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13/02/2021 3:47 pm
I began collecting diecast cars in the early 1980s. I remember falling in love with the Burago Testarossa, which was my very first diecast model. The large 1:18 scale with opening doors, hood, and trunk was awe-inspiring for me. Those features weren't widely available in the plastic models I had before I saw my first diecast. I thought those features were just too cool!!! Then I began collecting more. Diecasts were sold everywhere. There were kiosks at malls and hobby shops all over town. I remember when the Sharper Image sold Danbury and Franklin Mint models. In their glass display cases, the model cars looked like jewelry to me. So I bought 'em!
At one point, I was buying diecast just to buy them. I bought a lot of really cheap, poorly made models. There was minimal direction or long-term planning for my collection. I didn't even have a method to display and protect them from dust.
Now, with many years of collecting under my belt, if I knew then what I know now, I would have taken a very different direction. I would NOT purchase the many low-cost models. Instead, I would have concentrated on the high-quality models purchasing higher-end models of Exoto, CMC, Kyosho, BBR, GMP, and Danbury Mint. There are still some low-cost models I would purchase because some really display well. Maisto has several examples, but so did other makers as well. I also would have given more planning to how I would display them because I later learned that was a critical consideration that I didn't think of when I first started collecting diecast models.
13/02/2021 5:14 pm
I have a boatload of Bburagos in 1/18 and 1/24. Most are kitbuilds. I have Lambos, Ferraris and Porsche. But the ones I enjoy the most still are the prewar Alfas, Mercedes, Jags and Bugattis.
13/02/2021 7:27 pm
You know if I had it to do all over again I might still be sitting here with the collection I have - the difference would be all of the models - easily over 100 - that I bought and either sold or ended up trashing for parts. I would have been a bit smarter in my buying. Also if I knew then what I know now I would have bought a lot more 'after market' parts and wheels.
One thing is for sure - I'd still have all of these Cobras
13/02/2021 9:50 pm
I think I would have taken the same path as Marty. I bought a lot of models just for the sake of buying something I didn't already have. I might also have held on to most of them for a shorter time. Now, once the joy of ownership is gone, I am learning to sell them while I can.
John Kuvakas
Warrenton, VA
Marty Johnson and Marty Johnson reacted
14/02/2021 12:45 pm
I wouldn't change a thing from the past. Today I am paying the price for not being more selective but who was to know that this would turn into the addiction it has become. I no longer have the space to add 1/24 an 1/18 scale so if something comes along in those scales it becomes an either or...and the selection process is much more stringent. 1/43 and 1/64 display space is getting tight but I can still squeeze one more in at this time.
14/02/2021 1:06 pm
My collection is primarily 1:24 with a about a dozen in 1:18. I would have more of the latter if not for display space limitations. I also wish now that I'd collected in 1:43. There are some gr8 models in that scale but I just can afford them now.
14/02/2021 7:08 pm
Between the age of 8 and 20 years old back in the 1960's, I collected 1:25 scale plastic models. Some I put together and some were promotional dealer models and friction models. They were relatively cheap (around $2.00 each) at the time, but expensive in the sense that most were bought with my paper route money and an evening job while still in school. I didn't have a huge collection by any definition, as I only had about 61 models.
They were all on a home-made built shelf attached to my bedroom wall and remained their until February 17, 1971 when our house caught fire and all my cars were melted in to the wall. The smell of the burnt plastic, along with the over forty 45rpm records that I also had on the wall was the worst thing I'd ever smelled. Naturally in my simple world of limited earthly possessions and the cars and the records being everything I owned of value, I felt (at the time) that I'd lost everything.
I got over it, met a cute girl that year that I was all gaga over and certainly my priorities were changing fast. In late 1972 we were together all the time, got engaged in May 1973 and married in January 1974. We're still married and on this Valentine's Day still in love.
NOW BACK TO MODEL CAR COLLECTING...
While reading the Sunday newspaper supplement "Parade" magazine, and there it was! Something that I hadn't seen before. From a company called Danbury Mint was this beautiful blue 1957 CHEVROLET BEL AIR CONVERTIBLE in something called "Diecast" and in 1:24 scale precision. I honestly had no idea what Diecast was, and I was in total shock at the price of over $100. I told my wife I just had to check this out. I had no idea at all that there were many other cars of this nature already out from Danbury Mint and company called Franklin Mint.
I ordered the car, got the car, and was immediately addicted. However, I was (I believe) wise enough to set collecting guide-lines, as I would only buy 1:24 scale for model years 1940 to 1970, and American cars only. Settling on these model years allowed me to purchase the cars that were on the road when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s.
Would I do anything different? No! My only regret is that I didn't discover the Diecast cars sooner than I did. I only went outside my '40 to '70 self set guideline 4 times, and those seemed like "Must Have" cars. Eventually too, I discovered some 1:24's from other mints and up until 2014 I was excited for every car I bought.
I did also plan ahead so that I could display them, as there was no way I was going to buy the cars and keep them in their boxes stored in a closet. I continually purchased plastic display cases for each car and eventually my brother-in-law built me wood shelves to display the cars.
THE PHOTOS BELOW ARE FROM JANUARY 2018. I'VE ADDED 49 CARS SINCE THEN.
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota
14/02/2021 10:04 pm
My goal was too high and when I realized it I sold/gave away 193 cars that were replaced by better quality/detail or just not a car I liked that I collected to try to achieve my goal, which of course I gave up on. No goals since I down sized just what I like.
Marty Johnson and Marty Johnson reacted
14/02/2021 10:10 pm
My goal was too high and when I realized it I sold/gave away 193 cars that were replaced by better quality/detail or just not a car I liked that I collected to try to achieve my goal, which of course I gave up on. No goals since I down sized just what I like.
Marty Johnson and Marty Johnson reacted
15/02/2021 9:54 am
@georgeschire: Thank you.