Collector's Corner Archives

When you almost loose faith in a brand…

I think it’s patent that I’m a HUGE fan of Tecnomodel. Just as good as Looksmart and BBR, but at a much affordable price. In terms of Ferrari models, in my book it’s THE 1:43 brand. However, my faith in the brand got shaken up after I received my F40 GTE. My model came with some (minute) issues with a couple of decals. Nothing big, but something I didn’t expect from Tecnomodel. Well, fast-forward to the 330 LMB. I ordered it as soon as my dealer offered it to me, and was anxiously awaiting it’s arrival. And as always, while I waited I started the research on the real car.

Looking up photos of the real car, I noticed there was a small discrepancy with the model shown at Tecnomodel’s website. On all race pictures that I found, the car had a small bug deflector on the bonnet, while the model on the Tecnomodel website did not 😳. “Oh crap, they screwed up!”, I immediately thought. I then scoured the web to see if it was right or wrong, and found one pic of the car without the bug deflector screen. I think that photo was taken during scrutineering, so perhaps the part wasn’t installed yet. If true, the model wasn’t wrong, yet I would prefer the “race version” 😕…

But to my surprise, when I opened the box, there was the bug deflector on the bonnet, as it should be! Probably the photo on the website was from a pre-production model, and Tecnomodel rectified the missing detail before actual production. And with that, my faith in Tecnomodel was restored… 😁

Top 5 – 2025

I’ll be honest: I entertained the idea of not doing a Top 5 list this year. As you undoubtedly noticed, I’m very rarely showing new models 😥. A son studying abroad has the tendency to wipe away your toys & candy fund. Moreover, like everything else, 1:43 models are each year more expensive, so that complicate things. Even so, right now the W-143 Garage counts on 584 cool models 😎! Okay, okay, there may be some not-so-cool ones in there and even some dogs, but most are cool. Since this year the new acquisitions were slimmer, it was easier to make the Top 5 Models of 2025 list (in chronological order):

1️⃣ OBVIOUSLY, the 9X8. In my eyes the poster boy for the Hypercar era, even though that wingless design was a disaster, it looked cool af. No doubt, perhaps THE most unique-looking car at La Sarthe in the last 30 years. And of course, a grail model for me.

2️⃣ Perhaps I may have mentioned before that I’m not a great Maranello fan 🤔? Yeah, maybe once or twice… 😂 Well, I may not like the brand very much but they have two important things going for them. First, Ferrari has some VERY gorgeous cars. And second, they have history, which for me is paramount. And in this case, 50 years in the making.

**2022 Porsche 911 SVRSR “Hoonipigasus” #43**

3️⃣ The Hoonipigasus is for sure one of the wackiest racecars I’ve ever seen. Something that for any rational purpose, shouldn’t exist. Yet, thankfully to some individuals that think “Why not?”, it exists and I have it in the W-143 Garage. It’s one of those models that you have to know the history behind it to fully appreciate it.

4️⃣ A NASCAR racing at La Sarthe? For 24 hours 🤨? Sounds like a publicity stunt… Well, it was, but a VERY cool publicity stunt. The last time that happened was in 1976, also as a publicity stunt. The difference is that none of the 1976 NASCAR cars finished, and the ZL1 #24 finished in 39^th place. And it came in first in its (one car) class. Helluva good publicity stunt if you ask me.

5️⃣ In my eyes, the 205 T16, along with the Audi Quattro and Lancia S4, are THE best Group B cars ever. It took a long time for me to add one to the W-143 Garage, but in June I finally got one. Nowadays, these models are HTF and usually expensive, but a gorgeous model from Ixo, very well represented in 1:43. So of course, one of my rally grails.

Spark’s new Madagascar factory

A few hours ago Minimax released a (kind of) nice short video showing their new production facilities in Madagascar. Not exactly a thorough tour of the factory but you can get an idea of how models are produced.

Top 5 – 2024

Oh well, there goes 2024… You know the the expression “time flies”? I’m certain you already heard it. However, trust me, it only acquires meaning after you reach a certain age. And yes, I’m already over that age. The year came and went and here am I writing a new Top 5 list. The year of 2024 was a bit rough, with few new models. Specially in terms of Le Mans cars. It started out slow, totally stopped by mid-year and only got going in the second semester. There were months that I didn’t get a single new model…🙄 Even so, as of this writing, the W-143 Garage is at 560 models. It was a slim year, however good enough to make the Top 5 Models of 2024 list (in chronological order):

**1985 Volkswagen LT 45 LWB “HB Audi Rally Assistance”**

1️⃣ First things first: even to me it sounds a bit weird to post a van in a Top 5 list. Nonetheless, Ixo did a heckuva job on the model and it looks FANTASTIC with my Quattro S1 E2 towed behind. As I said before, a shame Ixo doesn’t also make Le Mans’ service vehicles.

**1992 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo #4**

2️⃣ This one is easy to justify: GRAIL MODEL, period. The Delta is one of my all-time favorite cars, and a rally version, from Spark? Puh-leeze, just take my money.

**2023 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid #37**

3️⃣ Another rally car? And a Toyota 🤨?!? As I’m certain you noticed by now, I’m always complaining about dull liveries. Yeah, those bland, flavorless and boring red-white-black-silver corporate affairs that big manufacturers insist for their cars. And here you have a works car from Toyota (yes, TOYOTA!) with a cool off-the-wall livery. Awesome!

4️⃣ Rexy: a Porsche painted as a green T-Rex racing at La Sarthe. The coolest Le Mans livery of all times? If not, in my humble opinion certainly one of the Top 5. No doubt, like the Pink Pig or the Calder BMW, one of the greatest.

5️⃣ This one is also very easy to explain: the first Porsche that won at Le Mans. With the 356 Gmünd Coupe, Porsche began it’s long relation with La Sarthe. And finally, in the second semester of 2024 Spark released their version of the car. Another case of take-my-money.

Zamac Rot

Back in August of 2020 I posted an article about zamac rot. In a nutshell, what happens is that the model’s metal body starts to bubble underneath the paint. That occurs when the zamac alloy contains impurities, mainly lead, that react with the other metals. That reaction produces an intercrystalline corrosion process, with corrosion bubbles appearing inside the metal. Ambient temperature and humidity play a roll in the process, speeding up or delaying the reaction. The problem is that if the zamac alloy is contaminated with lead, the process will eventually occur, sooner or later.

When I got it out of the cabinet, to my dismay, there it was: zamac rot.

Usually, you don’t see zamac rot with higher end brands, yet some manufactures are notorious for this. Franklin Mint is perhaps the most famous. And until now, I never heard of this happening to Kyosho. However, as you can see from the photos, my beloved M3 GTR has fallen victim to the problem 😭. I took it out of the cabinet a few days ago for a shoot of another model and there it was, zamac rot. So, what am I going to do about it? Nothing. There’s nothing to be done, the process will get worse and the model eventually may crumble to pieces 💀.

Sometimes the process stops there, but I’ve seen models actually fall apart with time.

The only solution would be to replace it. However, a proper silver M3 GTR is really hard to come by. Minichamps offers the model in a few colors, and they’re very easy to find. Nonetheless, since BMW produced the real car only in silver, Minichamps’ models are all wrong. So unless I find a new Kyosho in good condition (very rare), or some other brand issues the car in 1:43, I’m stuck with this one bubbling up.

Boogers 😖.

Ixo: I’m impressed

As a 1:43 model manufacturer, Ixo is one of the so-called “budget brands”. That group consists of brands like Altaya, CMR, Schuco (they also have a premium line), HighSpeed, Brumm, Herpa, etc. Its a long list. I’m never shy in saying that you shouldn’t judge the model by the brand, however in general terms, budget brand models are not very good. In fact, they’re usually poor. Of course, to be a rule there has to be exceptions (I always cite Brumm in this case).

Ixo, however, has been consistently the exception to the budget-brand-means-bad-model rule. Their current models are truly good, to the point that they can rival Spark, in terms of bang-for-the buck. Click HERE if you want to read a little more about this.

Top 5 – 2023

Another year gone, my hair is whiter, my back complains more and it’s time for the Top 5 models of the year. The 2023 collecting year was pretty good, and I got some VERY nice models. And at the time of this writing, the W-143 Garage now consists of 531 models 😯. I guess that the biggest news is that I officially added a Rally Wing to the W-143 Garage. I can’t say that now I’m a “rally collector”, because I won’t buy a lot of stuff. However I will try to get some specific models that speak to my heart. So, to list them in chronological order, here are my Top 5 Models of 2023:

1️⃣ The 1992 905 is a Le Mans winner (= must buy) that eluded me for a few years. One of those models that are hard to find for no obvious reasons – it looks the same as the 1993 winner 🤔. Nonetheless, I finally got one!

2️⃣ Ooooh, a Looksmart. Considered to be one of the top premium brands in 1:43, I was dying to see what it offered. A beautiful model of a class-winning car, however just Spark-good at 150% Spark’s price. Very nice, but too expensive.

**1934 Auto Union Typ A Rennlimousine (“Typ Lucca”) #4**

3️⃣ When Minichamps wants to, they make a killer Silberpfeil. In this case, Bernd Rosemeyer’s Typ Lucca. Just when I thought I wouldn’t get any more Silberpfeile, Minichamps comes out with this gem.

**1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Drogo “Breadvan” #16**

4️⃣ The Breadvan. Didn’t even finish one Le Mans race, yet it represents a few guys that got fed up with Old Man Enzo’s wife 🤣. Only in Italy… Comedy aside, the model is g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s, possibly THE nicest I have.

5️⃣ Of course I had to put a rally car in this list. I got some nicer models this year, no doubt (Mini, Quattro, etc). However, the “Safari Delta” made the list because it was the first Ixo rally car I bought. And I was thoroughly impressed by what they can offer at a very low price.

NEVER judge a model by its brand!

I’m pretty sure I said that before once or twice. Or ten times. So let’s take into consideration Tecnomodel. I have three models from the brand, and very possibly I consider it the best brand I have, based on those three. Recently I reviewed the 1966 White Elephant from them, and I was all praise. Heck, their Breadvan is one of the best five models that I own! And as I also said many times, I’m NOT a Maranello fan. Well, what I’m trying to imply is that I really like Tecnomodel as a 1:43 model maker. However, they also offer the 1967 version of the White Elephant, and that one comes with the elefantino rampante on the rear winglets.

Anther brand that also offers the 1967 car is Altaya, a budget brand through and through.

Now look at the color of the wheels and winglets on the real car, in 1967:

The real deal on race day. And snubbing Ferrari? Priceless 😁!

Wheels and winglets were dark blue, not black. So yes, Tecnomodel botched the color of the wheels and winglets 😲. Not that the Altaya version looks great, with that humongous windshield wiper. And with the solid rear air intake. However, they at least got the color right. For just 1/5th of the price 🤔.

Before somebody asks, yes, this is why I got the 1966 car instead of the 1967 one. For €20 I may close an eye (or two) to some shortcomings. But for €100? It better be REALLY good. In other words, do some research BEFORE buying a model, even if its from a high-end brand.

And now I’m disappointed with Minichamps 😣

Well, being honest, it’s more like I’m mad at them. A couple of weeks ago I discovered that the brand released quite a few new Silberpfeile. Since models of the Silver Arrows are pretty rare, I was really happy. I even posted about them – though, at the time, I wasn’t aware about the Typ A “Langheck” #1 below. However, since then I had the time to look them over in more detail. And after some research, I was pretty upset with what I found.

Typ D Stromlinie #18 – 1935 French Grand Prix (R. Hasse) – #410382018

Above is one of the new models. Auto Union arrived at Reims in 1938 with two new D streamliners and two old Typ C. Unhappily, during practice two cars crashed. For race day the team decided to use the two remaining chassis without the streamliner body. Therefore, the two cars that raced were a mishmash of both Typ D and C with a somewhat open body. Here you can see the starting grid – the three Mercedes W154 in front and the two Auto Unions (#16 and #20) right behind. From the pic you can see that the Auto Unions did NOT have a streamliner body. Besides, Rudolf Hasse piloted car #20, and not #18. And as you see on the model’s plinth, Minichamps also got the year wrong 🙄.

Typ A Langheck #1 – 1934 ADAC Eiffelrennen (H. Stuck) – #410342001

The Typ A #1 above is the other model in the same boat. At the 1934 Eiffel race (June 3rd), all three Typ A were short tails (Kurzheck), and not long tails (Langheck). Not a perfect angle, yet you can see Stuck’s #1 Kurzheck in the Eiffelrennen here. The Typ A Langheck was only used at the AVUS-Rennen on May 27th, and the three cars were numbered #42, #44 and #46. Moreover, all three cars had “closed” front suspension. In summary, Minichamps royally botched the model.

So… Are these models worth having? HELL NO, they’re totally wrong 😤. I can’t believe it toke decades (!) for new Silberpfeile to come up and this is what we get. Yes, they do look very nice in terms of details and craftsmanship, yet they’re still wrong. In essence, “fantasy cars”. Nonetheless, I thought about moding them into something historically accurate. Though the Typ A Langheck is basically useless, maybe you could create a test car of the Typ D. A good and feasible idea, however Minichamps announced that they would release this car in the future (#410382000). Another idea would be to make the Reims practice car (before the crash), yet since there’s no photos of the cars before the race as a reference, that possibility is out.

So, in conclusion, Minichamps made a royal SNAFU. And yes, they really got my panties in a bunch here…

Disappointed with Spark

By now, it is more than obvious that I’m a H-U-G-E Spark fanboy. Well yes, the brand makes some friggentastic models in 1:43, for a (somewhat?) affordable price. In fact, I’m almost at the point where I buy the model first and only ask questions later. Earlier this week I found a very rare one that is a must buy for me. One of the 1973 911 Carrera RSR Martini cars.

If you look closely, you will see that there’s no wing mirror. And yes, the real car had a wing mirror on the left side. Well, sometimes manufacturers can make mistakes, I know that. However, how the blazes did Spark get the #46 car right and make such a gross a mistake on the #47 😣?

Both these models, the #46 and #47 cars, are nowadays VERY rare, and to me personally a must buy. One of those models that unless Spark reissues them, I probably would never have. And then, out of the blue, I find locally (!) a mint #47 for cheap! Of course I bought it on the spot. However, right after I bought it, while looking over the seller’s pictures, I noticed it didn’t have the mirror. Oh crap, I bought a defective model – I knew it was too good to be true! I then did some research and to my surprise Spark didn’t make it with the mirror. So just a few minutes after hitting the BIN button I canceled the purchase. Boogers.

I know I shouldn’t get my panties in a bunch for this, yet… Finding a sought after model for cheap and then learning it’s wrong is REALLY disappointing. Honestly, I expected MUCH better from Spark 🙄.