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Volume 1 Issue #18 
Let's see, I have the NEW F.M. diecast catalog in my hot
little hands, just raring to see all those NEW Christmas
releases that I'm sure F.M. has in store for us! Since the
D.M.'s catalog came out 2 weeks ago, and had 4, if not new, at
least repaints shown, I thought F.M. would do the same! After
taking all of 2 minutes to look through it's 52 pages, the ONLY
thing of interest I found was that the '57 Chevy Kit Car is no
longer available! Don't waste your time looking for this
magazine, as any of the last 2 or 3 that you may have gotten is
identical, just a new cover shot is all! Come on F.M. You have
an advertising staff that must do nothing all week but decide
which ad that is readily available is going into what magazine
or newspaper! I know there's been cutbacks in the staff, but are
there only one or two people left that make these decisions? How
about a really NEW catalog, say every 3 or 4 months! I think
90-120 days SHOULD be enough time to shoot pictures, write
descriptions, and produce a 52 page catalog! If you need a few
more helpers, hire them! Let's get some NEW models into each
one! Where is the L.E. 55 Crown Vic or the '53 red Caddy? Why
aren't the trio of red, white, and blue Corvettes pictured? How
about that beautiful 1/12 scale 1907 Rolls Royce? You have 2
pages for military models in there; where's the new Sherman
tank? OK, some of this is brand new, but surely there is LEAD
time where you can ANNOUNCE these new models in your catalog!
The Halloween Farmall tractor with hayride wagon, and the
Christmas Harley-Davidson on page 3, along with the GOLD '55
Chevy are new releases from late this summer! If they can be
there within 3 months, I would expect another catalog in
November with ALL the above! You can't sell it, if no one knows
you've got it!I mentioned that the '57 Chevy Kit Car was unavailable, (see picture from catalog), and I've been notified that AT LEAST 2 private parties are going to be building special editions of these cars with new paint and interiors to match! I hoping to recieve one or both for REVIEW before the issue is complete and will try to show you them here first! A properly done re-paint would be another welcome addition to our collecting field! I did make mention that the carburetored motor should be upgraded with a fuel injection unit off the Corvette! Would make an interesting swap! The "Kit Car" is a great model to do this with. Not having to take all the parts apart is more then half the work, although one modeler has mentioned that STRIPPING the paint off the KIT is a rather arduous affair, and must be watched constantly in order to get it perfect for repainting! Let's hope that some interesting STOCK color combinations will come from these trials! Also mentioned was a replica of the NASCAR winning '57 Chevy of Buck Baker! I'm not a real hot NASCAR guy, but sure would be interested in a nicely done model of that car! 
I mentioned last week about the 2 varieties of 1984
Corvettes that are eyeball different! I've had more then a few
requests from collectors wanting the one they don't have, and it
does appear that the smoked window variety is the scarcer of the
two! I've included a scan of the 2 to show you exactly what the
difference looks like! I've heard from long time D4C member Todd
Edmundson that he has one with a clear rear window and black
painted top crossbar with painted black center wheels!
Apparently, F.M. wasn't going to throw any unused parts out, and
a definite third variety has surfaced! Without a doubt this was
a changeover model, and we could possibly find other
combinations! Raffi has mentioned that many changes took place
with some of the models, and this is just one that has come to
light! I'm sure that there are many more, but this is of interst
to a good sized group of collectors.I do get many notes from D4C members, and customers regarding this hobby, and Jim Duncan sent me one that might be of interest to some of you. Jim wrote, "A group of TFM LE's came to mind while reading your last issue. Several of the earlier LE's stand out amongst all the repaints. I'd enjoy hearing your slant on the " stand alone," 55 Sunliner, Star Chief convertible, '70 Mach 1, & '67 Clearcast Vet. These emerged during the period TFM seemed to be "feeling their way" into the LE market, and I suspect they will eventually be recognized for their unique status." Jim, the group of cars you mentioned, along with the '70 Red Chevelle were done at the very beginning of the current L.E. craze! The only one still available since it was declared a L.E exactly one year after the others, and probably not for long, is the cutaway clearcast Corvette! That model, just never caught on! I would think that the absence of a diecast body has been more then enought to hold it back, as being a different Corvette surely should have made it a very popular model! I don't forsee F.M. doing a clearcast again as this model, (along with the Petty Clearcast Oldsmobile), are not sales champions. It was an interesting experiment, but one that is not recieved well by F.M.'s diecast customers! I believe most of us LIKE the heft of a diecast, and this model FEELS more like a plastic kit! As to the others, they have increased 3 fold in price over the last 2+ years, and the excitement that's evident today was just not there then! Few were bought and hoarded, and their current infrequency will only become intensified as more collectors join our ranks. The new collector will continue to keep them instead of selling them. They really are the start of F.M.'s push on the limited edition models, and as such, will continue to be desired. I've been lead to believe that these models were NOT supposed to be limited when issued, but they were said to be slow sellers, and this was a big factor as to why F.M. declared them as such! There were no special plates or markings on the box or cars, and definitely took their clue from the 1997 Pebble Beach MG which also had no identifying numbers or plates! One of the more interesting facts about the current 1930 Ford Pebble Beach car was brought up by D4C member Robert Gemmill. Bob had posted, "I've heard of no properly painted dashboards. I have to wonder about FMs approach to it's Pebble Beach offerings. The 30 Ford was hastily painted, and sloppily packed thereby requiring a huge replacement effort. IMO, the 30 Ford was a weak choice for PB but maybe more suitable for the Media, Pa show. When you look at the incredibly beautiful and classic cars at Pebble Beach, why did FM pick a 61 Lincoln, 49 Ford, 48MG? I can understand the 55 Packard. I think FM is looking merely for advertising and any little billboard will do. FM makes more suitable models that would represent FM at Pebble Beach in a much more suitable manner." To stay with this theme, D4C member Frank Millard offered this observation "I bought my car directly from the MINT on September 19 and have recieved it already. Why are they selling at auction for 20-30% above the factory price?" I personally couldn't agree with Bob more! He's hit the proverbial nail on the head! It certainly does appear that F.M. picks it's P.B. car by looking at what's next in line to be repainted at their factory, and on a certain day, that model is declared the new P.B. car! I guess we, as collectors, can't blame them. We're the ones that created this monster! If the P.B. model wasn't such a good seller in such a short period of time, why did F.M. increase the mintage by 50% over the last 3 years models? Their bottom line is how much money can we make with the least amount of work involved so things don't get screwed up! This year things DID get screwed up with the dash boards not correctly painted, (taken directly from the RPO green car), and from what I read, and have heard from customers, a more then average number of these models were sent out broken or distressed in one way or the other. It had been brought up at the annual meeting about there being an 18 month LEAD TIME in order for a model to go to completion. Hey folks, you have the 2002 P.B. car set yet? I KNOW the 2001 is going to be another tragedy, but time is RIGHT NOW to plan for a GREAT rendering in '02! Almost ANYTHING classic will do! If you must, a repainted '25 Rolls Royce, or make the Capone Caddy into a decent stocker, (with CORRECT door handles, not WIRES). You've got this nice '32 Caddy, EVEN a '49 Caddy CONVERTIBLE, (did I say this loud enough?) would surfice! Come on F.M., let's get with the program, issue your 4500 cars, and see how many COMPLAINTS you get! (I'm all for any PACKARD ,or early LINCOLN, CHRYSLER or DESOTO, make the L.E. first with a RPO car to follow!). Works for me, and probably 90+% of all your customers! As to the price of the P.B. car which is STILL AVAILABLE bringing up to $180.00, (NOT including the FUNDRAISER car at $206.00 which was a SPECIAL case), all I can put this down to is folks just thinking about last years car being immediately sold out, and believing the same has happened this year! F.M. did a real sneaky thing by MIXING all the cars together so a vastly different group of numbers were available at the same time! They have produced all 4500, but some early orders have gotten cars in the 4000+ range while others have gotten them under 200! This makes it a little hard to GUESS when they will sell out, but we'll manage! I don't look forward to this year's car being as popular as the other years, and as for the secondary markets pricing, I think UNDER $200 will be the rule, not the exception for at least a year, perhaps longer! There were just BUNCHES of better models available this week on the D4C and e-Bay auctions! As always there were some very strong bids placed to win the most wanted, and there were great deals to be had. (Just a word here, if using e-Bay DON'T have your models go off after 1 AM Pacific time. You loose more then half your bidders from the EAST coast!) Many of the better models have drifted lower, and some NEW N/A's are getting some VERY strong bids! Seems that the more common models, once they are no longer available, and with speculation that they won't come back, JUMP dramatically in price. Sunday 10/1--- Where to start on e-Bay; there were so many! The F.M. unsigned Shelby recieved a very strong $102.50 on a $105.00 FULL RETAIL! The Bentley Franay is sold for $103.50, and may be an indication about availability here! The regular issue 1949 Caddy is another strong seller at $102.50, while a 1954 retired silver Mercedes Benz is starting to come alive with a $107.00 bid for this long sold out model. The '98 F.M. Christmas truck was a good deal for the new owner at $126.50 and a D.M. 1959 pink Caddy sells for a strong $127.50 as I have heard nothing about this model being N/A! A D.M. 1953 Caddy in 1/16 scale was a very good buy for the new owner when $114.01 took it home! Seems this larger scale is just no where near as popular as 1/24 scale with collectors. A 1910 Caddy that is currently N/A is gone for $112.50, while a '56 L.E. Chevy is a NO SALE at the offered $137.00. A blue 1993 Rolls Royce is sold at $163.50 on a rumor that it is N/A again, and might be back in January, (there is Gallery stock out their at $135.00!) The RETIRED 1915 Stutz sells for a decent $228.88, and the newly N/A 1961 Red Jag is finally sold at $330.00! There were 2 1982 L.E. Corvettes for sale today, with the first one selling at 4:11 A.M. EDT for $430.01! There seems to be some concern here as the seller is now marked down as UNREGISTERED on e-Bay, and that USUALLY means there was some PROBLEM with him! Take this for what it's worth! The other L.E was bid to $530.05, and was a NO SALE as it should be! The last model of note on e-Bay was a 1986 Pace car Corvette going for a very reasonable $711.00, exactly $100.00 LESS then one offered last week! The D4C had some surprises as a new C.M. blue Camaro was SOLD at $57.00; UNDER dealer cost for these models! Just how LOW can this model go? With only a 3000 issue, perhaps there really aren't that many diehard diecast collectors out there to absorb this limited edition! A '54 Silver Gullwing M-B goes for $112.50, $5.00 stronger then the e-Bay offering today! This could be a long term winner in the making as the available supply certainly isn't copious. The D.M. James Bond Aston Martin sells for $130.00 just a few dollars under full retail. This is one of the strongest selling models on the secondary market almost always being very close to issue, and many times it trades for MORE! The recently N/A '29 Rolls Royce is showing its strength with a $144.00 price, and the little Morris Rallye car, (STILL no concrete information on this model!), sold for a strengthening $197.00! I wouldn't be surprised to see this model in the $250-$300 range soon as VERY few are offered for sale! It's a cute little car, and certainly a conversation piece when showing a collection! The '69 L.E. Camaro is still within its trading window at $215.00, but the Harrod's Jag is still feeling pressure as it brings $227.00. A '57 WW Corvette seems to be settled around the $200 figure as the D4C lot sells for $225.00, and last sale for today was a 1959 L.E. Cadillac for $260.00. Keep your eye on these as they are rarely offered, and the prices seem to be firming if not rising! Monday 10/2--- e-Bay is still active with a 1998 Christmas truck being STOLEN for only $101.50! Great buy Frank; I see another SHARPSHOOTER in the works! Speaking of bargains, how about a D.M. 1953 Caddy 1/16 scale going for just $100.00, and a F.M. '55 Crown Victoria Mint but no box or papers for only $82.00! You just have to be on top of your game to get these deals! A '55 Chevy in red/white is hammered down for $109.50, and the always popular D.M. Divco milk truck gets a reasonable $114.84. A Harrod's Jag hits an all time LOW when $182.50 is able to snag this bargain, and a 57 WW Corvette is steady at $214.50. The Bonnie & Clyde Bullethole car is still on the skids when a low winning bid of $255.00 is all it took. Another model facing seller pressure was an Airstream trailer going for just $480.11. Seems another GROUP of these has shown up on the auctions, and supply is outpacing the demand. A 1997 Black Corvette sells for $504.00, the lowest price I've seen on this model in a long time! Last e-Bay item was a F.O.P. Lambo with boxes and papers that was bid to only $750.77, and naturally, was a NO SALE! It was a light evening on D4C with a 1926 Mercedes-Benz selling for only $101.01 for this beautiful and hard to find model. A surprise was a 1934 L.E. Packard that fetched a high $153.01, while a club funraiser of the 2000 P.B. Ford was graciously bid up to $206.00 for this donation. The PMA 1935 M-B 770K stayed steady with $250 taking it, and the closing lot for today being a 1948 L.E. MG/TC at a right on the money $495.00! Tuesday 10/3--- The e-Bay activity continues with a '54 silver Mercedes Gullwing selling at $100.00, keeping this model in the three figure catagory. The '30 Bugatti is supposedly N/A, and commands $102.50, (check on this with your local F.M. dealer). The F.M. '73 silver M-B sells for $119.50 as the myth that this is a European only issue car continues! A 2000 P.B. Ford again sells for more then retail as $122.50 gets it. (I bet many believe this is a $135.00 issue model as last year's beautiful Packard was. Compared to the Packard, the Ford is a BIG LOOSER!) A F.M. 1941 ROLLS ROYCE???? (It turned out to be a '41 Lincoln with broken front bumper, but it sure made EVERYONE look!), brought a very strong $122.50 even after the FAUX PAS was discovered. Talking about a strong secondary market showing, a D.M. 1958 Plymouth gets $125.27 for this $112.00 RETAIL model, and a D.M. Blue Camaro sells very reasonably for only $137.75 for this scarcer model. The D.M. "007" car is out again, this time bringing an over retail $150.00! (Here's a gambler's special for you, buy up some of these for LONG term, and as soon as they are discontinued you'll triple your investment! Probably better then 8% per year in a bank, and virtually no downside UNLESS D.M. makes these FOREVER!) The '41 Lincoln brings $175.00 which is within current range for this N/A model. A '57 WW Corvette stays steady at $223.52, and the '69 L.E. Camaro is also steady at $225.00. The final e-Bay offering was a nice 1961 black Lincoln which received a lower $350.00 for this much wanted model. Tonight D4C was a vast wasteland with the only things of interest being a NO SALE '55 P.B. Packard with missing parts at only $125.00, an original C.M. #9 GT-40 staying with the owner at $375.00 offered, and a NO SALE for the C.M. "black Motor" GT-350 variety at an outlandish $800.00. Wednesday 10/4--- Things are slowing down on the auctions in the middle of the week as fewer models of interest are offered. e-Bay, a '55 Crown Vic going for just $113.05, and a '39 Duesenberg Simone at a good deal price of $110.00. A D.M. 1938 Rolls Royce was a NO SALE at the offered $135.05 and a '33 Pierce Arrow was a bargain at $150.00. The newly N/A 1949 Buick Roadmaster is bid to $179.06 on a model that is highly prized, but I would be very surprised if this car did not come back! A '57 WW Corvette sells for a very low $202.49, and a '55 P.B. Packard draws $228.76. A pair of '69 L.E. Camaros sell for $230.00 and $256.00, while a Motor City's 1948 Saoutchik Cadillac fails to sell with an opening price of $450.00! The L.E 1970 Chevelle brings $350.00, and is not often seen on auction anymore. It seems this, and the '55 Ford Sunliner, and '55 Pontiac convertible, all with 5000 mintage, have been placed with collectors, and big hoards of these no longer exist! Continuing its downward drift, another Airstream trailer sells for onlt $425.00! Looking back at these 6 months from now will be interesting! Our final e-Bay offering was a '73 L.E. Mercedes which did not meet the reserve when only $405.00 is offered for this 1 of 450 model! There were 2 real good deals on D4C tonight when a 1935 N/A Duesenberg is stolen for $100.00, and the '49 Buick Roadmaster only reaches $101.00! A very cheap $127.00 wins the D.M. 1933 Pierce Arrow, while a STRONG $160.00 buys the currently available 2000 P.B. Ford. (Let's all give HYPE a hand, as these P.B. cars seem to have a MYSTIQUE around them that mintages and UGLINESS doesn't seem to effect!) The aqua F.M. '56 T-Bird is another good deal as only $180.00 is the winning bid. A '61 red Jag is a NO SALE at the $250.00 but the model didn't have box or papers. The very scarce '55 Ford Sunliner was a good deal for the new owner as only $400.00 took it, and as todays last offering, a '73 L.E. Mercedes Benz again does NOT sell for an offered $495.00! Thursday 10/5--- In the many years I've watched the auctions I have not seen a day like this! Virtually nothing worth reporting was offered today on either auction! The few items on e-Bay worth reporting was the CAPTURE of a 1886 Motorwagen for a paultry $104.00 on a $195.00 RETAIL! A NEW 2000 Christmas truck changes hands for $105.01, and a 2000 P.B. Ford does the same at $113.00. LAST item of interest was the NEW LOW made by the 1957 WW Corvette when all it could muster was $197.50! The very few models on D4C had a D.M. '32 Ford Highboy sell at a decent $94.99. A 1914 Rolls Woodbody traded at $140.00, and a surprise ending was the F.M. 1953 Cadillac going for a very strong $275.00! Friday 10/6--- The weekends seem to be the place where the action is as e-Bay didn't fail to provide things of interest. Starting with a BANG was the sale of a 1/43 scale 1951 Hudson for $102.50, as I can only guess that 2 people thought that this $55.00 RETAIL model was it's big 1/24th scale brother! Won't someone be surprised! The beautiful 1954 red Chevy convertible draws a strong winning bid of $109.61, while a '49 L.E. Caddy sells for a reasonable $113.50! A nice '35 white Auburn is a very good deal at the $127.50 that bought it. A 1988 black Porsche Targa with no box or papers still manages to draw $142.50 for a good deal to the new owner, and the last and only BIG sale for today was a '41 BLUE Lincoln that sold for a lowering $620.99 making the new owner happy. The D4C had more to offer with a black '57 Ford retractable getting that magic three figure number when $100 is bid for this nice model. The new D.M. 1960 Impala on its first time to the auctions sold for $101.50, as it's cousin, the 1958 Dodge Charger got a little more at $102.00. The inspiring '29 Bugatti Esders was sold for $110.00 along with a D.M. 1930 International Wrecker that fetched $111.00. The little Morris Rallye car was a good buy for the winning bidder, as only $155.00 was needed to scoop up this prize. A '55 L.E. Pontiac with no box or papers was a very good buy when the $245.00 opening bid was met but not exceeded. A "69 L.E. Camaro was offered at $275.00, and apparently everyone knew I had them available at $250.00, as this model did NOT sell. A rare Hershey's Panel delivery was a NO SALE at a reasonable $445.00 but the highlight of the evening was a 1961 white P.B. Lincoln going for it's very reasonable opening bid of only $999.00! The winner should be more then happy with that deal! Saturday 10/7--- Of interest on e-Bay was a F.M. IRP dealer selling their wares at discounted prices with such things as a 1963 Fiberglass Corvette, 1973 silver 450 SL Mercedes-Benz, and a Petty cutaway car all selling for the opening price of $109.00! He got a little more when a '47 Franay brought $114.50. A soon to be discontinued 1930 Duesenberg was won for $108.49, and the last model of interest on DA BAY, was a C.M. boxed Ferrari 330 P4 at a very reasonable $280.00! D4C's auction was better in quality as a '55 red/white Chevy sold for a cheapening $101.52, while a distressed 1955 Rolls Royce ,(no aerial with a glue spot and no box), sold for $119.00. A Metropolitian ERROR car brought a strengthening $200.01. (Guess the bidder doesn't read my site where this is available for $195.00!) The 1959 L.E. Caddy brought another strong $245.00, as did the '55 P.B. Packard offered. The scarce 1970 Mach I Mustang held on to the bottom of its trading range with a $300.00 bid, and a '48 red MG/TC which is even scarcer sold for $350.01. The last lot reviewed for this newsletter was a D4C Corvette which was a NO SALE at the offered $600.00 price! The market this week showed no particular direction. As I stated there were both bargains and new highs made! We'll just have to wait till we get further into the holiday season to see if the prices will gain in strength across the board or stay as random offerings! It does appear that there are more then enough NEW people coming onto e-Bay as I noticed many bidders with no to few feedbacks next to their name as winning bidders! That's a great sign for this hobby as we can all use more people interested in these precision models! I believe D4C is also picking up new members as the LECC models have already made their mark on this hobby and have caused quite a sensation from non-members! Remember to keep those rumors, news tidbits and questions coming in! This is done specifically for you, the reader, and hopefully it gives you a little better insight into the real world of FM/DM/CM model car collecting! Until the next WHWN, have a great week! Regards, Roy Return To www.franklindanbury.com The "WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT!" Archive |
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