I usually wait until close to the end of the month to write about my monthly acquisitions but this is not a normal month. At the end of February, I was excited to see that 2020 Hot Wheels have finally arrived in Tbilisi 🙂 In the first five days of March, I picked up some more new Hot Wheels and a few secondhand Matchbox, I thought it would be another crazy month for collecting, but it turned out to be a crazy month for a different reason. The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic hit home, I was no longer going out on expeditions around the city looking for toy cars, I was mostly staying at home venturing out to get provisions from the nearest supermarket. The supermarket does have a few Hot Wheels but only 2019 peg warmers like Surf n Turf and Zoom In and I was more concerned with getting pasta and fresh fruit and getting out as quickly as possible. Here is my blog post with my reflections on COVID 19 : COVID-19 Post
Hot Wheels
Four new models and one secondhand.
- ’89 Porsche 944 Turbo. I was really happy to find this, as a child one of my favourite cars was the Porsche 924, I really liked its style. I might have to pop it out of its blister sometime soon to have a better look.
- Ford GT-40. I saw the movie Ford v Ferrari recently, a film I’d highly recommend. I have a few Ford GTs in my model car collection but couldn’t resist this new model in the classic Gulf livery.
- Alpine A110 Cup. A modern update of the classic Alpine A110, in blue like any good French racing car.
- Volvo 850 Estate. Hot Wheels don’t produce a lot of estate cars/ station wagons but I love the ones they do (Chevy Nova, Datsun 510 and this Volvo). This is the first of the new 2020 models I have liberated from its blister. It is always a dilemma as to whether to keep the model on the card or liberate it.
- DeLorean Time Machine. This was the only secondhand Hot Wheels I picked up this month. From the film Back to the Future.
Matchbox
All the Matchbox models I bought secondhand, there have been no new Matchbox models here for years.
- 1957 Chevy Bel Air Convertible. This is a more playworn model of one I already have. 1:66 scale.
- Runway Wrangler. One of those strange trucks you see at airports.
- Porsche 911 GT3RS. Like with the Chevy, this is a more playworn model of one I already have. But I find Matchbox 911s almost impossible to resist. 1:60 scale.
- VW (T2) Bus 1970. I was very happy to find this in the secondhand shop. I’d have been even happier were it the VW Camper in the 1970 Matchbox range.
- William Lusty Horse and Cart Model (Days Gone). I didn’t have any horse-drawn vehicles in my collection and this was just 5 lari. Days Gone/Lledo made a lot of horse-drawn vehicles. This model was Made in England.
The most expensive model this month was a Majorette Alpine A110 with opening doors. The usual price here is 16.95 lari in XS Toys, but I waited until they had a -30% sale and picked it up for 11.86 lari. It is an impressive looking model of the classic rally car, in French racing blue with Monte Carlo tampos. 1:53 scale, Made in Thailand.
29 March: I thought I wouldn’t be adding any more models this month, after a week indoors, I ventured out to the local supermarket. We waited half an hour to get in, we passed through the sanitiser station and donned plastic gloves, I was just out to replenish our food stocks, but I happened to glance at the Hot Wheels pegs. A week ago they had been very scantily stocked. Today, to my surprise they were full and had some new 2020 models. I didn’t tarry long but I did pick up the Bugatti Chiron, that had been on my Wants’ List.
Bilan
Totals: 12 Models: 6 Hot Wheels, 4 Matchbox, 1 Majorette and 1 Days Gone By
6 bought new, 6 bought secondhand,
Outlets: 4 Pepela, 6 Secondhand stores, 1 Carrefour and 1 XS Toys
Net expenditure: 64.62 GEL ($19.49)
1 lari = 30 US cents (last month it was 36 cents)
“The only way out is through, and the only way through is together.” John Green
Diecast Car Collector 