''Diecast Collector'' is a British magazine dedicated to the hobby of collecting diecast metal vehicles. Published monthly, it is a thick, glossy magazine featuring a variety of articles on

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

and

model car A model car, or toy car, is a Physical model, miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even All-terrain vehicle, ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many mi ...

s, trucks, and buses, and

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. Beyond information on the collectables themselves, the magazine is also a source of hobby information such as auction results, collectors' fairs schedules, specialized dealer information, etc. The magazine also issues a yearly price valuation book.

Overview

The magazine was founded and edited by Mike Forbes, a well-known collector who formerly edited trucking magazines. Regular contributors have included Malcolm Bates, Mike Pigott, Horace Dunkley, and Andrew Ralston. Popular columns include the

Matchbox A matchbox is a container or case for matches, made of paperboard, cardboard, thin wood, or metal, generally in the form of a box with a separate drawer sliding inside the cover. Matchboxes generally measure 5 x 3.5 x 1.5 cm, and commonly have ...

"Models of Yesteryear" series by Horace Dunkley, the amusing 'Drive-Past' column by Brian Gower, and regular features on

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model model car, cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox (brand), Matchbox until Mattel bought ...

, Matchbox Superfast and character toys by Mike Pigott. Every issue includes up-to-date news on the model industry, plus reviews of the latest diecast and white metal releases. Diecast series covered in the magazine include Matchbox,

Corgi The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small Dog type, type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name ''corgi'' is thought to be derived from the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

Dinky Dinky may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dinky Toys, a brand of die-cast toy vehicles * Dinky (film), a 1935 film starring Jackie Cooper * Dinky Bossetti, protagonist of the 1990 film ''Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael'', played by Winona Ryde ...

, Hot Wheels,

Lone Star Toys Lone Star Products Ltd. was the brand name used by the British company Die Cast Machine Tools Ltd (DCMT) for its toy products. DCMT was based in Welham Green, Hertfordshire, north of London. Company history Starting as early as 1939, DCMT manufa ...

, Norev, Ixo,

Kenner Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy brand owned by Hasbro. Kenner Products began as a toy company founded in 1946, going on to produce several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures for t ...

, Exclusive First Editions, and

Johnny Lightning Johnny Lightning is a brand of diecast model cars launched in 1969 by Topper Corporation (owner of the "Topper Toys" brand), similar to the hugely successful Mattel's Hot Wheels cars. They were notable at the time for being extremely fast compa ...

. Articles based on TV, film and comic book character have included

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

, The Magic Roundabout,

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

and The Green Hornet. In October 2007, ''Diecast Collector'' celebrated its tenth anniversary with a special issue in which columnists and readers discussed their favourite diecast models from the past decade. In 2010, Forbes was replaced as editor by Denise Burrows, who also edited companion magazine ''Collectors' Gazette''. Rick Wilson was editor from July 2013 to January 2016, being replaced by Tim Morgan later that year. Rick Wilson returned as editor in September 2018, a position he still holds. During his second stint, Wilson authored and edited the specialist ''Fast and Fifty'' publication, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Matchbox Superfast. ''Diecast Collector'' is published monthly by Warners Group Publications of

Bourne, Lincolnshire Bourne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Kesteven Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the eastern slopes of the limestone Kesteven Uplands and the western edge of the ...

Regular contributors

*Mike Pigott *Andrew Ralston *John Kinchen *Roger Wynn *Paul Bason *Roger Bailey *David Boxall *Chris Sweetman *John Kinchen (died 2015) *Stephen Paul Hardy

Special offers

In the January 2006 edition, a special offer was included in the magazine offering a model Oxford Mini Van from

Oxford Diecast Oxford () is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every ...

for £1 to cover postage. Demand exceeded the five thousand pieces that were originally produced and an additional one thousand models had to be made to be shipped several months later.

References

External links

Official website
(archived) {{Scale model brands 1997 establishments in the United Kingdom Hobby magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1997 Model cars Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in Lincolnshire