure nothing gets second guessed on my end!
Cat: That's great! Taking care of those things must be really important to making sure Valiente doesn't fall victim to the same fate that claimed Rovero over the course of yesteryear.
MXZ: Exactly.
Cat: So, is there a predetermined future plan for Valiente, aside of course, successfully releasing the Ocelot? If not, is there anything you'd want to try in the future?
MXZ: We have a good lineup planned across the board, but executing these plans will probably not be done until we are sure the ocelot is finished and ready for release. Some things I’d like to try is again, appealing to both collectors/enthusiasts and economic markets, from maybe making very lucrative and luxurious vehicles for enthusiasts and collectors, and more fair priced economically based vehicles for the every day working class citizens! We want to appeal to nearly all markets in the automotive sector but we may have some interesting things that might appeal to more privatized markets. Just wait and see I guess!
Cat: How does APEXGROUP fall into this plan, both now and later down the line. Recently, you confirmed the brand has joined the automotive group, and I'd like to steer a little off trail to understand it.
Valiénté Ocelot Front - Image Credits: MXZBRO (Valiénté, APEXGROUP)
MXZ: Well we’d be getting exciting additions to future Valiénté vehicles we might’ve not had if we stayed separated, example:
Chassis tuning and beautifully engineered engines
Exciting immersive driver/passenger infotainment experiences within the cars interior.
There’s also some more exciting news coming later this year that most people might actually love to hear, I won’t go into detail yet but just have high expectations! There are some things about being part of APEXGROUP that I’m not allowed to share just yet that will help the brand a lot, but that information will be shared upon release of the Ocelot!
Cat: That sounds absolutely exciting, and I can't wait to see what you have in store. Speaking on the Ocelot, what was development like? Making one of the most anticipated, high quality automobiles we're seeing must have had some challenges in store, no?
MXZ: Actually, it was smoother than one would think, getting the right modeler was a slight challenge but Poss (20JQZ) was an amazing choice and he was absolutely ready to work on it when I first presented him with the plans. The lead up to the reveal was a bit odd to say the least, a good amount of waiting to get the perfect pictures for this and actually having the ocelot be presentable, but from the start to reveal, it was smooth. No major issues got in the way of our development process. Except for the occasional IRL issues we had that might’ve given us a slight hiccup, but we persevered! Cat: What was your greatest concern going into this with Poss?
MXZ: I was concerned he would’ve backed out at the idea of making Roblox cars since many people see it as a child’s game, but he was actually super interested in the ro-automotive industry, I was surprised but glad he didn’t back out on the idea!
Cat: Roblox cars, despite their mainstream-seeming popularity, are really much more niche than they look, aren't they?
MXZ: Honestly, they are, most should be more than Roblox cars and should find a place in the real world.
Cat: Yeah. Anyway, let's move into the final area of this excellent interview: now versus then. We've touched a little on what has changed with how you approached Valiente comparative to how you approached Rovero, but let's dive in head first into it. Starting right off with this: What do you think of Rovero know that you've worked on Valiente? MXZ: Oh Rovero was a crapshoot, the team I worked with wasn’t bad, it was me who couldn’t execute any plans coherently enough and everything turned into someone else having a different idea of one single plan! Now with Valiénté It’s not as confusing to work on cars, and we’re slowing down a bit to not overload ourselves with multiple vehicles at once like Rovero was doing and we could actually be more public about our ideas than we would’ve if we stayed in a secretive state as Rovero was.
Sorry if I’m blunt with my answers but I’m trying to word this out in a way where I don’t seem like I’m burning my past crew/team, everyone who helped me with Rovero was amazing but the brand was just a jigsaw puzzles with many missing pieces, Valiénté will make sure to not exceed and overdo any plans as Rovero did!
Rovero Bravado - Image Credits: Rovero
Cat: I totally get where you're coming from. Despite the issues that led to Rovero's eventual closure, is there anything that you felt Rovero did well that you think you'd want to repeat or replicate?
MXZ: I want Valiénté to give off that exciting feeling whenever someone hears about the brand in the Ro-Automotive industry. Something to look forward to for many!
Cat: Rovero really did that well, didn't it. 300 horsepower Bravado coverage flashbacks for me, eh?
MXZ: Ah yes, my crazy ambitions to have a front engined car do 300mph haha. I had ambition though, that’s what I haven’t gotten rid of!
Cat: Never do, never do. Let's wrap this up with my final question for you: If there was anything, anything at all, that you now would tell yourself back when Rovero was starting up 2-3 years ago, what would it be?
MXZ: “Try calling it something else other than Rovero, it makes no sense man!” Haha.
Cat: Ha!
MXZ: To be fair, it really didn’t make sense, but yeah that’s all I would really say to myself.
Cat: I feel you, really. Overall, thank you for having me. MXZ: Thanks for interviewing me with these awesome questions! I hope I was able to satisfy your expectations, just like I hope Valiénté will satisfy everyone’s expectations! Cat: I'm sure Valiénté will be great! MXZ: I hope so!
Valiénté Ocelot Rear - Image Credits: MXZBRO (Valiénté, APEXGROUP)
Outro
Thanks to MXZBRO for having us on to talk about Valiénté, the team he's assembled for it, and his past experiences with Rovero.
For all things Valiénté, APEXGROUP, and performance automobiles, Carblox has you covered.
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