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Advice - Noob collecting 1:43 Police cars

2K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  Kiwi 
#1 ·
Hello all, i am just starting out and i have decided to collect police cars at 1:43 scale.
I would welcome any advice from more experienced collectors - any pointers or pitfalls - anything at all.
Thank you all in advance.
 
#2 ·
Simple.
1) Check around for the best pricing before buying the first one you see.

2) Some cars you buy will be an utter ripoff and some you buy will be absolute gems that are seemingly cheap. Sometimes from the same maker. It will take time for you to get a feel of what threshold of cost vs detail and or quality you are willing to accept.

3) The very fact that you are focused on one specific theme means that you will end up buying some models that will be a bit of a disappointment. The charm will be in the livery and not the construction of the model. Equally, if you get deeply involved, the theme will cause you to reach deeper into your pockets for some cars because well, "The fit the theme"
"The Theme" can also cause you to buy cars that you are not that fond of because of no other reason than they fit the theme.

4) Have fun, you are buying these to please yourself and no one else. You get to decide what belongs in your collection. There is no diecast fairy looking over your shoulder scolding you for omitting something.

5) The hunt is as much or more fun than getting the car itself on your shelf. Don't rush and buy everything at once. Take your time and take time to savor each purchase. If you miss out on something it will always come out again. I promise.

6) Look in odd places for cars. For instance the James Bond car collection has some very well done police cars in the series.

This should be enough to get you going in the right direction. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.
 
#3 ·
JSB 33 about covered it, especially the pace yourself, the longer it takes to acquire them the more you will enjoy them.

There are a lot 1/43 police cars available so you should have quite the collection. Road Champs made just about every US state and several city law enforcement cars in modern and vintage. I have 100 plus of those and just realized not a photo of one


Here is a Corgi I have.


AzTom
 
#4 ·
JSB 33 and aztom thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my posting.
Your advice is fantastic and should help me along the way to becoming an avid collector.
I will continue to post and keep you updated as to how im getting along.
Once again thank you for being such nice fellow collectors.

Regards
 
#5 ·
I fancied the Essex Police ANPR Evo X by Model Icons (Ixo, I think) when I saw it in real life it looked pretty poor, I was gutted! Shame really as all these diecast need rounding up.
 
#7 ·
I agree with what the other guys have said. Be careful with what you buy as you will get ripped off as most newbies do at the start.

As you have a computer why don't you make a data base for all your cars. Things you can load into the data base are;

photos of the car (model), make of car, police dept/force, country, who makes the model etc. You can make the data base as big or as small as you want and that way you may avoid buying the same model twice as most of us have done at some stage.
Research the police dept from where the car come from. you will learn a lot about the dept, county, etc.

I have also make a web site <modelpolicecaroftheworld.weebly.com>

If you want any help please contact me.

Kiwi
 
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