Tom Geiger

And that's where 99% of model cars end up! And the model companies know this, and target this market. I'm sure this kid couldn't care less if the bumper is off by a thousands of a millimeter!

Hope all is well with you and your property! About two years ago we had the hail storm of the century. Hail the size of baseballs took out car windows on new car lots, caused a lot of local damage. I was working from home that day. When it hit I was in my kitchen under the sky light. Not only did I move to the center of the house, but I managed to cover the skylight with cardboard from an upstairs window. The aftermath was that every roof in my neighborhood was damaged and my aluminum siding was dented all around. My insurance company paid for an entire new roof and replaced all my siding with vinyl. I was fortune that my cars were parked under trees and didn't get damaged. Other cars I saw looked like a kid took a hammer to them!

I love the Google car! It's light commercial at it's finest! When I saw you were doing this I indeed Googled "Google Car" and got all kinds of images, so your car is true to life. I had imagined that Google used unmarked units to get people acting naturally. One of the fun things I like to do is "walk" around neighborhoods, you see all kinds of interesting things! I've screen shot a few and saved them. When I was looking at my Aussie friend's neighborhood, a car full of teenagers spotted the Google car and could be seen hanging out of the windows and waving for a few blocks! Here's a few images I saved from my walks through towns...

Jon I have the recent Motor City release with the dark colored car on the box. The louvers were in that kit. I used them as I'm creating my friend's car. They aren't molded in, they fit right into the hole where the Shelby glass sits. I can't say if they're in the box with the red car on it. Anyone?

The original promos pretty much all warped themselves into pretzels. I look at mine, which has no busted damage, and it's just too warped to create a model. If indeed you had your sights on creating something unique, the Franklin Mint car would be the way to go. Yea, the original sales price was $135 but just like you posted an auction for a promo parts car, you can find these cheaper than original issue. There are damaged ones that get offered, ones without boxes and some that just go cheap. For reference, I just bought 3 Danbury Mint pickups for $50 each, complete with boxes.

Helmut, I also collect 1959s. I was born in September 1958 and the 1959 model cars were being built on the day I was born! So I collect them as my birth year cars. Nice models everyone!

Here's a copy of one of the original kits of the Continental that I got in a junk lot a few years ago. There was a 1/25 scale promo, I believe R&R did a resin repop. And here's two of the 1/32s that were mentioned in this thread. These were never reissued.

AMT released the '66 Hemi Under Glass in the '67 car's box. This was their issue following the Model King release of that kit. This was before the Round 2 involvement.

The only wagon I ever owned, a 1973 Saab 95 wagon. Ford V4 that sat in front of the front axle with a four speed on the column. It also had third row seating. It looked like nobody had ever washed or waxed it. The paint in the door jambs was a bright apple green. Talk about a car from another planet. This was back in the 1980s. A friend of mine told me he had another friend who had a car I'd appreciate. Then one day he introduced me to Bill and this Saab wagon. I said the standard thing, "if you ever want to get rid of it, give me a call." Well 99% of time they never call. One day I came home and found it sitting in my driveway with the title in the glove box! Bill had given me the car. That's when I noticed that the title was from someone Bill had acquired the car from several years prior. Yea, Bill had driven this car daily for several years without ever licensing or insuring it. Funny thing, he had never gotten pulled over. I kept it for about a year. The CV joints were crying for mercy and I couldn't find any parts in those pre-internet days. So I drove it sparingly. Then a guy who already had a few of this genre Saab approached me and we made a deal.

Yea, but if your hot tub is strategically located....

Exactly Pete! If I had the same 50 cans of spray paint and a gallon of lacquer thinner at work, they'd be in an explosion proof cabinet. And ignore Mike 51. He just follows me around the board and makes snide comments after my posts. That's his contribution to the board.

Think about it.... if indeed one of our houses burned, there would be this black plume of toxic smoke from all that plastic!

Can I include the cost of the larger home I bought to house my collection? Actually I refuse to add it all up. In the same way I haven't amortized the two cases of beer I bought this afternoon. I consider it money spent.. doesn't matter if it's a kit, money pulled through the cash machine for a day at a show, or the funds spent flying out to GSL. As I said on another thread, I've never taken hobby money before my family obligations have been fulfilled. It's mad money I can spend to on things I enjoy. An investment in my sanity.

Here's how it goes... 156 kits in 5 years equals 31.2 kits a year or a mere 2.6 kits a month which isn't a big buy. Multiply that by the 30 years I've been involved as an adult... you'll have 936 models! I have about 1500, so step it up!

I have not seen either of the Ghost Buster movies. I just don't watch that genre. I do have an original Ecto 1 in my display case that my daughter and I built together some 20 years ago

Very cool Magnum wagon! I've watched the "Alaska State Troopers" tv show and it alway puzzled me when I saw them sliding through the snow in Crown Vics.... um, shouldn't they be like all four wheel drive?

My Crosley experience was summer of 1976. My clan hung out at Ed Hubb's junkyard and he had towed a Crosley wagon in. Just for fun he got it running, and we all drove it around the property. It had been sitting awhile and was pretty rusty. I was 17 and just out of high school, so there was no serious consideration of acquiring and restoring it. I have no idea what happened to it.

I was pleased to go to my meeting of the Tri-State Scale Model Car Club today! Due to the nice weather, attendance was small but that was a good thing. We all sat around one long table, got some food and had a meal and one conversation. It was really nice! Afterwards we went to Avenel Hobbies, which is closing by the end of this month. Owner Randy was friendly and thanked us all for many years of patronage. That part was sad. I bought some nice stuff, which I will show tomorrow in the "What I got today" thread as soon as day light allows me to take photos.

I was headed south on the NJ Turnpike on my way home from my model meeting today. In the north bound shoulder there was a Hummer stretch limo sitting there with the hood up. There was an entire wedding party standing on the grass. Once I got past that, I noticed that all four north bound lanes had stopped dead for a mile due to people rubber necking on that scene!

Funny thing... when I was selling off a lot of my brochure collection on eBay, I was buying stamps for my collection. For prices that would make model builders cringe. I have a lot more into stamps than models! My wife never says anything about my hobby spend. It's never gotten in the way of our family, purely money spent after all the important things have been taken care of. One day she asked me if I'd show her how to sell things on eBay. She brings out many Coach and other expensive brand purses that I was not aware of. And I instantly knew I couldn't say a thing!

Rick, this isn't the place to take up what will no doubt become a debate about the museum. I am involved, it's no secret that TSSMCC / NNL East is a visible contributor and supporter of the museum. I hold no office there, but am involved in a number of issues. Some of your concerns are valid and are being addressed, or are in planning stages right now. It's not my news to announce so I can say nothing. I attended meetings out in Utah during GSL that addressed many of these issues. If you are interested either PM or email me. The thing that the museum does do very right is investigate and record the history of our hobby. The focus is on the history of the art of model car building and the builders, rather than commercial company and product histories. You may have read on this board that the museum has acquired the Bob Nordberg collection. Here's a quote from an email that was received from Mark: "Among nearly a dozen Car Model feature models, Steve (Bob's son) sent along the Ford COE that shared the top win. This is an ENORMOUSLY significant acquisition for the Museum, up there with the Hiscano models, and the Mike Johnson donation of the Pegasus that won the top adult award in the first Revell-Pactra contest. THIS is the reason the Museum exists -- to gather and preserve, in perpetuity, the history of this grand hobby. Without the Museum, the history of our hobby would be lost forever. " I think that explains it. The museum has done an extremely good job of hunting down and either acquiring, or getting on loan, many of the significant builds of our history. The Dave Shuklis collection was saved from the basement of his parents home, that was to be demolished as part of an eminent domain public project. And it's safely in the museum today.

Wow John! What the heck happened? First you had the stents in your legs and now this? Feeling for you!

Makes ya wonder if any of these still exist. And what the actual production number was! In many cases a car like this was ordered as a commercial vehicle by a company or utility that ordered a few hundred to a few thousand. Mark - thats a wonderful Handyman wagon. '56 is my favorite Tri-Chevy year! Many people don't realize this is a completely different car from the Nomad.

Can't you guys ever give it a rest?

Harry, I get that in a big way! Those of us who see our modeling work as our art would like to know that our work does get appreciated past our lifetime! I've done some work with the International Model Car Builders Museum in helping them acquire a model or two from guys who have passed away. The museum does want work from known modelers, especially vehicles that were trend setting or had magazine coverage. A lot of people haven't given this any thought, and it has been a challenge to approach heirs, especially after they've been accosted by a hobby ghoul or two! Mark Gustavson has said that when he's at the museum late at night, he can feel the presence of modelers past whose work is within those walls. That's cool and I would like to rest there myself someday. My wife does know which models go to the museum. I also have a few pieces in my collection from friends who have died. It's just nice to have that model on the shelf to remember them by. I hope someday people feel the same way about my work.