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Volume 1 Issue #17 
News from F.M. this week centered around the "Stillbirth" of the fabulous Speed Racer Mach
"V". Due to the tremendous demand, (I heard that 19 of these were pre ordered, but that's just a
rumor), the whole project has been canceled! I do hope this is not a SIGN to F.M. that such
models as the BATMOBILE, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT Trans Am, and GENERAL LEE,
to name a few, would not be welcomed with open arms from the diecast collector! Perhaps the
1/12 scale turned folks off, or maybe it was pieces like the pictured LIMITED EDITION Mach
"V" with a REAL Speed Racer in it for only $42.00 in 1/24 scale, that actually put the KABASH
on the whole deal! Whatever it was, the Mach "V" has gone the way of the San Francisco Cable
Car! Going through the catalog where I saw the Speed racer car, I also came up with this beautiful
1949 Caddy convertible with genuine leather interior for only $40.00! Sure looks strikingly familiar
to the
F.M. 1949 Cadillac hardtop that has been out for sale for quite awhile! F.M. would certainly
do themselves, (and us), a favor by chopping off the top, and giving us one of these to display!
Perhaps this picture will give someone there a BRAINSTORM! Being that I devote almost all my
diecast time concerned with FM/DM/CM models, I'm certainly no expert on any other makes or
scales, but flipping through this "Halloween" catalog, I came across many nice looking pieces that
were either almost exact duplicates of mint models, albeit 1/18 scale, or close to them. I guess
"Imitation REALLY is the sincerest form of Flattery", and a winning product is easily duplicated!
I mentioned last week that D.M.'s new catalog "Classics of the Open Road" just came out! I've
included some pictures for those who haven't seen this periodical, (Autumn 2000), yet, of the new
GOLD 1958 Chevy Impala, and the 1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe in what appears to be best
described as Gray!
Cruising through the D.M. "tome", I also came across some NEW
repaints of the 1951 Ford F-1 Pickup, in this iteration, painted red! (Yes, another RED car!), and
their 1958 Chevrolet Apache Pickup, this time in a dark teal! I've been told that ALL of D.M.'s
pickup will be getting NEW colors over the next year or more, so if your a pickup collector, BE
PREPARED! A page is devoted to Christmas vehicles with a 1930's
BUDWEISER truck done up
in holiday regalia, and what I had thought was a one year only Christmas car, has returned with
Santa driving the 1931 Ford Model A! Too bad D.M. didn't have the good sense that F.M. did,
and limit their Christmas car to a DIFFERENT one each year!
I'm NOT picking on F.M., but got the NEW issue of Hot Rod today and F.M. had a nice full page ad on page 13! Now the title of the magazine is HOT ROD, what would you think they would advertise? No, it wasn't a doll or plate! No, it wasn't a Hot Rod! No, it wasn't any muscle car, street rod, or drag car that would have fallen, at least somewhat, into the interest group that this magazine caters to! How about the 1939 Duesenberg Simone! TRUE, it is a CUSTOM, (and a stunning one, at that), but certainly not one that this magazines' readers would be interested in! Sorry, NO D.M. ad! (I AM picking on D.M.!). When F.M. does it right, I'll let you know! A few new FINDS within the last few weeks that I just haven't had time to report! Seems that the 1961 Lincoln DOES come with the WHITE Lincoln's hood ornaments on some EARLY release models! Had the opportunity to check 2 cars out, one of them still mint sealed, and both had the NON-photo-etched ornament! So, if you do happen to have, or get one this way, it is just another variant of the Lincoln, and should not CHEAPEN its price as being non original! (Of course, now that YOU know, I'm sure someone will try to STEAL one this way!) A new variety was found on the 1984 Corvette! These cars come with either a CLEAR rear window with blue strap around the top and solid color painted wheels, or the INCORRECT version, which has a SMOKED rear window with BLACK top strap and has the center of the wheels painted black! Apparently, all currently issued 1984 Corvettes are the corrected version. A NCRS member stopped in and clued me in on this, as he said he and others Corvette Club members had made a complaint to F.M. when they first came out. They explained that a smoked back window was incorrect, and F.M. changed it on all following runs! After checking the models I had in stock, I had an even number of both! So if one IS scarcer then the other, we'll just have to wait and see! A good friend, David Pazornick, had asked this question on the D4C bulletin Board, "Somebody explain why FM discontinues models without any notice? Do they not want our money?" Tom Walters brought up a few interesting points when he replied, "I agree!! Cases in point: the LE black Camaro & '57 WW Vette: It's absolutely ridiculous for them to retire images that are popular and that people will continue to purchase. The 1940 Duesenberg comes to mind: why discontinue this when so many more people are willing to lay out money to them for it? Why should FM care what the after market on E-bay, etc. becomes for this vehicle? The money that gets shelled out in these aftermarket sales goes into someone else's coffers, not theirs!! I find Limited Editions similarly puzzling. For example, the LE black Camaro has not become as popular as it has just because it is relatively scarce -- it is popular because that particular car looks extremely wicked in that color, and most people just plain flat out love it!! If FM had put that car out as a normal run, they would have sold tons of them. In the mall where I inquired about it, people who were not even regular collectors were coming in the store asking about it just because it looked so kick-a** on the advertisement "teaser" poster in the window. The 1957 Whitewall Corvette is the same story. Why have all of these been pulled from the store shelves? As Roy Rauch mentioned in a WHWN recently, this image looks so much better with the whitewalls than without, and it would seem to me that FM could have sold far more of this vehicle in its last few remaining months with the whitewalls than without. Don't they want our money? Why do they want us to pay inflated prices to someone other than them?" WOW! These are two tough questions to answer! No outsider (that's ME!) is privy to WHY F.M. does anything, BUT one can surmise from answers given at the yearly D4C meetings at F.M. where we do get a chance to ask some questions! The reasons that certain models just DIE a natural death, and remain gone is fairly logical. First is that F.M. stops getting orders on these models! I know it sounds strange, especially after looking what has happened to many of them on the secondary market. Many models that are now desirable, just weren't sellers when they disappeared! Case in point is the '55 Crown Vic! No one noticed it was gone for MONTHS. When some people made inquiries about, they found out it was no longer available! Now SPECULATION is that it WON'T be back, (the L.E. has taken its place), and it's starting to draw big dollars on the auctions! I believe F.M. has some sort of TIME FRAME where a certain amount of models must sell in order for it to be restocked! If that number isn't met, its GONE! They're a big company, and dollars are the name of the game! Tom's questioning the sense of doing a very popular model in a great color combination and LIMITING it! The L.E. Camaro was probably the fastest selling model F.M. put out, (although the 1999 P.B. Packard was sold out in under a month, I believe), and has served a purpose. F.M. sees that making a model VERY limited recoups it's investment, and makes it the most profit in the shortest time frame! Always keep in mind dollars are what its all about! What we conceive as a large demand is JUST enough to meet F.M.'s expectations! I do believe that F.M. realizes that the secondary market plays a BIG part in what they sell today! Without the secondary market, demand for their product would certainly NOT be anywhere near what it is, and this relates directly to their profit! The '57 WW Corvette is really a question mark! I've shown how easy it is to make one in previous columns, BUT, the STORY, LOOKS, and MYSTERY surrounding it have definitely made it a much desired model! I still think, as Tom does, that having that model available in the white wall configuration, would have been a smart thing to do! Keep it as a UN-NUMBERED Limited Edition of 5000, (a la '70 Red Chevelle, '55 Pontiac Convertible, '55 Ford Sunliner), OFFICIALLY recognize it, and F.M. would have sold a few THOUSAND more! Dave and Tom's "Don't they want our money" makes me smile! Of course they do, but when the guidelines are drawn and followed, there is a time when F.M. must move on from that model and give us something NEW to rave about! If you WANT a 1940 Duesenberg to come back, call F.M. and ORDER 5000! I will guarantee you, that they WILL fill that order! But, who amongst us would want to do that? Is there a market for another 5000 of any N/A model? Over a long period of time there PROBABLY is, but who can invest that much, (NO, not even I!), and wait for a PROFITABLE return? Let's just be glad that our hobby has what we consider RARE models, and feel privileged to have been in on the bottom floor when they came out! People realizing that the model they bought because they liked it is also worth more as time goes by, is the BACKBONE of all successful hobbies! Let's HOPE ours always stays this way! The secondary market auctions had many surprises this week! Some very strong bids, but on the whole, the market seems to be steady to a bit lower! As we go through this week's sales, I think you'll see some new trends forming! Sunday 9/24--- A very active day on e-Bay and D4C! A blue '35 Mercedes Benz, a '47 Franay, and a 1963 Fiberglass Corvette, all MIB, from what appears to be an F.M. IRP dealer, opens e-Bay with a strong bid of $109.00 each! Other models from the same source were a 1907 Rolls Royce at a SUPER STRONG $129.50 ($135.00 retail for ONE of F.M. longest running models), and $141.15 for a 1914 Woodbody Rolls! A D.M. 1938 Rolls Royce was a very good buy at the $143.50 level! THREE 1969 L.E. Camaro's were sold today bringing respectively, $218.28, $226.00, and $233.50! This model seems to be stalled in the $200-$250.00 range! Many small hoards are known and it will take a YEAR or better for this model to start to get the prices it's mintage AND LOOKS deserve! A Harrod's Jag is sold UNDER that magic $200 level when this one trades hands at $197.50! Definitely UNDER-RATED! A 1957 Caddy with no box or papers and UNKNOWN paint quality sold for $205.50, (I surmise that someone found out that it didn't have perfect paint!) The '57 WW Corvette stays within it's current trading range when $222.50 is the winning bid. An Airstream trailer is a NO SALE at $500.00, and will be offered AND SOLD at less, later on this week! The STEAL of this night was an ERROR 1929 Red Rolls Royce when a $576.56 bid wins this UNDER 100 SOLD models! Last on e-Bay was a 1982 L.E lettered tired Corvette which sold for a $623.00 winning offer! The D4C auction was filled with better models as a '57 Pontiac Bonneville brought $115.00 on a retail of $120.00! Perhaps it was a HIDDEN HINGE model? A small group of CMC models brought decent bids as a Burgundy Horch sells for $135.00, the Porsche 550 street version goes for $125.00 and the same model, but racing version reached $145.00! The N/A 1941 Maroon Lincoln is traded at $175.00, while a white Auburn is getting a slightly higher then usual $184.95. A PMA Kaiser Wilhelm Mercedes stays within its current trading range at $252.00, while a C.M. GT-40 ORIGINAL issue car brings a slightly lower $400.00, The last lot for tonight was a 1973 L.E. Mercedes-Benz at a current lowering price of $516.00 for this scarce model. Monday 9/25--- As active as Sunday was, Monday was quite SPARSE with better trading material. A '57 Pro Street Chevy, on e-Bay, sold for $112.60, OVER it's current retail price! This just attests to the fact that a great model will get very close to full retail, and sometimes more, when someone wants it NOW! The F.M. 1956 Red T-Bird draws $114.27 , and the surprising 1907 Rolls Royce sells for $120.00 on a model that I sell for $80.00! A D.M. 1941 Cadillac sells OVER retail for $132.65, while the newly N/A 1961 RED Jag gets a tremendous $405.00 bid for a model that wouldn't get $100.00 at the beginning of this year! The last model offered on e-Bay was a 1973 L.E. Mercedes Benz that was a NO SALE at the $550.00 offered! The D4C auction had just about nothing of note, except for a 1951 LeSabre at $104.25, (I keep hearing RUMORS that this model is NOT going to be re-issued), a D.M. 1938 Rolls at $165.00, and a NO SALE for the '69 L.E. Camaro at $220.00! Tuesday 9/26--- A HUGE day for models on e-Bay! A D.M. 1961 Indy T-Bird goes to a new owner for $109.65, a STRONG price for a currently available model. A '63 'Glass Corvette gets $102.50, while a F.M. '60 Chevy convertible sells strongly at $105.50. A 1929 Rolls Royce and a 1941 Lincoln, (Lincoln had no box or papers), both brought $122.50! That '29 Rolls MIGHT be a real sleeper if it is being replaced by the NEW red '29! The copper body 1921 Rolls was a NO SALE when all it could muster was a $118.00 offer! The F.M. 1948 Chrysler T&C sold for only $127.50 on this DEFINITELY GONE model. (I feel it's better looking then the D.M. model!) The 1963 Avanti brought a high buy of $122.65, and MIGHT be of some interest to investigate, as this is a new HIGH for this unusual model. The Wells Fargo Stage sold for a lessening $142.50, while a DISTRESSED 1992 white Rolls Royce, (no hood ornament and scratches on the fenders), brought what I felt was a strong $153.05! (A private sale this week at $390.00, box, no papers, shows the true strength for this scarce car!). The 1949 Buick convertible is sold for $158.00, while a 1988 black Porsche changes owners at $167.50. The D.M. 4 car carrier had a lot of interest, and was finally sold for $178.25. An unusual 1956 L.E. Chevy with NO NUMBER sold very cheaply for $200.00. This has sold MUCH higher, and all these replacement L.E. models with no numbers should receive a substantially higher bid then the numbered ones! A very good buy was a '70 L.E. Chevelle with a nick on the edge of the hood, (MANY have this), sold for $200.00. Good for you Chris, I missed it! A blue 1993 Rolls Royce brings $180.00! This model has again started to bring OVER retail as it had been unavailable, brought back, and now I hear it may be N/A again until January! Can this model be THAT POPULAR? If it IS N/A again, it DEFINITELY will be brought back! A Maybach Zepplin sells at a reasonable $256.00 with NO box or papers, and a '57 WW Corvette sells for a very uncharacteristic $293.88! There were some REAL heavyweights offered today with one of the rarest, a F.M. 1957 RED Chevy convertible but having a scratch on the hood not reaching the RESERVE at $510.00, (it was later SOLD for substantially more! I KNOW!). The 1997 black Corvette brought $607.77 keeping this model in a higher plane then the D4C Corvette with HALF the mintage! The 1986 Mid America Corvette was sold for $798.00, and a good buy for the new owner. The e-bay finale was a unique set of L.E cars with the #8 for both! A Harrod's Jag, and a 1973 L.E. Mercedes received a $871.99 bid, but did not reach the reserve. Compared to the e-Bay auction D4C was almost a wasteland! A 2000 Christmas truck sold for $100.00, but a surprising '56 Chevy hardtop brought $103.00, (I was selling them at less, and SOLD OUT right after this! D4C members DO read my price list!). The '56 L.E. Chevy stayed at current levels when it brought $150.00. A '57 WW Corvette brought a strong $245.00 while a Harrod's Jag strengthened when it was the final sale of the evening at $240.00. As I said, this was a VERY active day at the auctions! Wednesday 9/27- Another interesting day on e-Bay when a '49 L.E. Caddy sold for $103.01. The '55 red/white Chevy hardtop was sold at a cheap $108.38 while a 1988 black Porsche with no box or papers was CHEAP at $127.50. The D.M. discontinued 1958 Impala got a new high when $140.00 won this model. Right next to it was a D.M. 1/16 scale 1953 Caddy that brought $142.50. The N/A 1941 Lincoln is sold at a cheaper $163.50, and a '69 L.E. Camaro sold at just about current market with a $248.01 winning bid. TWO '57 WW Corvettes were offered, one sold for $233.50, while the other failed to reach its reserve when $242.49 was the high offer. The N/A 1955 Crown Victoria brought a new high when $275.00 was enough to make it change hands. A 1992 white Rolls with no box, or papers, was a NO SALE at an offered $300.00. A nice Airstream with displays case was a BEST BUY today at $400.00 Good going Dave, if it wasn't for the fact it was sold at 8:25 AM Eastern time, it probably would have brought more! Here's a lesson for everyone, if selling on a Net auction, pay attention to the time you material is being sold! It COULD mean the difference of many dollars! The last noteworthy lot on e-Bay was the VERY SCARCE 1913 L.E. Model T, a 1 of 4200 issue. It was F.M.'s FIRST L.E that was offered at $500.00 but was a NO SALE! Surely worth much more as this model is almost NEVER offered. Seems almost everyone at the D4C site was over in Forum II tonight as only a D.M. Viper sold for $110.00, and a distressed 1957 Caddy was a NO SALE at $143.00 to a nice German member! (Klaus, the models arrived in great shape!) A private sale today of a 1960 Red Chevrolet hardtop for $2000.00 was also confirmed! Thursday 9/28--- Although not an abundance of models on e-Bay today, the prices brought were of interest. A 1997 F.M. Christmas truck was sold for $182.50. The N/A '41 Lincoln goes for a more realistic $231.50. A Maybach Zepplin sells for a stronger $299.00, while a red 1961 Jag is sold at a lower $300.00. The BIG news was the offering of the FIRST Pebble Beach car, the 1961 White Lincoln that did sell after MUCH bidding with a STRONG $1301.99 to a D4C member! The D4C auction had more action then e-Bay for a change. A D.M. blue 1953 Buick sold cheaply for only $100.00, while a D.M. Blue Camaro sold equally low with a $126.00 taking this discontinued model. The D.M. James Bond Aston Martin also sold at a STEAL price when $116.00 took this prize. The F.M. Eldorod was a stronger seller with $102.00 taking this custom home for a new owner. The 1970 Mach I was lower with a lack of bidding and only $307.00 taking this relatively hard to find model home. A Pebble Beach Packard was much stronger with a winning bid of $260.00 being offered. A 1997 Black Corvette was a NO SALE when a $700.00 RESERVE was ignored by all bidders! Can't understand why when I have them on my site for $595.00! Last lot offered today was a nice Cutaway Corvette motor with box and papers selling at an even $1000.00 for a model that should sell for much more! Probably all existing models are under 1000, and this was picked by Raffi as one of his top 5 rarest F.M. models! Talk about Deja Vue, another private sale of a F.M. 1960 Red Chevrolet hardtop for $2000.00 was confirmed! Quite unusual to have two of the rarest F.M. models sell one right after the other! Friday 9/29--- A '41 N/A Lincoln opened e-Bay today, bringing a higher $183.05! A nice model, and should be brought back in BLACK! A '70 Mach I was STOLEN, (I must have been eating AGAIN!), when a paltry $207.51 took this little jewel home to a new owner. A James Bond Aston Martin bought $126.00, and is showing some weakness for this much wanted model. A Pebble Beach packard was a NO SALE at the $240.00 reserve price. Another Airstream was offered, but this one was missing the T.V. aerial, and STILL brought $430.00 This makes the $400 PERFECT one seem like a SUPER buy! Last lot of interest on e-Bay was another 1986 Mid America Corvette, this time bringing a slightly stronger $811.00! Although lower then it was at the beginning of the summer, this is a very scarce model, and will be going back up as the small group of these that appeared were all sold! A small, but interesting group of models were sold this night on the D4C! The Maroon '41 Lincoln was lower again with $159.00 taking it. The low mintage Jouef Ferrari 330 P4 Daytona was won with only $175.00 being bid, and was one of the better buys! To go along with the Daytona, a D.M. Ferrari 330 P4 was hammered down with another good buy of $210.51. A 1957 Eldorado was sold for $284.00. I believe it had some flaws but not very bad. A final sale for this day was a F.M. 1961 red Jag bringing an improving $365.00. Saturday 9/30--- e-Bay started out this day with a 1910 Rolls Royce balloon car selling for a strong price of $121.00, while a 1914 Rolls sold for a higher $132.50. A D.M. Dodge Charger received a very strong price of $109.50 on what is apparently a N/A car from Danbury. This model will be coming back as it's one of D.M. best sellers! A Divco milk truck is always in demand, and this one was no different as $137.50 was the winning bid on a $135.00 retail! A really neat truck, but still available! One of F.M.'s garage diorama red 1958 Corvettes was offered alone, and was sold for a very strong $204.49 when the complete diorama is available at $245.00! I note that a few weeks ago just a diorama sold for over $150.00! Seems breaking up this combination is currently worth a $100.00 profit! Let's see if anyone else has the chutzpah to do it again! The e-Bay sales ends on a high note as someone TRIES to sell a James Bond Aston Martin with a reserve of $400.00! That MAY be the price in 2005, but the seller was definitely PUSHING the price just a little! Some interesting prices were realized on D4C. A 1951 Citroen which is now N/A, and speculation is that this won't be coming back, was won with a very reasonable $87.00! A 1929 blue/black Rolls Royce that had its headlights broken off still managed to bring a $100.00 bid. A D.M. 1955 Nomad Street machine was bought for $113.00! Apparently no one read the new D.M. catalog as these are still listed at $112.00! The D.M. 1940 Ford Hot Rod, seldom offered on the secondary market brought $125.00! Another car that pictured in the new catalog at only $112.00! A seldom offered F.M. 1949 Surfer wagon sold for $160.00 for this unique model. The B&C Bullet Hole car, the only one offered this week was sold at another recent low, when only $266.00 was able to buy this 1500 issue car! Nice buy Bob! Closing out this weeks auction action is a 1955 L.E. Pontiac which was sold for $360.00. A getting scarcer model that really should be bringing more. This last week was hectic with many models being bought and sold! Can you imagine what our hobby would be like if we had as many collectors as the "Hot Wheels" niche has? A 9900 L.E. would last about 4 days! I don't know if I would be able to handle all that business, but I sure would like the chance! My days now extend into12 hours OR MORE, seven days a week. I must say it is a RUSH just handling all the nice models that many collectors have only seen pictures of, and I certainly enjoy viewing them all each day I come into work! I don't think many people can say that they really enjoy their job. I DO! Remember all questions, and comments are more then welcome, and I do hope I'm continuing to entertain and inform you on new finds and facts that will increase your knowledge and enjoyment of this terrific hobby. Until next week. Regards, Roy Return To www.franklindanbury.com The "WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT!" Archive |
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