Toy cars and other vehicles and pangs of guilt

[Mason]

Unfortunately I did not make a how-to. I was so happily building away I completely forgot to make pictures.

It will feature in a game of GASLIGHT, Pulp Alley or All Things Zombie sometime in 2015 I daresay 

A stunning result whether there is WIP or not.
Pure eye candy.
 

[Archie]

Better to actually use an old toy than to preserve it I think!

I have had this debate with my son when rebasing some preslotta Citadel miniatures. Better they are used!

[eilif]

Better to actually use an old toy than to preserve it I think!

I have had this debate with my son when rebasing some preslotta Citadel miniatures. Better they are used!

Definitely agreed,
      Though with the miniatures, it's not as though they can' be stripped later...

[Daeothar]

For me, it's not as much an issue of cutting up a toy car I have, collectible/valuable or not, as much as is it worth the asking price when I don't own it...

I happily put the saw to a near mint Dinky Toys Ed Straker car for my UFO project, but only when I was able to source one that was not horribly overpriced. I still believe I paid around 25 GBP for it, which is still a lot of money for one car, but not nearly the 200 GBP I've seen mint, boxed ones go for. And is is sort of iconic to the show, so I just had to have one.

On the other hand, I am really looking for a certain type of lorry/truck to paint in 1/50 right now, and if you think those Dinky guys are off it, try the model truck collectors! You can easily pay 250 GBP for a truck and trailer. Granted; the products usually are stunning displays of scale modeling, but come on!

If I had the cash to burn, I would not not think twice about it, buy the damn thing and then disassembe, sand and paint it. But right now, it's those prices that are putting me off, not their collectible value; as has been said: when it's mine, I'll damn well do as I please with it...

[eilif]

25GBP ($45USD) !  Yowza!
I try to never spend more than $10-20 USD for any die-cast vehicle that's going to get war-game-ified and most of my 1/43'ish die-cast are one buck resale finds.   Probably just my natural cheapness. I've no problem modding cars of any value down for gaming, but if going to chop something particularly valuable, there's a voice in the back of my head saying "you could sell this and buy alot of minis…"

[FramFramson]

Owwwieee that IS a lot, but I suppose that's one car and the hero's car at that.

In my case the real devil is trying to find cars in the right scale, as 1/43 is typically too big but is the most common die-cast size close to what I've been looking for. Luckily some series are not true 1/43 and are just sized for the box, which gives you a variety of scales. In other cases, the original real-life car was extremely small and so looks "right" even though it's a 1/43 model with 30mm minis (I've got several Fiats like this). This was made worse by the fact that this winter I decided I was unhappy with the scale of most of what I bought last year (too big) so I am replacing about half of what I bought with new purchases (and I thought I was done!   )

The worst both last year and now is trying to find "bland" cars - the ordinary saloons and such which were/are most common on the roads, and in a fairly narrow date range too. I pester model sellers a lot to try and suss measurements before I buy, which has resulted in my rejecting dozens of cars, but that's better than spending the money and being unhappy later. Right now I am waiting in the mail for two big "gambles" (I did get measurements that sound good, but you never know 100% until you get these things). If they work out, I will have a pretty fair fleet of useful cars. In the most recent case the "gambles" were each more than $20, but I will be extremely happy if they work out, as they will hit the perfect sweet spot of date, size, shape, and car type.

At the very least I already have a half-dozen cars and trucks which fit wonderfully, so I'm happy with that.

[eilif]

Post up what you get I'd be interested to see them.

I'm fine with most 1/43 cars and 1/48 trucks. I know they're to big, but as long as they're all about the same amount of too-big, it doesn't bother me.    Plus most 28mm figs are already as wide as 1/48 figs and with a slotta base, they're almost as tall and it's not too much of a jump from 1/43 to 1/48….

As for finding everyday, common cars, it's definitely a problem.  BBurrago had a bunch at the US chain "Dollar general" for a while, but they're gone now.  Being able to get Chrysler 300's, Chargers and Magnums for $2.50 was enough for me to overlook the cheap wheels.  I've definitely got enough, but I keep looking for more...

[Tactalvanic]

It is your duty, and a service you provide, to acquire, unpack and de-mint such collectible objects.

You should feel no guilt, and dismiss it if it raises its head!

Through your actions, and the actions of others like you, the number of available mint, still in packaging, OOP,  "stuff" is reduced.

Through its reduction in availability, you enable true collectors of such objects, and their suppliers (e.g. e-bay etc, not the manufacturers) to inflate and justify the value of the few remaining examples of each item.

Do not even for a moment, hesitate. You are helping others gain pleasure and enjoyment of their hobbies and collections, whilst supporting the economy.

Everyone is a winner in your willful destruction of mass produced collectibles.

Keep up the good work and hack/smash/paint away!

The persons with the last one left, of whatever your mutilating, will forever be in debt to you and your blasphemy.

But don't forget to recycle the packaging where possible, unless you  can find a buyer for it 

[tin shed gamer]

The odds are that on the budget most gamers work on is if you can afford it on ebay then toy car collectors couldn't care less about that type of car any way.If they did they would have outbid you.
Having been dragged to the odd collectors fair,It's pritty safe to state the traders there have a very loose grasp of the term 'Rare'.
Rare isn't a vehicle that has a six figure production run.

[Vanvlak]

The toy car hackers' manifesto!   

It is your duty, and a service you provide, to acquire, unpack and de-mint such collectible objects.

You should feel no guilt, and dismiss it if it raises its head!

Through your actions, and the actions of others like you, the number of available mint, still in packaging, OOP,  "stuff" is reduced.

Through its reduction in availability, you enable true collectors of such objects, and their suppliers (e.g. e-bay etc, not the manufacturers) to inflate and justify the value of the few remaining examples of each item.

Do not even for a moment, hesitate. You are helping others gain pleasure and enjoyment of their hobbies and collections, whilst supporting the economy.

Everyone is a winner in your willful destruction of mass produced collectibles.

Keep up the good work and hack/smash/paint away!

The persons with the last one left, of whatever your mutilating, will forever be in debt to you and your blasphemy.

But don't forget to recycle the packaging where possible, unless you  can find a buyer for it 

[Valerik]

This oughta be a stickey...

It is your duty, and a service you provide, to acquire, unpack and de-mint such collectible objects.

You should feel no guilt, and dismiss it if it raises its head!

Through your actions, and the actions of others like you, the number of available mint, still in packaging, OOP,  "stuff" is reduced.

Through its reduction in availability, you enable true collectors of such objects, and their suppliers (e.g. e-bay etc, not the manufacturers) to inflate and justify the value of the few remaining examples of each item.

Do not even for a moment, hesitate. You are helping others gain pleasure and enjoyment of their hobbies and collections, whilst supporting the economy.

Everyone is a winner in your willful destruction of mass produced collectibles.

Keep up the good work and hack/smash/paint away!

The persons with the last one left, of whatever your mutilating, will forever be in debt to you and your blasphemy.

But don't forget to recycle the packaging where possible, unless you  can find a buyer for it 

I could find no possible way to disagree with this poster.

In fact, I find I am unable to agree with him MORE!!

Had I fewer figures awaiting paint I'd have already violated my Rolls Royce A/C.

Agreeing wholeheartedly with FF's "lemony Khaki" observation,
it is a distinctly odd shade of beige...
And requires damaging the intrinsic "collector value", a lot...

Valerik

"No false moves, I'm a dangerous man"

[Pijlie]

Hear hear!

[Daeothar]

Amen...