I love Hot Wheels! I am a 45 year old man that loves Hot Wheels cars!  It’s not that it’s been eating me up inside because I haven’t ever been able to say it out loud, I just like saying it.  I love the fact that I collect something many people find unique or quite frankly…odd!  But what’s even more odd is the fact that as much as I love Hot Wheels, I am equally passionate about collecting “different” or “orphan” makes of diecast just as much as Hot Wheels. When I say “different” or “orphan” makes I mean makes that no longer exist or have lower visibility in the diecast world.  Discontinued makes I like include [but aren’t limited to in the least] Playart, Corgi Junior/Husky, Kidco, Zylmex, and Impy/Lone Star. Some current, lower visibility makes I like to collect are Tomica, Siku, and Majorette. 

I have been fascinated by cars since I was very young. I loved to look at them, memorize them, and read and study about them. I also loved to play with little ones!  In the late Sixties, when I was only 2 years old, my Dad bought me over 200 Matchboxes from a much older kid in the neighborhood who needed Christmas money that year.  There were so many cool cars in that box and I played with those cars until they were completely destroyed; which is very hard to do to old Matchboxes. Back in the day, kids played with toy cars much longer than today where there are so many more toy choices at an earlier age.  I was also fortunate enough to have relatives in Germany and visit them quite often as a child.  They would have dozens of cars waiting for me before I arrived including Siku, Majorette, and euro Matchboxes plus would buy me more while I was there which was usually the whole summer off from school.  I would then be able to bring all these unique cars back and impress my friends with them which were much different than your “garden variety” U.S. Matchbox and Hot Wheels of the day.

Furthermore, near my hometown were Woolworth’s, local independent toy stores and regional department stores [anyone remembers Two Guys stores?] not to mention a big hometown 5 &10 [who remembers those?] all stocked with Matchboxes, Hot Wheels, Playart [aka Roadmates or Peelers], Zylmex, and Corgi Juniors. But being a kid I played with these cars like a typical kid would.  I raced them down orange tracks, plowed them through the dirt, played smash up derby, flung them across the sidewalk/driveway, and put them behind the back wheels of my Dad’s Impala. Pre-1969 Matchbox Mercedes Buses with the bubble tops and MG 1100s were especially fun to crush! [Sorry Matchbox fans!] 

Having all these different cars made a lasting impression on me; so when I began to truly become exposed to the world of toy shows and later the internet I saw the same cars I had as a kid and began to snap them up.  I also collected the newer versions of these makes when I could find them.  To me, the thrill of finding a Playart 1968 Plymouth Barracuda or a Siku 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado that still has its jeweled headlights in decently mint shape at a flea market or toy show rivals the joy of finding a great Hot Wheels Redline.  I am still looking for an affordable Impy Flyers Vauxhall Firenza that’s also in clean shape.

I am usually very, Very, VERY, picky about what kind of discontinued orphan cars I collect or any older diecast in general for that matter.  My friend Jeff Koch once jokingly called me a “prissy little B*%@H” [at least I think he was joking] when it came to the condition and what type of car I collected. He probably was justified about that title and I probably am a tad particular about what I buy; but Jeff if you’re out there; please clear that up!

A few years ago I found two Zylmex 1971 Ford Thunderbirds, one mud brown and one sky blue, in dead mint condition for $1.00 a piece in a box at a toy show!  I thought I had died and gone to heaven!  I had these exact two cars as a kid and I used them as my special F.B.I. guy cars! I used to watch the old ABC TV show, The F.B.I., with my Dad every Sunday night and either Efrem Zimbalist Jr. or someone on the show was always driving a Thunderbird.  As a kid, those were my “special” cars, the ones I only gently played with and wouldn’t let anyone else touch! 

I also had a “special” case for my “special” cars and it was chock full of things like a red Playart ’69 Mustang, a rainbow of Hot Wheels Sugar Caddys, a Matchbox Superfast Iso Grifo, and a Corgi Juniors Ogle, plus a smattering of everything else.  But eventually as I got older, I gave my cars away to either my younger cousins or friends of my parents who had younger kids. This is why today I cherish finding cars from my childhood and treat them with great care once I get them home.  I remember studying the Sears Roebuck Christmas catalogs then asking for [and getting] the Hot Wheels Redline sets. I remember getting Woolworth’s Peelers in my Christmas stocking and buying Corgi Juniors with my pocket money when I went to Two Guys.  I can even remember first finding Majorettes in the U.S. around 1973 in a Shop-Rite supermarket and my father refusing to buy them because they were $1.29 each; so my uncle who visiting from South Jersey and shopping with us wound up buying them for me. I also recall the fun of matching my toy cars to cars I saw on the street or TV! 

I now love to read about the history of diecast cars and how they came about. Stories about how Elliot Handler didn’t want his grandkids to play with a competitor’s car or the steep decline of Corgi Juniors not because the cars didn’t sell but because of the terrible economic climate facing Britain and the fatal business decisions of the parent company; like our own history, toys have interesting ones also.

Today, nothing appeals to me more than when a company comes out with an oddball car in its line like the recently cancelled Motormax Fresh Cherries line [R.I.P.!], Hot Wheels Australian Ford XB Falcon and Brazilian VW SP2, Matchbox’s ‘69 Cadillac Sedan De Ville or new Volvo 1800, Greenlight’s ‘71 Javelin Alabama State trooper car [a real life car if you didn’t know], or Tomica’s Mitsuoka Viewt [look that one up]!  I really don’t meet too many diecast collectors who collect quite the same combination of cars I do.  I love Superbirds and ’57 Chevys in diecast and real life but after a while of seeing row after row of them at car shows or on the peg, I kind of like seeing the odd Pinto or De Soto.  Some cars I would love to see done in 1:64 scale are a ’76 Chrysler Cordoba [and pronounce it “cor-DO-ba” as Mr. Montalban so eloquently did in his commercials], or a ’78 Chevy Caprice coupe [I had one; great car!] or maybe something really off the wall like a Borgward Isabella  or ’57 Nash Ambassador hardtop coupe!  Like I said, I like’em odd!

What unique diecast cars do you collect and why do you collect them? I love talking to other collectors about why they collect the cars they do.  I love to hear about someone’s oddball “FIND” and why they love that oddball car.   You should be proud of your oddball collection and tell everyone about it who wants to hear. I definitely have an open ear; let me know!

Don’t be afraid to go to your window right now; open it wide up, and yell as loud as you can:

“I AM A @@-YEAR OLD MAN/WOMAN AND I LOVE TO COLLECT TOY CARS”

It’s really very liberating!

First, I would like to introduce myself.  My name is Joe Altieri, and I live in Northern New Jersey.  I truly consider myself a die-cast ”collector” and not a hoarder, scalper, or flipper!  Jeff Glasson has asked me to write some columns on the life of a typical die-cast collector and get your feedback on the hobby through my articles. I hope that once you read this article you’ll continue to read future ones to come. Thanks for reading “Diecast Stories from the Average Joe Collector.”

In recent years I’ve noticed something interesting happening to me every time I attend a die-cast show or convention; I am approached by a fellow collectors [whether I know actually know them or they are brought over to me by a friend] to either take me over to a vendor’s table or room to get my opinion on an impending sale, to show me a just purchased treasure to get my opinion on the condition or price paid, or to ask a question about products from any of the many 1:64 scale manufacturers of die-cast. I have been frequently told that I was the deciding factor either for or against a particular purchase. I am not trying to “toot my own horn” or boast about what I do or do not know about die-cast, but it always gets me thinking about how and what I collect now as opposed to when I began collecting and throughout the interim years.

It has been almost 26 years since I began collecting die-cast and over 19 years since I truly caught the die-cast collecting “bug” and met my first Hot Wheels collecting comrade, my great friend Bill, who was and is my mentor of all things Hot Wheels. So I guess I have seen a lot of collectors, trends, and die-cast companies come and go, wither and resurrect, or completely change themselves altogether. I have always been a history buff; whether it’s the real life history of the world around us or the history of the cars I love to collect. I love to absorb this knowledge as much as I can, but find myself having to omit a lot of information for lack of brain space or for want on that knowledge.

I can’t be a variation almanac like so many of today’s collectors are [God bless your memories] with all the wheels changes, window colors changes, body color changes chassis color/material changes and point of origin as I would like to be.

I don’t seek out variations for my collection unless they are physically pointed out to me while standing at the rack or at a show, and I can’t rattle off things like “the Muscle Madness ’68 Nova comes in all small wheels, all big wheels, and large front wheels/small rear wheels” or vice versa. But, I can pretty much rattle off every ’57 Chevy variation since 1977 or what each Dream Halloween or Toy Fair car has been or how much I did or didn’t pay for a particular car.

I’ve come through a succession of models that I’ve focused all of my attention on as well. First, it was old and new Matchbox. Then I added old and new Hot Wheels and new Johnny Lightnings when they were reintroduced in the 1990’s. All the while I kept up with new and old Majorette and Tomica models thrown in for good measure. It all became maddening! Yet, I would still buy any model, old or new, from any manufacturer that caught my eye. I was a full “completist” and had to have every model I could afford from those aforementioned manufacturers. During that time I was able to keep every model I had in my head as well as on ancient Apple computer spreadsheet. At times I thought my head would explode or at the very least brain matter would start to ooze from my ears!

In 2001 I attended my first Hot Wheels convention – the Wild Weekend of Hot Wheels 2 in Connecticut – and my mind was blown wide open!  There were so many people collecting what I did all together in the same place, with special events and best of all; the room to room trading!!!  That was something I had never experienced before. I was then completely hooked on conventions from that point forward.

While at WWHW2 I heard about larger convention that meets every year in California run buy a guy named Mike Strauss. I got some info while in CT and hurriedly sent in my application to the event as soon as I got home. Unfortunately 9/11 happened that September, and I thought I may never be able to go to this Hot Wheels Mecca I had begun to believe in. Fortunately, the restrictions were lifted and off I flew to Irvine California, all by myself; intimidated, but ready to learn!  During the convention I was lucky enough to meet my buddy Mike from NH – someone who is still one of my best friends in the Hot Wheel and real world.

Mike had been going to Strauss conventions since 1998 and knew all the in, outs, and quirks associated with them. We became fast friends and my feet were set upon the path of convention knowledge. Needless to say, the rest is history for I have attended every east and west coast Strauss event since Irvine 2001 (save for Dallas 2004 when my son had just been born). After Irvine 2001 I attended the Wild Weekend of Hot wheels 3 in 2002 where I got to know another best friend of mine, Bryan from NC. I have also attended the Wicked Weekend of Hot Wheels 1 and 2, the annual Macungie PA outdoor toy event, as well as more recently introduced conventions like Summer Smash in Rhode Island, the Mexico City Hot Wheelers convention, and the DiecastSpace.com Super Convention in Las Vegas and Atlanta.

When I was still a completist, conventions were all about “the hunt” for everything I didn’t have.  But since having divested myself of over 3000+ pieces of Matchbox and over 1000+ pieces of Johnny Lightning I have been able to enjoy collecting even more. I no longer need to have every mainline Hot Wheels. I now prefer nice redlines or special limited cars like convention and toy fair pieces. I also have grown very fond of collecting discontinued “orphan makes.” Those include the cars I had as a kid like Playart, Zylmex, and Corgi Junior, as well as makes with limited availability in the U.S. like Tomica, Majorette, and Siku. Likewise, convention-going has changed from hunting for everything I can get my hands on, to meeting up with old and new friends and talking about the state of collecting, about other collectors who have come and gone or just sitting around eating, drinking and making each other laugh!

Many things affect the way we collect. The economy, die-cast companies’ fortunes and product decisions, to the size of our own wallets change the way we collect; and that’s not a bad thing. Any changes should be accepted and embraced if you want to keep on doing and collecting whatever you love.

So have I changed as collector? That answer would have to be a resounding YES!  I’m glad I have changed, evolved, backed off or whatever you want to call it. Its made me a happier collector and a more grateful one at that.

How have/haven’t you changed as collector since you started out in this great hobby? Let’s hear you story via the comments section below.