Back: The Metal Models of Your Youth

Filed in archive Model Cars on March 16, 2008

Obviously the annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction is mostly about cars. But there's more, much more. An entire tent-like building is devoted to a huge variety of automobilia, all of it on sale. While strolling the endless aisles in January my eye was caught by an amazing collection of large-scale collectibles, including railway engines, buses, trucks, race cars, fire engines, tankers, and even a Duesenberg Model J engine. Scales varied from 1:4 to 1:10. A 1934 Packard Dietrich, for example, is 36" in length! Our older viewers may remember similar models (then called toys) from their childhood that they wish they'd kept. Well, guys, here's your chance to bring back those carefree days. I immediately fell in love with the Hiawatha locomotive set as it reminded me of the streamlined trains that excited our young minds. At $2650 it's not cheap, but none of these models are inexpensive, for they're never-before-modelled limited editions that when sold-out won't be re-issued. Click on the www.retro1-2-3.com site and feast your eyes. The 28.5" long Greyhound Motorcoach seen here is more affordable at $675, but no less desirable, having been officially licensed by Greyhound Lines.