Toy, Model & Collectible Replica Cars

fintail

Yeah, it's not a creative name.

But I suspect more than lemko and I have an interest in miniature cars.

Anyone have any collections or toy cars they want to discuss?

Or interested in finding a toy/model of a car you own?

Or maybe interested in the marketing/product placement aspects of toy cars? For example, the upcoming 'Transformers' movie and its questionable almost exclusive GM lineup of cars, which will work their way to the toy car market.

Anything goes..

boaz47

I have been interested in Die cast cars. I used to try and get cars I have or used to drive but I could never find the specific model or color. I never bought ones as a collector but more like small art pieces. 1/24th scale is my favorite and I tend to keep them in small plastic display cases. I have kept a small collection that I just enjoy looking at. I have a 1998 Corvette convertible that is in 1/18th scale but it was a gift. It is very detailed however.

Right now I Have:

1. 1934 Ford Coupe - Blue
2. 1939 Chevrolet Coupe - Black
3. 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery -Green
4. 1948 Chevrolet Fleetline – Red
5. 1949 Ford Country estate (Woody Wagon) dark Blue
6. 1953 Chevrolet Pickup (tow truck) Black
7. 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Light Blue and White
8. 1957 Corvette Convertible – Red with white.
9. 1998 Corvette Convertible – Red – 1/18 scale
10. 2005 Mitsubishi Propane forklift – Green

When I found the forklift with working mast and forks I had to have it.

Lemko, tell me it isn't so? Tonka trucks were strong toys when my son was small. I remember the elephant commercial. Tonka and Buddy-L trucks and heavy equipment built whole cities in my back yard when my son and his friends were small.

1racefan

I have a collection of several cars that are in the 1/18th scale. I tend to prefer the muscle cars, as well as classic cars...although I have several modern cars that I have received as gifts over the years. I have 2, 10' long shelves on one of my garage walls that I covered in black/white checker board contact paper, and have my cars displayed on those shelves. I have the cars displayed out of the box, but I wipe them down, and take the air compressor to them (to dust them off) from time to time.

In addition to these, I have several model cars from various motorsports series in my living room. Some of these are valuable, so I take better care of them (save the boxes), and even display some in their original packaging.

lemko

...from a friend is a Danbury Mint 1:24 scale 1958 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. The Danbury models are extremely well-made and detailed. The quality and detail of these models seem to get better and better with each year. I don't know if they'll be worth anything someday, but I do have an extensive collection of these as well as a few from the Franklin Mint.

fintail

Yeah, that's a key...with modern ready-made collectibles, be sure to keep the boxes. A lot of these models won't appreciate over original MSRP, but some still have solid values on the secondary market. Some of the Franklin/Danbury Mint vehicles do pretty fairly on ebay. Having packaging and paperwork looks to be essential to good values.

I have my vintage small diecast on the shelves of my TV cabinet, and the rest of the cars scattered around the living room. I don't have a ton of room though, so I am pretty picky about what I go after. There are only a few Matchbox cars that I really want, and I am too cheap to buy the early Dinkys I like.

1racefan

A few years ago I was at a store and saw a Hotwheels '65 Lincoln Continental Convertible that I liked - It looked really neat...it was white, and had a nice set of wheels. I bought this, and hung it on the wall in my garage (still in the package). After buying that initial car, I noticed several other Hotwheels versions of the same car - mainly different paint scheme and wheel combinations. I have started buying each version of the Hotwheels '65 Lincoln Continental Convertible that I run across, and keep them all on the wall together.

There is really nothing special to me in particular about the '65 Lincoln Continental Convertible, it just seems that ever since that first one caught my eye, I have become addicted to buying them.

lemko

Well, I do still have all the packaging and paperwork. I wasn't thinking value when it came to saving all the packaging, rather protecting the fragile models if or when I move. You should've seen when I moved into my current place. The entire trunk of my Cadillac Brougham was filled to the rim with boxes of Danbury and Franklin Mint cars as well as others.

I just put up a shelf with two large doors in my bedroom for displaying more of my cars. It can hold at least 28. There is a cabinet with sliding glass doors and metal shelves built into the wall of my living room. I have 18 cars on display in there alone. Each car is encased in a clear plastic display box you can buy at any hobby shop. Keeping the dust off these cars is essential.

fintail

Matchbox made a decent 64-65 Continental sedan, too

1racefan

Cool -

Are most of your models Mercedes, or do you prefer anything in particular?

fintail

I am sure you are doing it right. I think I have around 100, maybe more, Matchbox sized diecast on my TV cabinet, but unfortunately after a couple months they do get dusty. So every 4-6 months I will clean them...which takes an hour or two. Here is where the Matchbox cars live I don't have room for a proper glassed in case though, so this will have to do.

rockylee

That's pretty cool fintail

Rocky

fintail

I seek out some Mercedes, especially cars I own or have owned. Fintails at the top of the list.

My main interest though is in early Matchbox, like these

http://www.geocities.com/nigelclarke3/index.html

I also like early Dinky, German made cars, and sometimes I am tempted to start looking for the Tomy diecast I liked as a kid, but I don't really have a place to put any decent sized collection. I like to keep most cars on display.

1racefan

"I like to keep most cars on display."

My wife didn't care for the way I had my cars displayed aound my previous residence before we got married - I had ALL of my models displayed in the bedroom and living room. Now that we are married and have a house, I display most of my cars in the garage (my territory) to make her happy. However, I do keep about 8 or so motorsports models in the living room on a small shelving unit. I also have a valve out of a NASCAR engine autographed by the driver displayed on that same shelving unit.

fintail

Ah yeah that makes sense. Myself, I am single and I don't have a normal garage, so I have other options.

I also have a few car parts scattered around...emblems and a grille.

fintail

Here's an oddball...my smallest toy fintail. I don't know what scale these are, like 1:160 maybe...possibly for some weirdo small train layout. I have 6 of these cars that I found at a yard sale, and I am sure they are German in origin. Here's how one stacks up against a dime, a Matchbox car, and a large tin fintail:

1racefan

To her credit, she isn't into "sit arounds", so she isn't forcing my cars into the garage in order to make room for her Precious Moments figurines or anything like that.

The coolest car thing I ever saw "allowed" by a wife, was a buddy of mine once went to the NHRA races, and somehow managed to get a used, huge rear tire (slick) off of a funny car from one of the pit guys. He took it home, hosed and scrubbed it very well, and then laid it down on its side in his bonus room and had a piece of glass cut for the top of it - made a nice coffee table. He then displayed a model of the car it came off of in the center of it.

Kirstie_H

(17 edits later, and I think we have a title that will be found by those interested in the subject...sorry!)

lemko

That tiny blue fintail looks to be N-Gauge for a model railroad. Speaking of Mercedes, I have a nice larger scale model of a black 1966 Mercedes 600 limo.

rockylee

Those are cool fintail

Rocky

british_rover

Thats pretty cool. If I did that my wife would kill me.

oregonboy

Slot cars from the late 60s & 70s can be highly collectable as evidenced by the following link. To bad that mine were all thrashed and discarded many years ago. :P

http://cgi.ebay.com/COX-1-24-SCALE-BILL-THOMAS-CHEETAH-NEW-OLD-STOCK_W0QQitemZ29- 0066779677QQihZ019QQcategoryZ2620QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

james

fintail

Yeah, I was thinking N or Z scale.

Old plastic HO scale cars are another big branch of collecting...the good ones are primarily from German firms like Wiking, Herpa, etc. I have a few HO scale cars - some 1960s cars from now-defunct EKO, and a Herpa MB W140.

Who makes the 600? I think Dinky made a good one back in the day, and maybe Solido has made one lately.

fintail

Yeah, low survival rates on those. I had an old 1/32 slot car that I didn't really care for, so I put it on ebay...brought $30 or $40 I think. Not bad for a quarter at a yard sale.

My big find was 8 nice old redline Hot Wheels in an old carrying case at a yard sale. I paid $2 for them. I don't really care for Hot Wheels, so I just cleaned them a little and put them on ebay. I sold them individually, and the lot brought something like $350 total.

Some Matchbox bring decent money

Not bad for a little toy car

The really rare stuff easily brings several grand, but isn't often on the market.

fintail

That is pretty cool. Reminds me of the furniture made from old car parts - the 57 Chevy rear end sofa, etc. I think most of that is fake though.

lemko

The 600 I have was manufactured more recently by Sun Star. I paid abourt $30 for it a few years ago.

british_rover

Me and my roommate made a coffee table out of a GM H-body deck lid for our college apartment.

Worked great since it was only 30 or 40 bucks at the junk yard and flat as can be.

fintail

Ah I see. I've kept away from most modern stuff...simply no place to put it. When I was a kid I loved the Burago cars though, and would get a free catalog from them each year. In 1995 or so I bought a Kyosho Supra, and the following year I bought a Revell 1:18 fintail...those were the last large moderns I bought. Right after I bought the W126 I bought a Minichamps 1:43 560SEL, a lovely little model.

Here's a Matchbox priced like a real car

lemko

I didn't have that particular car, but I know my cousin did when we were kids. I wonder if he still has it?

fintail

That car is worth so much because it is a rare color. The normal one is a green-gold, and is a $25 item in mint condition.

Here's a couple for you:

Tomy Seville

Tomy Fleetwood

They also made an ambulance based on the Fleetwood.

Tomy Continental

These were all sold in NA under the "Pocket Cars" brand.

lemko

OK, I guess cuz didn't have a hidden gem somewhere in his toy chest. His was the more common green-gold car. Geeze, it's amazing what some collectors will pay for something just because it's an oddball color.

I love that Fleetwood! It appears to be of the pre-downsized 1976 model. I had a 1975 Cadillac Sedan DeVille which looks very similar to the '76 model.

A member of my Cadillac club has the last Cadillac ambulance which was based on the 1979 Cadillac chassis. I believe it was built by Miller-Meteor. I have a very nice 1:18 scale model of a 1959 Cadillac Superior ambulance.

fintail

Yep, I believe that Fleetwood is one of the 75-76 models. They made it in a few colors too. I am sure you would like the ambulance as well.

I remember my brother had a poor larger scale model of a 59 Caddy ambulance...it was a toy from the old Ghostbusters cartoon lol

lemko

Ecto-1? Yeah, it's a very bizzarely proportioned version of a '59 Caddy ambulance if it's the one I'm thinking of. I've always liked those Japanese tinplate toys of American cars. The proportions and details would be way-off, but they kind of remind me of a surrealist sculptor's take on auto design.

fintail

Yep, Ecto. Hey, it was the 80s, can't expect too much from a toy aimed at 6 year olds.

Those old tinplate cars are almost works of art in their own way now, very interesting. Big bucks for some of them too...I'll have to sick to my tinplate fintail and smaller gullwing.

lemko

...an amusing detail of some tinplate cars from the 1930s and 1940s would be a picture of the driver's and passengers' faces on the windshield, profiles on the side windows, and backs of their heads on the rear window.

andys120

Most of my little cars are 1/18th or 1/24th but I did save a couple of small scale Tyco slots including a Porsche 917K w Gulf livery and a Ferrari 512S. I think they're 1/64 scale.

I wish I had some of the others I used to have (Chapparals, Porsche 908s and the like).

derrado1

A relative bought me a Christmas gift off of eBay. I'm a little irked it hasn't come yet. It's a 1:16 diecast 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado, in this beige/bronze colour. If I were starting a real car collection (and, god willing, I will some day), a '67 Toronado would be on my list, but it differs from the '66 in only a few minor ways. Anyway, I picked this out and the only alternative for me was the same car, but in black. I don't think black does the Toro justice.

fintail

I have a little German tin car like that, but it's actually from the 60s, it's a little Opel coupe.

lemko

...are the plastic dealer promos. However, most are psychotically expensive I've seen plenty of these promos available at Carlisle, but I'm unwilling to pay $300-$400 for what is essentially a nicely detailed monochrome plastic toy. Those that I can "afford" are damaged or warped - that is if you call $90-$100 affordable.

andys120

Back in the day I had some of those 1/24 (or was it 1/25th) dealer promos including (get this) a '64 Mustang notchback.

fintail

I have 2 of those - a 62 T-Bird and a 63 Galaxie convertible.

I have had a couple more over the years...I had a 49 Ford, but when I was in school and shunning such collections, I sold it! That was an odd one, it had mirrored windows. And I had a 62 Galaxie that I found at a yard sale, which had smashed windshield pillars. I sold it on ebay for $25.

odie6l

My collection is so large it would probably take me 2 days to type all the cars up onto a list to post it. Plus not to mention most of them are packed away for our move to a new house.

I have (the jest of it);
1. Every Matchbox Car set (#'s 1-75) from 1970 thru 2004
2. Almost every car & truck the Franklin Mint made from 1989 thru 1996 (I use to work for the Franklin Mint and got most cars at their employee truck sale for $3-$5 each)
3. A HUGE Nascar Texaco Havoline Die-cast collection (about 150 cars), plus every Texaco Airplane
4. Every Hess truck

If I every get around to taking most of them out of packing and setting up, I will try and take a picture and post it on my Carspace.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

lemko

Is the Franklin Mint still in business elsewhere? I know the suburban Philadelphia location on US Rte 1 South has been shut down for some time. They used to have stores at the Willow Grove Mall and King of Prussia mall a while back.

fintail

Did you start the Matchbox collection as a kid, and buy them from new?

andys120

The Franklin Mint is still very much in business, I get their catlog biannually.

link

lemko

Thanx for the link!

odie6l

The Franklin Mint location in Media, PA (south of Philly) is where I worked. I worked in the Mailroom and Print Shop there, as far as I know all of the major offices, print shop, r&d, mailroom, and museum are still there and under normal working conditions. They did move most of the manufacturing part, but I don't know where to.

As for the MB collection (and Hess Trucks), my father started it right before I was born (guess he knew he was going to have a boy) and I've been continuing it on since. All the MB cars are in the boxes not the blister packs, but since mattel purchased the matchbox name from tyco, they stopped making the cars in the boxes, so I stopped buying. So yes, Mattel now owns both Hot Wheels and Matchbox.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

boomchek

It seems like many of us here also belong in CCBA. I guess we got our bug for this when we were kids, starting with collecting hotwheels and matchbox.

I admire your collection Odie. I love matchbox as well but I stopped buying them when they went cheap in 2003 or 2004. The designs didn't resemble any real cars. It seems like they started producing nice models once again.

One set of cars I wish I bought was the Hot Wheels 1:43 Ferrari collection that was out in 2003 iirc. They weren't expensive, and they had nice models.

And on the topic of space, my fiancee is cool with my stuff as long as it's not in the living room which is understandable. The problem is that since I started working at Honda I seem to bring all the showroom promo items home including posters, banners, brochures, and the rear end of a real Honda Civic. :P

odie6l

I think the biggest part (and I mean LARGEST) of my collection was my Tire from Davey Alison's Texaco Havoline #28 car that was signed by the entire crew and himself. I had it made into a table with a glass top, but when I moved from the Philly area in '99 I had to sell it (and I'm not telling how much, that would be rude to the person that purchased it.), but I still get to see it every now and then.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

fintail

I wish my grandpa would have started socking away Matchbox and Dinky for me ca. 1955. But no...I couldn't be that lucky!

I think I only have a couple 70s era Matchbox in their boxes...a blue 450SEL and a blue Ford tractor and harrow...I am sure you know the ones.

fintail

That reminds me...one of my fave Pocket Cars was a little Honda Civic with a racing paint job. I remember bringing it to school with me when I was in kindergarten. It was of the old school 73-79 style.

boomchek

I have a bunch of matchbox cars from the 80s but they're all from flea markets, and without boxes.

When I was a kid my first ones were a red Porsche 911 Turbo, a silver Porsche 928, a white Audi Quattro coupe, and a Pepsi truck.

just set up my carspace:
boomchek's garage