Die-cast Model Cars

I remember a previous thread that indicated a few posters who collected die-cast model cars. I haven’t acquired anything recently in my collection but was browsing the ‘net and found a few manufacturers which I have never experienced (most of my collection is by Minichamps). Does anyone have experience in either of the following? I’m curious how the quality (workmanship and decals) compare with Minichamps:

Spark
True-Scale
Hot Wheels (I’ve seen a few of these in local shops but don’t have any first hand experience).

Thanks and feel free to PM!

In my experience, Spark makes good stuff. Comparable to Minichamps, I'd say. I've never had a True-Scale. Hot Wheels... The ones I have are from the late '90's - early 2000's. They weren't bad. I'd say somewhere between a toy and a true collectible like Minichamps/Spark.

Spark and True Scale are very nice (Spark is better than Minichamps right now in my opinion). HotWheels is hit-and-miss, their 1977 Lauda Ferrari was right on, but their 1980 Ferrari 312T5 was horribly mis-shapen and lacked detail (the "engine" was only the back half protruding from flat plastic.)

Personally, I allow myself one splurge each year and I will buy a Ferrari from Kane & Co., Tameo or BBR. They are expensive, but make all others look like toys.

I'm still in recovery for my diecast addiction. The 12 step program is going well... taking it one day at a time and all that. But I don't guess it hurts to talk about them. :look: As was said above, Spark tends to have very good quality and attention to detail. Most of the prototype and sports car diecasts I have are made by Spark. Most of the F1 stuff is Minichamps. Most of the CART stuff is by Action or Minichamps. The only real junk I have is by Onyx. I think I have only one diecast made by Hot Wheels - the Jaguar R1 with Eddie Irvine. I was hesitant to buy a proper diecast from a toy manufacturer, but it's nice enough. Though if I ever fall off the wagon, I think I'd return to Minichamps as my poison of choice, at least for F1 diecasts.

On one of the old forums (7th Gear, I think), someone posted a picture of a display shelf system he'd built. It was really, really nice! I'm not sure if the shelves were glass or plexiglass/Lexan. But it was mirrored and backlit with low intensity lighting. That's what I need to get working on. When I built this house, I actually built a room to be mainly used as a diecast and racing memorabilia room. My girlfriend says it would make a nice nursery. :eek: So help your old friend figure out how to get some snazzy (permanent!!!) shelves in there... soon... please.

I too was on about the 11th step of that recovery program until I recently fell off the wagon :mad: .

I agree, Onyx is inferior quality, but I’ll be sure to check out Spark.

Most of my collection is 1/43 scale with perhaps a dozen 1/18th. Like you Jag, I really have no convenient way to display them. Mostly they’re just haphazardly strewn on bookshelves, basically wherever I can find room. A snazzy display case would be nice but I haven’t the foggiest on how to go about either building, purchasing or commissioning one :mark: .

You could display them in something like this:

Diecast display Case 54 Car 1/43 Scale from Carney Plastics

I have two of these on my wall and they hold more than 54 1/43 scale F1 cars.

Somewhere around here we have a NASCAR diecast that is signed by Kasey Kahne. I'll have to find it and see what type it is....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by schmenke

I too was on about the 11th step of that recovery program until I recently fell off the wagon :mad: .

I agree, Onyx is inferior quality, but I’ll be sure to check out Spark.

Most of my collection is 1/43 scale with perhaps a dozen 1/18th. Like you Jag, I really have no convenient way to display them. Mostly they’re just haphazardly strewn on bookshelves, basically wherever I can find room. A snazzy display case would be nice but I haven’t the foggiest on how to go about either building, purchasing or commissioning one :mark: .

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Me too. They're everywhere. Some have never been out of the boxes they were shipped to me in. :( Some are even still stored in the house where I used to live - 8 years ago. I don't even know what I have (haven't found the time to catalog them), so I've accidentally bought some of them twice. :dozey: I do have one wooden and glass display case that's got low intensity lighting installed. But it's totally devoted to my Senna collection... which doesn't put a dent in the rest of my stuff - and I haven't even got all the Senna stuff in there. When I built that "memorabilia room," I made sure I had a blank wall that was out of direct sun light. And I put two outlets down low and in the corners. The problem was, I wasn't sure what sort of display I would/could build. What I want is something like what that guy on 7th Gear had. I was thinking about smoked mirror backing (against the wall), low intensity/low heat lighting, plexiglass/Lexan shelves and doors (every 2 feet or so) and covering a space of about 7 feet wide and 6 feet high. Maybe when I retire, a week or two before I die, I might get it properly designed and built.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wmcot

You could display them in something like this:

Diecast display Case 54 Car 1/43 Scale from Carney Plastics

I have two of these on my wall and they hold more than 54 1/43 scale F1 cars.

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Thanks. That would work! I can't even say how many diecasts I have (some were bought when I was in a diecast induced haze... cup of coffee in one hand, Ebay on my computer screen and a credit card in the other hand - we call those the "bad days"), but a good many are 1/18 - probably 30-40 plus. I like that scale. But it can be a tough size to display in volume. A handful of the old CART models are 1/24. A lot of the diecats, the majority, are 1/43 though (over 150, I'd say). So yeah, that would work for a good many of them. The price isn't bad. I'll definitely look into that.