- Endless selection of miniatures
- Market prices have come down
- The word "scale" comes up
Mopar loyalists are the types that appreciate all the different varieties of vehicles that wear the Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Jeep, DeSoto and Dodge Truck badges, that is a simple, undeniable fact. If space and money were no object, certainly the majority of the Pentastar fanatics worldwide would have a warehouse full of their full-size 1:1 favorites as a personal collection. While that makes for a great automotive fantasy, it is however a rather unlikely scenario, no matter how appealing it is. So, the next best thing for the Chrysler product lover is to "think small" and augment their automotive passions with a selection of scale miniature models of the cars that they enjoy, but normally could not afford and/or have space for.
Considered a play toy or adult collectibles
With such a wide and varied number of interesting and desirable Mopars produced over the years, everything from the Airflow to the Viper, there's no end in sight to the amount of scale replicas to start collecting. In today's current offerings, plus what's been available over the past 20 years, there is an almost endless selection of available miniature Mopars out there. Included in the mix are plastic kits, plastic-bodied "promotional cars" used by the factory to promote the lines of new cars in the showroom, large and small versions of diecasts plus tiny "matchbox" sized examples that can be considered either play toy or adult collectibles depending on their level of detail.
Some of the most popular plastic kit manufacturers over the years include:
- Jo-Han - short for John Hanley - founder
- AMT- short for Aluminum Model Toys
- Revell
- MPC - Model Products Corporation
- Lindberg
- Monogram
- Aurora
- Polar Lights
Here in this group shot of various miniature Mopar items are the:
- 1969 Hawaiian Polar Lights 1:25 scale
- Charger Snake / Mongoose combo
- 1:18 scale Road Runner diecast
- Richard Petty Jo-Han 1:25
- SuperBird kit
- 1976 Dodge Dart Sport 1:25 scale kit and
- the Whipple & McCulloch Revelation Dodge Demon Funny Car 1:16 scale kit.
Besides the actual plastic kits, there's certainly an added value in the box art, particularly when talking about vintage packaging from the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Avid collectors also seek out old brochures and catalogs on these models, including the thick and heavily illustrated Auto World product catalogs from yesteryear.
Metal diecast car manufacturers include:
- Franklin Mint
- Danbury Min
- Ert,
- Maisto
- Yatmin
- Hot Wheels by Mattel
- Highway 61
- Bburgo
- Liberty Classics
- Jada Toys
- Motor Max
- Road Champs
- Action Collectibles
- Auto World
Small toy-sized diecasts come from these manufacturers and more: Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Racing Champions, and Johnny Lightning.
Great for working with your hands
For older car model enthusiasts, especially those that may have actually built the first-issued kits back in the day, the modeling scene can really take one back to the days of youth. For the newcomers to the modeling craze, it offers a unique and creative way of learning about 1:1 car styling and construction, plus is great for working with your hands and learning about painting, gluing, and mastering the craft of applying water-type decals. Hey, anything could be better than doing endless amounts of video games and/or texting these days...
Another added benefit to building and collecting any type or size of scale cars is sharing the passion with these younger enthusiasts of cars, as it brings a whole new aspect for them to appreciate the lines and curves of cars that they might have never seen before and may never see in their lifetime.
One thing that has made collecting scale cars more affordable is that market prices have actually come down on vintage adult collectible products in recent years. Why? It's mostly thanks to the growth of eBay as everybody and their brothers have gone up to their attics and dug out all their own collections for resale, which in effect flooded the marketplace and has drastically lowered the selling prices of what once was thought to be "hard-to-find" models, kits, and promos.
Scaled To Precision
Whenever one speaks of car modeling and diecast collecting the word "scale" always comes up, and it is important to remember that the scales of the items are mathematical fractions. Scale = measurements as compared to the real, full-sized vehicle.
The actual car itself is 1:1, meaning comparing the actual size actual size, one size is equal to one (same) size. One of the most popular scales of plastic kits as an example is 1:25 scale, meaning the kit is 1/25th the size of the original vehicle. And a small Hot Wheels or Matchbook car is 1:64 scale, relating to the fact that it measures 1/64th the size of the real thing. So, the smaller the number in the fraction, the larger the replica is. A popular size in metal diecast cars is 1:18 scale, and it should be pointed out that just because a replica is a certain size, it doesn't automatically mean there's going to be more intricate detail built into it, that all depends on the manufacturing process and the price point set by the manufacturer.
Testors released this 1/4-scale battery operated 426 Chrysler Street Hemi engine plastic kit featuring over 300 detailed parts complete with sound card recording of the real thing!
MPC sold this 1971 Plymouth Road Runner 1:25 scale kit and it could be built stock or as a "Superbird" version (which was never offered on 1:1 cars that model year). A first-run wrapped model, such as pictured, is a real collector.
