Okay, so this post is really just a place for me to express my lack of understanding for all of the "special" finishes that Action/Motorsports Authentics/Lionel NASCAR has produced over the years. In the early years it was just the chrome, or the gold, or the platinum; then it was the brushed metal, the color chrome, flash coat or the mesma chrome; now the ice, ghost, blizzard, and galaxy finishes?


Personally, I've never wanted a car that didn't have a finish that ran on the track. Are there really folks buying all of these finishes, or are they just making these things in order to meet their guaranteed royalty amounts to the drivers?

What I like about the special finishes is the really low production numbers. Some of them, like the White Gold Elites that Action made, only had like 25 produced of each!

On this side of the pond (Europe) there isn't much going on with Action/Motorsports Authentics/Lionel NASCAR. 


Please show a few pictures so I can understand (and admire) and see what you mean


Thanks

I'm a big fan of NASCAR and have a mediums sized collection as well (25 +/- a few), all except two are 1/43th scale models from Quartzo. The last two are from Action, one 1/24 and one 1/64 ("NASCAR Country 1948-1998" Bill France Pontiac in 'leather' giftbox with a coin)


Anyway, that's not the subject Personally I'm only interested in real cars, not fantasy creation like the crazy ones you mention. I like top collect the cars of the drivers I know/knew in the well-known liveries, just the same way as I like my Corgis, Dinkys, Minichamps etc. to be real cars that I remember from the streets or tv.


You ask if there are really folks buying these (new) finishes, and my guess is, that there are. Actually I think there are two groups that partially overlap: 1st is the diecast collector who's mostly into this for love of (authentic and detailed) diecasts, 2nd is the NASCAR fan who collects the cars of his favorite drivers.


The special finishes probably don't find many buyers in the first group, but to, say, a diehard Earnhardt Jr. fan, the car of his favorite driver in a special finish ('glorifying' and impressive) may just hit spot on and fit perfectly in his big collection of all-things-Earnhardt.


Then, of course, there are those inbetween the two groups (like myself). I bought the Bill France car although it is outside my normal collecting scale and era, because of the country connection... being a big fan of country music was the extra 'link' needed to get my attention - country music, NASCAR and diecast models; all in one!


In conclusion, I don't think the special finishes are targeted at diecast-collectors, but fans of particular drivers.

I agree Teebo it is the same in europe with F1 and minichamps ,they are after the fans ,every year the new line up comes out  .

I agree, we want paint schemes that were actually run on the track.

RoutemasterNL wrote:
  


Sure thing! Here's a color chrome car:




Here's a gold plated:

Thanks a lot Cobra.


The cars and their boxes look very nice. It certainly got me interested in these verycnice made American cars

Maybe LNC has it all wrong!  They should market the flashy special finishes to the European market to catch the eye of collectors across the pond and maybe stir up some interest in the sport.


I mean no disrespect to anyone.  I just think it is true that Europeans enjoy the "finer" things and special finishes have that certain fancy look to them.  


I am a marketing genius!

It sounds like a plan that might just work. I wonder if they have even thought of it?

Maybe if the marketed them that way, we here would get the cars of the drivers we want!


Special finishes USED to be our favorites, then it just got way to out of hand. I mean when you have 1 paint scheme and 14 different finishes, it makes it real hard. Especially when they won't make the schemes you really want to add to your collection!


We sold off all our special finishes( and there was alot of them!), now we are just collecting regular schemes. Much easier. Much cheaper.

Out of my entire collection, I have maybe 3-4 special finish (color chrome, chrome) cars.  I just honestly do not see the draw on these, at all.
I will take race-win diecasts all day. The problem there is, 9 times out of 10 they are cancelled.  To be honest, I don't see LNC is business much longer with the foolish way they operate.  All the blow-out (not really blow-out) sales in the world won't keep them afloat.  The new bodies for 2013 will help a bit, but they always go back to the same, tired, failing marketing plan they've used for the better part of 15 years and 3 bankruptcies.

I have read similiar topics several times over and it seems that everyone but the people at Lionel/MA get it about all the special finish cars.  Even the hardcore collectors and completists are giving up on these.  I think it's actually quite appropriate that this topic sits right about the "What killed diecast?" topic in the forum as I browse through the threads, because it is part of the answer.

They use it as an excuse to help cars make MOQ, and I am sure there are people out there who like the different finishes, but they only make a handful of each, and I don't know of anyone who can afford every finish of every car for any driver.  Plus, every year, they invent one or two new finishes, change the name of an old finish and hype it as new, slightly modify one of the finishes, change the finish from an ARC finish to an elite finish, etc. etc. etc. just for a short term gain, and in the end, they keep chasing customers away.

In the end, even though these cars are rarer, they truly aren't as collectible.  Some of the older white gold elites are now having trouble selling for their original retail.  The only people who really benefitted from those cars were the original speculators, and even though I own a bunch of special finish cars, I now only dabble in them; and mostly only in color chrome because they stay true to the original car but give them the "under the lights" look.

Unfortunately, I don't think they'll ever go away, and as long as there is some demand, Lionel will continue to produce them.  I think that even if collectors stop buying them, there will always be that guy out there thinking he can snatch them up and turn them for a quick buck keeping that artificial demand out there for them.