What's your story?

[karansharma8783]

Hi everyone, I wanted to share my story of how my diecast craze actually began. I am sure all of you remember the time when the diecast bug bit you and hooked you forever. As a kid, I was always fascinated by cars. Back then the little Hot Wheels were the craze. I remember initially they were priced at a mere 25 bucks apiece and then as their popularity grew, so did their value from 25 to 50 to 75 and then to 125. I used to beg my parents to buy me one whenever we hit the markets and so slowly my collection grew. It had everything from cars to trucks to diggers and even a tank!!!!
Then as I grew older the interest faded away but not the interest in cars. I kept oggling at photos of the latest Ferraris and the new Lambo Reventon just blew my mind away. Meanwhile there was always this thought at the back of my mind that it would be just fantastic if I could get models of these cars from somewhere, having no idea at the time that this whole hobby actually existed.
It was in Pune when I was working there that I came across the first diecasts I laid my eyes on in an Indiabulls megastore. That time I did not have a clue about Maistos or Autoarts. These were a bunch of 1:24 models there, all of which were Maistos. I was instantly attracted to two of them, my first diecasts in my collection, a 1:24 green Lamborghini Murcielago and a 1:24 maroon 1967 Ford Mustang. When I brought them home, even my roommates admired the Mustang, which I believe is one car that instantly radiates its aggressiveness to any red-blooded male!!!
I remember my next day in office when I couldn't even focus on my work and kept going to the breakout areas just to spend some time oggling away at the photos of the models I had taken on my roomie's cellphone (talk about falling in love!!!!).
From then on, I could hardly wait for the weekends and I used to go to the same stores looking for some new additions. I added several 1:24 models like the Maisto diecast assembly kits of the Ferraris, the Dodge Viper, a Chrysler ME 412. I had also come across a few 1:18's like the black Mercedes SLR McLaren but had hesitated on seeing the price tag (1495) and I sort of tried to convince myself that the 24's were good enought replicas.
It was a Maisto 1:18 Jaguar S-Type and a Specter Werkes Corvette ZO6 that finally convinced me that I was wasting my time on 24's. These 1:18's just looked amazing so much so that I was hooked to them even though the S-Type was just a sedan and not a full-blown supercar that I was madly in love with. I remember the time when I actually spent 8000 bucks in a single month buying diecasts (8000 is a big amount when your salary is just twice that figure!!!).
This hobby actually made me rush all over Pune, trying to find which malls had good collections of diecasts and it was a tough hunt too. I hit jackpot at Pune Central which had about 5 or 6 Maisto 1:18 models. The weirdest thing about hunting in malls is the sly looks you get from the salespeople who see a fully grown adult hulking around the kids section!!!!
And now, I must admit that I am a potential collector. SMC has got me in touch with some crazy and wonderful people like me and that too with varied tastes in diecasts. It was good to know that I am not the only bloke who's dying for more diecasts!!!!

P.S. - I would sure appreciate it if you guys could also share your story.

[winstoncds]

Thats a great story Karan.
I got my first cars when I was about 3.5 years old. My dad was on an assignment in Malaysia for a year and every month he used to buy 2 Matchbox or Tomica 1:64 models. When he came back, I was showered with 24 of the finest gifts a car crazy kid would recieve. There were trucks, buses, sedans, police, rally and race cars. I have 2-3 left of the original lot...sadly. But the best memories are of playing with those cars, trucks and buses.
I got my first HW car when I was about 10 years old. it was a gift for getting good grades in the exams. So after every report car, I would hope to get a HW. But I think my parents were not always happy with my school reports and I never got as many HWs that I would have loved to have. Got some unknown models every now and then in various scales, some of exceptional quality but don't have any of them now. Most of them were played to their death.
My first 1:18 car came home in 1996 or so. It was a Mercedes Benz 500SL by Road Tough (RT). Creative Education had brought 6 1:18 model cars to test the waters. They were the Mercedes, a BMW 850i, a Lexus LS400, a Shelby Cobra, a 1957(?) Chevrolet Corvette and the last one I cannot quite remember. It cost me Rs. 700 and that was the best Rs. 700 I thought I ever spent. I was in college then and used to put aside a major portion of the pocket money to get these cars and bikes. My second car was a Ferrari F50 by Burago and it was a considerable step up from the RT.
I then happened to find a book called 'Classic Cars' from Crosswords and I think it was a superb investment as far as this hobby was concerned. I made a list of all the cars I wanted from that book and decided to collect only those. But as things go, that never happened. Maisto came on the scene and they had a delectable selection of cars as well. My wish list only went longer and longer till I got access to the internet in the year 2000 and then everything went still more crazier. I could now ogle at model cars on the internet and had all the online diecast stores bookmarked. Every morning, afternoon and evening would be spent on devouring the pics and info listed on those sites.
Autoart happened only in 2001 or so. My first Autoart was the Mercedes Benz CL600 in black. Kyosho came in a little later, around 2005. I have collected cars in various scales, from 1:18 to 1:64. I see myself attracted to 1:43 now, not only because of the wide choices available but also because of the attractive prices. Autoart models have become incredibly expensive and I don't see myself spending crazy amounts on models. I will wait for good discounts and only then buy those models and that too if they exist on my wish list.
I love each and every model that I have and I hope that even if I cannot collect in the future, I will be able to share my hobby with people here.

[aritrim]

Nice topic you have started here.

Quote:The weirdest thing about hunting in malls is the sly looks you get from the salespeople who see a fully grown adult hulking around the kids section!!!!

How about getting tensed seeing a Kid pick up the same model that you want desparately? Happened with me once. Almost snatched it from him. Actually tricked him to choose another one.

My first diecast was when I was 14. Happened to buy it from Bangladesh market in siliguri. Its an unidentified car, a cabriolet, smaller than 1:24 with opening doors. At that time the opening doors thrilled me like anything! Once when I was in Class VIII, I stole money from my elder sister's purse - Rs 100/- and bought 5 hot wheels. Later my dad threw those in a nearby pond. I never bought another diecast till I earned myself and I remember I bought a dozen hot wheels that day.

I came across the 1:18s in 2007 when the malls came up in Kolkata. My first model was a Studebaker Starline in brick red. Love it simply. Later in the hobby someone in this forum has helped me considerably choosing what to buy and what not to. So I feel lucky in a way. These days I do not get the time going to a mall, I mainly buy online. But whenever I go to any mall I pick up few Matchbox or Hot Wheels. Recently I bought a few Tomys too. They are very addicting.

[winstoncds]

Ari, sorry to hear about your cars landing in the pond. Maybe somebody may find those cars if they could scuba dive in that pond.
Karan, you are not the only one who is to be found searching for cars in toy aisles. I do it all the time. My wife lets me go hunting there while she goes in the clothes and shoes sections. I have stopped bothering what the salespeople think of me anymore. I am too busy looking for stuff I need.

[karansharma8783]

What's even more interesting is when you pick up a certain Maisto box and start tilting it around to get a closer look at the model. That's when the salesperson will jump at you with the "May I help you sir" look and then you indulge him by "Yes, could you please take this out of the box". And that's when even the kids start staring at you!!!!!!
But as you said, I guess I will have to do this more frequently to not give a damn about anyone else.

[bandhav]

I am not very sure that when i got bitten by this bugs but as most of you i have collected n numbers of hot wheels and car toys, and subsequently muredered most of those to satisfy my engineering skills.

But i do remeber that i picked two of my very first motorcycles scale model (R1 & Busa) in one of the auto expo, i specially asked for some money from almost every member of my family.

And i just love the expressions on the face of salesman when the y ask me Sir kitne bade bachhe ke liye chahiye? and i answer mujhe apne liye chahiye.

[vaas2000]

I got bitten by this bug around 2 years back when i saw 1:12 maisto bike scale models in malls, started off with only bikes and later expanded it to cars.

I like to collect suvs/all terrain vehicles/musclecars in 1:18 and muscle cars in 1:24. But still 1:12 bikes are my first preference. Recently came across 1:6 and 1:10 bikes and am lapping them up

Still need to get cruisers and goldwing scale modes.
In cars I need to get rangerover, more mustangs/dodge chargers and more suvs.

[amit V8]

My story is quite unusual. when i was a kid, about 3/4 years old, my grandad (who lived in Duisburg, Germany) used to come over here & gift me cars from Wellys, Siku etc. but the sad part was each time he returned back, i used to take a hammer & 'BAMMED' on the cars.

Seeing this, my dad started giving me plastic models (CENTY, FUNTOYZ) as a better alternative for those diecast beauties. but it was no good. those were even made into pieces by 'your's truely the greatest engineer'. anyways, this thing went on till i was in class 5/6 when i realised that i am doing the greatest mistake of my life and i started putting back the pieces of the broken models, assisted by my dad. quite a shocker for today's kids.

In the mean time, he also gave me a number of 1:32/47/43 scale models too. the 1st 1:18 came in my garage when i passed my class 8 final. that was a Mercedes Benz 300SL academy kit, which took me about 4/5 months to complete. also he gave me his good old Merc 230SE. my mom also gave me quite a few models including a 1955 CHEVY BELAIR on my birthday.

The boom started in 1st year of my college when i bought a whopping 13 models of various scales & from then onwards i never stopped.

One of my memorable moments was when i bought a 1965 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL by HOT WHEELS (priced at Rs.50) with 50 1 rupee coins, which i saved back then in class 7 & quite recently, last year, i bought a 1:24 LINCOLN TOWN CAR (priced at Rs. 1300) for 100 bucks only. its jaw dropping, isn't it??

i am happy with my models which i have collected over the past years but the biggest problem i don't have any more space to keep them!!!
cheers
amit (amit V8)

[karansharma8783]

Great story amit and I'm really jealous that you have a grandad living in germany. I didn't know that you had been collecting diecasts for so long now. I just started last year but even in this short span I have added 11 1:24 models and 12 1:18 models. Pretty good, if I do say so myself!!!

[amit V8]

yeah, i've got more than 150 cars of various shapes & scales thanks to my grandad.