The content of the collection is also a key thing to have in mind when you’re starting your adventure of model-car-collecting. Why? Because if you don’t, you will soon get carried away by everything that interests you. And if you’re anything like me (and deep inside, I think you are a bit), you are curious and open-minded, therefore you fancy a LOT of cars. Race cars, road cars, sports car, concept cars, supercars, your favorite brand, the cars you’ve owned, the cars from your childhood, your dream garage… there are so many different ways you can think this throught. So many different themes and options yet only one goal: to build your own collection.
As far as I’m concerned, I decided to focus on “supercars / hypercars”. Why? Because it’s what personnally gives me more « pleasure » to see on my shelf. We’re talking about the best of the best, the rarest of the rarest, the most exclusive cars in the world, the kind of cars you don’t see around every street corner or every posh neighborhood.
This “guideline” on the content is like a firewall that “prevents me” to buy say a 1/18 Rolls Royce Phantom for my collection. Indeed, although I would really like one and it’s probably my 2nd purchase in a « dream collection » if I ever make it big (though I would probably need to make it *really* big), I have to make heart-breaking decisions. We all have to make them. This is some sort of fail-safe that helps me and prevents me from getting carried away. Think about it. Think about the logic behind it all and all the mayhem a single choice would unleash. If I DID buy that Phantom, then there’s no more boundaries: I’d have to buy an S-class (somewhere in my TOP 5 favorite cars to own, it’s a status thing). But it wouldn’t stop here either, I would also need a custom-made (therefore very expensive) Mansory Aventador and a cool Range Rover with an awesome spec, a Formula One car that I really like… and so on and so on… You get the idea. It’s an endless sea of possibilities, from which you can only drown (if you don’t have self-control). Control the content !
Price plays a major role here. Even if there are different levels of income, collecting model cars can go from « reasonably » expensive to the rare but very real « wait-I-wasn’t-asking-about-the-real-one » expensive. What I mean is, everyone has different income and won’t look at it the same way, everyone has a different relation to money and hobbies, and that’s OK. So basically, it’s all about managing YOUR budget, and being able to manage it without going bankrupt or losing some friends & loved ones along the way, preferably. Funny thing is, you might think some of the 1/18 hypercars I own are more expensive than say, a 1/18 Peugeot 208 (and I’m being totally random here, I might actually be saying something VERY wrong lol – but the idea is here). Well, think again! Some « simpler cars » can sometimes be very expensive (why? Because rarer / fewer units built / better quality of the brand)!