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Auto collectibles and paraphernalia...

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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    First new post in this reborn forum.

    I have a weak spot for vintage diecast cars. I also love 'Autocar' magazines and most old car books.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    What's your favorite scale ratio?
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Depends on the series of cars. Right now I go for vintage diecast - not just toys of old cars, but old toys, all of which are a good 15-20 years older than me. I like the Matchbox cars as they are in roughly 1:60 scale - I have about 100 of them on my TV cabinet. I also like the roughly 1:35-1:43 Dinky and Corgi cars from the same period. Matchbox Yesteryears are also roughly this size.

    Lately I've thought of seeking out some of the cars I had as a kid, ones that got destroyed in play. I had many 1:24 scale Burago cars, those were pretty cool. 1:18 cars seem too big for any large scale collection - I only have a few nowadays.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Well, I would have wanted this....but I could get an acceptable real car for that money!
  • lemmerlemmer Member Posts: 2,689
    I regularly buy Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars for my little girls, aged 2 and 6, who want nothing to do with them.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Then you can keep em for yourself

    Some of the older ones have been proven to be a decent enough investment over the past 10-15 years too
  • lemmerlemmer Member Posts: 2,689
    My older one actually turned six today. I mixed in a Hot Wheels car (Ferrari F430) with all of her Barbie and Disney princess presents.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    A present for you?

    You should shop ebay and mix in some vintage models with her next batch of toys...I think those items will remain strong in the market, and should at least hold their value, if not continue to inflate.

    A couple years ago I bought an old Hot Wheels case on ebay, containing 10 cars. I am more of a Matchbox guy, so I put them on ebay...averaged about $50/car.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    If I had a few (thousand) extra burning a hole in my pocket...
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Wow...are they worth that bid?
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    They are probably worth $40-$100 per car, so they can still go up a little. It looks like a more or less complete set with a few series B cars instead of the earlier series A, which could take a little work to assemble individually, so that adds to it as well. I'd say the current price would be good as a wholesale value....they could bring 5-6K otherwise.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    image
    See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com

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    SUVs & Speed Shop
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    If you're planning to eat grass for the rest of your life, sure...
  • safari55and57safari55and57 Member Posts: 4
    Being a relative newcomer to this site,I have been slowly perusing the threads that seem to be of interest to me.Came across this one this afternoon and thought I'd add my twopence:

    Have a pretty large collection of model cars of all scales(1/144th to 1/4).A lot were acquired from friends who would go to Europe(Germany mostly)to pick up cars for our customers.Lots of Wiking,Schuco,and Herpa;mostly in 1/90th(close to HO)but some larger stuff.Lots of RoKo military models(great detail in HO scale)too.
    Have a lot of toys from my youth(late 40's-early 50's)that my mother somehow saved and I acquired when she passed away.
    My current interest is collecting vintage spray guns, airbrushes and related equipment.Some interesting items including mouth operated airbrushes and spray guns that run off the compression of an engine(compressor screws into a spark plug hole)or the air in a spare tire.Mostly made from the 30's to the early 50's.My oldest is an airbrush made in 1910 that I used to airbrush motorcycles in the early 70's.
    As I am a pinstriper/sign artist(semi-retired)I collect artwork that is automotive related.That covers most of the walls of my shop/garage(24x36).I trade with other artists and currently have enough art to cover THREE garages.
    I don't even want to get into how many vintage auto magazines and books I have;a very sore subject with my bride.My library also includes reference works for my other MAJOR collection:Knives.
    Having collected them since I was 10 I have a rather substantial collection(a couple thousand)as well as numerous books and related magazines.Vintage toys,display model airplanes,and a few trains round out my collecting mania.Oh yes and vintage records(a LOT).
    My shop is starting(?)to look more like a museum than a workplace which houses my 1955 and 1957 Pontiac Safari wagons as well as my 25th Anniversary TransAm.My other garage holds my 1991 GMC Syclone and my wife's 1972 Thunderbird.
    Collecting is DEFINITELY a disease!
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Very interesting. When I was about 12, I fell in love with those small scale plastic German made cars...but they were (and still are) virtually impossible to find in NA, especially in smaller towns...so I never got more than a few of them. Many of the cars were Mercedes sedans of every generation - my interest at the time and today, so they were making what I wanted, when nobody else did. The extreme detail of these cars also reeled me in. I remember when ebay was young - maybe 10 years ago - bargains could be found. A lot of about 200 various maker HO scale German made cars came up. I was in school then, and had an exam the day the auction was ending...so it slipped my mind. They went for like $90. I still kick myself for that. At least half the cars were Mercedes.

    And boomchek might relate to this one...there used to be a little shop in Lougheed Mall in Burnaby that sold these little cars. It was only there for a few years back in the mid 90s. The prices were reasonable (I think), usually $8-10 apiece. I picked up a few cars there. Were you in the area at the time?

    And on the toy car subject...one of the holy grails of Matchbox has been listed on ebay. I have never seen one of these presentation sets before. I have a 1958 FAO Schwartz catalogue that lists one of these, for something like $3 or $4. It would be easy to assemble the cars, and alone they are only worth ca. $100 apiece. But the big box is an insane rarity. Just look at the price!
  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,293
    how about setting up a 'carspace' and posting some pictures? :)
    2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • safari55and57safari55and57 Member Posts: 4
    I already have a space under my name but it has mostly my full sized cars and my artwork in it.If you like I'll post some pics of my shop.
  • safari55and57safari55and57 Member Posts: 4
    Just uploaded a bunch of pictures to my carspace.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Very cool.

    I recognize a couple of those cars. You have a Mercedes 300/Adenauer sedan (pictured next to a red motorcycle) with a clockwork motor, made by a company called 'Prameta'. These had a key shaped like a chauffeur.

    The large tin/chrome finish late-40s looking roadster was made by 'Distler' I believe, and is probably marked 'US-Zone Germany'. I have a '49 Ford convertible of similar design by this same company, packed away at my mother's somewhere. These cars had a lever inside that allowed gear selection.

    I also spot a little white diecast Porsche 356. Is it made by 'Tekno'?

    I like your case of HO-scale plastic cars too. You'd want to hide those if I ever visited :P
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Fintail, the small plastic cars you are refering to are still sold here in Vancouver in Wilkinson's Automobilia.

    I think HERPA makes them, but there are other brands too.

    image

    Check out their website, as they have everything listed on it.

    Toy cars

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Interesting about those cars. Last time I bought a new HO scale car, it was a MB W140 and it was a new car at the time. I have found some at a yard sale since then.

    And speaking of yard sales, I found this yesterday:

    image

    It's a mechanical clock out of a Ford (or Ford product), it is marked Ford on the back. You wind it from the stem on the bottom, and it has mounting pieces still on the back. The dial, bezel, and glass are in excellent condition, but of course it doesn't run. There is no part number on it. Anyone know what year this could be from? I would assume by the 40s clocks were electric.

    I spent a whopping 33 cents on it (I bought 2 other items and paid a dollar for the lot).
  • itaggititaggit Member Posts: 1
    WOW!! True collectors!! This is what I live for! How do you guys keep track of and manage all of your stuff???
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    I got something cool today. A little while ago on the official AMG owners forum there was a contest where you are entered if you posted a pic of your car. I posted mine, and they then just took the first 50 entrants to choose as winners I think, and I was in this group. I got my calendar today. I was expecting a normal sized calendar and I was going to put it by my desk at work. The calendar I got is this huge heavy elaborate 27x19 promo piece that would be at home in any high end MB showroom or at the AMG facility itself. I am very impressed. It was even shipped UPS express direct from Germany.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    I have one of those from 2000 I think. It has nice photos of Benzes on beautiful background settings. I could have had previous years for about $5/piece but I just bought one :cry:

    I always sign up for car related contests, and once in a while I'll get something neat. Last year I got a street sign from Porsche. It was a 7/8 scale street sign of
    of the street where the Porsche factory is located. I'm saving it for my garage. :D

    Years ago I received a sophisticated Oldsmobile 3d slide viewer (like an andvanced viewmaster) which had an Olds Intrigue photo slideshow. The thing stopped working though which is too bad. :cry:

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    I was very impressed. This kind of thing does build some loyalty, IMO. The AMG forum is aimed at owners - organized by MB/AMG and they want a VIN to register (which would be easy to get off the internet if one really wanted), but still, it's cool. I don't think all automakers make such a bother.

    This calendar has two pages for each month - one with a normal artsy photo, and the other a technical diagram of a piece of a V12 biturbo engine. I should suggest they make a heritage themed calendar so I can see a car like mine.

    You've won some things that might be collectible sometime.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    I always liked free promotional items because they're usually in very limited supply, and you can't buy them, you have to "find" them.

    What will become of my collection, we'll see. Right now we're focused on getting a house with a siazeable garage to put all my stuff into. :D

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Yeah...unless you are buying a new car, I think it would be hard to talk your way into some of these items. They have to be rare, and the salesmen probably fight over them too. I bet if I was looking to buy a new SLR, I could work my way into a trunkload of gear.

    I assume the housing market is sputtering there as it is here. I'd be happy with a simple little condo with a 2 car tandem garage, just so I can tinker with the old beast at my leisure. Any other cars can sleep outside, E55 and fintail get to sleep in the dry.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Yeah house prices have started to drop significantly in the last couple of months. I bet it might drop even more as there is a ton of condos and townhouses under contruction, with not enough buyers for the stuff that's been built.

    I'd want a 2 car garage too but in a townhouse. That way I can decorate it with my car memorabilia, and toys.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Sounds like here...I think we're at least 12 months away from a bottom of the market. I'll hopefully get my own garage then too...I would have to be in bad shape to rent or buy a place without one.

    When I was a kid I put a lot of hubcaps, old license plates and car parts etc up in our garage...but my mom had a yard sale when I was in college and sold it all.
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,671
    You guys would love the garage my mechanic has. I haven't seen it in person, but have seen pics of it in the process of being built. Big L-shaped monstrosity that's bigger than the house! He says it's 6,000 square feet. However, it also has a loft that's almost the same size as the main floor, so I dunno if he was counting that towards the total square footage. So the area that can actually hold cars is probably more like 3500 or so. My 4-car garage is 960 square feet, so his should be able to hold at least 16 cars. I imagine he has it full, too, considering he has a few of his personal cars stored at work.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Check out some cool garages here.

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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    I'd be afraid if I had a garage like that, I'd end up with some crazy huge number of cars. Of course, if I could afford such a garage, I guess I could afford the cars.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    I'd love to have a gigantic garage that looks like a showroom, or a museum. ANd yes, I'd need to have money to fill it up with cool cars too,

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    And some room behind the facility for a little junkyard or parts car orchard etc ...keep some oddballs from the crusher once scrap prices spike again.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Exactly, or maybe even a barn, to store away dead cars, and in 20 years you can have your own "barn finds". HA!!! Wouldn't that be something!

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,671
    I actually might have to think about expanding my garage space soon. When my Catalina comes home, it's going to displace one of the New Yorkers. I also have a feeling that once I finally get my DeSoto out of my grandmother's garage and off to the mechanic, when it's finally done, it won't be welcome back over at my grandmother's. So that's going to displace the other New Yorker.

    Or, I guess I could just clean out the garage, so it can hold the 4 cars it was intended to, rather than 3! That way, only one New Yorker would have to sit outside. And my blue NYer has always sat outside anyway. I just started parking it in the garage once the space opened up. And then it died in there, an attempt to take squatter's rights, I guess!
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    An aircraft hangar or a large pole building or something could be useful...you could develop it into rough and nicer sections. It could also house rooms for the memorabilia.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    And you'd need a private piece of land so that nobody will make you move when they want to redevelop the land.

    Andre already has the "entry level" beginner barn, except most of his cars run good :P

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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    Strangest model car I can recall seeing...barn find fintail

    Now we've got a load of model W210s...but no E55
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Tha's pretty neat. For some reason it doesn't look like it's made from metal.

    As for your E55 AMG, it's impossible to find a scale model. Wonder why?

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    All I can think of is low production numbers and a car that wasn't hyped when new. Getting production numbers from AMG is a task, but as far as I know, the W211s were sold in NA at 3-4x the amount of W210 cars.

    However, there are models of the C36 and C43, which are even rarer.

    This is the only W210 E55 model I know of
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Hmmm, brings back memeories of when I had a model kit of a 1990 500SL.

    I paid a ton of money for it and the paint too and built it.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    When I was maybe 11 or 12 I found a 1:24 Tamiya Countach at a yard sale and bought it. That kit was insanely difficult for me...I never got into model kits, and it was a challenge to build, especially the door mechanism. I didn't paint it though, it was white plastic, didn't look too bad.
  • burdawgburdawg Member Posts: 1,524
    A long time ago when I was young and foolish (well, just a little more foolish than now) I bought one of those Italian Pocher kits of a Mercedes 540AK roadster with the thousands of parts. Actual wire wheels that you put together, tiny little nuts and bolts, an engine with actual pistons that you could turn with the starting crank, working suspension & steering, leather interior, etc. It took a couple of years to assemble it. It looked great sitting up on a shelf gathering dust.
    I finally got tired of dusting it and sold it on Ebay a while back.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,700
    Burdawg, any pointers? Wife got me the Rolls years ago, still sitting in the box, going to build it one of these days/weeks/ years...
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I always thought that if I ever got sent to prison for life I'd get me one of those. :P
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    From what I have heard those things are pretty much like building a real car. They do retain some value, anyway, as there seems to be a cult following for those kits, I think even as used or built items they are worth several hundred dollars.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    That's the name.. Tamiya. That's what my kit was. I painted my SL an aqua blue/green color, the sort you find on early 90s Civics :blush:

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,131
    I never really got into kits...I had a hard time applying paint finishes that I felt were of decent quality.

    I do remember back around that time I bought a 1:18 Revell 500SL...I was really into the R129 when it was new, and I had to have it. It had a removeable hardtop, and that along with the pop up rollbar and decent detail had me very pleased.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,700
    "I never really got into kits...I had a hard time applying paint finishes that I felt were of decent quality. "

    That's what's kept me from working on the RR. I quit making kits when I figured out my spray can technique stunk (about when I got my drivers license). My wife bought an airbrush a few years ago, maybe I'll give that a try. Found a web site of someone who built one, looks good:
    image
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