So What is considered a Collectible item for Vintage Slot cars ?

I think 🤔 it's a lot to do with the rarity ,how many were made, that and of what brand that influence value, but that being said it's also the eye of the beholder ! Is the model you remember as a child growing up or one you wanted but could not obtain at the time, where in the world you live and what brands were more prevalent , and the one's you only seen in magazines have a big influence of rarity and value . There's plenty of people who have collection of very inexpensive slot car but value them some of the best ever made! I think it is different for everyone,
And there's the ones that just read a buyer's guide and go of what has been published!
Just my thoughts on the subject!
Cheers and happy collecting.
John.
PS, a couple of one's I have, not completely original but good enough for me.

It's really whatever's in your collection, no value judgements. With an emphasis on vintage of course - the more modern Fly, Ninco and limited edition resin "collectibles" don't seem to make it into this category, which is fine with me.

As said above, it's you who determine what's valuable for you, in whatever sense you want: monetary, nostalgia, raceability, etc. And we certainly don't need stuff in mint condition. For me, cars as raced in the 50s, 60s or 70s are especially interesting.

Your 1/24 Marx GTO is a good example in fact: it's not an especially valuable or desireable model, in the conventional sense of those terms, but still rather fascinating, because who knew that Marx actually jumped into the 1/24 arena with some "real" (ie, metal chassis, screw on wheels) slot cars? I didn't, and I used to read the magazines pretty religiously and have always been interested in the history of our hobby. Plus, the Marx GTO and Chappy are decently modeled and the chassis not too bad - it's all part of the large spectrum of what was produced, especially during the boom period of the 60s.

Don

I started collecting slot cars (1/32 and 1/24) 'in earnest' in the early '90's, before ebay exploded onto the scene and completely changed the nature of collecting. I advertised want to buy and open to trades in the old Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter; set up tables at local toy shows, displaying some of my cars and 'want to buy' signs; there was a local flea market held every Sunday from which I bought a LOT of vintage slots very cheaply. As I was new to it, I bought just about anything, without a sense as to what was 'collectible' or 'valuable.'

One thing I learned early on from Philippe de Lespinay was to buy the very best possible examples of what I wanted, not basket cases (unless dirt cheap and a source of OEM parts to restore another car). I had picked up what to me was an unknown slot car, missing mirrors, windshield, most if not all chrome, and non OEM tires. I reached out to PDL to identify, and he said it was a 1/24 Monogram Lotus 38. Which was and remains (in complete/unmarred condition) one of the more collectible US vintage slots. Turns out they are not all that hard to find, but for some reason they were and are in demand. He told me that while a complete one has/had value, one like the one I found had little to no collector value and would be nigh on impossible to restore with OEM parts.

Pre eBay I was able to assemble a collection of about 700 largely US brand slot cars, either MIB or complete/mint/near mint. Most very inexpensively. I think the only collectible Cox car I never owned was the Gurney Galaxie, Otherwise I had most, if not all other Cox cars. And Monogram. And Revell, etc.

eBay changed everything. Almost gone were folks selling their old, or their dad's slot cars that had been stashed away for decades in basements, attics, garages, at give away prices. As in a complete and near perfect Eldon 1/24 Eliminator drag racing set for $15 from a yard sale. Two Cox 1/32 RTR Cheetahs in original packaging for $30 at a toy show. An original Buzz A Rama (Hoffman) pit box that had an IFC Cox 2E; 1/24 Cox Cheetah; 1/24 Monogram Snake for $75.

With eBay, with a few key strokes anybody could list their old slot cars with nothing more than a few key strokes, and collectors competed to own them. The days of 'deals' were all but gone. Not completely gone, but virtually so.

I cashed out, selling almost all my cars on eBay for much, much more than I had paid, and used the proceeds to pay cash for a fully restored 1:1 scale 1974 Lotus Europa Twin Cam Special.

Being a lifelong Lotus fan, my collecting was and is now limited to almost only Lotus 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars. Because I WANT them, I am willing to pay more than market for those I really want. Case in point: Policars/Polistil 1/32 Lotus Europa. Not a particularly great rendition of the car, and not the best runner in the world, and not particularly sought after. But as far as I know, aside from more recent resin builds or kits, it and the dreadful Artin 1/43 Europa are the only two 'production' Europa slot cars I've come across. I've paid more than market for the Policars Europas when I run across them simply because I want to collect them. Another holy grail for me is the Lotus Elan that was one of three cars that came in a 3 lane set sold by a Japanese company. The scale is between 1/32 and 1/43. Never sold in the US, and super rare, I never thought I'd ever be able to get my hands on the set, let alone just the Lotus. Amazingly, this past January, wholly by coincidence, I ran across the single Lotus and bought it from a guy in Ohio. It's a non descript car with unimpressive technology, but I paid likely more than most others would've for it.

I paid between mid and top market for the 1/24 Scalextric Indianapolis Special (Lotus 38), in complete condition, lacking only original packing. Why? Because I wanted it, and because PDL's advise to only buy the best resonated. I wouldn't have bought it if even one piece was missing.

I started in the early 90s too - I think a lot of us did. For me, besides other things, I hit 40 and it was my mid-life crisis! Or as the French put it, "le démon de midi", or "Devil at Noon" - I think that expresses it pretty well! Well, it was also timing, because I went to a big hobby show that year and saw a demo track run by the French slot racing federation, which plunged me back into the whole thing.

In the early days, an antique toy dealer in Nice gave me the same advice - only buy the best - which I promptly ignored. I decided early on I'd rather have stuff I could play with, than trying to built up a collection with value - and the upshot is that I'll never be able to sell it for a profit and I'll be lucky if I don't lose money, but I figured early on that wasn't important to me.

ebay came along in about 1998, or at least that's when I signed up, and there were actually lots of bargains to be had in the early years, because most folks didn't recognize or didn't care about some of the more obscure models, any vac-form cars, etc. The first time I saw an Adam & Sons Quad Mk1 car come up on ebay, unidentified of course, I confidently put in a large bid before going to bed, and woke up the next morning only to learn that I'd lost the auction - to Philippe de Lespinay and Electric Dreams! He knew what it was of course... I did find one, in better condition, a few years later and won the auction, paying some serious money (but a lot less than a Cox 2E at the time).

I actually had an earlier history as a slot collector: when I finished college in 1973 I haunted hobby shops and old magazine stores in Portland and Seattle and wound up buying some vintage parts, including a Pittcan motor - built that up into a car and won a Group 12 race in Seattle when they let me run it with the Group 12 anglewinder cars. I built up some other vintage cars too - guess I already had the bug.

Don

My story is about the same as Todd's and we both were aquainted thru The Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter back in the late 80's/early 90's along with a hard core group of collectors. The desirability and collectability factor is different for everybody and it changes greatly as you learn more and acquire more.

When you start out collecting some Strom 1/32 cars maybe the first cars you get and a prominent spot on your shelf. Maybe a Garvic Coronado you picked up for $15 is something that you think is a really neat old slot car and you give it a prominent place. A few years later all these cars may be sold or traded off and replaced with the gold standard of collector cars, the Cox mag frame cars. As you grow your knowledge, your idea of desirability changes and your collection can change with that knowledge.

One important thing is low production doesn't always translateinto desirability. .

ooohh, there's those Classic cars again!
I think I pre-date you guys; 1984, we were broke with 2 babies; I had just lost my job, and my brother hauled the remains of my Revell stuff from California to Colorado in the back of his mini-truck (remember those!). Through a bit of digging I discovered VSRN and EJ's Hobbies, can't remember which came first. Which kind of defined my "collecting" for the next 15 years: limited funds meant I lived on Ed's, and later Mike G and Steve D's huge stocks of vintage parts. All of which still helps me build stuff today! A couple years later, monthly trips to the nearby outdoor flea, and a few ads in the penny circulars, helped me assemble/restore a small fleet. None of which were grails or mint examples, and then for a number of years I just slid around (literally) on 30 year old vintage tires for these cars. About the time we actually started to make money again, along came the internet, and well you know the rest of the story.
My mid-life was more along Todd's lines: 1993 Toyota MR2 which I've now had 26 years. My Japanese Lotus.

@rastas @ArJayAytch @dgersh @gus3049 @tlbrace @John @mattbslotracer @madmark @stuckinthe60s

Wow, wow…..I sincerely want to thank each of you for sharing your stories, it was informative and touching to hear and see the pics, ….and to others willing to share their perspective…. Fantastic!

I learn a lot and some of the places mentioned took me back in time from 69 Church Ave, Brooklyn, NY…..Buzz A Rama to EJ Hobbies to AFX…etc…..




I have a different perspective now of what collectibles are and the sentimental side to them….thanks again….