[Closed] After reviewing the excellent coverage of the Countryside show...

That's hard - any ideas? We did give away a few 1/43s to the younger set that showed up!

Younger members

Here in Ireland most collectors are 50 60+ ,model car collecting has failed to attract new followers ,have the millennials played with toys , not really most grew up with ,Gameboy and XBox ,far from you cars ,yes we have various resin ranges ,the models are expensive are aimed at the collector market , and produced in v small numbers , it would appear the manufacturers recognise the situation and are catering for it ,realising that the battle to win new customers has been lost to the cyber society we live in.

I tend to agree with Fitzgerald. Perhaps our 1:43 scale models will in a few decades be where today we find baseball cards or even the cards that were packed with cigarettes. But please note that there are still some collectors of those items, and there remains a market for their holdings. Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in cast iron toys, with transportation items being most popular. I'm probably one of the older collectors on the forum, and I may be buying fewer 1:43 models now, but I still enjoy them. IMHO, that's what it's all about.

It seems to me that most of the younger model enthusiasts I see at shows are second generation model collectors, or at least second generation vintage car lovers. I don't get a sense that many younger people are developing such an interest. I will qualify that however by mentioning that the newer cars (compared to what we are generally interested in) do attract a reasonable amount of interest from the next generation. As we know, the car hobby in any scale is mostly based on nostalgia. Maybe there is a better way to more vigorously promote our shows??? Perhaps we should use the example of the fading interest in 1920-30s cars and the increasing interest in 70s-80s cars due to generational demographics and apply that to marketing our hobby in order to maintain a healthy core of enthusiasts. There are more models of later cars being released in recent years, so perhaps that is the start of such a development. Food for thought.....

I say the subjects should follow the 1:1 collector and auction market i.e 60s and 70s,

I know I've pushing for those decades here on the Forum, but aside from personal interest that's where the most action seems to happen in televised auctions I follow. Many are muscle cars and tony exotics, but many are clean examples of street cars.

There seem to be plenty of car crazies out there in the 50-70 age group with disposable income. We just need to rope them in!

Judging from prices realized on the Vectis auction website, there' still a heckuva interest in old Dinky Toys, if they are mint boxed. Even partworks which are almost exactly like the old Dinkies do appear to have dampened values much.

My daughter has a small collection. And....

...I got her boyfriend a Spark BMW GTR model for his birthday that he really liked. Gotta rope 'em in!

In the US, there is still a larger interest in Matchbox and Hot Wheels, so much in fact that...

... they out-number all 1/43 on hobbyDB.com by a lot and have several large conventions every year in the US.

Yes Harv and that interest lies with older chaps like you and me.

There are loads of modern and ‘70s/’80s model cars available …..

Minichamps, Vanguards, Oxford Diecast,, Norev, Kyosho, Top Gear etc?. Most of these are made in traditional materials - die cast zinc alloy.

Chris

And there would be in the UK Karl if one could find Hot Wheels and …..

particularly Matchbox. Amazingly this year is the 50th Anniversary of the Matchbox Superfast range and the specials were only available in the USA!

The only place in the UK you find them is in a supermarket and the range is limited.

Chris

Fitzgerald, I have started a mobile phone collection. The one I don’t use ….

is stuffed in a drawer.

Chris

JDM

The younger enthusiasts do buy models...of Japanese cars!

Mattel has seen their old school hot rods, customs, and Corvettes supplanted by Nissans and Hondas and Subarus. Those are the cars that disappear from the pegs first these days.

With luck, the younger folks snapping up those Hot Wheels and Tomicas will continue to collect and will move up to quality 1/43rd models.

1/43rd producers like Eidolon and Ignition Models do rather well already catering to their tastes.

But those kids will never care a whit about our Packards and '57 Chevys or Triumphs and MGs.

Datsun 510s, Honda Civics, Acura NSXs, and Nissan Skylines are what they love.

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