Tales of Toy Cars Editorial for December 2004

Volume VIII, Number 1

O F F - T H E - S H E L F

The following editorial reflects the personal thoughts of Doug Breithaupt relating to our common hobby of miniature cars. It is intended to generate discussion
relating to 'Tales of Toy Cars'. Your letters are welcome and may be submitted via e-mail.

Your Selections for the Best Toy Cars and Toy Car Maker of 2004

Thank you for submitting your votes for our second annual Toy Cars/Manufacturer of the Year awards. The results are in and it is clear that 2004 was a very good year for new models. In 2003, Norev won both the award for the manufacturer and collector model of the year (Citroen Xsara WRC) while Hot Wheels took honors for the regular model with their Bugatti Veyron concept. This year's nominees were selected by the votes of members of the Matchbox Community Forum.

The percentage of votes for each entry is identified below. If all your favorites did not win, we can console each other as neither did mine. As with last year, congratulatory messages will be sent to the winning manufacturers. I'll let you know if they respond. Now, here are the results.

2004 Manufacturer of the Year: Norev

2004 Regular Line Toy Car of the Year: Majorette Volvo XC90

2004 Collector Line Toy Car of the Year: Johnny Lightning VW Karmann Ghia

CONGRATULATIONS!

As in 2003, there were no categories that received over 20% of the vote, proving that collectors know what they like they like a wide variety of models. Norev is the only repeat winner with their second 'Toy Car Manufacturer of the Year' award. This win for Norev was with double the votes of any other nominee and this clearly shows that collectors like the quality, realism and value that Norev models provide. Majorette's Volvo XC90 achieved a narrow victory over Matchbox's Corvette C6 in the 'Regular Line' category. Johnny Lightning also had a tight race for the 'Collector Line' award with their VW Karmann Ghia just ahead of the Superfast Ford GT40 retro-casting by Matchbox.

It is easy to see that some new manufacturers like Norev and Konami are on the rise while others like Matchbox seem to be rebounding. Many 2005 models are already in stores and next December we will see which models have a chance for our third annual toy car awards.

NOTE; Additional images below courtesy of Galen Privett, Rob Gras, Mark Foster and Sinisa Pismestrovic.

MANUFACTURER

REGULAR LINE

COLLECTOR LINE

Hot Wheels - 2% Regular Line - Maserati Quattroporte - 7% Collector Line - 2004 Ford Mustang cvt. concept - 4%
Matchbox - 9% Regular Line - Chevrolet Corvette C6 - 12% Collector Line - Ford GT40 - 14%
Majorette - 2% Regular Line - Volvo XC90 - 16%
Norev - 18% Collector Line - Peugeot Hoggar
Siku Regular Line - Smart Roadster - 4%
Schuco Collector Line - BMW Isetta
Ertl Collector Line - 1971 Dodge Challenger
Chara Wheels Collector Line - Humber Super Snipe
Hongwell Collector Line - Mercedes-Benz 230 SL - 5%
Yat Ming Collector Line - Opel Vectra
Racing Champions/Ertl Collector Line - Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider
Muscle Machines Collector Line - Honda NSX-R - 9%
XConcepts Collector Line - Honda Del Sol - 2%
Jada - 4% Collector Line - 1956 Chevy Bel Air - 4%
Revell Collector Line - 1981 Cadillac Coupe de Ville
Johnny Lightning - 7% Collector Line - VW Karmann Ghia - 16%
Maisto - 4% Regular Line - Citroen C3 Pluriel - 5%
Real Toy - 4% Regular Line - Mercedes-Benz CLK - 9%
Welly - 4% Regular Line - GMC Yukon Denali - 4%
Motor Max Regular Line - Lexus LS 430
Konami - 5% Collector Line - Nissan Bluebird SSS - 4%
Pioneer Regular Line - Honda Fit/Jazz
Kyosho - 4% Collector Line - Ferrari D50 F1 - 3%
Tomica - 4% Regular Line - Mazda Demio - 7% Collector Line - Prince Gloria
AUTOart Collector Line - Mazda RX-8 - 5%
Biante - 2% Collector Line - 2003 Holden Monaro - 2%
Joy City Collector Line - Audi A4 Sedan - 2%

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