Do you collect diecast models?
If so, please read on..........
What do you remember of your first diecast toy? How long ago was that? Can you really remember that far back???
Looking through magazines and directories of models for sale and going to Toy Fairs and Swapmeets it is amazing the memories that return looking at those old battered Dinky Toys, Corgis, Matchbox, Spot-On and others. Recollections of toys owned, then given away, that are now worth a mint! It is also surprising to see so many in outstanding condition, still in pristine boxes, and now worth more than a mint! Who would have thought in the 1950s that a Maroon Foden Flat Truck with Chains (Dinky Toys No. 505) would have been worth £12,000 in April 2003? If only I had looked after them more carefully........
Still, there is quite a market in second-hand diecast toys and prices continue to rise for post war Foden and Guy models in particular.
There is an increasing market for new collectable diecast models in the UK, with EFE (Exclusive First Editions) and Corgi leading the way. There is a range of scales at which models are produced but EFE tend to produce 1/76th scale models, and mainly buses. Many of these have become collectors items, with certain liveries being especially desirable, such as Southdown, London Transport, Green Line, Maidstone and District and Ribble, and prices for certain models within these ranges tend to increase year on year.
Corgis better quaility models are in the Corgi Classics range, which concentrates on a range of mainly commercial quality vehicles at 1/50th scale. Many of these, too, have become collectors items with the Norfolk Line and Gibbs of Fraserborough sets being in particularly short supply and commanding prices well in excess of £100. Other boxed commercial vehicle sets, such as Lord of the Isles, are bound to follow a similar trend.
Other diecast manufacturers producing models for sale in the UK include Britbus and Creative Master Northcord who specialise in bus models, and Oxford Diecast, Base Toys and Classix who have, in particular, been producing model ranges suitable for use with OO scale model railways. Hornby and Bachmann are also soon to release models suitable for use with OO/HO railways.
To keep up to date with what is going on in these and other ranges consider buying some of the magazines listed below. Also visit our shop which offers the latest releases at competitive prices.
