Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Lesney early large scale toys 1947-55 + Models of Yesteryear 1956 to date
maldat
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Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by maldat »

Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Subject line says it all.....
\People brought these thinking the best investment ever... and they arnt..
Good win for UK Matchbox, but 40 or so years on they have no value... so it seams...
EG liptons teas with royal crest or without,... coke a cola van..

Both big priced items here in NZ 20 years ago now worth nothing...
Matchbox 25th Van... Well I have seen 1000's of them at the wholesalers before they were even sold...They made too many ..I brought a brand new one last week in the box for $3 .. well under what it cost new,

My Dad told me the Y1 model T was common in red.... Find a Black one... Might in fact be the only words of value my father ever told me,...
I have seen repo made in china ones in black... But I really want a English one..I have a Mint Mint box with no car
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Moyboy
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by Moyboy »

maldat wrote:Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Subject line says it all.....
\People brought these thinking the best investment ever... and they arnt..
Good win for UK Matchbox, but 40 or so years on they have no value... so it seams...
EG liptons teas with royal crest or without,... coke a cola van..

Both big priced items here in NZ 20 years ago now worth nothing...
Matchbox 25th Van... Well I have seen 1000's of them at the wholesalers before they were even sold...They made too many ..I brought a brand new one last week in the box for $3 .. well under what it cost new,

My Dad told me the Y1 model T was common in red.... Find a Black one... Might in fact be the only words of value my father ever told me,...
I have seen repo made in china ones in black... But I really want a English one..I have a Mint Mint box with no car
Yet another whinge now about Yesteryears. Nothing wrong with these models but if you were dumb enough to listen to all the hype Matchbox and Collectibles put out then you were fools. Like any other limited edition item ( Ie Franklin mint models, plates, stamps or whatever) if you didn't realise that all the items made in a limited run of whatever would be put away by so called 'collectors' then in 100 years time the same amount would still be around - what did you expect.
Like the 3 or 4 emails I get a week trying to sell me their great rare collection of MOYs that were started in the 80's and never went anywhere else and are now trying to flog them off. When I tell them they are only worth a few dollars I get accused of treying to rip them off and anything else as I want them for my own collection - CRAP - I don't want them , I have enough already.

Model T in red common - hhmmmm all depends what variation you are buying. One in black made for the US club (900+ only at the end of the model T run). now half the price they were. If you want one there have been several on Ebay of late but it ain't going to be $3
I presume by the China black one you mean the one from the Conneseur set which is totally different as brass wheels and a roof with 'Limited Edition' underneath.

I have 1000's of MOY and a lot still keep their value - just. Its only the fact that idiots bought overproduced late crap thinking they were going to make a fat profit that ruined the prices - not collectors in my book just greedy stupid people.
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matchboxmarcel
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by matchboxmarcel »

If you buy models for investment you are not a genuine collector. It was just one week ago that genuine collectors were in action at an important auction for these and several models sold well over 500-700 usd each. Not what they are worth in money but what they are worth to the collector who wants to get that model for his collection.
I have a 2.000 pieces orso collection of Models of Yesteryear models and very rare original shopdisplays etc.
I still like them and they keep me busy every day. I am not going to sell them.
I have met many friends over the years and have visited many collections and I stil do.
Who could have thought in the 70ties and 80ties that Mattel has such a poor distribution that children never heard off Matchbox, once the most famous diecast brand in the world?

marcel
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fixer
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by fixer »

maldat wrote:Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Subject line says it all.....
\People brought these thinking the best investment ever... and they arnt..
Good win for UK Matchbox, but 40 or so years on they have no value... so it seams...
EG liptons teas with royal crest or without,... coke a cola van..

Both big priced items here in NZ 20 years ago now worth nothing...
Matchbox 25th Van... Well I have seen 1000's of them at the wholesalers before they were even sold...They made too many ..I brought a brand new one last week in the box for $3 .. well under what it cost new,

My Dad told me the Y1 model T was common in red.... Find a Black one... Might in fact be the only words of value my father ever told me,...
I have seen repo made in china ones in black... But I really want a English one..I have a Mint Mint box with no car
Blimey and they call us whingeing poms :lol:
reg
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motorman
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by motorman »

fixer wrote:
maldat wrote:Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Subject line says it all.....
\People brought these thinking the best investment ever... and they arnt..
Good win for UK Matchbox, but 40 or so years on they have no value... so it seams...
EG liptons teas with royal crest or without,... coke a cola van..

Both big priced items here in NZ 20 years ago now worth nothing...
Matchbox 25th Van... Well I have seen 1000's of them at the wholesalers before they were even sold...They made too many ..I brought a brand new one last week in the box for $3 .. well under what it cost new,

My Dad told me the Y1 model T was common in red.... Find a Black one... Might in fact be the only words of value my father ever told me,...
I have seen repo made in china ones in black... But I really want a English one..I have a Mint Mint box with no car
Blimey and they call us whingeing poms :lol:
You took the words right out of my mouth Reg, couldn't agree more!!
MOTORMAN

"Kill all my demons and my angels will die too"
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nickjones
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by nickjones »

I think Yesteryears are a fantastic bargain at the moment, Sure there are plenty of boxed examples at most toyfairs that can be bought for a few pounds, But they are also plenty of wonderful models which were not over produced that have had their values dragged down with the over produced ones. Where else can you buy a boxed model of this quality for under a £5 today.
Nick Jones.
In sunny Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, UK
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matchboxmarcel
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by matchboxmarcel »

I did this day-exhibition in 2011 but still like them.
If you want to dispose your Yesteryear displays please sent me a pm as I still need to find some examples which are known to exist but not yet in my collection.

Image

marcel
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SMS88
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by SMS88 »

As an investment manufactured collectables are a flop because makers plan to soak the market without destroying their brand. Only collecting things for the pleasure of collecting them is sound advice that applies as much to Yesties as everything else.But for everybody who likes Yesties they represent a wonderful affordable bargain to collect this millenium and buying now at current bargain prices there is probably nothing to lose for £1-5 each and those who were part of the price bubble in the 1980s - early 1990s shouldnt be surprised to get burned when they cash in their collections.
I collect 1.76 scale London buses and I know my collection is worth around half of what I paid for it however I like them very much and bought them to enjoy not to resell so their values dont bother me because they are not and hopefully will never be for sale!
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by kerbside »

Well maldat, as you can see the genuine collectors on this forum have said it all, so called collectors who bought a few of the same model, instead of just one for their collection, plus variations . Then tried to cash in and make a profit deserve to get their fingers burnt. This also applies to many other current brands.

When the Australian Trax models (Top Gear)in 1986 came on the market Trax issued about 5000- 7500 0f each model, but some people bought 3 or more to sell at an inflated price, so the model was very quickly sold out, so what did Trax do they increased the issues of later models, and they would be for ever and ever mint and boxed just because certain people got greedy. I collected these from start 1986 till 2003, all at new issue price when the bubble burst the really high value ones were cheapened as the market was flooded with the common ones, this was what happened to the Yester-year model. I have a collection of yester-year model from the beginning up to about 1996, I only stopped collecting them to consentrate on the 1-75 models, so the yester-year values to me are erevalent they really are a wonderful model.

maldat you have only been a member of this group a little over a week, so far you have done nothing but whinge about some thing, just read and join in with the postings on models, ;) ;) If you feel offended so be it.

George T.
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Tinman
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Re: Yesties.. The worlds biggest flop

Post by Tinman »

Hardly a flop as millions of them were sold. The range was such a success that, besides Lesney, Universal made good profits from them as did Tyco. Mattel seemed to lack the foresight and creativity to pursue the line (besides, Mattel already has a huge adult collector market with HWs).

Jack Odell made good money and enjoyed several years of success producing the Days Gone By series of competitive models. Other companies have copied the series and made profits too. All are measure of a huge success of the YY series. More code 2 models are based on YY castings than any other model.

As others have noted, they are only a flop for scalpers who thought they would/could cash in on them at a later date. The same thing could be said for many things but none of those other things span a fifty year range of successful sales.
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