Paying for the pleasure of building??

[toybaron]

MikeDealer made this point in a previous post...

not only do the sum of the parts equal more than the whole cost of even a brand new MIB kit, but there is also a hefty fee to be paid for the pleasure of building your new MIB kit...The very best perfectly built box art build will 99/100 cost less than a new MIB kit....someone spends 5 or more hours to build a kit perfectly and that LOWERS the value? Explain that to me...a craftsman's time has negative value??? Makes no sense when you look at the prices of the recent painted box art bodies selling on ebay...

Why is it this way then in many cases? Because I guess some feel that you need to pay for the pleasure of building the car! Thats the entertainment value! Doubt that it was done right? Hedging yourself in case you ever want the enjoyment of building????

I will say this, in another category I watch and (try to) collect...large scale slot cars--really pro race cars from the late 60's and early 70's and I can tell you that "AS RACED" scratchbuilt cars with some history now are easily exceeding new in box top of the line kits...although not a perfect comparison because many of the scratchbuilts are one offs..and race winners..

Same goes in another scarecly collected category I am tuned into that of gas powered "rail" and "tether" cars from the 40's and 50's...these things are truly American folk art...NIB kits are very tough to find and go for big bucks...but lately (even though transactions you can find out about are few and far between) "As RACED" cars with proof and provenance way exceed values for new built cars and evenly extremely high quality restores...

Attached is an example of a nice gas powered car from the 50's:

I also added this pic to generate some interest in the precusrors of RC Model Car racing...

I wonder what one of the 6(?) RC10 Curtis Husting built protos would sell for if one ever came to market....I would guess the first number is a 5, and that there are three more digits after that!

[mikedealer]

i hear what your saying here.. i am even guilty of it myself. i buy parts for wayy to high prices, and end up having cars not worth a fraction of what i paid, its a shame.

Tether cars are awesome fun and sell for TOP TOP dollar on ebay, i am always SHOCKED to see what they sell for. There is a amazing tether car track about 15 minutes from me in Wantagh New York, went there a few times and blown away how fast these things go... some of the cars that are brought there are truly hand made masterpeices and some are just vintage peices that are really amazing.. So much detail and the materials used and shaped to make the peices are just fabulous.

i think a true prototype from the collection would easily sell for 5 grand, hell i know i would be in for $2500, maybe more. I could see it bringing 5+ easily.


I always see valkyrie motorsports chopping up cars and always making a huge profit, really shows that completed cars just cant compete with individual parts lot.

[mikedealer]

here's a good example that was just listed, hope its not anyone's here, but this isnt a slam at all..

http://cgi.ebay.com/Team-Associated-RC10-Gold-Pan_W0QQitemZ220205737711QQihZ012QQcategoryZ19168QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

$350, my opinion definetly worth it.. But parted out considering the parts are all in mint shape, can bring $500+

[mikedealer]

i would love to get hands on one of these cars here.

[toybaron]

great picture...anybody know where these guys are now?

[mikedealer]

reedy is retired, roger is still at AE.

that pic is from the 1st off road Roar Nationals in vineland nj at family hobbies in 1984 i think it was

[Bugle]

Yeah it's a bit sad people have to pay so much for the privilege of being the first to build a kit and then are too scared to build it because it's going to halve its value. How much fun can it be just looking at a box full of bits? I'd only buy one with the intention of building it. Why care what it's worth in the end these aren't huge value investment items that are going to fund your retirement..

[shodog]

what it all boils down to is collect what you want and forget about the worth. The value of these vintage buggies is intrinsic to the desirability collectors place on them. Younger generations of radio control enthusiasts are not going to drool over a vintage RC10 or a Sand Scorcher. There will probably be big bidding battles over a NIB B3 or TC3

Now for special buggies, I agree that an original prototype car would go for big bucks. I would personally pay $3000 for the original Box art car.

[Mr. ED]

Uhm guys, to each his own but isn't collecting about the stuff you keep, not about what it is worth to others and how much you can sell it for?

I think many of us have 2 hobbies: A) dealing and trading and B) collecting.
My advise: keep A) and B) apart when you plan to buy: that way you don't have to regret anything later.

[clinehobbies]

what it all boils down to is collect what you want and forget about the worth. The value of these vintage buggies is intrinsic to the desirability collectors place on them. Younger generations of radio control enthusiasts are not going to drool over a vintage RC10 or a Sand Scorcher. There will probably be big bidding battles over a NIB B3 or TC3

Now for special buggies, I agree that an original prototype car would go for big bucks. I would personally pay $3000 for the original Box art car.

I would give $3001 for the original Box art car It will never end someone will allways pay more.

[clinehobbies]

Uhm guys, to each his own but isn't collecting about the stuff you keep, not about what it is worth to others and how much you can sell it for?

I think many of us have 2 hobbies: A) dealing and trading and B) collecting.
My advise: keep A) and B) apart when you plan to buy: that way you don't have to regret anything later.

After all the years I have never heard said so correctly.

Bill

[MelvinsArmy]

I guess you've never heard of a chop shop? This isn't just something that is going on with vintage RC10's, this goes on with anything that is made of small parts built up to make a machine. Cars, motorcycles, bicycles, radio control stuff, etc, etc.

mikedealer, I don't see anywhere near $500 worth of parts on the car in that auction.

I really don't understand the desire to buy a NIB kit and build it. If you're so into turning wrenches, why not get a good car and tear it down and rebuild it? Or build a car up from collected parts. The reason NIB kits are so expensive is because they are so rare and special. Like a cardboard box time capsule.

[bdrmbully]

i look for the auctions listed in wrong category's mostly.some time i pay alot for the rare part.sometimes i buy a whole lot just to get 1 piece.then i gotta sell the lot to make back some of the cash.sometimes you make more than you paid for the lot minus the piece you took out of it.sometimes you lose money.most of the time when your thinking about what its gonna sell for,is because you have spent too much lol
funny how you can tear apart a car and get more for it in pieces than you can if it was box art or close.plus you can profit more from shipping that way lol
like any hobby ,its not what you spend, its the enjoyment you get from it ?:@) money comes n goes

[badhoopty]

maybe i'm a freak, and i know i'm not an rc10 purist.... but i get alot more enjoyment out of snatching a survivor off ebay and tearing it down and rebuilding it than i would trying to build a perfect, period correct rig.

as long as you are cool with a couple scratches here and there the rc10 is still a dirt cheap and fun little rig to build.

[Dr. Robotnik]

I don't really care what condition it is in as long as it's usable (and I knew what condition it was I was buying), I don't know why I buy the things I do because I am to young to have seen them at the time, I just buy what I want and can afford. I generally pass on the parts at the same price I bought them to, to the next person + or -, I am not after a profit. They get passed onto fund other projects or when I don't feel the need to look at them anymore.

Sometimes I get NIB and sometimes I get used stuff and sometimes I repro stuff because it's not available but generally it is what is required to build a model I have in my head. I like race cars and so don't bother with the whole boxart thing, I have opened multiple kits worth of bags of NIB MIP 4wd parts though, if I hadn't lost my girlfriends camera I'd have a great new project to show you today but I did so I can't