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Volume 1 Issue #22 Seems that the F.M. Pewter Corvette has already hit the auction block with little results. One was offered on the D4C site for an amazing $1250.00, and, of course, was a NO SALE! Another has a starting price of $1075.00 on e-Bay, ( Item #486870864 ), and so far has NO BIDS! I believe ANYONE interested in this models KNOWS that it is still currently available from F.M. at their GRAND figure, and just can't imagine why anyone would pay a PREMIUM for one of these YET! As mentioned last week the PROTOTYPE 1963 F.M. Black Fiberglass Corvette sold for a RECORD $2500.00! Even more interesting was the fact that there were 3 bidders in it at over the $2000.00 mark! This model had many things going for it. Being a CORVETTE was enough to cause a great amount of interest, and the intimation that no more then 3 were ever produced, and it being the first Fiberglass Corvette body from F.M., made for a model that had a lot of collectors talking! Congratulations Jim, a real NEAT piece! The other special model mentioned, the HAND-BUILT MINT D.M. 1958 Plymouth Belvedere in red/white, was finally sold for $618.89, ( I couldn't help myself, I just HAD to have it!). There were 26 bids spread out between 15 active bidders! I feel for the time that is spent making these masterpieces, this price was CHEAP, (the #1 car of this model had sold for $1550.00!) 
More news this week on the F.M. muscle car series thanks to
D4C member Tony Perrone! Likely the first issue will be a 1969
YELLOW SS396 CONVERTIBLE, (thank you F.M. for no more
hardtops!), with the familiar black fender stripping and a black
top! (You'd think that since they knocked the top off their '69
Hardtop, they could do this to other vehicles, i.e. the 1949
Caddy hardtop, or how about bringing out the '39 Maybach with
the TOP DOWN! Now THAT would be a winner!!) The 1964 GTO
CONVERTIBLE will be in maroon. ( I had a good friend with a
silver convertible with tri-power as a young lad, and I'm
wondering if I should re-paint this one? Think I will!), and I'm
hoping that the 3-2 barrel option will be on this, but doubt it!
This all NEW model will be one of F.M.'s biggest hits if sold by
itself! Here's the car that started the whole MUSCLE CAR
REVOLUTION! Now let's hope in 2002, they're smart enough to add
the HARDTOP to the lineup along with the 1966 that they've had
under wraps for YEARS! The 1970 Boss 429 Mustang will be in Ford
Blue, and will have a different hood then the Discontinued L.E.
1970 Mach I . It appears to have the Mach I rear window louvers,
( I don't recall EVER seeing a BOSS 429 with those louvers! You
Ford guys let me know on this!), and a 429 should replace the
Cobra Jet motor! Besides these differences, it's a re-paint! The
1971 Chevelle is Black with white racing stripes and will look
BOSS next to the '69 L.E. Camaro! This appears to have been an
easy redo as the headlights are now single units in the '71, and
a different set of wheels grace the car! All else should be the
same as the '70! The Slime Lime, (thank you Kevin G. for the
descriptive color of that Mopar!), 1970 Cuda is another easy
repaint and rebadged model, now with the mighty 440 6 Pack motor
instead of a Hemi and properly identified as such! The BEST in
the set has to be the 1970 White with Blue stripes Pontiac
Trans-Am hardtop! An ALL NEW model, (I know, so is the
GTO!...but, yes, FM has done it in 1/43), it has THE LOOK that
defined the pinnacle of Pony cars! There were quicker Muscle
Cars, but NEVER sexier ones then this! The lines of the T/A were
BETTER then Bridget Bardot's to a lot of us motorheads! Wait
till the Pontiac owners club hears about these 2 new Poncho's!
F.M. should just set up a tent at their annual meeting with only
their Pontiac models available, and sell four or five HUNDRED!
Kudos to F.M. for a job well done!
With the announcement that D.M. would be doing the
BATMOBILE, ( circa 1960's T.V. show model ), D4C member Jeff
Drobot was notified that this model will be delayed! I KNOW F.M.
was toying with the idea of bringing this model out, ( which
T.V. or movie version is not known CURRENTLY, but I believe it
was one of the MOVIE cars!), so I would suspect that D.M. is
CERTAINLY going to come through on this, if only to steal F.M.'s
thunder! D4C member Jim Thwaite was able to learn that the date
has been moved to November 2001 as a release date, but he felt
that it would be much sooner, (it usually is as either mint
likes to give themselves BREATHING ROOM!). Price is quoted at
$157.00 delivered! RUMORS persist that either or both MINTS are
toying with the idea of producing a series of MOVIE cars! I can
guarantee that if done, it would be one of the best selling
series out there! Perhaps to be accompanied by figures and/or
diorama's to make these vehicles even more tempting! If F.M.
gets $245.00 for the Corvette Garage Scene right now, they
should have no trouble getting this much OR MORE, for a
specialty piece in L.E. proportions! D.M. also announced that
the Red 1937 Studebaker Coupe-Express Pick Up will be retired on
12/31/00! (Thanks Steve M.). One of D.M. most prized pick ups,
is not going away for long as it will be re-painted and brought
back again! I HEAR that ALL the current, ( I mean by that one
year old, or older ), D.M. pick ups will be discontinued in
their current color, and will be re-painted and brought back!
D.M. has seen the light and realizes that those slow selling
models can have new life pumped into them just by a different
paint job! Let's just hope that they get some FEEDBACK from some
SERIOUS collectors as to the colors to choose! There are many
colors that will NOT be favored by collectors and sales will
suffer because of it!
One of the best sources of information and new products is
"Toy Cars & Vehicles" magazine! I just went through the Dec.
2000 issue and came up with a few interesting things for 1/24th
scale precision diecast collectors! They recently had a "Reader
Poll" of the 25 MOST REQUESTED model cars! I've reprinted it
here and think most will agree that this is a pretty good list
for F.M. and/or D.M. to check out and take notice! Seems model
car builders want just about the same models as diecast
collectors do! Now, let's everyone copy this, and ship it off to
the president of each Mint! Perhaps THAT will get their
attention!
Some NEW products that are newsworthy are 2 diorama
displays from Revell in 1/24-1/25 scale that I've pictured here!
The Street Scene has a section of sidewalk and a 50's-60's style
street light as its main theme and includes such goodies as
cracks in the pavement, part of a crosswalk and light weathering
highlights on the roadway. It also comes with a cardboard
backdrop with buildings! The other, (I think this is NEAT), is
an Off Road scene with green grass and muddy tire tracks. It
even appears to have a horse's skeleton in the foreground with a
desert scene backdrop! I think the 'Ol Reliable '40 Ford would
look SUPER in here! Lots of nostalgia for a few bucks! At press
time no price has been quoted, but certainly worth a look at
your local Revell dealer! Thortek, (www.thortek.com),
has what
I've been talking about for some time now, figures for your 1/24
scale models! These highly detailed pieces are in painted pewter
and are quite an assortment! Check out the scan of what's
available so far! I believe there will be more of these coming!
If Thortek is selling these at $15-$20 a piece, I can't see any
reason for the Mints not to do these in a plastic resin! Would
you pay $10 extra to get a different figure with each new model
you buy? I'm pretty sure it would go over quite well with the
collector, and be a MONEY MAKER for the Mints as well! Again,
this will fall on deaf ears, and another company will rake in
the profits! I just don't think there are any FORWARD thinking
personal in decision making positions within either Mint!The LOWLY 2000 Pebble Beach Ford, is SURELY NOT the sales success that the 1955 Packard was last year! The Packard with it's 3000 mintage was almost an INSTANT sellout, while things have gone from bad to worse with the Ford! The number of models found with major breakage has festered a RUMOR that F.M. has actually gone and made MORE of these models to replace the damaged ones! Whether true or not is not now ascertained, but this has been heard by more than a few collectors from F.M. personnel! Apparently there are still MANY available as I just received this postcard, (see scan), 
offering it at $120 with a
limit of "one model per collector", (sure it is! If you called
up tomorrow and wanted 20, I'm CERTAIN that the order would be
honored!). The secondary market is the place where these models
are currently selling UNDER RETAIL, with MANY of the Independent
dealers being able to get them, and offering them at a discount!
So if you want one, DON'T spend more then ISSUE on it currently!
I truly wonder if F.M. has already prepared for the 2001 P.B.
car? I doubt it, BUT if they are, just a SUGGESTION here! Why
not TRY to make it something that symbolizes Pebble Beach? Turn
the 1930 "Al Capone" Caddy into a LE of 3000 with a new paint
job, and doing away with the GANGSTER related pieces, (machine
gun holes in glass, etc!). Bring back the 1935 Duesenberg in a
BETTER color! A 1949 Cadillac CONVERTIBLE would be appreciated!
Something with CLASS, as that show deserves, and as MOST of your
collectors want! Again, no FORWARD thinking personnel that are
able to direct this project in the proper direction, (Now watch,
since I wrote this, we'll get a KNOCKOUT model!)With time short, I'm just not able to review this weeks auction highlights, but have a idea in the works! I get questions each week about where to find a price guide on the FM/DM/CM models! I always tell them to copy my website as it's as good as any price guide out there. BUT, I'm thinking of starting a PRICE guide that I can include with the WHWN about once a month with REAL WORLD prices. I believe averages of sales for that month on Net auctions, and PRIVATE sales would be a better indication of where the market is going! It would NOT be for all models, but for the Discontinued and N/A models that are the most desired and most volatile! What do YOU think of this idea? Please let me know as if there are enough people interested, I'll try to have this worked out within a few weeks! Until next week! Regards, Roy Return To www.franklindanbury.com The "WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT!" Archive |
roy@franklindanbury.com |
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