Hi ! I've been a diecast car collector since 2004 when Chevy first announced the restyle of Corvette for 05. When Hotwheels announced they got first dibbs on the C6, I was going to every Department store at least twice a week, checking Hotwheels .com (useless!), and I don't remember seeing all the online stores back then. Maybe they were there, but I wasn't into online shopping back then. Also, with my "rekindled" fascination for Corvettes (the new C6 was just driving me insane with curiosity about seeing one in person!), I started looking for any Vette diecasts I could find while waiting for Hotwheels to get the new ones out. Back in '04 you could find 1:18 scale cars almost EVERYWHERE and in many cases at BARGAIN pricing! I'm 52 and had not ever bought any diecast before. Plastic models of course from a long long time ago , but diecast wasn't around when I was a kid - or even a young adult. So, I give full credit to GM for stirring up interest in "Hot Cars" again. But my interest is limited to Corvettes. The only non Vette I picked up was HotWheels 1:18 Cadillac XLR red convertible from'05 - which - of course is built on a Vette C6 chassis !! Bargains started popping up everywhere from Maisto, Motormax, Burago, HotWheels, Ertl, you name it... Kmart even had an exclusive Route66 collection before they got bought out by Sears. So now I have about 70 units spanning every year and style including the two pivotal Mako Sharks (1 and Manta Ray 11). But my "Crowning Acheivment" was from December of 2006 when I started Googling everyday for closeouts and specials online (when I finally came to realize that the brick and mortar stores were giving up on diecast sales) and I stumbled on a site that buys up closeout merchandise of all types from bath towels to childrens clothes. That's when I found not one, not two, but three different colors of the huge 1:12 scale Hotwheels C6 convertibles in red,silver, and blue at $39.95 apiece with free shipping. I almost hyperventilated!! I could go on..(obviously), but I'll cut it short by mentioning my visit to the Philadelphia Auto Show in Feb of this year and got to see the actual ZR1. You couldn't touch, but it was worth just seeing it. There was also several booths of DIECAST COLLECTABLES!!!!!! My wife had to drag me outta there...... but at least there were Philly cheesesteaks right around the corner from the event! Can't wait to see JADA's version coming out. Autoart would be nicer, but hey, I'll take what I can get!
.......Vetteman

Hi vetteman - fantastic post! It's great to hear how you got started and what interests you. Yeah, we all remember the good old days of 1:18 diecast bargains and tons of releases every week by so many manufacturers. Maybe one day that'll be the case again if all the materials become more reasonably priced. That's amazing you found the 1:12 scale Hot Wheels Corvette for $40!!

Yep... $40 per w/free ship. Never found anything there again either (Smartbargains.com) . If you visit the site it looks more like a womans catalouge shopping thing. Clothing,shoes,kiddie toys, bricabrac. But for some very weird reason back at that time they came up under a google shopping search as a "best buy" catagory for 1:12 corvette search. I GUESS a Best Buy! First the silver popped up as a lone selection w/free ship on any amount. After I got it and saw it to be non flawed mdse, I went back on and friggin' blue and red were showing up too! But the free ship was over. Back to the computer to search for free ship codes (which by the way has NEVER worked for any diecast sites) and VIOLA! A free ship code for any amount over $70 smackers at SmartBargains! Santa had indeed come to town that December. $40 times 2 was $80 and the rest is history.

Woohoo! Yeah, I have a feeling that SmartBargains didn't realize how to properly price those models! I don't know how any of these online companies can do free shipping with the current cost of UPS (because of gas prices!). Froogle is a good place to search for diecast bargains also, thoug it seems that eBay results tend to show up way too often!