Auto collectibles and paraphernalia...

fintail

These are meant more as old toys than scale models, sentimental objects. Still...I have a hard time at the $100 level, not to mention 10 or 50 times that.

Mr_Shiftright

I prefer to collect things that are well-made, so that even a rookie who has no knowledge would recognize it as worth keeping and protecting...for instance, just about everybody would recognize that a beautifully made ship model is not something you'd accidentally throw out.

stever

The next generations won't have the nostalgia

I've read quite a few stories about boomers bemoaning the fact that their kids have no interest in their pencil collection or their cigar band collection. And no museum wants that stuff either. Maybe Ripley's.

Old toys probably will do okay though since they are just fun to look at, unlike, say, old lottery tickets.

fintail

That's true, the charm of old toys will help. But there will be a peak for boomer era stuff then decline or at best stagnantion, as has happened with many 30s era toys. Right now some 80s toys are on the way up, being the last decade before collectors started hoarding new in box items.

I think things like cigar bands and carnival glass and the like have been on the way down for some time - the generations who collected those have been dying off for decades. Toys should perform better than mass produced glassware. Things like hummels and mass market art pottery are also way off.

fintail

For a lot of collectors though, it depends on who made it and where. If I am a great model builder but unknown, I'll have a small market. Labels add a lot.

Most common late 50s/early 60s British diecast averages between $50-100 apiece. Not a fortune, but not a pittance...and I think some of the value is in the quality, for the time these were remarkably well done castings.

stever

Sometimes I think the best way to handle this stuff is to buy something you like, live with it for a year and take some photos. Then sell it and buy something else.

When it's time to downsize you'll have a nice set of jpgs to jog your memory of some of the fun things that you enjoyed without having to park a dumpster in front of your house for a week to unload all the junk. I'm really, really going to try to do that on my next move.

At least Matchbox toys are small.

lemmer

Sometimes I think the best way to handle this stuff is to buy something you like, live with it for a year and take some photos. Then sell it and buy something else.


That is what I do with my real cars.

fintail

The only good thing about moving - the purge. Even better if you can end up in the black with your purchases.

fintail

Recently bought another car, one I had wanted for some time - Matchbox version of the 1960 Pontiac convertible, I guess this is supposed to be a Bonneville. This model was introduced early in 1962, and this purple version is among the first made, this color existing for only a short time. This is a sought-after model, mint boxed purple ones usually bring $150-250 on ebay, sometimes a bit more (I paid a bit less, but not a yard sale price). One with grey wheels would be worth maybe $6-800. It's a pretty little car.

stever

"Prices range from around $85 for a small garage to $2,200 for a large and elaborate diorama"

A special scale-model home for a special car (Detroit News)

fintail

Ebay auction to watch...should easily hit 4 figures.

And I took a few pics of the Japanese made lemkomobile I found last year. It's a nice little model:

texases

Or, for $150, you can buy an empty box!?!

fintail

I've seen empty boxes bring over $100 numerous times. Often an empty box will bring as much as a box and model. Supply and demand - lots of loose mint cars out there, lots of collectors who want boxes for those cars, few empty boxes. It's a weird market, and doesn't seem to have been killed by the recent economy.

boomchek

Wow, it's over $1000 now. :surprise:

lemko

Nice model and the box art is nice too! I imagine this model is scarce.

uplanderguy

Nice little car! I always thought the square headlights made those '75 and '76 Caddys much sharper than the '73 and '74 models. The Chevy dealer in my hometown also sold Caddy, but they were few and far between. I used to pick up the smaller brochures for Caddy there, and if feeling sneaky, I'd reach into the one salesman's office where the big 'prestige' catalogs, with the tissue paper inside the front cover, were kept!

fintail

I've seen some experts speculate it could bring 3-4K or maybe more. Crazy.

fintail

It's not easy to find in that color, but shouldn't be more than $50 for a mint one.

The key on my example is those whitewall tires, which are not standard issue. Apparently they are a custom feature or some kind of unknown special edition.

Mr_Shiftright

The Supply and Demand equation at work---bingo!

fintail

And the toy Dodge truck brought as much or more than a nice real one

lemko

Wow! My cousin had that Dodge wrecker back in the day. Who would think it would be worth that much?

uplanderguy

I like the looks of that era ('61-71) Dodge truck. I don't recall that particular Matchbox, though.

Anybody remember "Lassie" on TV? That era Dodge truck was used throughout. I always remember asking my Dad why it looked like the wheels were going backwards when the truck was moving forwards!

fintail

Your cousin probably didn't have one with a green cab like that. That's why it is so expensive, rare.

I remember a Dodge Sweptside on Lassie (the show ran continuously on Nickelodeon in the 80s). Also Fords. And the old man who had a Model T that ran on railroad tracks, I wanted that when I was a little kid!

lemko

I see. I had to go back to see the difference. He probably had the yellow cab with the green body that's only worth around $16 per the other wreckers offered.

fintail

The normal wrecker is extremely common. I guess that makes the rare one even more special.

boomchek

Wow that's crazy money for a toy.

fintail

Here's a cute little piece I found lately. Visited a local collector who is clearing out a massive model railroader estate. Bought a couple Matchbox out of the lot, and examined piles of neat vintage plastic buildings - I would have taken a lot of them off his hands, but I just don't have the room nor the real interest. However, he gave me this 60s vintage HO scale service station, no doubt of West German origin. Perfect for some of my HO scale fintails:

lemko

Check this out - a lithographed tin Mercedes with a miniature Telefunken radio!

lemko

This "remote control" fintail appears to match the color of your ride!

fintail

I have a tin fintail like the one with the radio, made by Bandai in the early 60s.

The remote control model is by GAMA (German), I believe. That one looks like my color, indeed. Nice.

Dinky made a fintail in something close to my color, too: