The market is flooded with 1:43 and smaller models because the price of good well detailed 1:18 and larger is getting very expensive.
read this:
http://www.autoartmodels.com/article.we ... F6ABFF8BC8The days of $40-$100 cars are gone. You may find stuff on e-bay at old prices like that.
I can safely tell you that for US$100.00 I would not buy a model without seeing it first, detail may be acceptable, but when you see a good model for twice or three times the price then you see the difference in quality.
HotWheels have a couple of lines within the same model release, if you see an Elite from HotWheels it is almost as good as newer AutoArt. HotWheels BASIC releases are in the US$100 range.
HotWheels even have a very limited series they do of the F1 cars with Tobaco branding, you will almost never see this for sale. As an example, my Michael Schumacher collection is missing the 2003GA. I am presently trying to secure one of these HotWheels with the Marlboro branding on it................it eh cheap!!
Same with AutoArt, they have a cheap and an expensive range. All of the "collectibles" that are of historical significance will be the higher priced models.
Some models are released specifically to different parts of the world as well and the relative exchange rates make a huge price change.
Models which were popular and stopped, tend to hold better value than the new ones re-released after a few years by the same company. The 1:18 AutoArt McLaren F1 and the Mazda 787B are two good examples.
If you want a race car with the correct livery, as raced, and that included tobaco sponsorship, then you are in trouble. The models cannot be advertised with that sponsorship due to tobaco laws. HOWEVER, you can get them. Looks at the McLaren MP4/4 1:12 on my site. That's Senna's Championship Car, with the Marlboro decals.............extremely rare and extremely expensive. Same for the 97T Lotus, Senna's 1st win. The car is from the Portuguese Grand PRix in the rain, but was sold without the JPS decals. I had to buy the decals separately. Once they are on the value of that car is virtually doubled from my initial £350.00 investment.
History and detail is very expensive!
Also the OEM's tend to liscense the reproduction of their cars, HotWheels have a contract with Ferrari for instance, if you want a Ferrari model you can go to the shop and buy a BASIC model. If you want a propper model of the same car, buy the ELITE. If you want outstanding detail, buy BBR brand (also Ferrari authorised). Having said that HotWheels ELITE has been getting alot better.
If you just want a model car, then you can shop price and be selective in acceptable quality. If you want a specific car, detailed correctly and of collector quality and value there is no way you will find it new for $100.00.
I would have to agree to disagree with MG about the brand, if you buy AutoArt (new ones), Exoto, Tamiya, CMC, GMP, BBR, Minichamps, True Scale, the basic quality you get is very very good. With the higher price you generally get better quality as well.
Until you see these things side by side to compare, the detail will blow your mind.
I'll take some pictures of some of the more detailed models I have and put them on my site. Stuff like the screws on the butterfly shaft inside the DCOE Webbers and being able to trace a wire from the ignition module on the engine, back to the dashboard.