Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

Welcome to Mustafa Khan, our new diecast expert who’ll be telling you what to buy and collect, when, why and for how much

By Mustafa Khan

You may have seen a meme, or variations thereof, circulating on web, which features a picture of a boy pointing at a shelf full of toy cars in a shop. It usually says something like ‘this is where it all started’. For a lot of you reading Motoring Middle East, that probably strikes a chord!

As a boy (or girl) growing up, you probably had toy cars – you may even have thrown a tantrum to get your parents to buy them, saved up your precious pocket money to buy your favourites, or maybe they were hand-me-downs from siblings or the grown-ups themselves.

Irrespective of how you got them, it is safe to say, if you’re a petrolhead, the passion was instilled from those early years. The countless hours of joy grained from these little replicas being raced and crashed into one another, being traded with other kids at school, and proving a wondrous source of imagination, undoubtedly helped instigate your love of cars.

Model cars started out made of tin

How it all started

Early on in the 20^th century, toymakers started sprouting up using mainly tin and pressed steel to mould automobiles. At this point they were still playthings, not a collector’s fancies. 

The danger of children getting Tetanus from rusty tin toys meant they were quickly phased out, replaced by the growing diecast toy car industry. These were heavier, a lot more durable and catered to children and adult collectors alike.

Dinky Toys, Johnny Lightning, Lesney (later Matchbox), Corgi, Majorette, Hot Wheels and the ilk became common household names and reigned supreme.

Despite having been around for a few decades, it was only in the 1980s that interest in plastic kits of cars, ships, aeroplanes and other modes of transport peaked with brands like AMT, Monogram and Revell releasing some excellent novice to amateur level sets.

Dinky Toys

Made all over, including the UAE

Scale model manufacturers have come and gone from diverse parts of the world – France, Germany, Japan, India, Russia, the US, Australia, Hong Kong, Turkey, Brazil and Italy amongst many others .

More recently you’ll see the ‘Made in China’ badge on a majority but don’t be deterred by that, as some Chinese manufacturers have upped the game and introduced some really fine collectibles in the market. More respected international brands have also outsourced manufacturing to China for the cheaper skilled labour, whilst still maintaining their quality.

GMP

While some are still considered toys ie the more generic, mass produced and inevitably less detailed cars you can pick up at your friendly neighborhood grocery store, there are also midlevel and higher end  models that although not commonly found, offer enough detailing and finesse to satiate the avid collector and are lighter on the wallet.

And then you have your CMCs, GMP, Franklin and Danbury Mint, and even local UAE-made Exoto Tifosi – the holy grails of the diecast connoisseur. Even to the untrained eye, their attention to detail will make mouths salivate, jaws drop and eyes tear (or maybe that’s just me). These generally cost upwards of US$300 to buy though.

Exoto Tifosi models

Not exactly a cheap hobby!

This hobby should come with a warning – it can be very addictive and a fairly expensive one and if you’re a sucker for exquisite detailing, prepare to shell out a small fortune as you’ll get taken in by the charm that these little beauties possess.

One of the most endearing aspects of the hobby is the hours spent enjoying these models and their intricacy. And of course displaying them. Oh boy, that in itself is a ‘sub-hobby’. Finding the best way to showcase your collection, choosing and building the best dioramas to display the cars, can all be as engrossing and just as rewarding.

The average collector is demanding more detail for the value hence scale models are a lot more intricately built and detailed than they once were. With so many new outlets to entertain children and competition being stiff, the demand for mass produced toys has diminished substantially since the last century causing some model car makers to close shop, having succumbed to escalating production costs and reduced sales.

Plastic kits

Totally worth it though

That being said, there are still individuals doing the right kind of parenting, providing their little ones with ample interest in all things automotive with evermore fervent collectors sprouting up from diverse parts of the world, some even running global-scale model clubs. So things are still looking bright and as- solid-as-diecast!  Today’s thriving Diecast and Resin model communities/groups is testimony to that.

It doesn’t matter if you have 5, 50 or 5000 cars in your collection, or if you collect a specific category or scale of model cars, if they make you happy, carry on and keep collecting. This is one the most satisfying hobbies around and its going to be here for a long while to come.

In the coming weeks, we’ll cover all aspects of diecast cars collecting with scale model reviews, the latest news and trends from the industry and communities, tips and pointers on what to buy and when, plus how to look after them and information about other collectors in the region. We can even help you source the elusive model you might be craving for!

Stay tuned and happy Collecting.

Let us know about your model car collection and experiences in the Comments section below