Mattels Exclusive rights with Ferrari are coming to an end.

Well the time has finally come for the relationship with Mattel and Ferrari to come to an end. As a long time collector of Ferrari Automobilia, I am actually not surprised that it is finally ending. I have read several posts in various places online where collectors weren't really that happy with the product Mattel was releasing in the 1:18 scale world. There are companies out there that I used to have resale accounts with when I had my Automotive Collectibles business, as well as other companies that I have collected over the years that as small companies, they out out some phenomenal product.

So with the demise of this relationship, I am in hopes of Ferrari signing some deal and getting some too notch models released by these smaller, higher quality companies to to be released. I think this will get the 1:18 collector market a good boost and it will be greatly appreciated. Why a boost! Well, I actually stopped collecting for the reason that I really wasn't happy with what was being released by Mattel. I also honestly didn't have the funds to continue my collecting hobby either. So maybe, just maybe in the future I will see what comes out and is something I just can't live without. But before I make that decision, I have a more important hobby to address. The build of my Kustom 1990 Chevy S10. That's another story to come down the line when I starts. Until then, thanks for reading my little rant. 

My World Famous Ferrari Gumball Machine

I just wanted to share this little story of how I this came together since I am packing it away to get ready to sell my home and move. I'm not moving too far, but still need to get the office de-cluttered to get the house ready to sell. Now for the story of my "World Famous Ferrari Gumball Machine".

Several years ago I had an idea in mind to find a gumball machine at a reasonable price for this project. It took a while, but one day while doing my usual thrift shopping for automotive related items I found it. It was the right color, red, and for a more than reasonable price. I got it for a mere 5 bucks! So I brought it home, cleaned it up, and started going through my Ferrari Hot Wheels that I had extras of. That wasn't hard to do since I had recently shut down my automotive collectibles shop and had several cases of Hot Wheels to pick through. And, I had been saving them for this project. As I went through them, I just couldn't get the thing filled. It took a little over 100 of these little suckers to get it filled up. I didn't have enough different models to fill it, but I had a ton of extras. So I filled it up.

As I get a new one in red that I don't have in there, I remove the extras and put in a new one. I do have a few non red ones in there just to break up the color. They can't all be red! Anyways, once it was completed I took the 4 photos below and posted them on the Ferrari Chat Collectibles Forum. Hence, the reason whgy I call it the "World Famous Ferrari Gumball Machine". I'm not sure how many people have actually seen it, but I like the name, so I keep it at that. This was I can't remember how many years ago, but I wanted to share it with the world once again since it is being packed away for an unknown period of time. I also have another project idea that still has yet to come to light, but when I move, and get the skills to get it accomplished, It will be done. I have more than a thousand Ferrari Hot Wheels for this project. Not sure how many it will take, but I figure it's better to have way more than I need than to be short. Thanks for reading, and if you like it, please give me some feedback, or share it with your friends.

If only it was this easy to buy a real one.