Harry P.

They look similar, but the Xonex one has what looks like molded plastic spokes, and they're very thick. The DM bike has fine, wire spokes with separate nipples on each. I found this image online, it's the Xonex version: Notice the fat spokes, no tooth detail on the sprocket, rear reflector is different, seat is different, tire sidewalls are different, no white pinstriping on the frame separating the red and black areas. The DM bike looks to be a completely different (and better) piece.

And also... old Henry paid his workers well (for the time). He wanted his employees to be able to afford to buy the cars they were building! Speaking of Henry Ford... he was a man of some pretty strong beliefs. I read once where Ford dealers never offered credit, because Henry Ford felt that buying something on "credit" was immoral. He was finally convinced to offer car financing in the 1930s.

I like it. Love the understated color.

Another bike from my collection... this is a Danbury Mint 1/6 scale 1950s Black Phantom. Incredible detail... you really can't tell it's a model... every nut and bolt on the real bike is on the model, the spokes are scale thickness, and the seat is real leather.

Actually I didn't build it, it's a diecast model. All I did is add a little detail paint here and there, and added a more detailed spark plug, but otherwise this is straight out of the box.

I think so... somewhere around there.

And even more amazing is that people were able to find their destination without GPS, and survived the drive without AC, cupholders, or backup cameras!

I have all sorts of oddball stuff in my collection! Notice how while it has a gas engine, it also still has pedals and a chain? Just in case...

So... do you play with it?

Another cool Xonex diecast in 1/6 scale. They did the whole "Krate" line... Orange Krate, Apple Krate, Lemon Peeler, etc. Again, like with my 1903 HD, all I added was some detail paint. The "chain" drive works through the pedals, the seat shock absorbers really work.

They figured out how to increase the storage capacity of CDs... went to DVD... now Blu-Ray, each a step forward in how much information can be stored on a disk. They figured out how to dramatically increase the megapixels on digital cameras, and it's still going on... They figured out how to increase the size of a TV screen... then they figured out HDTV and how to dramatically increase the amount of information a screen can deliver. Do you seriously believe they're not going to figure out how to increase a 3-D printer's resolution? Come on!

The resolution that 3-D printers can output at is like megapixels in digital cameras... it will continue to increase at a very fast pace. Just a few scant years ago, a digital camera that had a 3 megapixel limit was state of the art. Today it's several times that. Why would you assume that 3-D printer technology isn't going to advance just as fast, if not faster? Seriously... given where 3-D printing technology was just 2-3 years ago compared to where it is today, I can't understand those of you that still think it's some sort of far-off fantasy that might come true "some day."

True. Latex is white, but pure rubber tires wore out very quickly... so they figured out that adding carbon to the mix made the rubber much tougher... and carbon powder is black, so tires from then on (with carbon added) were black. The "big switch" happened roughly around 1910-15 or so... some tire makers sooner than others, but by the '20s, white tires were a thing of the past. Sorry, Bruce, I forgot to mention that. It's 1/6 scale. It's about 13" long from tip to tip of the tires.

That is just flat-out beautiful!

It looks good for what it is. You did a nice job on it!

What about junior?

I got this one a few years ago... it's a diecast made by Xonex. Very nicely detailed, all I added was a bit of paint detailing, the rest is all just as it came. The spokes are a little thick, but overall it's a nice model.

If that number is correct, it would have to be high on the all-time list.

Makes sense that TV/movie cars would be good sellers... millions of people would have seen them. I have to wonder how a 1/25 scale Batmobile would have sold back in the '60s if one had been on the market at the height of the Batman TV series' popularity. We'll never know...

Love the real thing. No interest in building a model of it. No interest in building models of any current cars, really. They just don't interest me as subjects to build. To drive, yes.

Back in the old days (pre-war) there were hundreds of US manufacturers, most of which produced relatively few cars and went out of business after just a couple of years. Most people have never heard of most of them, they're just tiny blips in the whole history of US car manufacturing.

Just to satisfy my curiosity... does anyone know what the top selling model car kits of all time are? I assume the General Lee must be one of them, but what others are on the all-time best selling kit list? I don't mean "1932 Ford" or "1957 Chevy," but specific kits. Anyone know?

Like I said... not my area of interest. Believe it or not, I don't read through every single topic here...

I don't follow stuff like that, so I had no idea. I didn't even know Revell made model kits that are specifically meant to be toys. Since I don't build models of current cars, this stuff isn't even on my radar. I assumed it was a "real" kit. My mistake.