Hello to all:
I am 38yo with a 5yo son. I recently got the idea of starting a die cast car collection for my son. We saw the movie Cars twice and he loved it. I bought some of the cars in the movie and have been having lots of fun playing with them. The questions are then: Should I start the collection and keep it a secret to leave it as an investment for the future or simply open the boxes and play? Also , with so many brands it is hard to decide where to start, johnny lighting , matchbox,jada, etc. You know I have an extensive Star Trek collection but for obvious reasons my son cannot relate to those caracters. Anyways, thank you in advance for your help.

Welcome to the board joaquinf68! :wave: I don't know what to tell you about diecast as an investment. I can only say buy what you like, don't worry about selling it down the road. You'll eliminate buying a lot of cars that you you have no interest in. If you can afford it, buy 2 of each car that you like (one to open, one to keep on the card).

I like Johnny Lightning because of the detail and affordable price along with the quality of their cars.

Hot Wheels are great if you can find the Treasure Hunts in the stores for about a dollar. Johnny Lightning WHITE LIGHTNINGS are also a great find!

Have fun in your collecting!............STUTZ

Welcome to the board.
My son and I enjoy Collecting and "hunting" together,
Me being a Mustang fan an Him a Corvette fan, we collect only those 2 cars and all brands.. We enjoy going out together looking and you can only imagine the conversations between Ford and Chevy. We enjoy much Qualith time together on our hunts.
We collect all brands and try to get 2 of each for display both open and on card.
Enjoy your new hobby and as Stutz said dont do it as an investment. enjoy the cars and the time together it is much more valuable then the value of the collection down the road.
ENJOY GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN


Dave

Welcome to Hobby Talk :wave:
I can give you my opinion on your questions, but in the end it's your decision. I wouldn't collect diecast as an investment, you don't know what the market might be for them down the road. (look at sports cards :rolleyes: ) I started out getting Hot wheels with my son. It's four years and 1000+ cars later, the majority of them are open and he loves to play with them. Along the way we found some hunts and desirable variations we keep displayed. In the past year I've collected Johnny Lightning for myself, mostly the castings I like (Mopar). Collect for the fun of it, HW's are inexpensive and kids have fun playing with them. :thumbsup:

I feel that it is important that both you and your kid enjoy the hobby. Buying cars for an investment is a horrible idea. Everybody is keeping them in the package and they are mass-produced. They will not appreciate in value.

Not only that, who knows what your kid will think of the cars in the future. If he doesn't enjoy them or have any interest in them, your time and money would have been wasted.

I would highly suggest that you make it a father-son hobby. Enjoy collecting some cars for display and some cars for play.

You'll get more bang for your buck if you spent $20 to $30 on a Hot Wheels Starter set and sit down and have FUN with your kid. Those times will never be forgotten.

Too many adults think about it from the "collectibles" viewpoint. Kids could care less. Open them up and play with them!

Welcome. I buy what I like, too. However, there are a few castings where I may look for all/multiple variations simply because the castings are awesome. I say buy what you like, and buy 2 of each (display and storage) and have fun in your collecting.

:wave: Do it for the fun of it. Invest in gold and silver. And if you do come across any White Lightnings or Treasure Hunts save them in the package. I started collecting about 12 years ago and the volume of my collections scares me. I would loose money if I could even sell it today. I still enjoy the fun of collecting but I have cut way back. Just my 2 cents.

To all that took the time to read this post and specially write back, I thank you. I 'll wake up my kid this saturday morning very early and head out to the flea market. It will sure be fun.

I'll agree with the above who said do it for fun!

Before my twins were born, I started buying Hot Wheels, picking up 2 of each First Edition. I figured by the time they were old enough, they'd have the best HW collection on the block!

Once they were around 5 years old, they really started to get into them. We've had a ton of fun setting up tracks, racing, and picking favorites.

If he doesn't get to play with the cars, they will have no real memories for him. The HW, MB and JL cars are special to those of my generation (I'm 47) because we played with them.. a lot!! If my dad would have kept them all perfect on a shelf somewhere I doubt if I would have cared about them. When my son was small, we just bought 2 of each, one for him to open and play with and one for me to collect.

Worked out great, maybe try something like that

And for gosh sakes.. HAVE FUN!!

And welcome to Hobbytalk, nice to have you here

Thanks. I may have sounded harsh but thanks for listening :)

I like your idea markkaz. I do both. I have a bunch in the package, and there are some cars I like to play with. I don't care if I am 18, I love setting up "towns" on my desk at home, and "street racing". I love my little cars--always have, always will.

If your boy is already 5, I'd just let him figure out what he likes, then help him run with it. I have got a few thousand toy cars, and a ton of electric trains. I throw an occasional action figure or bobblehead onto a shelf, just to break things up a bit. My boy, now 5, kept going after some Godzilla figures I had up there, so I let him play around with them as long as they went back on the shelf. He started going to toy and train shows with me, and he always keeps an eye out for more Godzilla toys. He now has a whole shelf of different Godzillas, Mothras and other assorted Japanese monsters. He also has some cars and trains, but his monsters are his favorite. :thumbsup:

It seems like everything has been said, so I'm just going to take this opportunity to say hi and welcome to the board. :wave:

-DL