Well,
that's going to start giving it value then.
That's so clear I can't even see the glass.
This is very true, Apok - though not mutually exclusive to HW customising. (I was talking about customizing small HWS
- not other brands or sizes. )
You could get that same satisfaction from many other pursuits, too, no?
Paint a picture? Grow a plant? Whip up a good meal? Make a documentary movie? Write a sci-fi short and have it accepted by
Playboy?
The scenarios available to satisfy the urge for creative expression are endless - taking into consideration we have short lives and would never get to try out everything we want.
Now I'm not urging anybody to give up swapping wheels and re-colouring HWs - I would promote, in fact, the idea that it is a fairly inexpensive hobby for people who have extremely limited budgets.
If all you can afford to satisfy the creative urge is 2 HWs and a drill - then that's not going to cost you much.
When it comes to customising, I was in the Hot Wheels and Matchbox Customising Thread right after it was made (not surprising because I asked for it to be made just seconds earlier) and was there to cheer the OP on and make sure the Thread got off to a positive start. I even threw all kinds of posts in it in its early life to keep it chugging along - from pics of customs to long posts on everything from primers to brushes. When it got too busy for me to keep up with it I knew my work was done and turned to other things.
I'm always on for encouraging that sort of thing. Healthy activity with a community spirit.
I still customise, but I'm more into the 1/43 - 1:24 models when it comes to customising, (I'm beginning to use these more in dioramas) though I wouldn't be averse to ripping apart a GL or JL 1:64 - there is not a lot to change in those models - there is already great detail.
But Customising and Collecting are not mutually inclusive - some collectors don't even take their models out of the packages - let alone think of taking a drill to them.
The specific conversation I was having with Never R and GBBoy about the F100 was that I wouldn't, myself, ever strip
that car - the Chrome 5SPs are designed to bring out that particular tampo which itself is unique in that line of variations. Sure if I had half o'dozen I could afford to do that - and if I had the time and inclination, but, having agreed with GBBoy that it would look hot in proper blackwalls, I said I would rather spent a few dollars more and get one already 'customised' or
naturally, like that - and it would usually be a premium scale model more close to 1:64.
(As you might have seen in the comparo picture of the Majorette Renault and the HW Renault, the 1:64s are significantly bigger and therefore easier to handle and detail. My Majorette Renault is in pieces, taken apart almost when I bought it - maybe three years ago, and still lies in pieces. I wanted to change only the wheels - still not sure what to put on them
)
Here's another wrinkle to this whole thing - and it happened because I get talking with these guys about the F100, and having one with blackwalls.
I go to Walmart and it's sitting on the peg for me. A GL, too.
Just awesome how this works.
I'll tell you more about that presently.
To address the second issue:
Yes, if we put aside customising and rescuing destroyed vehicles, then restoration remains - and that is a whole other game. That is truly an art.
To find an old car, maybe rare in circulation, and be able to restore it to its former glory is just something else - I'm always admiring of that; Cano does that, and I believe so does the Panda. There are many other unknown people out there, too, probably who can restore some ancient Lesney or Corgi to its original looks, and that's something I can't even
imagine doing.
Swapping wheels on mainlines is easier and fun, but I guess I'm moving on.
I don't think anyone in the Hot Wheels and Matchbox Customising Thread will miss me.
________________________
Well, guys, I went into Walmart today - it's like that little voice that tells you - yup, good day today, and you go. Or maybe because of the conversation we were having here today. But I had already promised a single mom down the road from me that I would get some soccer balls, and other sporting goods for her kids (my good deed
)
The good deed paid off.
The place was crawling with GLs!
The first thing I saw was this:
All sorts of GLs from different series including the delicious Black Bandits. The BBs were only 5.77 each (free shipping
) Finally they're getting the message.
So I had to get some - my Mattel ratio is taking a beating.
Had to buy some HWs and MBXs to balance it out. Got to be fair.
Got some really great pop culture stuff too, the pegs are crawling with all kinds of stuff, Bond, Close Encounters, F&F, Star Wars . . . so many others . . . but that's a world of its own, the kind that turns one's brain into noodles.
____________________
Interesting. Why? For the aesthetics or something else?
Obviously, you don't
have to like it, just interesting what turns you off.
I have to admit
I was for awhile, now I'm into it again.
(I do realize most of those were released later)
