Customer Reviews

Standard Catalog of Die-Cast Vehicles: Identification and Values

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Only the publisher could call this book the "standard" of die-cast vehicle price guides, since it only covers 16 of the nearly 800 documented brands of die-cast vehicles produced in the last century. What it does cover is comprehensive - 624 pages devoted to an extensive listing of automotive as well as aviation toys and models from Corgi, Dinky, Eagle, Ertl, Exact Detail, GMP, Hot Wheels, Husky, Johnny Lightning (Topper and Playing Mantis), Kyosho, Lledo, Maisto, Matchbox, Minichamps (Paul's Model Art), Racing Champions/NASCAR, and Tootsietoys.

Among the missing are such well-known diecast brands as Anson, Bburago, Majorette, Siku, Solido, Tomica and Vitesse.
The most glaring error is the connection the author makes between Zee Toys and Maisto, an affiliation that never existed. It was M C Toys (May Cheong) that eventually became Maisto, not Zee Toys.

Zee Toys / Zylmex, originally a product of Zyll Enterprise, was eventually purchased by Red Box International. Latest Red Box offerings are now designated as Motormax, yet another brand neglected by this book.

Still, this book manages to provide a wealth of information, enhanced by a 32-page center section of color plates. The rest is in black and white.

To its credit, it is also the first commercially-published price guide that provides a detailed accounting of the complete NASCAR line from Racing Champions.

An additional bonus is an index of models by automotive brand, from Acura to Zephyr.

My own "Toy Car Collector's Guide" remains the real standard for collectors.