starni999 wrote:Maybe we need a new descriptor HTF, hard to fund!!
My wife has just butted in with a suggestion WOBM, waste of bloody money!!!!!! Thanks darling
Hard To Fund is appropriate in some cases. My girlfriend will usually describe my die-cast as "cute." I'm okay with that...as Alex's wife has demonstrated, there are a lot worse things a significant other can call them!
She usually refers to my collection as 'Those stupid toys!!!!'
At least your partners refer to your collections. My wife directs comments straight at me such as "you are a geek". Sigh...... oh well, it's part of being a collector.
hahahaha
I enjoyed this thread with respect to individuals perception on rarity. I was at a vintage and old toy show this weekend in the Toronto area and was amazed at how all the rare items in the world were at one place. I mean every item on display was labelled as rare or very rare. Haahahahahahha, oh those silly venders.
Anyways, I agree that it would be difficult to develop a widely accepted scale as their are too many points of view. I really liked the HTF acronym though, that being "hard to fund". And I agree that just because it is rare, does not make it valuable. The same for the opposite as I often see quite common models typically selling for high values. You also have to take your location and source in account. In Canada, we don't have as many boot sales and markets as UK. So just about any model could be rare if such shows are your only source. Many wont use ebay for example, so it limits where they can buy from.
Take for example a Grip Zechin model I recently acquired via ebay. I collect these models made by Edai from the late 70's. A particular model I see pop up on ebay maybe twice a year. I have never seen them anywhere else. Yet I wonder how common they are in China where they were produced. When any of these models pop up they are usually mint in box. My guess is that loose ones just did not survive so the odds of one being around is probably because it was never played with and still in the box. So, it may be rare, but mint in box is not uncommon. And the one model I got, was purchased off ebay for $5. I would have paid way more, but the seller had not idea as they listed as "Buy It Now" and I guess I was the first interested person. Or maybe, I was the only interested person.
Then there is also the idea, that just because something is rare, does not mean someone cares. That may have stung a bit, but we all know that feeling. Going back to our partners. We adore our collections and especially the prized "rare" models we place on the best shelf under the optimal light. You know, the one we actually dust and keep shiny. "Precious, my precious...." And your wife comes in a says "what are you going to do with all this junk?" (not that my wife has ever said that, she may not appreciate my collection but she somewhat respects that is my hobby). As for my kids, to them my cars are simply cool old toys. They have no appreciation for how rare some may or not be.
Any ways, just my "two cents"
(that was a pun for Canadian members as Canada cut out the 1 cent coin or "penny" from our currency not too long ago, so pennies are rare now, no?????)
Shane wrote:Any ways, just my "two cents"
(that was a pun for Canadian members as Canada cut out the 1 cent coin or "penny" from our currency not too long ago, so pennies are rare now, no?????)
Shane - here in New Zealand we cut out the one and two cent coins years ago and a few years back they cut out the 5 cent coin also... now we have only 10, 20 and 50 cent and one and two dollar coins... notes start at $5.00
I guess that means this is just my "10 cents" on the subject
same here but we still have the 5 cent or "nickel" as they were once made of nickel. Oh, and we dont have 50 cent coin either. Long time ago we did, I think you can still get special order ones though.
