FILLING IN GAPS
a collector of mainly British cars from the fifties through to the seventies in 1/43 scale, I still have a list of gaps in my collection to fill that I won’t go into as that has been done by myself and other collectors many times before. My point today is that I am finding my choice of new product very limited in recent years. It’s true that the sleeping giant that is Corgi has finally started to produce some interesting new tooling in the last year or so, but to counter that Oxford Diecast has gone almost exclusively 1/76 or smaller. I can’t help but think that the Lyndon Davies connection has some influence over that to ensure that his two brands aren’t in competition with each other, which is completely understandable. The likes of Minichamps, Ixo, Solido and some other foreign manufacturers do still produce a decent amount of new product, but this rarely overlaps with my chosen genre.
Resin, I hear you cry! Hmmm, I for one am not impressed. The accuracy and detailing is undoubtedly of a high standard, but over the last couple of years I’ve started to sell some of the small number I had added to my collection. Despite my models being stored out of direct sunlight in dust proof cabinets I got fed up with the fine detail furniture coming loose or falling off so, while I do still dabble in resin very occasionally where it’s an absolute must have on my wanted list, I’ve been replacing some of my resins with obsolete white metal and diecast examples where I can. Even new white metal product is very limited, the Lansdowne range has pretty much ground to a halt and Crossway has sadly closed its doors for the last time. SMTS do create some impressive product, but they tend to be quite niche, although, to its credit, it has recently introduced the Hastings Classics range inspired by Frank Jones, of which I have both of the initial castings - the Hillman Hunter and Austin Maestro. The problem with white metal models, whether obsolete or new product, is that they do come at a price, which I’m fortunate enough to be able to afford from time to time. Not all of my fellow collectors will be in the same position.
I understand the dynamics of supply and demand that manufacturers have to wrestle with and the inevitable reality that the demand for models from my era is a shrinking market, due largely to the age of potential buyers like myself. However, I can’t help but observe that, with most manufacturers seemingly thinking that way, there is a gap appearing in the market. At the moment, it seems my only hope to fill some of my gaps is that Corgi will step up to the plate so that I can extend my Vanguards collection with a bit of help from SMTS and its Hastings Classics range. Are there any takers out there I wonder?
Tony Edwards, email
ED Very good points there, Tony, and this is a common cry I hear. At the moment, in the current economic climate, manufacturers are reluctant to undertake substantial tooling investments, as there is a huge backlog of models in production that have been held up for a variety of reasons. I’m hopeful that, by the end of 2022, we might begin to see the market returning more to how it was a few years ago. It will be a slow process.