Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

[berogersjr]

For all you folks who collect the 1:18 Dicast models, and who are smarter than me (that would be all of you, by the way...!)

Having just bought one of the VMGs from Frits and Skip, and reading posts about what's rare and so forth, and reading over Dot's site on the diecast models, I have a few general questions about the 1:18 diecasts.

First, does anyone have any numbers about how many of the "rare" ones (white, merlot, VMG) were actually produced from the various manufacturers?

Second, were there models produced for all years, or just 2002-2004 (I have never seen one marked as a '2005' model, and you'd think there would be one since that was the anniversary year)?

Why were certain colors (again, white, VMG, merlot) rare? I would think that they would have made an even number of each. There seems to be a ton of red, black, tbird blue, and yellow ones, for example. I can understand a model like the NM being a "collector's edition" and only a few of them being made, but why is white a rare color, since that color car was produced all 4 years??

How come we get VMG and Merlot, but no Light Ice Blue or MSB or Cashmere? Any rhyme or reason to that?

Just eating my lunch at my desk, reading TBN, and curious...

bobby

[FritsB]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

Good questions Bobby, but I don't have the answers either.
Like you I would expect various colors to be produced in same quantities, but for some reason they are not.
Maybe other members can answer some of the questions.

btw...Thanks for buying one of the VMG's.

[Ol'Dave]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

There is one other very rare one out there. The REAL Inspiration Yellow 2002 Thunderbid by Maisto. It comes in the Hardtop version with the correct color combo Full Accent Interior. Most all the Yellows you see out there are the "Show Car" version. even the 1/24th & 1/25 versions are the Show Car, and not the real Inspiration Yellow. The Red and Black are out there in both versions. There are no 2005 editions because both maufacturer's (Maisto & Beanstalk) stoped production of the Thunderbird Diecasts. Also ALL of the versions out there, despite there Year color variations, all sport the 2002 Engine.

As far as the reason for the rarity of these. It was by fluke chance only, that the manufactures chose to push the Show Car Versions first. Then when production was announced to be stopped, they only added a few of each remaining color at the time.

[islandtime]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

There is one other very rare one out there. The REAL Inspiration Yellow 2002 Thunderbid by Maisto. It comes in the Hardtop version with the correct color combo Full Accent Interior. Most all the Yellows you see out there are the "Show Car" version. even the 1/24th & 1/25 versions are the Show Car, and not the real Inspiration Yellow. The Red and Black are out there in both versions. There are no 2005 editions because both maufacturer's (Maisto & Beanstalk) stoped production of the Thunderbird Diecasts. Also ALL of the versions out there, despite there Year color variations, all sport the 2002 Engine.
As far as the reason for the rarity of these. It was by fluke chance only, that the manufactures chose to push the Show Car Versions first. Then when production was announced to be stopped, they only added a few of each remaining color at the time.

Dave - maybe you could clarify which version I have. Mine IY 1:18 has the full accent interior, but did the show car versions have that also?

[15AGAIN]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

The IY that I have are labeled Show Car--also they do not have the 3rd brake light.

[islandtime]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

The IY that I have are labeled Show Car--also they do not have the 3rd brake light.

Then I guess I have the rare version. Mine has the brake light as well as the full accent interior.

[5bird7]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

For all you folks who collect the 1:18 Dicast models, and who are smarter than me (that would be all of you, by the way...!)

Having just bought one of the VMGs from Frits and Skip, and reading posts about what's rare and so forth, and reading over Dot's site on the diecast models, I have a few general questions about the 1:18 diecasts.

First, does anyone have any numbers about how many of the "rare" ones (white, merlot, VMG) were actually produced from the various manufacturers?

Second, were there models produced for all years, or just 2002-2004 (I have never seen one marked as a '2005' model, and you'd think there would be one since that was the anniversary year)?

Why were certain colors (again, white, VMG, merlot) rare? I would think that they would have made an even number of each. There seems to be a ton of red, black, tbird blue, and yellow ones, for example. I can understand a model like the NM being a "collector's edition" and only a few of them being made, but why is white a rare color, since that color car was produced all 4 years??

How come we get VMG and Merlot, but no Light Ice Blue or MSB or Cashmere? Any rhyme or reason to that?

Just eating my lunch at my desk, reading TBN, and curious...

bobby

Try to answer your questions and these are just from my observations.

1 - we were never given any numbers about how many were produced of concept or production models. There was quite a demand for the concept model when it came out as Ford had NOT announced that it would make a production Thunderbird - That announcement came a year and a half after the concept was introduced to the public.

When the production models came out, 3 of the colors were essentially the same as the concept model, eliminating some demand for those colors. I blame it on the marketing - we did not know what the differences were until the production models were actually in our hands.

2 - demand for scale models of the Thunderbird had gone down quite a bit by 2003 and 2004. Ford was cutting back on their memorabilia for the T-bird and were still selling the older models for a couple years after the end of production. I suspect it was a cost cutting move not to order any other colors for the 05 when they were still trying to sell what they had in stock of the other colors.
Maisto experienced the same change in buying behavior from the public in all their diecasts. They'll make a minimum run of a particular color and not add others until the first are sold out. With the Tbird, they had several colors on the market - ones that were ordered by the vendors. If the vendors didn't go for a particular sample color, then a run of that color would not make it to market.

3 - white is a hard sell color for scale models. Even black falls into that category when it comes to scale models. Only in the last few years have I seen black models of any kind being marketed.

Also, Whisper Whisper was only a two year production color. Platinum Silver replaced it for 04 and 05.

Dave - maybe you could clarify which version I have. Mine IY 1:18 has the full accent interior, but did the show car versions have that also?

Elle, If yours has the yellow seat inserts and yellow gear shift knob and yellow on top of steering wheel, then it's the Production model. Yours will also have the 3rd brake light. The concept 1/18th scale do NOT have the 3rd brake light.

[islandtime]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

Thanks, Dot - I have the production model.

[Ol'Dave]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

Yes you do Elle. Also, the seats are Black on the IY show car. Only the door panels under dash and Console is in yellow. The Show car is a Pale Yellow, versus the IY real color, also.

[5bird7]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

The IY that I have are labeled Show Car--also they do not have the 3rd brake light.

You'll need to watch for the production model now, Bill. The two yellows are very different.

[BigDJBird]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

Is there or has there ever been a PCR Diecast thunderbird Model available?

[5bird7]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

No, sorry, Jim. there is an exception though. Cararama/Hongwell made a very few prototypes in that color in the 1/72nd scale but they never made it to market that any of us have found. I only know of one site on the internet with a picture of the model - owned by a Matchbox collector in the Netherlands. (not sure if he owns the model or just found a picture of it from another source).

[Skip]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

In addition to the comments by Dot, Frits, Ol' Dave, etc. I think another factor is that early on diecast manufacturers did produce the models in colors never available on the real cars, possibly because of advance info from Ford that changed, or just was not correct. This includes the dark green and dark blue cars in the lighted headlight keychain series, as well as the early edition Motor Max, etal, cars that included dark blue and dark turquiose colors. These models were in production well before a definite decision was made to produce the real car (most were labeled MY 2000), so some of the colors were just speculation. I'm not certain how well these sold, but this could be another factor in the decision made not to do other, "official" colors. The bottom line is, if they are not selling, the toy manufacturers will stop producing them. Too bad they don't use a little hindsight, because the diecast cars are gaining popularity again as new owners step up to retro Birds. How many more models of 55-56-57s do we need (Sorry Dot & Steve)? Just think how much more popular the Hallmark Christmas ornament might be if it was a retro Bird. Maybe with time the interest will return by the diecast manufacturers to produce retro Birds in all scales. I tried to get this across to the reps I talked with at Toy Fair this year. But the proof is in the pudding as they say.More sales = more production (just like real cars).

Skip

[2K2BIRD]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

As far as I know there are only two 1:18th scale diecast versions with a "published" quantity of production. The Beanstalk 007 production version with the white hardtop has a limited edition sticker on it stating they were limited to 5,000. The 007 movie version with the coral top is significantly more available - my guess - about 20,000. My guess is that we only got the Beanstalk retro birds diecasts because of the connection to the "Die Another Day" movie. Ford (Beanstalk) did the Aston Martin, Jaguar and T-bird as promo models for the movie. The other color T-birds made by Beanstalk were probably just a chance to maximize use of the mold. We've discussed who might own these molds now that Beanstalk is out of business, not sure anyone knows for sure. This can definitely make the Beanstalk cars more rare because there appears to be no chance that more will be made. Then again we don't know if there are still 1000s of them in a warehouse somewhere that will be released sometime.

The Maisto NM model has been reported to be an edition of 1000, but who knows if that is true or not. Dot's take on the general lack of white diecasts on the market is true and probably the reason there was only a short run of them available. Toy folks would probably consider it to be an unexciting color that doesn't sell well in general compared to red, black & yellow.

The bad thing about paying big bucks for a white Miasto is that they could produce thousands of them at the drop of a hat, since Maisto is still in the business and still has the molds available. The real question is, will they?

What no one really knows is, how do the numbers for Maisto Inspiration Yellow and the Beanstalk VMG & Merlot compare to the two published quantities of those I've mentioned? We may never know for sure.

The number one creed in diecast purchases/collecting is always - buy what you like! Odds are you'll never get a good deal out of it.

[5bird7]

Re: Questions about 1:18 Diecast Thunderbird Models

... How many more models of 55-56-57s do we need (Sorry Dot & Steve)?
Skip

I'm still looking for more particularly in specific size ranges. We're not even close to the counts for the 57 Chevy or the Camaro, etc judging from the color variations of those that can be found in just Hot Wheels.
It took years for any other manufacturer other than AMT to make 1/24 or 1/25 scale models of the 57. Finally, Danbury Mint and Superior make those sizes in the 2000s.