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Topic starter
15/03/2016 2:37 pm
As I've been reading posts for a few odd days there has been a lot of talk about paint rash and diecast rot. Sitting thinking about it, it makes me wonder if the manufacturers didn't particularly care about these future problems when making the cars. Like anything else we buy in our lives nothing is made to last forever. Wash machines, dryers, refrigerators, cars, trucks etc. The list goes on forever. Autos and trucks especially rot out over a period of time. If they were made to last.... No one would be in the market to replace them. I'm thinking the same goes for our toys. The market is there so make them to last for a certain period of time and then we will in our desire to have them, turn around and replace the bad ones. Of course with the mints out of the market now it's a mute point.
Topic starter
15/03/2016 2:38 pm
Of course now replacing them with new stuff costs an arm and a leg more.
15/03/2016 3:01 pm
Tom, you bring up a point that I brought up a few weeks back. Of course we don't like to think that the mints knew of potential rash and rot issues. But even if they did, the attitude could well have been that the cars are going to last a decade or two before any real serious problems start emerging.
Most businesses aren't able to make and produce products that are going to out live their buyers, and as you said, nothing in the world is forever.
Now that the mints are out of the 1:24 die-cast business (for the most part), we are now seeing the evidence of that 10 to 20 year life span of our models.
Some will outlast others, but at this point in time I won't be surprised if we continue to see paint rash and even worse rot cancer show up sooner now than later.
Thing to do is enjoy the fun times we've all had with our little cars and realize that if their slow decay is the worst of our problems in life, we are doing good.
Not saying we (I know I) won't be disappointed with each new rash or rot we come across on them, but it now seems a little easier (at least for me) to accept now that we (I) know it's possible.
And at the end of the day, I look forward to the next days sunrise. 
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota
15/03/2016 5:31 pm
I've been inspecting some of my 140 cars. my black 68 and 59
El Caminos are still perfect. My "first 5" which I've had 20 plus years are a perfect FM 55 red and white Bel Air, a DM 53 Chevy pickup with a small patch of rash on the hood. My 49 FM Ford woody has a very small spot of rash on the roof as does my red 40 Ford coupe. My green and white 55 Pontiac is perfect.
So what are some of you using to buff them out?
I do use makeup brushes to carefully dust them off.
David Vandermeer
Corinth, Texas