In an amazing combination of science, art, and promotion, a pair of Tesla Roadsters were shot into orbit last week by SpaceX. Elon Musk, head honcho of SpaceX and Tesla (as well as Solar City and Boring, a company whose flamethrowers are decidedly not boring) volunteered his red roadster for their mission. Wait, a PAIR of […]
The post Thanks To Elon Musk, There’s a Hot Wheels Tesla In Space appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
A prominent member of automotive and diecast culture, Ernest “Boulevard Aces” Garza, passed away recently. He was best known for his involvement with custom cars and organizing lowrider shows in the Dallas area, but he was also the Founder and Creator of Texas Hot Wheels. He loved to share his ideas with other customizers, including […]
The post Customizer Ernest “Boulevard Aces” Garza dies at 51 appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
Anytime you’re looking at buying a collectible online, you’re probably hoping to find mint condition, still in the package, never been looked at for more than 30 seconds perfection. Alas, such conditions don’t usually exist in the real world. So if something is “Near Mint” or below, that means something has to be not perfect, […]
The post What’s Your damage? A Guide To Common Less-Than-Mint Conditions appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
Over the past couple of years, we have shared some brands of diecast vehicles that are off the beaten path, obscure, or just plain odd. Some of them are offshoots of famous brands, some of from other countries and never widely distributed worldwide, and some disappeared quickly for various reasons. Here’s another batch of Odd […]
The post 10 More Off-The-Beaten-Path, Obscure, Odd Model Car Brands appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
The Advisory Council at hobbyDB consists of experts on many different facets of collecting, all sharing their knowledge for the benefit of the entire site. David Wright, a noted model car collector from Storrington, England, is the latest to join the Council. His fascination with buses and cars began when he was nine years old. […]
The post Diecast Collector, Historian David Wright Joins hobbyDB Advisory Council appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
The folks at hobbyDB recently enjoyed a couple days hanging out with Fireball Tim Lawrence, dropping in on some automotive attractions in the Boulder Colorado area. Fireball was visiting to record video for his Fireball Malibu Vlog on his his website fireballtim.com. First, let’s clear up the confusion about his name. “Fireball” is not a […]
The post Fireball Tim Visits hobbyDB, Shelby American Collection, and More In Boulder appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
Now there are even more ways to buy and sell your items on hobbyDB and all hobbyDB powered marketplaces! Introducing Best Offer – here’s how it works. If you’re a Seller – invite customers to negotiate with you. To invite best offers on a listing – Go to the listing form You’ll see three different […]
The post Selling is more flexible than ever – introducing Best Offer. appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
Someone recently asked a question on one of the Facebook pages we follow – “What makes you pick the model scale you do?” Seriously? You have to ask? Because the answer is obviously… ummm… Actually, that’s a great question! This query was from a gentleman in the UK regarding Airfix model kits. Airfix is a long-established, highly […]
The post Why Do You Do The Scale You Do? How Collectors Decide on a Model Scale appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
For those of you who have been patiently awaiting your pre-ordered price guides, we finally have amazing news for you! The Hot Wheels Casting and Price Guide is at the printer and will be ready to ship by April 20! Once we receive the books, we’ll immediately begin shipping them. We will start with those […]
The post It’s Official! The newest Hot Wheels Casting & Price Guide has gone to the printer appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
My car has been in the shop all week getting expensive performance upgrades… *sigh*… I wish. Actually, the shop is waiting on one little but significant part to finish a boring maintenance-type job. But I guess brakes are important on a car, right? As a result I’ve been taking the bus all week. There’s one […]
The post Cheers to the Bus Driver, Especially These 10 Fictional Ones! appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
The condition of a collectible is one of the most hotly debated and important factors in determining its value. What constitutes “Mint” versus “near mint” and everything below is a matter of opinion, but your opinion might be vastly influenced by whether you are buying or selling. What one person considers “mint” may have many […]
The post Making the Grade: The Ins and Outs of Collectibles Grading Services appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
It was with great sadness that we received the news of Gary’s passing in October of last year. A collector since the age of 12, Gary was passionate about documenting the model cars that he loved. In 2001, Gary taught himself HTML and created one of the first diecast resource sites, GarysCars, which over the […]
The post hobbyDB pays tribute to Gary Hirst with the GarysCars Memorial Site appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
Musings By Joschik Christian is one of the founders of the hobbyDB project. As much as he loves collecting diecast cars (among other things), he sometimes wonders if he takes his hobby just a bit too seriously. They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The perception of whether something has any value is often […]
The post Collecting Versus Hoarding: It’s a Matter of Perspective appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
HOORAY! The day has finally come – the newest Hot Wheels Casting and Price Guides have arrived. For those of you who don’t already know, we partnered with Jim Garbaczewski, publisher of the Hot Wheels Newsletter and Co-Author of Tomart’s Price Guide to Hot Wheels to bring you this amazing resource for your collection. Over […]
The post The Newest Hot Wheels Casting and Price Guides Have Arrived!!!! appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
Elva, a British Sports and Racing Car manufacturer, is the latest Official Archive to appear on hobbyDB. This Archive is a little different, though, as the company’s last car was produced almost fifty years ago. But the Elva name lives on under the tutelage of Roger Dunbar (a.k.a.. ElvaRacingRoger), who is currently reviving the name […]
The post Elva is Newest/Oldest Official Archive on hobbyDB appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
As we know, data makes the hobbyDB world go round! With more than 350,000 entries, hobbyDB is the largest collectibles database in the world and depends on collectors like you to keep it up to date. Our database is bigger than ever, but we know that all this data means nothing if it’s inaccurate! With […]
The post Join the hobbyDB Justice League – Become a Contributor appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
With Hot Wheels celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2018, collectors have a wide range of ways to join in on the fun. Mattel is releasing a huge slate of special models in various series during the year, including some original Redline designs that haven’t been produced in a long time. Some original models, like the […]
The post Do Reissued Hot Wheels Affect The Collecting Experience? appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
We recently met Rob Romash, who has worked in the design department for several companies including Mattel, and got to talking about the design process. For over 20 years (with various companies), Romash has been part of the team that makes the 3D prototypes of toys. He did just that for most every Matchbox car […]
The post From Sketch to Blister Card: How Prototypes Shape a Matchbox Model appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
As the individual “Solo” movie hits theaters this week, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the most expensive and/or valuable collectibles from the movies. Folks are going to drop a ton of money on movie tickets, so why not also on toys? In this rundown, we’re not at all suggesting that […]
The post Double Telescoping, Rocket Launching, Solid Gold Collectibles: 13 Rare Star Wars Toys appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
As Summer rapidly approaches, several stores on hobbyDB are doing some last minute Spring Cleaning. From Thursday, May 24 through Sunday, May 27, these sellers are offering some nifty discounts on all kinds of diecast products, vintage and new! There are a lot of rare and one of a kind items, so shop early! KMJ […]
The post Deep Discounts During Diecast Deal Days appeared first on The hobbyDB Blog.
