Rarity List

15157 Views 92 Replies 23 Participants Last post by dgersh, Sep 5, 2011

mickman

Discussion Starter · Jul 31, 2011 (Edited by Moderator)

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone knows of a Slot Car Rarity List.

A list containing aspects such as rarity ratings, 1-10 (10 being extremely rare)

Might even contain collectors comments, country of origin, current value etc..

I`m guessing such a list would be massive .... but not impossible.

p.s In some respects, I guess this collectors corner is one big list.. just not quite sorted.

If not... perhaps I shall start such a list.. After all, I do have a life time in front of me to gather the info required

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dgersh

· #5 · Jul 31, 2011

Mick,

Are you talking about just Scalextric type cars, or all slot cars?

There was a rarity list in the first couple editions of the Roger Gillham book, but not in the latest I believe. And many years ago, the NSCC also published a list - but these things are so varying, that a list is not always that helpful. And a guy here in France has done the same thing for Jouef cars.

Also, as important as rarity is desirability, hence the Bugatti... The Cox Chaparral 2E MIB magnesisum chassis version is probably considered about as valuable as the Bugatti.

Don

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dgersh

· #20 · Aug 1, 2011

Philippe,

Wasn't there someone on ebay a couple years ago selling an IMC Lola? Not in the box of course, but still... or am I thinking of another rare T70 that was probably never released? Something with one of those "quick-release" guides...

Don

PS: Can I have the Unicar?

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dgersh

· #21 · Aug 1, 2011

Here's one mentioned above - altho this should probably go in the "cars announced and never released" bin... fascinating idea in any case!
Don

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dgersh

· #25 · Aug 2, 2011

Philippe,

I was probably thinking of the Precision T70, not the IMC - the name suddenly came back to me in the middle of the night... that one was also shown in an ad in one of the mags, 66 I think, and a version or two have popped up on ebay - but not sure if they're authentic! Another one that claimed to be very advanced, but was really run of the mill... and even a bit out of date...

Phil,

How do these CK cars actually run? Were they successful at the time, or poor sellers? Seems like they are not that rare loose... is this one of the cars with the greatest difference in value between an MIB and loose version?

Don

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dgersh

· #26 · Aug 2, 2011

PS: to get back to the original question, in a way, it still seems that the two most "iconic" cars in slot racing are the:

- Scalextric Bugatti (race tuned I guess)
- Cox Chaparral 2E mag frame

They combine relative rarity, desirability, recognition and prestige.

For pure rarity, the above gives some idea of the many obscure models floating around - and why this is such a difficult subject to tackle.

And actually, if you want to see the ultimate, check out Bernard's slot car museum in the UK/Patrick Kennedy section - now that's rare! Not to mention incredible that it still exists. (see also his early Joma sets, Bub and many, many others...)

Kind of makes those "rare" Fly models look a little foolish.

Don

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dgersh

· #42 · Aug 7, 2011

The word "rare" on ebay has absolutely no meaning whatsoever.

I'm not familiar with the toy seller auctions, but the few professional auctioners I've seen on ebay are generally overpriced (and take an extra cut in addition to what ebay takes!).

Really, the best way to figure out values is to keep a close watch on ebay for a couple months, looking at the items that interest you, and see where they really wind up. Look at everything else you can find as well, including swap meets, dealer sites, auction results, etc. That's really the only way to get a decent idea of actual market prices.

Like anything else, there are no shortcuts... (but I must admit that the early NSCC list gave me some general guidelines when I started collecting, and it was helpful).

Don

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dgersh

· #53 · Aug 8, 2011

Bill,
That's an aftermarket body, and not one that Airfix/MRRC made a car out of - so you can fit it with whatever chassis fits! Look around ebay UK for some ideas... a period Riko chassis would be an easy fit and very much in the spirit of what the body was sold for. I assume an Airfix or MRRC chassis could also be adapted, but assuming it's a vac-form body, their chassis weren't really designed for that - but any Airfix/MRRC expert is of course invited to join in...

Zarko,
That's exactly what we were talking about: just because a model triples in value overnight doesn't mean it's rare or desirable, just that people get temporarily excited.. it could just as easily drop in value a couple months later, or keep going up, depending on whether interest grows or not. You have to step back a bit and give things time, to see if something has sustainable value.

Don

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dgersh

· #64 · Aug 20, 2011

Hello Mr. Pace, glad to see you here, and thank you for your contribution!

I think what you've chosen is an excellent example of a rare car - so rare I didn't know it existed. In my opinion a pre-production car cannot be considered rare, since it is by definition a unique car (or at most in 2 or 3 examples) - just like a scratchbuilt car.

For me, pure rarity has to be only in production cars. After that, you can factor in desirability, etc., which can change things considerably. Like you say, the Estrela just isn't well enough known to have any established value.

Actually, I think what you say about Estrela and Brazil could just as well apply to any other country. Except for a few oddballs (Mr. Rampini comes to mind), kids or adults played with and raced these cars in all countries, and didn't really think of preserving them. I know I didn't, and I was already interested in slot car history even when I was 15. If they are preserved, it's often an accident of circumstances...

Don

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dgersh

· #77 · Aug 22, 2011

Eldon?

You're kidding Joel, right? Please tell me you're kidding... actually, now that I think of it, I saw an Eldon Lotus 19 here at Retromobile this year, and the guy was asking something like €80 for it, as tho ebay never existed... I tried to explain the situation, but he really didn't want to listen, or maybe thought I was trying to get it cheap (which I wound up doing on ebay a week later - not cheap, just the market price).

Anyway, good comments. While we'll never have an exact count of cars left, we do get a general idea thanks to ebay - much more representative than when we were dealing through VSRN, the NSCC and other swap meets, etc.

The other thing that has happened is values evolve: 15 years ago, all vac-formed bodies, even 1/24 Lancer Can-Ams, and pro-type scratchbuilts were worth barely anything - not the case today! And some of the Scalex cars have gone in the other direction.

There is also the Forum effect: I'm sure that thanks solely to posts by Loose Salute (Hi Kev), Jouef values have skyrocketed in England!

Don

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dgersh

· #81 · Aug 25, 2011

QUOTE (TSRF @ 24 Aug 2011, 05:20) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now that's really rare. may I have it please?

Don, I am SURE that you meant "23", right?

Oops... yes, that 's what I meant. In fact, I hesitated between the two because I was replying off the top of my head, which gets lower by the day... I still say it almost looks as much like the 19 as the 23, kind of like the Bergman version.

Good to get more background on Estrela, which is really a fascinating brand! It seems that slot cars are still referred to generically as "Auto Rama" in Brazil - is that true? And since I'm asking, weren't the later F1 cars, which are 1/24 size, sold as 1/32? I seem to remember hearing that story, and that it was for a technical reason. The anglewinder chassis looks very effective!

Don

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dgersh

· #90 · Sep 2, 2011

Mick,

Most of these Strombecker kits were never all that rare, but a large batch popped up a few years ago, making them even less rare... however, that source is finally drying up, so they may be rare again - until a bunch of us all try to sell them in 10 years and realize they're not rare, super-rare or even hyper-rare!

I also don't think Strombecker is considered desireable enough for anybody to bother printing new boxes: only Cox, Classic and Scalextric merit that honor, to be knowledge (and here I hope to be corrected by all you wise-guys).

Don

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dgersh

· #93 · Sep 5, 2011

As a matter of fact, I don't think we've gone into that Mick, but you're right: you probably live in about the worst environment for slot car preservation! If you want to get into the subject, I suggest you start a new thread, since we're leaving rarity and entering the realm of climate-controlled, non-smoking, non-singing, non-dancing environments...

We have talked some about value appreciation, however, and opinions are about evenly divided between yes ("it's become a classic toy, so can only appreciate" and nay ("slot cars will die with the baby boomers").

I'm not taking any bets, but one can check with one's local bookie...

Don

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