We know that a lot of you guys collect diecast cars, and we thought we'd tie this week's poll with our collectables theme with this month. Whether we are talking about .99 cent Hot Wheels or pricier diecast replicas, there's always the question of whether to leave it in its original package or to break it out and put it in a display case – or push it around on the table while making exhaust sounds.
So what do you do when you buy a new diecast car?
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I have a collection of 120+ 1/18 diescast cars...all popped open. For whenever I want to be a 10yr old again... :p
buy two. one ot play with and one to collect. I used to open all of the diecast cars i bought but now they stay in the closet in the package.
. . . I usually don't open them.
been buying all thses recent cars for my 2 y.o.
he fkn loves em!
Well, I opened my first 10 hotwheels. I don't do that anymore. It's a PITA to clean their dust and I don't play with them to be out of the box
Kinda over all of these toy car articles filling up the pages of this usually outstanding site. Is there a huge lull in other things involving real cars to cover at this time, or is the SH staff taking a break for the holiday season? Not hatin', just noting that the car coverage slipped a bit...
..and I've been on the hunt for that JNC Hako for Months now! Can't find it at any of my local superstores! Sure I can buy one on ebay probably but that just kills the whole thrill of the hunt!
hey speed hunters is a great website with so many good cars
right so i go on this morning all exited and what is there but a vote on opening/or not. hot wheels cars "wow so exiting!" seriously its just sad
I own a few hundred Hot Wheels, including the one pictured above and not a single one is opened. Not to mention, hardly any of the corners are bent!
Be it a $0.99 Hot Wheels or a $100+ AutoArt I will always open it up. I love to be able to hold it and look over all the details at any angle I want, appreciating it for what it's meant to be... a scaled down version of the real thing. You wouldn't buy a new car and just keep it all wrapped up in your garage would you.
I respect the collector that keeps them pristine. But I'm kid at heart and must rip open the boxes to play. That is how became a gearhead in the first place
I collect 1/18s, majority of them being JDM models and incuding some quite rare sought after ones- and theyre all opened, out of the box and in a cabinet, in direct sunlight and exposed to dust. So what, id rather them get a little dusty and the box a bit worn than have them hidden away for years!
Btw ; http://www.modelmotorvation.com/forum/models/forum/forum.php
if you collect / modify 1/18.
I say you buy two. One to open and play/display, the other to save, unopened.
I used to open it up but also keep the package.
I do both. Buy two and play with one.
Always out!!
Nice. I've got the exact same #17 Skyline (opened), sitting on my desk here at work
OPEN
Nice GT-X, i still hunting for it. You should buy the 2000 GT-R too. Okay back to the topic, this is so common among the collectors specially who collects 1/64 scale like Hot Wheels, Matchbox (new generations come with pack card), Johnny Lightning, Greenlight, Jada and others which pack on blister. I'm prefer to keep it balance between loose it or keep in mint on card/blister. I understand some ppls keep it MOC/MIB to makes them looks originals after a long years and sell them with a high price or bid based on market. So where's the enjoyable if we buy it for that goals? If i get a millions bucks or profit from them i take it as a bonus from being a collectors.
I loose some of my diecast and put it on display rack while some of it still on blister waiting for other display rack to come or just for documents because new wave have different characteristic, graphics, and info (you can checks the blister from old era to new eras). Sometimes i get em on loose condition from swap meet or ebay. Loose could be expensive too even it playwear with some chips over the body otherwise its a are item.
I also do the same thing buy it for 2/3. Loose it, keep the rest or keep it MOC and loose one for display and other one for customs. One thing that i hate the most about collecting 1/64 scale is there is so many "mafia" around. They come to the stores ask the store crew to keep which casting will be favorite on markets and give them money for it. example cases: The A-Team Van its the new line up 2011 from Hot Wheel, its very rare on the stores. We should buy it via ebay or the online shop. First time out to the market that van worth US$20 per unit. So can imagine if you have 100 units, how much you earn? but it's over as many collectors get em from outside our country. Now the van cost around 3 bucks (loose) 4 bucks (MOC) on collectors market.
if you have a Hot Wheels Treasure Hunts it have a different stories about the price (hope someone will explain about it, if needed)
*Because the mafias all stores crew act like shit, sometimes they offering new line up that could be higher price on the market, we pay from them and we pay again on the cashier for the regular price!! It's pissed me off so much, better buy from the collectors.
This thing still happen in my country, Indonesia. It's like a habit or cultures among the collectors.
OK then, i think i talk too much in here, sorry for a long reading. Enjoy your days, keep collecting, drive safely and stay safe!
Why leave it in the package? Worth more money someday? What are you going to do sell it?
It's an atrocity to even think such a thing!
Open up and put it somewere that you enjoy it! if you leave it in the package you will never enjoy it. you will only have the enjoyment of possesing it! But sitting at the desk and take some looks at the car makes you fly away with your imagination!
"push it around on the table while making exhaust sounds" that's it!
I tweeted you guys the other day about a "ken and Meri" that i found. It looks almost just like the @Fatlace kenmeri too.
Open it! The only advantage keeping them in a box has is value retention. Something I care little about.
Open them! You could always put them in a nice display case and be able to play with them whenever your inner kid comes out
Open those motha's, they are meant to be pushed around the carpet!!
buy 3.
1. for me to keep it mint
2. for me to open it out of the package
3. for me to swap or sell
Open it up,do a few laps,and then drive back into the garage(package)!
I open then up and add smaller details with my Model paints. I paint some of the stuff they leave out like tailights, door handles and bumpers.
Well, I bought the car, so why would I want to have the box closed? I like to open Hot Wheels and make a few car sounds because I enjoy it, just like when I was a kid.
I open the box, but I don't throw it in the trash. I keep the car inside of it.
I haven't bought a bigger model than a 1:64 in a VERY long time, but I spopose I would open it up too.
I have over 250 Hotwheels cars (only the "cool" ones thought). I've decided to open them becuase they display on the living room shelf easier... two problems 1) I need a bigger shelf! 2) I have to wrap them in socks and shirts when I move so that they don't get damaged. Luckly my wife lets me (proudly) display them
No third option of "A lil bit of both". Some I must open. A little child in me must have them out and some I must preserve.
I open all mine to display, But keep the original boxes!
Open. If you want to see the car motionless in the same position for months and don't want to touch it...just take a photo.
I have many vintage matchbox cars, a lot of them handed down to me from my grandfather and some of them my great grandfather. They do not live in their boxes as they were made to be enjoyed. I never want to sell them so the re-sale value does not matter.
And to all the people whinging about 'toy' articles... die cast models have been part of the car culture for a very long time and this is a website about car culture is it not?
I always open them, because I still like to play with them even though I'm 24 haha. I do appreciate the packaging, but I'd rather take them out and look at them.
And dammit Mike, I've been trying to find that Hakosuka forever!! Today I finally picked up the Kenmeri, 911 GT2, M3 GT2, and the Tyrrell P34!! as well as about a dozen others...the lady at Wal-Mart looked at me kinda weird when I came up to the register with a huge pile of Hot Wheels...
Been collecting all kinds of cars for years now and I have to say: "Value the packaging as much as the product." Do this and you see the design that went not only into the product but the packaging as well. There are way more packaging designers out there than product ones and they never get recognised. Thanks for the collectible reads!
dont really play with them so thats why i dont open them. i just buy it to have to look at.
All my cars are opened. I just don't get that satisfied feeling until i open it up.
I have two of these!!! That's what I do... If I can't decide to open it or leave it on the package, I buy two... got a LOT of cars like that and my collection since 1999 is at about 1000 die-cast cars
I usually bought two, one to be open, the other one to be kept carded......especially the hard to find casting........
I have at least 50 of each car brand but have special care for Japs and Ferrari's
I with james may on this topic. Its a toy, play with it.
I am a 12 years old child when i see toys cars such as the Hot Wheels, i open it up to see the beautiness in the car, outside the car. It is just so awesome. It almost like touching the real car.
Always open, i bought them for my own joy, not for the value they can have in he future.
Its a toy so open if you want, I just think its hard to display open toys, compared to hotwheels in the package have a loop to hang them from X], perfect to make a wall of hotwheels! IMO
I collect cars not cardboard
I've accumulated about 550 Hot Wheels since I was a kid, they're all unpackaged save for a couple fairly limited "Treasure Hunt" models, a few duplicates and the odd one from a limited line that had a neat design on the backing. I like to be able to hold them in my hand.
collectors generally keep 'em in their original packaging (as bought), it would be catastrophic if packaging was damaged or opened. - enthuisasts on the other hand open the boxes and display them for all to see. i do a bit of both, if i've got something rare i'll keep it in the box.. but generally i've bought two of the rare ones.. one to keep and one to display LOL
I actually just bought this same HotWheel about a week ago to go with all the other Skyline's I have. I opened it as soon as I got home with it, I'm not some collector just waiting to turn around and sell it in ten years. I want to able to look at them up close, see some of the little details that may not be seen in the package, and even though I'm 20 years old I drive it around my desk every chance I get. I've never kept any of my HotWheels in the box for much longer than a week mostly because no matter how valuable they may become I just don't care.
i always want to leave them in the package... but that feeling doesn't last for long..
just buy 2!
Open them. I want to enjoy the interior, engine and all the features.
i kept them in the package for about 2 months but i couldn't take it anymore....i opened em up...made a mini car meet and shoot....#nerd-gasm#
If I think it might become collectable I try to keep it seeled but fail 98% of the time. I just have to feel them in my hands, see them up-close, and roll them back and fourth across the desk-top. My collecting has slowed but numbers around 2,500 cars and most are open...(Though my 4yr old daughter has absconded with a very large number of them.)
who cares its not a real car
Open them up seriously if your gonna spend $60+ on a diecast model might aswell enjoy it hehe im just a kid at heart not some old boring collector lol
My hotwheels Hakosuka is sat on my desk at EA Games Guildford. Pride of place under my monitor!
i open mine up and make engine and tire drifting sounds even if its a pickup truck
toy cars are dumb... back to the real things please
I think you'll see the real beauty of the diecast once you take it out from the package. But I guess you can buy two so that the other one will be in mint.
ALWAYS OPEN TO SEE THE DETAILS
Never been to a racetrack, but knows most of the good ones by name = Unopened box
Missed that date with the perfect girl, because he "just wasn't ready" = Unopened box
Had a chance to own his dream car, but it just wasn't a good decision at that time = Unopened box
There's no cookie at the end folks... no reward for doing a good job. Wealthy old folks homes are filled with sad old men who only wished they'd already died on a Harley. Open the box. Life's a short game.
Every car is meant to be driven. Every part can be replaced. Unless you have a 1 of 1, you use it. I only know go. i take the brakes off of everything.
buy two! lol
I don't play with my collectibles, but I have always open them up)))
PS: I have that HW GT-R from top picture)))
Open all the way...
if i really like it i buy 2 so i could open one
OPEN THE PACKAGE FTW!
Buy two open one, keep the other.
Buy a third strip the paint, and customize with different wheels and new paint.
Open, i just bought a 69 chevelle thunt
Keeping a toy car in the packaging is just like garaging a car forever; it's just wrong!
If it's a Hot Wheel, I'll buy two so that I can open one and leave the other in the package. Anything else I'll Probably leave in the package unless you can take out of package and put it back in.
the child in me wants to open them but the adult knows they will get lost or damaged....:(
Personally, I buy two when I can so that I can open one and keep the other for history.
I think they always look cooler on display out of the package.
I ALWAYS open them and I only buy two if I plan to strip one for parts for my scale model (plastic) obsession! Open it man, life is short!
Open or Keep closed I always buy 2 Problem solved!!!
I bought the car above and put it in my coffee table, it has a glass top, with the rest of them. They are not in the package but they dont get touched. My girlfriend's boys always want to play with them but they are not allowed. i bought that one a few weeks ago I had not bought any in a couple years. I look a lot but I know I could get really carried away with this. I would be on hoarders before I knew it
Mine still in the original packaging...
I bought eight of 'em and one 2000 GT-R skyline, gonna buy some more of the skyline GT-X n the GTR also whenever i find one.
Been collecting them since i was 4 with my dad all types of models and only opened ones i had two of,thats pretty hard at the age of 4 haha
Touching is connecting.