With the exception of the forum, is anyone around you (family or friends) also interested in 1:43 and is collector?

No. No one cares, and several friends don't understand it at all.

Posted by: @lloyd-mecca

No. No one cares, and several friends don't understand it at all.

Same here. The only people I can share with are the folks here. 

Gotta agree… there’s a face they make when I start talking about the hobby. I try to keep it short so they don’t end up blurting out, “Oh, so you collect Hot Wheels?” (cringe)

No.  And even my family thinks I'm crazy.  Who cares?  I enjoy it and that's all that matters.

Know one cares that I know. Like others stated, strange looks, and if I had mentioned to someone the price of a model like Motor City or a new Brooklin they absolutely think I'm NUTS! I have to admit that when I think of how much I have spent on this hobby and what the potential return will be when my models are liquidated, I think they might be right. I don't want to think about it! With my other hobbies and things I collect that I enjoy, I'm not in the habit of not coming out at least even monetarily when it's time to move on. Oh well, Que Sare Sare.

I'm pretty much in agreement.  However, I belong to a small toy club, with an emphasis on antique wheeled toys, that I sometimes sneak a 1/43 in for our "show and tell" segment.  A couple of the members are interested in Lionel, and they show some knowledge of our scale (which is just a tad too large, I'm told).  Since I sometimes sneak an antique something or the other from my "old toys" collection into this august 1/43 forum, you may understand their feelings.  This group, advancing together into our senior years, has been meeting monthly for about thirty years.  They are my "others."  

PS- They also give me a hard time about my old soldiers, too.

Yes, I have five fairly close friends who collect 1/43 models. All live within 20 miles of me. Three are also Formula 1 and Le Mans followers. In addition, there are a few clubs here in Ontario, Canada where we share collector information. 1/43 is most popular here with 1/64 still around but fading somewhat. 1/24 has vanished and not much 1/18 any more.

Also, not much interest here in Nascar and rods, model wise. Aircraft models are still popular here also.

i'm surprised that so many of you seem to live in 1/43 deserts.

I'm in east Tennessee - wanna guess the answer? I'm envious of David Green and the other UK folks with all their swapmeets, live auctions, and clubs.

Yep, 1/43 desert here as well in Indianapolis.  All of my collector buddies are in this forum and one or two on Facebook groups.  I guess Randy Rusk lives a few towns north of here, so he is the only 'local collector' I know.  No local clubs or meet-ups at all...

I've quite a few1/43s collected over the past 25yrs but nowhere as many as most collectors here. I've liked 1/18. The 43rds I have are because I've admired the 1:1 and therefore the model. I'd like to sell them when auctions return.

I belong to the Coventry Diecast Model Club and members have stayed in contact through monthly Zoom meetings during the pandemic. Prior to this we met face to face at the Midland Air Museum. Members collect a variety of scales and subjects not just 1:43rd.

Some members also contribute to MAR Online.

Toy fairs (Swop meets) will be on stream later this month in the UK and it will be great to visit one of these again and catching up with traders I used to deal with.

A friend also collects toy cars and we used to meet each other at a local toy fair.

When Grand Prix Models had their open day on the first Saturday of the month it was great fun going there and I would meet up with regulars and we would chat about collecting. Hoping these will start again very soon.

Chris

@karl But if you move to Asheville, you, me, and David H. will be "relatively" close. Plus Don Anderson, who lives in Jonesborough, less than 2 hours away. We could all meet near Gatlinburg!

Short answer: no. Longer answer -  My interests span 1/43 models, Lionel train layouts and vintage HO scale slot cars. I know (or know of) plenty of folks that are involved in the trains and the slot cars but nobody that’s into 1/43 models.  And I know people who don’t understand ANY of those interests (to which  I say, it’s a big world - how dull if we all had the same hobbies). Since discovering Goldvargs two years ago and this forum a few months after that, my hobby time and money has been heavily weighted towards 1/43 models and I’ve learned a great deal from this forum and I thank everyone that has actively contributed to make this such a valuable and enjoyable resource.

And as aside, anyone who has a problem combining 1/48 (O gauge) trains and 1/43 models is, in my humble opinion, an extreme purist - I have a relatively small Lionel O gauge train layout in my home and have probably 30 or so 1/43 models on that layout (and of course more on shelves) and no visitor in 25 years has ever made a single comment about the models looking out of scale vs the trains or the structures. 

Similar answer from the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

None of my friends or family had heard of 1/43 scale until they saw my models.  However, they enjoy seeing them.  The cars from 50s and 60s provide a basis of many stories as we talk about those times.  I have been building and collecting models of various types, since the late 1950's.  However, I did not become familiar with 1/43 scale until the late 1990's.  There was a large hobby shop in Elmhurst, IL (western suburb of Chicago), which had a display of some Brooklin models and I believe some resin 1/43 scale kits.  They looked interesting, but I was more interested in planes, trains, and 1/64 scale automobiles (to go with my trains).  I finally bought some resin models in 2013.  I did not meet a real 1/43 scale person until I attended the Countryside, IL show in March 2015.  I remember talking with Buz and someone from Automodello.  Except at an occasional car show, where I have seen Buz and Frank R, I never see other collectors.

For me, the important things are enjoying the models and talking with other collectors.

Two other things.

First, if you want to get some strange looks from people, tell them you collect S scale (1/64) model trains.

Second, tell someone you own a Mazda RX-7.  You might get questions like what is that or how many cylinders does the engine have.

Stay happy and healthy.