6/8/08, but started on 3/5/08!

 

Well, well, lookit here! I'm back again, hopefully for a while this time. When I last wrote in May last year, I thought things were cranking up, but I guess it was a little early. This time around however, I believe things will be different! Check out the new pages to see what I mean. I sure hope so, otherwise, Boss Lady has wasted a lot of time & I've taken lots of pictures all for naught. But I've got a good feeling about it all & can't wait for Trish & Dennis to come to Memphotown so I can see the museum bus. Hopefully it will happen in the near future (And hopefully before my stuff is packed up for my move when I get married).

Over the years I've written about several things, but this time I thought I’d do something different; a discussion of the difficulties faced by friends, family, & significant others of die cast (namely Hot Wheels) collectors. Thanks to the most recent K-Mart Hot Wheels Event & the experiences of my honey, I've decided to write from a different perspective as she suggested. Man I'm gonna make a good husband, huh?  

            Most of us collectors pretty much have a good general idea of what we want (or need, if that's your way). I also imagine that most of us have people, be it friends or family, that have tried to “help” us with gifts or just plain shopping for us. I'm sure we've all received cars from people that they just knew we'd love & not have. I may actually be even more susceptible to receiving unwanted “help”, due to the fact I consider myself a “die cast car” collector, rather than a Hot Wheels collector (although the bulk of my collection is Hot Wheels). Yes I've got some stuff other collectors don't have, but honestly most collectors may not want it, since it may not fit into any particular category & may not have any real collector value ( in dollars, anyway).

            So when it comes to Hot Wheels or Johnny Lightning's, I've just told everyone to just stick to a list of what I may say I'm looking for. It goes without saying that TH’s & WL’s are always on the list! Duplicates can always be traded for other cars. Of course the downside of a list (in my case, anyway), is that it can always change. Yea, some car I've been looking for, for weeks, will be on the list, I’ll find it & buy it, but my honey will also find it & buy it. But, she'll think she's really found something special for me & save it as a gift, only to find out later I've already found it. It also doesn't help matters that I really don't have a handle on what's coming out anymore; I just can't tell someone to look for any particular model anymore. Early on in my “adult” collecting, my Dad found some “really neat” Hot Wheels that he just knew I wouldn't have. Of course, I had all of them. Then he'd just started telling me about what he'd seen, & of course I had those, too. He doesn't even ask now. So back to the whole list thing……..when I actually make a list, its hard to remember to keep it updated. And just how in the world do you try to explain how to find a White Lightning to a non collector??? There is no ONE rule as to what to look for. Treasure Hunts are easy by comparison!

            Now as for my reference to the most recent K-Mart Hot Wheels event, I had to work that whole weekend & couldn't go to it. And as luck would have it, my fiancée was going to be out of town that same weekend. Fortunately, she loves me enough that she & her friend went to the event in Knoxville on my behalf. Armed with a printed copy of what the “special cars” were supposed to look like & the past experience of a couple other K-Mart events, at least my special lady wasn't going into it totally blind. She said the Treasure Hunt & the special colors were easy to get (they both got a fresh case to go through). Anything after that was guess; I had not addressed anything else, as I just didn't know. Fortunately, she met up with a true collector, who was more than happy to help her & her friend out. She said she could tell that he was honestly trying to help by the passion he seemed to have for the hobby & the way he conducted himself. (She compared him to some of our local collectors who will honestly try to help everyone, without taking advantage of their lack of  “collecting” knowledge.) I also need to mention at this point, that she has an amazing ability to read people to a degree that's hard to believe sometimes. Anyway, she & her friend were trying to decide what else they might want to get for me, when this man asked if they needed help. She explained the situation & he pointed her to the Pit Cruiser bike in the Custom Bikes series, which happened to be one I didn't have (and from what I've seen around here, is harder to come by, than the others in the series). They also picked up a few other cars, including 3 Mystery cars. Turns out I already had them, but there were some slight variations, so I kept most of them. The extras will get donated to my daughter's 1^st grade class that she teaches. They have a “treasure box” that they can go to & select an item, once they've acquired enough points for good behavior or whatever. She says the re-sealed Mystery cars are always the first thing to go.

The point I'm trying to make here (as pointed out by my sweetie), is that our hobby needs to have more “helpful” collectors. We need to take the time to help newcomers learn the hobby & help the “other people” that are trying to help their friends. Of course that doesn't apply to scalpers! They & their helpers are on their own & I couldn't care less if they ever find a darn thing! We have more than enough people in this hobby that are just out to get theirs & nothing else. You can find them every day as they blow through the pegs knocking cars down & not re-hanging them, cherry picking cases, & blocking others from even getting a chance to look at the cars. I've also personally witnessed some encounters almost escalate to full blown fisticuffs! Granted, that's the extreme, but it does happen.

            OK, let me get back on track again. One of the most interesting points my fiancée makes is that collectors tend to assume or think that other people know what collectors are talking about when asked to look for something. For instance, during the time right after my divorce when my hunting/buying slowed down dramatically, people would ask me for ideas for birthday or Christmas gifts. I learned in a hurry, that telling someone to look for a particular model wasn't enough, just as “First Edition” or “New Model” is not always enough. Non collectors also are at an extreme disadvantage when shopping at flea markets, second hand,  & antique shops. It's very easy to pay too much for a regular car, let alone a Treasure Hunt or White Lightning. And if you've told someone that a particular car is hard to find & you're willing to pay $5-$10 all day for any Treasure Hunt or White Lightning, what's to stop them from thinking that $3-$10 is ok for some other “hard to find” car? And just how are they expected to know that the limited edition you're looking for is a good buy at $20 or a redline at $100, but another is not such a great deal at $15? So now when I tell someone what I'm looking for, I try to be very specific. With all the new repaints coming out, as well as special/limited editions, we have to learn to give details of what we're looking for. We also have to accept the fact that there's no way in heck to have it all! And as for myself, I don't have to have it all; I just want to enjoy what I have.

(Like a lot of us, I have to remind myself of that point sometimes)

 

Keep it real, keep it fun, & share the knowledge,  Stoneman

Great column Stone.  Smart lady you are going to marry.  Congratulations to both of you.  I am almost unpacked and will be getting the picture pages going soon.  Anyone with special knowledge in any certain area can feel free to contact me to help.   Trish