> Hey Robert,
 > My son and I collect hotwheels and other diecast cars.  Mostly new in pkg
 > stuff.  But recently have started buying and customizing the trashed cars
 > from Garage sales and Flea  mkts.   what a great kick.   Do you trade
 > with other collectors ?
    Not to date... my old stuff I can't bear to part with, and the new stuff 
is still mostly available.    But I have read about your idea to 'fix up' 
older diecasts that are in total disrepair.  It's got as many pros as cons... 
most pros from people getting their kids involved, most cons from the old 
die-hards who don't want to see a single thing change.
    My only comment would be to be careful what cars you fix - some of the 
really rare older cars can bring a pretty decent price, regardless of 
condition.  That is, a car that is part of a "One Dollar Takes All" box might 
be worth $5-10 as is.
    I mostly collect new-in-pkg vehicles now that interest me.  I'm not the 
kind of person who can collect all the vehicles in a set... I collect the 
ones I like and sorta like.  I have tried to complete some of the sets, where 
I might have 3 cars from a set of four.
    My most favorite set is a set of four dragsters... two rails and two 
funny cars.  Mongoose and Snake, matched sets.  The cars were part of a drag 
race set that my brother and I got for Christmas over 30 years ago.  He's no 
longer into Hot Wheels, so Mom gave me all the old cars from the 
basement/attic/storage.  My dragsters are my favorites... mostly cuz they 
remind me of the fun I had playing with them with my brother.
    Don't get me wrong... we blew up our share of cars!  And I even recall we 
'exploded' a VW van....with surf boards out the back.  I'm really hoping that 
that particular memory is a false implant.... those buses are worth a small 
fortune these days!
    My boss started a small business called The Registry of Collectibles, to 
help owners keep track of their collections and values.  I did all the 
programming for the database and for the misc functions (insurance valuation 
reports, certificate printing, appraisal historys, etc) and am considering 
updating the programming to allow for my diecast collection and my wife's 
Godzilla figures.  It was originally designed for collectable dolls, so the 
change will not be that bad.  
    Good luck with your collections!
     Robert O. Sachs
     FIDOnet   1:123/315.1
     Internet   rosachs@vantek.net
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