The Collectorat

I figure that a good place to start would be with my current collecting philosophy.  At present I am focused on collecting racing cars and off-road trucks... and seeing as how I cannot afford these at the 1:1 scale, I live vicariously by collecting the smallest alternative (or close to it for you knit-pickers).

My collection consists of Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Johnny Lightning and Greenlight brand die-cast collectibles, with a bit of Maisto and other odds and ends. I largely tend to avoid Maisto, M2 Machines and Jada and such because the notion of what is and what is not "scale" can be a bit annoying, really nothing at all against their cars, I think they're great, just not for me. Admittedly, Mattel's children (HW and MBX) do not strictly produce 1:64 scale models (3 inches, technically), but they are pretty close most of the time, and when I set them down next to a JL or GL ride, they all look like they belong on the same block.

In an effort to not allow my entire life to be consumed by tiny cars and trucks, I have limited the scope of my collection (well, loosely). I largely prefer racing cars to the standard paint scheme, and I collect just about any kind or race car, GT cars, Le Mans cars, Drift cars, Dragsters, Rally cars, Stock cars, you name it! Even if it is just a regular road car with a number painted on the side, sufficient for me. Where I get a little more loosey-goosey is with the off-road trucks and such (even better if it is an off-road race truck!).

Funny thing I find is that different brands seem to fill different needs.

Hot Wheels is really the primary supplier of most of my racing cars and "custom" off-road trucks.

Matchbox is my primary supplier of stock trucks and off-road competition rigs, including Baja racers and such.

Johnny Lightning is my secondary source for racing cars, and these are usually just your standard road car with a number painted on the side... but, they are great for finding "custom" cars for the drag strip!  Fat tires and an even fatter engine bulging from the engine bay can often prove irresistible!

Greenlight has offered a few great drag racers and even a road racer or two, but price and availability usually keep them in the background of my collecting efforts.

I hope that this sheds some light on my interests and explains to some my reasoning in future posts.