Found a great deal on a NM Diecast!

[berogersjr]

Took Lola in for her routine maintenance/oil check to the local Ford dealership this morning. I also wandered into the parts store next to the service area, and, lo and behold, they had a Neiman Marcus diecast sitting on the shelf, next to some of their other Ford memorabilia.

It was dusty, a couple of small scratches here and there, no top, and the gearshift was broken off. Looked like it had been played with by one too many toddlers while waiting on their parents to buy parts. The price tag on it was $28.00. I almost did not buy it, but I thought, what the heck, and took it up to the counter. The guy said he also still had the box and top somewhere. He went in the back and had to dig around for quite a while before he found it, but it had the top, intact, with it.

After I paid for it, I told him how rare these are and how much you might pay for them online, and he said if he'd known that, he'd have bought it himself!

Anyway, I figure it's not a "mint" car, but maybe after a bit of polish, it'll look OK in my collection.

[Lonestar]

Re: Found a great deal on a NM Diecast!

That surely is a deal - Did they have a merlot? (shhh, if they did PM me, do not tell anyone else)

[berogersjr]

Re: Found a great deal on a NM Diecast!

Nope, sorry, no merlot. In fact, other than that NM, there was no other TBird memorabilia in the place - just Mustang and Explorer stuff. Kinda sad, actually.

[Ol'Dave]

Re: Found a great deal on a NM Diecast!

Way to go BOBBY!!!!!!

Although I am still bidding on the current one on ebay, I too, stumbled accross a used one. The guy had it listed on ebay as a Black T-Bird. He was local, and I was able to convince him to sell it to me. When I got to his home, I scored even more. He had had a Insiration Yellow himself, which he traded in on a FOOSE Mustang. Soooooo, so he decided to start reducing his T-Bird Collection. I left there with 6 cars, including the NM.
But, alas, No White nor Merlot. However, I did get a couple of other rare ones.... :)

[5bird7]

Re: Found a great deal on a NM Diecast!

oh, thanks, Dave lead us on with "a couple of rare ones" and then not say what they are. or their size

[redbirdsal]

Re: Found a great deal on a NM Diecast!

Congratulations Bobby! Great find!

[2K2BIRD]

Re: Found a great deal on a NM Diecast!

Bobby,

Good for you. I probably would have try to hit him up to discount it more as I would have pointed out the fact that the car was scratched and the shifter was broken, ha. It might not have worked but you never know. Of course, I would have bought it anyway, just like you did. Some call me cheap, I probably won't deny it.

Coming up with a shifter shouldn't be that hard. All it will take is a little gray paint to match the steering wheel and seats and you'll be just about as good as new. I'd be surprised if someone here doesn't have an extra one from a project donor car. I was able to help Frits out with one when his NM car came minus the shifter as well. With regard to small scratches, you might give an ultra fine tip black Sharpie a try to get it back to black then give it a good polishing and you'll be good to go.

Anyway, congrats on a good deal - they still happen every once in awhile!

[BirdsAndBugs]

Re: Found a great deal on a NM Diecast!

That's a sweet deal Bobby. I picked up a Nieman Marcus 1:18 diecast last fall for $45 off of eBay and thought I had gotten a good deal. I haven't looked lately, but they're not quite commanding as much as they were a few years ago. I've saw about 2 or 3 of Nieman Marcus diecasts on eBay this past fall for under $50.

Overall, I think prices on a lot of collectibles have gotten softer in recent months. I had listed some of my Volkswagen collectibles over the holidays (November & December) and had mediocre success compared to what I had sold on eBay over the holidays in 2007.