[bert model maker]

I want to buy some quality diecast movie cars but do not know WHO to give my business to. I want a place that sells HIGH quality cars and not junk. Someone who actually has the cars they advertise. ALSO, WHAT DIECAST CAR MAKER makes the BEST replica cars that atually look like their full size counterpart ? I am new to buying diecast cars and see that Greenlight has some good looking cars. For those of you who are more experienced in diecast car collectiong, any tips on what to look for & what to STAY AWAY FROM, is appreciated. The car scales i am looking for are 1:18 scale
Model Maker

 

[Motorhead]

Hey Bert,

I can help you with who makes the best what in 1/18 scale, as for dealers there are many reputable dealers on the web that sponsor many different forums. However, many of the TV/Movie cars in 1/18 scale need to be purchased on the secondary market now because most are no longer in production. The best way to help you would be for you to list what TV/Movie cars you are looking for and I can help you with what manufacturer has the best version and where the best place to find them is. I'll admit, 1/18 TV/Movie cars are kinda my main thing.

I look forward to helping you.

 

[bert model maker]

thanks motorhead, i am looking for the bullitt mustang & charger plus the american graffitti yellow coupe. I found them at supercar collectables however they do not deliver to PO boxes and i am still waiting for am email reply back from them about their ground shipping. what happens is i order something to be delivered to my street address ( we don't have mail delivery here, we go to the P.O. to pick up everything ) united parcel/ fed ex ground will deliver to my home however what happens a lot of the time is the shipper switches to something called FED/EX SMART POST where they take something addressed to my st. address & drop it at the post office. since the post office only reconizes my PO box address, they put it in their forwarding system where it disappears forever. I paid for it,did not get it & the shipper never recieves it back so i don't get credited and the packages (3 of them so far ) have been cris crossing the country for more than a year. I paid for stuff i never got. I don't want this to happen to expensive things like these. The only way I will get things are if they go us mail priority to my PO box OR if i can be absolutely guaranteed that something addressed to my st, address will actually be delivered to my home. I am trying to find other dealers who will deliver to po boxes. Is Greenlight diecast a good quality car maker ? they LOOK good in pictures. http://www.supercar1.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_35&products_id=5994

 

[rlyoung1]

Your best bet on the AG Coupe is to find one made by ERTL (a few years ago) on eBay. The one you're looking at Supercar Collectibles is made by Motor Max. It just isn't as nice as the one made by ERTL and their price is a little high.

 

[Motorhead]

Geeze, that sucks Bert. If I were you I'd call Jim Thoren personally at Supercar Collectibles and explain your situation to him. Jim is a really good guy and I'm sure if you explained your mailing situation to him he'd ship it so that it got to you.

For Bullitt cars I'd recommend them in this order:

Mustang:

3) Ertl's release, it has the details right but the quality is lower end. Pay between $25-$35 to be satisfied.
2) Greenlight's release, it is a bit better than the Ertl but is a mid range quality piece. Pay between $40-$50 to be satisfied.
1) AUTOart's release, the details are a bit off (missing some blacked out parts, and the paint isn't metallic) but damn is it a nice die-cast when it comes to quality. Pay between $75-$100 to be satisfied.

Charger:

3) Ertl's original release, it's a budget quality car, has a speckle coated roof to simulate the vinyl top, displays nice but the quality does take away from the car. Pay $25-$40 to be satisfied (this is a highly unlikely price to find as they still fetch higher dollars in the secondary market)
2) Greenlight's Authentics release, this use's Ertl's Authentics Series Charger and is a pretty nice piece. The downsides are the tire's white walls are a bit "off", the "Charger" scripts are a tad large, the trunk opens but lacks detail, all accessories originally included were removed for this release, the front springs are soft and cause the car to have an exaggerated forward rake, and the license plates are also a bit "off". Pluses are, it is an Authentics release that is high quality, highly detailed and it is readily available currently, comes in very nice Bullitt movie packaging. Pay $55-$65 to be satisfied.
1) Auto World 1 of 752 "Chase Me" 1968 Charger release. This in my opinion is the nicest, most accurate (when Screen Accurate license plates are added) rendition of the Bullitt Charger. It was an unlicensed release but had all of the details nailed. The wheels are dead on, the tires are the right look and it too uses the Ertl Authentics Charger but has a much more accurate set of "Charger" scripts, badges and details plus has a fully detailed trunk and over-all nicer finish. If it has to be the best, this is the version you want. The only downside to this one is it lacks the RDR 838 license plates and movie packaging. (Oh, as for pricing on this car it is a bit pricey due to the rarity and the fact it is only on the secondary market now. Expect prices to be $150 plus on this one, I can't say what price you'd be satisfied at for this one but if you love the car you'll know your price and I doubt it would disappoint.)

I agree with rlyoung1, the Ertl American Graffiti Milner's 32 Coupe is the nicest version. I have both the Motormax version and the Ertl and side by side although neither is 100% accurate, the Ertl captures the look of the car much better.

You should also consider picking up one of the new Auto World 1/18 Authentics General Lee releases before they are gone. Although not perfect, this is hands down the best version of the General Lee in die-cast, in any scale, period. I know, because I have them all, and I was involved in the design of this new release. I think although we didn't get all of our requests approved, they did do a fine job with the compromise and produced a really nice General.

Plus, in the near future, you'll have to pick up the Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry Authentics Charger that is in progress currently. All I can say is I think this diecast will bring back some memories for you as we are trying to make it as close as possible (within limits, budgets, etc) to the real deal.

I hope that helps!
:wave:
Gregg

 

[bert model maker]

Thanks Gregg, My wife found the 2 bullitt cars on AMAZON and they are greenlights 1/18 cars. For both cars including shipping priority u.s. mail, $116.00, a little less expensive than the supercar place. I gave up on the yellow coupe as i could only find motormax and the only place that had them in stock through amazon in 1/18 showed the correct version of the car with several pictures however, the last couple of pictures showed a completly different yellow coupe in a box that said american graffitti all over it but was NOT the movie car, it had running boards, hood so i decided i didn't want to buy from a place who to me is a bait and switch outfit, here is a link to it and you can look at the thumbnail pictures they provide. thanks for all your help I am planning on getting more cars & the ones you mentioned are the very ones. the dirty mary crazy larry car is one I am really waiting for , as in the 1970's i owned the # 2 movie car from the movie. It was the one that had the R/T badges on it. Again, thanks for all the help & references ! I can't get the exact page with all the pictures but the boxed pictures are what you probably get & they tease you with pictures of the correct car to make you think thats what you are getting.. I will have to wait now to make sure i get what i am paying for.
Model Maker

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-m...m_ciu_pdp_images_1?ie=UTF8&index=1&isremote=0

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41pU5HEuymL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

 

[Motorhead]

No problem Bert, glad to help. You have to be careful when searching out "American Graffiti" items. Motor Max has called one of their lines of die-cast that very name. It has nothing to do with the movie merchandise but instead is just a name for their American car line. I have seen many cars in "American Graffiti" packaging that have never had anything to do with the movie set in 1962. (like a 2002 Dodge Ram, lol) Anyways, that seller is selling a 1/24 yellow 1932 Ford Coupe from the Motor Max "American Graffiti" line, it has nothing to do with the movie, it is a shame they show a thumbnail of the other coupe (still not the movie car but closer) in that ad. The only licensed version of Milner's 32 in 1/18 scale is from Ertl. You'd probably be best to look on eBay for that one now, you can still find one for $50-$70 or sometimes less if you keep on it.

Good luck!

 

[bert model maker]

The ertl is a great tip. I will be seeing Rick Figari who owns the original car and ask him about motormax using images of the car to sell a completly different car and I should be talking with Candy Clark & paul Le mat in 2 months and i will ask them the same thing and also the use of american graffittis name by motormax to sell things. They might not know about it and they should know.I would be mad if i would have bought the motormax version only to get something different. they should not be allowed to use pictures of the american graffitti 32 coupe to sell their car that loks nothing like it. It didn't dawn on me until i studied the photos a few times & i can see how people are tricked into buying something other than they Thought they were getting.

 

[JimSC]

thanks motorhead, i am looking for the bullitt mustang & charger plus the american graffitti yellow coupe. I found them at supercar collectables however they do not deliver to PO boxes and i am still waiting for am email reply back from them about their ground shipping. what happens is i order something to be delivered to my street address ( we don't have mail delivery here, we go to the P.O. to pick up everything ) united parcel/ fed ex ground will deliver to my home however what happens a lot of the time is the shipper switches to something called FED/EX SMART POST where they take something addressed to my st. address & drop it at the post office. since the post office only reconizes my PO box address, they put it in their forwarding system where it disappears forever. I paid for it,did not get it & the shipper never recieves it back so i don't get credited and the packages (3 of them so far ) have been cris crossing the country for more than a year. I paid for stuff i never got. I don't want this to happen to expensive things like these. The only way I will get things are if they go us mail priority to my PO box OR if i can be absolutely guaranteed that something addressed to my st, address will actually be delivered to my home. I am trying to find other dealers who will deliver to po boxes. Is Greenlight diecast a good quality car maker ? they LOOK good in pictures. http://www.supercar1.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_35&products_id=5994

Hi, I'm Jim from Supercar Collectibles. My partner Scott answers the emails sent to us, and after a weekend (being closed) it takes a while to get caught up on them. If he hasn't answered you yet, we do prefer to ship UPS, and they should be the ones actually delivering it, not passed on to others. We use UPS as we can track a package in minutes if there does happen to be a problem. So if you do have a street address, UPS will deliver it there. If you're not home they will leave it, so just tell us where there's a good place for them to lay it. Hope to hear from you, as we do have a good supply of Movie/TV cars, and have been in this business full time for 16+ years now. Also, we do offer free shipping to the US48 on cars costing over $60 if they are pre-ordered (reserved before they ariive). No credit card is actually charged - until they ship. Just a little incentive to pre-order from us.

Bert, if you truly only want it delivered to a PO Box we can do that. We don't like to because if there is a problem, the post office will not start a trace for 30 days, and we've never collected if there is a claim. We like to use UPS as we can track a package in miniutes, and have always had any claim (if there is one) taken care of within 24 hours. Yet we can mail a car, it's just we prefer to use UPS who will deliver it to a house address.

Any questions at all, call us Mon-Fri daytime at 763/425-6020

 

[bert model maker]

Hi Jim, that is good to know. I have already ordered 2 of the bullit cars through amazon and it is coming to my PO box. I have had some shippers at the last minute change the delivery method from UPS ground to fed/ex smart post which will not work because the post office ( who fed ex gives it to will not reconize my street address) I have 3 packages still in the u.s. postal services forwarding system for over a year & they cannot seem to intercept the packages because by the time they read the computer info. showing where it sat for several hours, it is long gone by the time that info is downloaded to their system. If I know it WILL be delivered to my home & not switched to a cheaper method for the shipper then i will order. Another time i ordered something pricey, i had spoken with the owner and he said to put down "MUST SHIP UPS GROUND" his shipping dept. employee came in early on a saturday to "catch up" ignored my instructions on my order and yep, automatically sent it smart post. and that item was the last one and restocks were not expected until 2013. 2 weeks spent following it cross country & my postmaster bending over backwards trying to intercept it before one of his employees put it in the forwarding system when he was not there. i finally got it but i have a few new gray hairs. I will order from you then & use UPS ground to my house. I will be looking for some more cars in the next month so thank you for replying to me. Sorry about the long explanation.
Model Maker

 

[JimSC]

No problem. I understand how frustrating it can be at times. Again we just prefer to use UPS, but we can use postal mail if you truly prefer it. When ordering online just use the "comments area" during check out, and type in Please Mail. Either way, mail or UPS, it truly should get to you no problem. We never use FedEX or DHL. Hope to hear from you...