Message:
Marlowe I can honestly say that I would change .........
NOTHING! I've somehow managed to build my collection of over 250 1:24ths, several 1:12ths, and about 2 dozen 1:43rds and (not sure how many 50-60??) 1:64 Johnny Lightening buying for the most part ONLY what really tickled my fancy lol and was partial to certain LEs and discontinued models. I also must add that I bought my collection "right" When the FM gallery stores were still in business I often bought multiples of an issue, waited for them to be sold out, sold off my "extras" and in MANY cases got my "keeper" for free and even made a few bucks! I did this with many Danbury models too, ordered 2-4, sold off the "extras" etc.. I own the DM 1:12 Cadillac. YES $495 is a LOT to spend on a model isn't it? I bought TWO of these! After they were sold out, a guy in China bought one from me with a BIN of $895!! So that nets my keeper down to a cost of $100 !!!! I now own a model thats GORGEOUS, is a stand out AND Is worth at minimum $750-$800+ THAT is collecting SMART! I also didn't fall into the trap of buying EVERY LE Corvette, GTO, MUSTANG etc..I bought what I LIKED and felt had a certain appeal to it. NOT mainly for resale value, but a WHAT IF senerio. IF these were not worth a DIME I still have a collection that I LOVE and each for a different reason. Over the past 3 years I "fine tuned" my little cars and sold what didn't really make me smile or get excited! Oddly enough it seems like I am not intriqued by BLACK models as most of the ones I didnt like ended up being black! I sold my LE FM Black Gallery 69 Camaro, the FM BLACK LE Cuda (LE of 500, but added the Purple AAR LE Cuda), the BLACK LE AC Cobra (added the Blue/white stripes, the BlACK LE 64 GTO (eventually want to add the RED 64 GTO), sold the DM DeSOto FireFlight convertible (plum/lavender). I felt this one was DRAB! Also kicked to the 1:24th scale Curb were the D4C GOLD Corvette, never cared for it, but wanted to have the complete D4C collection at the time! I got over $450 for it and could now add one for less then $200 so maybe THAT was a smart move! LOL etc... I could go on and on. My advice to ANY new collector though is the following..... Buy ONLY what you really like and do NOT count on these models as investments! I seem to have been lucky collecting what I did and they way I did, but that isn't common place in this hobby, look at them as sources of enjoyment! While I
seem to have a valuable collection, that wasn't my main intent. I have limited means and could never had afforded to have 1/5th the collection IF I didn't finagle the way I did. Last ...as Jay O pointed out keep the boxes and paperwork!!!!
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