DIE CAST COLLECTING FROM A KID'S
POINT OF VIEW Dateline Memphis Jan. 20, 2001
When Boss Lady asked me to do this assignment, I was all
over it…..at least in my mind. Unfortunately with my work schedule
& other concerns, I was a little later with it than she wanted.
But, hey, what do you expect from a guy as underpaid as me? Hopefully,
what I lacked in promptness, I’ll make up for in quality. I headed out this morning with my first & only
planned stop being one of the local Target stores. I had to drop
off film for developing anyway, so it seemed like the most logical place
to go. I asked to speak to the manager on duty, but when explaining
my business, was told to come back a while later when the store manager
was present. Sure it was a hassle, but I felt it was better to explain
myself then & get their blessings, than to be led out later in handcuffs
in front of news cameras as some sort of pervert or something! Would
have been terrific publicity for the site, huh? ;-} Anyway,
I decided I’d head over to TRU in the meantime, just to see how they’d
be with the idea. The manager there was more than glad to have me
there. I lurk…….I mean wandered around the car aisle for what seemed
like an eternity waiting for a younger collector to come around. I'm gonna take a little side step here for a minute.
This particular TRU has a Pokemon trading/gaming session every Saturday.
I don't get it; all the boys that you'd think would be in the car/truck
aisle are sitting around the Pokemon tables! And I'm talking 20-30
kids, boys & girls, but the majority of them are the boys like I’d
expect to be into Hot Wheels & Matchbox. I just don't see it,
but different strokes for different folks, I guess. So while I'm
wandering around in the die cast section for the next 45 minutes, I start
to wonder about something else. Has anyone ever seen anyone ever
actually BUY one of those miniature trick bikes or tiny in-line scooters?
I mean, what can you do with those? Where's the fun supposed to be
in that? The package says, “Build the ultimate trick course!”
Ok, so you've spent your money ($7+) per pack to get enough to build this
“course”. Then what? You can take your fingers & act like
they're pedaling the bike around the course & doing tricks & stuff?
I still don't get it. And I swear I see absolutely nothing that can
be done with these things at all. Yeah, they've got detail &
yeah it's neat that they can be made, but so what? Give me little
cars any day. The whole point of this little side journey is to show
just how long I had to wait for a true “kid” collector to come along.
I wasn't going to ask the ones that just walked through with no real interest
& I wasn't there to interview adults. Finally, I spotted a couple of likely sucke……..um…….candidates.
I noticed that they were looking at the larger 1:43 - 1:18 scale models
and actually seemed to be looking for certain types of things. I
approached, asked if they collected, & asked if they’d mind answering
a few questions. I told them I’d make it worth their time. First up was Kevin, age 12. When I asked why
he collected, he responded with “ I think its neat & cool & what
I like to do.” He told me he collects Chevys & he likes the classics
& muscle cars. When I asked about the size of his collection,
he said he has approximately 30-40. He doesn't really collect the
smaller scale stuff. He displays some of his collection on stands
& he has some boxed up & stored. Since he doesn't have smaller
scale cars, he doesn't have a track or anything he runs them down.
His favorite car to collect? Corvettes. He gets out to go car
hunting about once a month. (Either he has some strong self-control
or he doesn't average very well) His favorite store to go looking
for cars is Toys R Us. He considers the best thing he ever found
to be a 57’ Corvette. Then I turned the discussion a different direction.
I asked Kevin what he thought of flea market venders who sell regular issue
Hot Wheels/Matchbox for more than a dollar. He said he didn't like
it. (Not that it really applied to him, anyway) He doesn't like scalpers,
but then wasn't real sure what I meant by scalpers, to begin with.
So then I asked him if he had the chance to tell a scalper something to
make them quit, what would it be? He responded with, “Leave the stuff
in the stores alone”. Sounds like simple advice, huh? What
will he do with his cars in his adult life? Still plans on displaying
what he can & storing the rest. I finished my query off by asking
what the ONE car that he'd most like to find right now would be.
His answer, you ready for this? A 1:18 scale Hummer. Next was David, age 16. Why do you collect?
He just plain likes cars & has fun collecting them. He has no
preference as to brand names & will get whatever he likes, be it Ertyl,
Hot Wheels, Racing Champions, or whatever. He also leans towards
the Chevys (you hearing this Boss Lady?), & considers body design &
paint in making his decisions on what to buy. He says he has over
100 cars in his collection and displays most of them, but also has some
in boxes. He doesn't have any track to run them on, but when he was
younger he had a whole layout that included an electric train, roads, houses,
& of course the little cars. His favorite car is also just simply
“Anything Chevy”. He doesn't have a favorite place to go looking for cars
& says he gets out about once a week. His best find? A 1:18 scale
63’ Split-Window Vette, which he didn't buy at the time. He wanted
to, but thought he'd wait to see if the price would go down. (Been there,
done that, David) Naturally, the next time he went looking for it,
it was gone. He doesn't buy from flea market venders & he's never
paid more than $5 for a 1:64 scale car; not that he's ever actually paid
5 bucks either. Doesn't buy from scalpers either. What would
he say to a scalper to try to change their ways? “They're ruining
it for people that really collect”. He hopes to have a really large
display case to put his cars in when he becomes an adult. Can you
guess what is tops on his list to find right now? Remember that 63’
Split-Window? After finishing with the two boys, I gave them each
a 99’ CB’s Convention car, bumper sticker, & pen, then thanked their
mother. As it turned out, they were brothers, which probably explained
some of the similarities of their answers. That was where the similarities
ended, though. I’d never have guessed they were brothers. After
getting bored waiting for another possibility, (Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon)
I decided to head back to Target. The manager there was not as understanding
& would not allow me to do the question/answer thing in his store.
So I improvised. I hung around the cars for a while & looked;
still nothing there in that store, but my wait paid off. I spied
another vict…..good opportunity & this one looked to fit the 6-8 year
old slot I was hoping for! After watching & listening to this
boy & his mother for around 5-10 minutes, I told them briefly what
I was doing, & if they’d meet me in the parking lot, I’d have something
for them afterwards. Can't keep this Stoneman down. Brett, age 8, but will be 9 in March. Why do
you collect? “Because they're fun & cool.” Brands you collect?
“Hot Wheels & Matchbox.” What makes them interesting to you?
“The way they look & the colors.” (Out of the mouths of babes)
About how many do you have? “I don't know. 100?” Do you display
them? “Some” (He keeps some out all the time, his “favorites” are
in a car case, & the rest are in a box) He has a G Force track set
to run them down & likes to just roll them around & pretend they're
in chases & wrecks. Do you have a favorite car or type of car?
“Real cars” (I took this to mean he likes cars that resemble the
real thing) Then he followed up with “Mustangs, Corvettes, & trucks”.
How often do you go hunting for cars? “Whenever Mom or Dad can take
me”. (Mom says at least 2-3 times a month) Favorite store to
go to? “Walmart & Toys R Us”. What's the best thing you've
ever found while looking? “That blue Nissan 4x4 Truck”. (Blue Streak
series?) What do you think of flea market dealers selling $1 cars
for more than a dollar? “Don't like it, but if you can't find it
anywhere else…” Ever paid more than $5 for a single 1:64 scale
(Hot Wheels) “No, but I think I paid maybe $4 for that blue truck”.
Why? “Because that was the last one I needed, & I couldn't find
it”. What do you think of scalpers? Had to explain this to
him with a little help from his mother. Answer? “That
sucks”. Mom did a double take & reminded him not to talk like
that. If you could tell a scalper something to make them quit, what
would it be? “If you had a kid, would you like them to not be able
to find a car they want because you took them all?” (Ok, so it stumbles
around a bit, but it sounded pretty good to me) When you get older
(adult), what will happen to your cars? “I don't know; keep em’,
I guess”. Right now, what is the one car you'd most like to be able
to find? (This answer I think said it all) “Any Treasure Hunt!
Just so I can say I have one.” I thanked them both for their time
& gave them the same as I gave the other boys, with the exception of
an extra bumper sticker for their second car. (Guess they're actually
gonna put it on!) So what did I learn in my almost 3 hours of time? 1. For starters, these silly little, tiny bikes,
scooters, & skateboards are taking up tons of valuable die cast real
estate in Target, TRU, & Walmart! 2: Pokemon continues to brainwash the minds
of perfectly normal kids who should be playing with cars & trucks like
the rest of us well adjusted guys with thousands of the little things. 3: If you go to the die cast section looking
for kids, you're in for a long wait. 4: If you yell “Pokemon” during the TRU Saturday
get together, people look at you like you're some sort of goon. 5: If you stand around long enough in the die
cast aisle looking at & studying people, you'll get some strange looks
thrown your way. I also learned that there are some real collectors
out there that we other collectors (namely 1:64 scale) tend to not think
about. Since they spend more per car on average, they may not get
out as much & their collections will probably tend to be smaller in
quantity. I have to admit, I was surprised to see the two older boys
looking at the more expensive, larger cars. I always assumed that
adults bought those. For some reason, I tend to think of collecting
die cast cars on a smaller scale, probably since that is the largest part
of my personal collection. However, the larger scale models can be
more detailed to look at, but at a cost. They normally cost more
& naturally take up more space. While I tend to collect smaller
scales, I also have some 1:43 & 1:24 scales, too. I also just
recently acquired some Danbury Mint cars from a very special lady in my
life. (Yep, old Stoneman musta been a very good boy this past year)
So it just comes down to whatever floats your boat, I suppose. While
I enjoyed talking to the two older boys & getting their input, I have
to say that the 8-year-old Brett seemed to be more in tune to what we “HW,
MB, & JL collectors” go through. There doesn't seem to be a big
scalping problem among the larger scales, probably due to their pricing
to begin with. And when a child collector says he'd just like to
find ANY Treasure Hunt to be able to say he has one, well, that just says
it all about what has happened to our hobby. It is nice to see that
there is a younger generation of collectors out there who truly look forward
to the fun of the hunt. I thought it was very interesting that none
of them mentioned any kind of value in their reason for collecting; which
made me feel they were genuine collectors, rather than thinking they’d
make money off their collections. I also liked the fact that they
all pretty much figured on keeping their cars, as they grew older.
If anything bothered me about any of the time I spent trying to interview
these kids, it had to be the stuff some of the manufacturers are putting
out as “collectibles”. I guess collectibles are all in the eye of
the beholder & I guess really ……………that's the way it should be. Until later, Stoneman
