diecast cars and trucks for your layout...

I've only paid that for a few vehicles, specifically First Gear and Norscot construction vehicles.  A lot of my diecast has come from the bay.  Another good source (well for modern vehicles at least) are stores like Rite Aid and CVS.  I've been scouring those around me for a while now.  $4.99, or $3.99 (if you have one of their cards or something.)  

I do. I only have an 8’ long by 2 ½ ‘wide diorama & I have been buying 1:50 scale vehicles from DHS Diecast, EVOT-USA, 3000toys, Diecast Direct & E-Bay for many years. Many of these vendors have sales events spaced out throughout the year & if you are not into popular fleets like Mammoet or Ocean Traders, those would be the best time to get some discounts on these expensive models.

These are just my opinion.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

I don't. Most of mine are in the $10 or less range, most were $5-$8 at my LHS and a couple of other places like Diecast Direct. I think I have a couple of trucks that were $20-$25, but that is about tops for me and not too many of those. IMO, it's all for fun and my grandson likes to play with them, sometimes they crash.

I picked up a Welly 1953 Caddy at my son's Rite Aid store for $3. Got it home and checked it's scale and it's almost exact 1/48 scale.....only issue is not to place it near any 1/43 scale cars. Most I ever paid was $20......decent cheap cars are out there....

I prefer cars in the $12 and under range, but would pay more for unique vehicles - milk or garbage truck, hearse, ambulance, bus etc. 

If you are modeling a period, the sixties or prior, (1900-1930 is a very dry well), you will find only a little that is not at collector's prices.  There you follow the Bay waiting to pounce on the occasionally offered bargain.

ToysRUs carries Greenlight which has some really nice vintage muscle cars, vintage and modern jeeps and dodge police cars. Just picked up a late 70s ford pick up made by them. They usually run around $10-$14. 

Do you guys ever look at the OGR Buy/Sell listings? I list there along with others.

Watch out for CVS cars, some are bigger then 1:43 and when you get them home they are too big.

Dennis Rempel posted:

Watch out for CVS cars, some are bigger then 1:43 and when you get them home they are too big.

Most drugstore cars are larger then 1:43 and usually modern or foreign cars.

AMC Dave says he got a 1953 Caddy close to 1:48...that one I haven't seen but  i did see a Packard close to 1:48.

Bob

Diecast Direct? I was just on their site..  The SAME Ertl, Matchbox, Solido  et al that has been around what? 25-30 years now?  Is there NO END to the "same old/same old"? Except for escalating prices?  Why can't these guys pop out a NEW model once in awhile to run and rerun the NEXT 30 years??

Really sad- the collection of trucks available.  Same Ertl 1937 Ford, 1948 Diamond "T", and 1950 Chevy C.O.E. in every available color combination and decor.  But NEVER a new fresh model.

On the other hand----there seems to be an endless supply of fresh new 1/43 vehicles in the $75 ON UP range. But i would RATHER buy a well done freight car than a $100 1/43 scale vehicle disproportionate with my layout.

So what to do???  Fortunately, I have a small layout and a fleet of 25-30 vehicles will do for me. Some variety, some detailing, some weathering, and I am set.

 Before Mattel bought them from Tyco, Matchbox had a great line of 1/43 cars and trucks available. They were expensive at the time, but you can often find them now for less than $15.00. They are mostly 50s and 60s, though there are some from the 40s and early 70s. They also had some 1/50 trucks and fire engines that were really nice.

 My layout is mostly for fun, so I am not overly worried about scale, so I have some oddball cars in there as well. Hot Wheels had a line of Hollywood cars in 1/50: Batmobile, Mystery Machine w/Shaggy and Scooby, A Team GMC Van, BTTF DeLorean, and even the Flintstonemobile w/Fred and Barney are all driving around my layout. Most I paid for any of them was $7.99.

 As mentioned, Greenlight has some real nice cars and trucks in 1/43, but they can get a little pricey, and the good ones often command better than list price on ebay or Amazon.

Menard's has. Line of ars I am looking at.

K-Line did have a line of autos at a decent price point.

I have a few 1:38 scale I bought off Ebay. I know the scale is off, but they seem to work where I placed them.

My price range for die-cast vehicles is $3 to $6, and I buy only 1/32 scale because I think they look better than 1/48 and 1/50 scale ones.

Bobby Ogage posted:

My price range for die-cast vehicles is $3 to $6, and I buy only 1/32 scale because I think they look better than 1/48 and 1/50 scale ones.

To each his own.......but that 49 Ford Woody is as wide as a passenger car!!! That's a big Ford!! 

The 1/43 scale stuff looks to big to me.......why I was thrilled to find the 1/48 scale Caddy Eldorado at Rite Aid for $4. 

But whatever works for each person. 

I'm glad to see Menards released the red ambulance with working lights.  I'd like to get some police cars with working lights.  all of the custom light jobs I see are are $100+ which seems to me totally ridiculous

Scrambler81 posted:

 Before Mattel bought them from Tyco, Matchbox had a great line of 1/43 cars and trucks available. They were expensive at the time, but you can often find them now for less than $15.00. They are mostly 50s and 60s, though there are some from the 40s and early 70s. They also had some 1/50 trucks and fire engines that were really nice.

 My layout is mostly for fun, so I am not overly worried about scale, so I have some oddball cars in there as well. Hot Wheels had a line of Hollywood cars in 1/50: Batmobile, Mystery Machine w/Shaggy and Scooby, A Team GMC Van, BTTF DeLorean, and even the Flintstonemobile w/Fred and Barney are all driving around my layout. Most I paid for any of them was $7.99.

 As mentioned, Greenlight has some real nice cars and trucks in 1/43, but they can get a little pricey, and the good ones often command better than list price on ebay or Amazon.

I have 2 of those 1:50 scale Hot Wheel Hollywood series vehicles on my diorama. I keep it at the end away from the scale tower crane & Caterpillar construction equipment. So far, the guests, who usually have no interest in trains, are amused & interested in these goofy vehicles, Mario & minion figures than in the highly-detailed brass 2-rail O-Scale diesel-electric locomotives.

These are just my opinion.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

I know that some of these models are expensive. I paid around $150 for some of those trucks & they didn’t even come with a trailer or load. I like scale models of modern or contemporary vehicles & trains & I made most of these purchases around 3 years ago, when none of the O-Scale train companies delivered any model that I was interested in. So instead of buying expensive trains, I was buying expensive diecast vehicles. But then the model train companies have started delivering model of modern trains & as my diorama is getting fuller, I have really slowed down in purchasing these highly-detailed vehicles. I also work for Caterpillar & it was hard to ignore sales on the scale models of Caterpillar construction equipment, at any of the gift-shops inside the Caterpillar facilities.

These are just my opinion.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Salty Rails posted:

Diecast Direct? I was just on their site..  The SAME Ertl, Matchbox, Solido  et al that has been around what? 25-30 years now?  Is there NO END to the "same old/same old"? Except for escalating prices?  Why can't these guys pop out a NEW model once in awhile to run and rerun the NEXT 30 years??

Really sad- the collection of trucks available.  Same Ertl 1937 Ford, 1948 Diamond "T", and 1950 Chevy C.O.E. in every available color combination and decor.  But NEVER a new fresh model.

On the other hand----there seems to be an endless supply of fresh new 1/43 vehicles in the $75 ON UP range. But i would RATHER buy a well done freight car than a $100 1/43 scale vehicle disproportionate with my layout.

So what to do???  Fortunately, I have a small layout and a fleet of 25-30 vehicles will do for me. Some variety, some detailing, some weathering, and I am set.

You address exactly what I was thinking.  

I was collecting many vehicles for my layout during the period 2000-2005 (divorce, elderly parents, and life change your priorities).  I then started a new layout in 2010 and worked on it for a year before being sidetracked again.  Retirement has put a lot of the distractions aside and a buddy rekindled my interest to start working on my layout again.    

In looking at my train layout inventory, I have several decent sized boxes of nice 40's and 50's vehicles that I purchased back then.  Collecting those vehicles became an ancillary hobby to my train layout.  I have a very nice collection, but you can always use stake trucks which are rare.  

You state exactly what I found when perusing Diecast Direct for stake trucks.  The selection of vehicles isn't what it used to be.  Variety is painting the same vehicle a different color and putting a different train road name on it.  I did find a stake truck and bought two.  They were 35.00 each and were just released so are on backorder.  When I get them, I hope they meet my expectations set by the photo.  

10-15 years ago, you could purchase very nice Matchbox collectible, Sunstar, Vitesse, Road Champs, Solido, Ertlj, and Yat-ming vehicles for $3.00-$20.00.  Now the selection is in the high price range and I won't pay that kind of money.  The most I paid back then was for a Matchbox collectible Mack fire truck for which I paid $75.00.   I just had to have it, however back then I was working and now I'm retired and watching my pennies.  As you state, I would rather purchase rolling stock.  

I am actually excited about opening up those boxes of vehicles.  I am quite sure I have more vehicles then I need.  

Most of the vehicles I have are 1:43.  IMO, they look the most realistically sized.  

Alan Rogers posted:

I have a few 1:38 scale I bought off Ebay. I know the scale is off, but they seem to work where I placed them.

 

Alan,

That is a great street!  Did you scratch build those houses?  They look awesome!

 Here are some unusual cars I found last weekend. A company called Eaglemoss made a line of all of the different Batmobile, including those from the comic books. They retailed at $20.00 each. I got mine for $10.00, but I spotted some for less on Amazon. First up, the very first Batmobile, from 1939. The blue one was drawn up after the TV show came out. I'm not sure about the weird race car looking one.