October 29, 2003

Good day races fans, how’s your favorite driver doing these days? I’ll bet he (or she) isn’t doing as great as you might think. Even if he (or she) is number one in the charts, how are they in the world of die-cast?

You all know about die-cast don’t you? Those are the cute little (and not so little) toys that you have to have to show the loyalty of yourself to the driver of your choice. They are a must have if you are a true fan. “Gotta’ have it, can’t live without it!”

Did you notice I said toys? Hey, after all when you get down to the nitty gritty, that’s all they are. No matter how much detail, how many fancy parts, how many fancy decals, and how many fancy paint jobs you have, they are at the end of the day.. TOYS!

Before you all get on your high horses and get your drawers in a wad, let me say for the record that I have had my share of die-cast “collectibles” in my life time. My favorite driver was the first to make die-cast desirable and, at one time, I had to have everything that had been made about him.

But, and there always is a but, I have fallen out of love with the market that sprung up after his death. The die-cast world today is just like NASCAR in general. It is a business trying too hard to make a market where there is no desire for one except, as the sport of the moment.

I have a really good friend, let’s call him “Honest Charley”, who has been in the die-cast business as long as anyone. H.C. has been in the business since 1994 and has seen the market from the start of the really big explosion of detailed cars started by RCCA and eventually its new owners, Action.

H.C. says that the market is a dying thing and it is so because there are no more than two drivers who sell any product with any regularity. The makers of the “collectibles” are killing the market with too much product, on too many drivers, that won’t sell for squat. And let’s not forget about price of the product.

Who sells? Two names are the only ones that sell in big numbers. They are Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. These two, and notice that one isn’t even with us any more, are the only two drivers that can be consistently be relied upon to sell the product. The other drivers sell a little product to their fans, but to the person who just comes in to H.C.’s store there are only two names that roll off their tongues.

The current Championship leader sells about as well as Joe Schmo from Idaho. The current champion sells semi-OK to his fans, but H.C. has learned to not buy more than a case of his product. As for the rest, including Jeff Gordon, you buy one or two pieces and hope that you don’t have any left over to collect dust.

Why has this formerly booming market gone the way of buggy whips and crinolines? There are three good reasons.

They are One. Too much product.

Two. Too high a price.

Three. No big names to bring out the buyers. A fourth that might be added is that there are too many companies fighting over a shrinking market.

Let’s look at the first one of these, too much product. Action and Team Caliber are the “Big Two” in the high end die-cast market. They have all the big name drivers signed to contracts and control which cars are made and sold. They are also behind the “Special Paint Schemes” conspiracy so rampant today. They turn out such large numbers of cars that no one really is going to chase all over heck and half of Georgia to purchase at a ridiculous price. Check with your local dealer, if you have one still in business, and ask him about the number of left over “Special Paint Schemes” of certain drivers he still has cluttering up his storage area.

They are also behind the pricing, the numbers made, and distribution of the product. These three things are the things that make high end die-cast so pricy at the track and why die-cast can be bought so cheaply on E-bay and its cousins.

I’m sure that many of you have heard the term “Blow out” (not the thing that puts a driver in a wall), and to those of you that haven’t, it means selling product at lower prices to dealers to reduce stock of the maker of the product. This happens when supply exceeds demand. In the case of many drivers and both companies this happens within a week or two of the initial release of a product. This happens with 99% of the drivers and is beginning to creep into Earnhardt territory because of the sheer numbers of the product made.

As for Big Names, who’s out there to sell? There are 43 drivers on the track and only one driver that sells over half of the “collectibles” sold. If you are a fan of any the other 42 drivers, then you had better get in gear and buy his “collectibles” because you are slacking off big time.

What does this have to do with NASCAR? Have you never heard of licensing? NASCAR gets their cut right off the top. They could care less what sells, they’ve got theirs. The drivers have their money in their jeans; the companies have their money, so the only ones left holding the bag is the local dealer or the consumer.

As an old Hot Wheels collector once told me, “Collect what you like and skip the rest.” But then again, this goes for everything, doesn’t it?

Thank you for your time. I hope Santa brings you the toy you want for Christmas.

You can send feedback to Rob at: Insider Racing News

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