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Volume 1 Issue #15 I have rather an eclectic view when it comes to automobiles! I enjoy everything with motors and wheels, some way more then others, but if it goes with a gasoline motor, I'm interested! Guess if you were my postman, you'd be looking at some varied automotive fair being left off at my mailbox! Being as busy as I am, I've had little time to take a look at these magazines in many a week now, and Saturday night, I just said, WHOA! It's about time I took an hour or 2 OFF and enjoy what was once a fevered passion of mine; reading everything I could! Opening my first magazine, the Oct. 2000 issue of "Automobile" I quickly ran through each page sometimes stopping to read an article, other times just skimming over one of lesser interest. What REALLY got me was when I came to the F.M. ad on page 113 for the "Millennium Vettes Collection". A good looking ad for our FAVORITE collectibles and seems that that would be an appropriate place to see F.M. advertisement, (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!). Kind of made a MENTAL note to myself about advertising and then went to the next magazine. This was the Nov. 2000 issue of "Super Chevy". Sure enough on page 11 was an F.M. ad for the '70 Blue Chevelle right opposite a Readers Ride of the EXACT same car! Nice placement and another good ad I thought to myself, (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!). In "Auto World Weekly' there was a really nice ad, (so nice I thought it was for the REAL car at first glance), on page 15 for the red 1998 VW Beetle! Looked just like those REAL VW ads with the words "Collectors wanted" at the top! VERY EFFECTIVE and the fellow who thought that one up should get a RAISE! (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!) Now I'm starting to jot down these things as I getting into this! Kind of FUN to see what F.M. is offering next! I pick up my copy of "Classic Cars", and what do I find from F.M.? On page 28 there is the same VW ad! OK, it's a good ad but why in "Classic Cars"? Skimming through the magazine, I come across a picture and article on the 1957 Ford retractable! Hey, doesn't F.M. have this STILL available in black and white? Why not an ad directly across from that article? MAYBE F.M. didn't know about it, (or didn't ASK the magazine what would be in it to MATCH up something of interest!), or perhaps they are trying to make the new VW a CLASSIC? (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!). Ok, I have 2 magazines here that I KNOW F.M. won't advertise in, "High Performance Mopar", (guess the Hemi Cuda's are LOW performance Mopar's), and "Turbo", (for those who don't know, it's become a strictly NEW, FOREIGN High Performance rag and F.M. really has nothing that would fit!), and I was correct. (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!). Here's a popular one, "Car & Driver" Oct. 2000 issue. Let's see a 2 page spread of what looks like EXOTO Corvettes and Cobras being sold BY CAR & DRIVER itself, but can't find ANYTHING from F.M., (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!). A THICK magazine jumps into my hand, it's "Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords" for Oct. 2000. Geez, 250 pages of Ford might, (never mind that they have some girls in little bitty Bikini's!), and again, not an F.M. ad to be had! What, F.M. doesn't make Hi-Po Fords? What are the signed and un-signed Shelby's, or the '69 Boss, or even the SOON to be gone 1964 Mustang convertible, (could have touted that as the DISCONTINUED FOREVER original Pony car convertible!), doing lying around in the Aston warehouse? Oh well, another MISSED opportunity! (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!) I've still got a pile of magazines to go through, and the search for F.M. ads is becoming addictive by now! The Oct. 2000 issue of "Speedway' beckons and searching through it I come to page 112, an Action Racing Collection ad for the Jeremy Mayfield Ford; but where are the F.M. Petty models, or even the Earnhardt motorcycle or watch, or knife, or UNDERWEAR? (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!) I thought this MIGHT have been a GREAT place for the NEW Agajanian #98 Special, but, Nooooooo! What do I have here? The Oct. 2000 issue of "Hot Rod"! One of my favorite mags! Grew up reading this in, (booooring), English class, and it was a STAPLE of life for me as a teenager! Checking through it I come across an article on a beautiful yellow with black stripes 1969 Camaro, (PERFECT spot for an ad for the Orange/Black '69 that F.M. has), and on page 112 here's a 4 page article on HOT WHEELS which is immediately followed by a full page ad by Hot Wheels 1/24 scale Legends! Nice job for Hot Wheels, and F.M.'s ad? NADA!!!!!!!! (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!) The BIBLE of car magazines has to be "Motor Trend", and sure enough on page 15 F.M. has a full page ad for the 1930 Model A Ford! Now "Motor Trend" is centered around all the NEW car issues and does VERY LITTLE with antiques! Why not advertise your 1998 Bentley or Rolls Royce, the red VW would be fine here, or maybe the NEW 3 Corvette set in good old red, white and blue! I'm sure the new car enthusiast is just jumping to order that 70 year old car model! (Sorry, NO D.M. ad!) Almost done folks, just have to get this off my chest! The Nov. 2000 issue of "Chevy High Performance" DOES have a F.M. Chevy ad on page 11! WOW! It's for the 1932 Chevy Confederate!!! A TRUE Hi-Po Chevy if I ever saw one! DUH!!!!!!!!! Last but certainly not least was the Nov. 2000 issue of "Rod & Custom". I LOVE R&C! So many memories of 30's to 60's Rods! On the cover is a "Rod" '32 Ford Coupe, and a picture of a "409" Chevy motor! Inside there is an article on the "Ultimate Custom Collection", all about 6 of George Barris's customs! Mickey Thompson's 1962 Buick powered Indy Car is there on page 102! ERTL has a FULL PAGE ad on their 1/18 scale American Muscle series falling right in with the THEME of this book! Sure enough, there IS a F.M. ad on page 17! Could it be they have their black 1932 Deuce Coupe? Perhaps the Boyd's '32 Custom that would fall PERFECTLY here! The little white & red 32 Ford Hot Rod racer would be an eye catcher! How about the EldoRod! What a choice! The Aggy Indy car would even have a shot here! Which one did F.M. decide to go with? How about the Boris Vallejo "Mistress of Fire" pocket watch!!!!!! Don't get me wrong! I LOVE Boris's works! As a matter of fact, Irene and I OWN the original oil painting of this magnificent creation along with a few other original Vallejo's! GREAT artist and fantastic work, BUT, WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH AUTOMOTIVE MODELS?????? I think someone at F.M. advertising thinks "Rod & Custom" is akin to "Playboy" on this score! OK, enough kicking sand at F.M., at least they DO have ads! In all the above, I imagine by now, you know D.M. didn't advertise once! This is one reason F.M. is outselling D.M. by miles, and why there are probably ten times the collectors buying F.M. products then it's Northern rival! Now that I think I've made a point here, let's get on with the current market in FM/DM models! This week has been one of bargain hunting and some really good deals for the bidders! Quite a few rarities have been showcased, and the market on the whole seems to be down compared to just a few weeks ago! If you have the money, now is definitely the time to buy those models you'd like to add to your collection. Monday 9/11--- Unfortunately, e-bay's completed auction pages are missing through 9/14, so I won't be able to review their sales, but we do have D4C's. A '73 Blue Mercedes-Benz sells for $113.00, a strong showing for a common model. A D.M. 1953 Caddy sells for $145.00 while D.M.'s 1929 Cord brings $155.00. A decent buy for the buyer. A D.M. 1955 Chevy garners $150.01, another decent buy. The '56 L.E. Chevy sells for $160.00 while the new 2000 issue P.B. Ford brings a high of $146.00 on a still available $120.00 retail. Just can't understand the psychology of this maneuver. The '57 WW Corvette is still on the skids, selling for $230.00, while the last auction for tonight, a D4C Corvette brings base price of $500.00. Tuesday 9/12--- Little interest tonight on the D4C auction as a PMA Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Fangio #19 car sells for a new low of $160.00 to a lucky buyer. F.M.'s 1957 Chevy Kit Car has a fairly strong showing at $170.00. Another PMA Meredes-Benz 300 SLR, but the limited edition 24 sells for $205.00. Again, down from its previous high. One bright note tonight though, was the 1958 Corvette Diorama selling for over retail at $255.00. Wednesday 9/13--- Again, very little of interest was happening on the D4C auction site. The only few notables were an F.M. 1929 Rolls Royce selling for $120.00. This could be a very good deal as we are hearing rumors that this model is, or will be shortly N/A, as the red version is due out in October. Expect to see this increase in value drastically if rumors prove to be true. A hot pick here! A CMC 450 SL Mercedes-Benz in red draws $190.99 winning bid, and an underpriced, discontinued 1938 D.M. Rolls Royce sells for $195.00. Thursday 9/14--- E-Bay is up and running again with only a few cars of interest going off. An F.M 1948 Town & Country brings only $126.99 for this long time unavailable car to an astute buyer. A F.M. 1953 Caddy is another great deal at only $130.50. The N/A F.M. 1941 Maroon Lincoln also sells cheaply at $155.56. The last notable sale on e-Bay is the 1924 Hispano-Suiza Tulipwood selling for $295.10, and this was a very good buy for this scarce model on the secondary market. D4C had some excellent models going off tonight. A few very good buys were a silver 1973 Mercedes-Benz 450SL at $106.50, the discontinued 1948 Blue Tucker at $105.00. Seems this model is starting to get stronger bids as people realize this is not quite as common as it used to be. One of the best deals of the week was a 1982 Collector's Edition Corvette selling at only $586.00. (Thank you very much, I bought it!) A '97 Black Corvette selling at a still strong $600.00, and a final offering for tonight was the D.M. 1933 Open Trunk Pierce Arrow at a NO SALE of $3500.00 offered. As one of only 21 pieces known, it should be some time before this rarity surfaces again. Friday 9/15--- E-Bay again had very little to offer in the realm of better models with a F.M. 1939 Maybach Zeppelin from a German consignor failing to meet its reserve with only $100.00 offered. Apparently, bidders were just wary of buying from overseas as $100.00 was a joke for this lovely model, (Irene's favorite F.M. model). F.M.'s 1934 L.E. Packard only managed $103.51 to a very lucky buyer as this model should be gone before Christmas. The only other model of any interest was a 1957 Caddy Eldorado with a missing mirror, no box or papers, but good paint bringing $157.55 in what could be turned into a super model that should sell for over $450.00. Quite a bit on D4C for tonight with a '67 Clearcast Corvette and a Mako Shark both selling at $105.00 each. An 1899 Packard which is rarely offered on the secondary market sold at $110.00. A C.M. Shelby GT-350 was sold from a German consignor for $112.00 plus the $25.00+ shipping. The D.M. discontinued turquoise and white Nomad was a no sale at the $115.00 reserve, still a little too strong for most buyers. A distressed 1957 Eldorado with scratches on the top, missing mirror, and glue spots on the door still sold for $110.00 attesting to the strength of this model in almost any condition. A 1930 Bugatti brought $140.00, and is a new high for this model on the secondary market. Perhaps you should investigate the status of this model with your local F.M. Gallery or mail order. Could there be something here that we don't know? The 1915 Stutz was stolen for $141.00, while a Harrod's Jaguar was at a strengthening $260.00. The 1969 L.E. Camaro was a NO SALE at a $275.00 offering, and the D4C Corvette was a surprising NO SALE at a paltry $500.00 offered. The D4C Corvette has been steady in the $500.00 to $600.00 price range now for months, and to see one not sell at the bottom of its bid range just shows the weakness of the current market. Last sale on D4C tonight was the error version of the 1929 Rolls Royce in red selling for $760.00 maintaining its current price range, but should be going higher when the revised edition comes out. Saturday 9/16--- Seems I have missed all the D4C information tonight as it was pulled before I could get to it. E-Bay though had quite a few auctions of interest with a F.M. 1939 Duesenberg Simone selling at a final price of $140.88. The F.M. Wells Fargo Stagecoach brought its opening price of $150.00, while one of the best buys was a 1940 Duesenberg, no hang tag or outer box getting $344.00, with me being the under bidder. Here's a case of the price jumping from $185.06 to $344.00 in 8 seconds. It was exciting and fun even though I lost trying to steal it! The F.M. 1910 Caddy sold for $185.10, (congratulations Kempster!). The F.M. 1959 Caddy convertible went for a very reasonable $172.46, and should be going much higher. A 1955 Rolls Royce also brought a TOO CHEAP $281.56. Another excellent buy was a F.M. 1955 L.E. Ford Sunliner, no box, but with a Raffi Minasian signed COA, (formerly belonging to Raffi), bringing only its $350.00 opening bid as these have sold much higher, and will continue to do so as we head towards the fall. A surprising NO SELL was a F.M. 1970 L.E. Red Chevelle with no takers at the $295.00 opening price! Last, but not least was a mint Airstream Trailer that sold for $480.00 on what was definitely a great buy for its new owner. For your interest, there were some notable private sales this week, including the F.M. 1969 L.E. Camaro at $250.00, the F.M. 1959 Blue Caddy Convertible, MIB at $250.00, the F.M. 1996 Christmas Truck for $795.00, and the F.M. 1960 Red Chevy Hardtop with a confirmed sale at $2000.00 for this rarity! A second 1960 Red Chevy Hardtop is pending at the same price. Seems the really rare models do hold their price even in a soft market. 
There are a few pieces on e-Bay right now that are of
considerable interest to some of us collectors! E-Bay Item
#436596776 is a Danbury Mint 1958 Plymouth Belvedere in
red/white one of 10 made! This was a regular D.M. 1958 Plymouth
that is described by its consignor as follows, "This is #1 of a
series of 10.
These cars have been altered from the Danbury Mint
1958 Fury. Each car has been carefully disassembled, stripped to
bare metal, and professionally painted in Royal Red and Iceberg
White roof. The interior has been changed to the proper
red/black colors. Each car is numbered and comes with a
hand-signed certificate of authenticity from the artist."
Already it has a bid of $356.00! If you have been reading my
column for a few months now, I mentioned how GREAT a model D.M.
would have, if they made their '58 Plymouth a Limited Edition of
the movie car "Christine". Well, here we have some enterprising
modeler that appears to have taken that idea and run with it!
I've included some photo's of this model from the e-Bay ad, and
it certainly appears that the model was done with consummate
skill and is as good as any mint produced model! May I make an
observation here. I believe we could be seeing a new genre of
precision model cars that the collector will be happy to
acquire! IF neither of the mints will make what we want, have a
special run made outside the mints from an already produced
model! There are MORE then a few really good craftsmen out there
that are capable of doing this! Cars like the Boss Mustang, with
a little work (wheels, new hood and paint job), could be turned
into the "Bullet" Mustang! D.M.'s Charger would certainly be
able to be made into the "Bullet" chase car OR the "Duke's of
Hazzard" General Lee! The "Rainman's" Buick could be produced,
from the D.M. Buick! I think you get the point! A GREAT series
of cars that could be done! Let's just see if planting this seed
will yield a BUMPER CROP over the next year!E-bay Item #439404015, is described by its current owner this way, "This is a very rare 1/24 Franklin Mint Rolls Royce, special limited edition which had been made available ONLY in Japan. 
Only 700 of this special Rolls Royce has ever been
released by Franklin Mint Japan, Ltd. in 1993, commemorating the
Japanese Prince's wedding in that year. The real car has been
tailored for the Japanese imperial family, and used for the
Prince's wedding parade in downtown Tokyo in June, 1993. Having
studied the real car, I have added the handrail in the rear seat
section, and additional wood trim. The model is in perfect
condition, and come in the original "Franklin Mint Japan" box
(and w/certificate). An EXTREMELY RARE item for enthusiastic FM
collectors." Admittedly he made a TYPO on the 700 made as we all
recognize that this is the Emperor's Rolls Royce, a one of 500
produced models! If indeed, this model is a genuine model that
was given out by the Royal family, and I have no reason to
believe it is not, it puts to rest the rumor that all those
models had numbered license plates when given! This is the first
one offered that has come with the Japanese flag hood ornament,
and has a current bid of $2280.00 which is the HIGH watermark
for this model, and could possibly go MUCH HIGHER! I'll be
keeping track on these and will continue talking about them next
week after they have been sold.Let me apologize here for not having all the information at my fingertips, as I usually do. This week my workload has forced me to MISS some material I always have on hand. I will certainly get to some of the questions, and comments that are sent to me each week, and will be covering the Diecast scene with more rumors and facts as they do pop up. Please keep those e-mails coming and have a great week! Regards, Roy Return To www.franklindanbury.com The "WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT!" Archive |
roy@franklindanbury.com |
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