Recent Departures - April 2014

I may not have sold much recently (not for a lack of trying) but the one item that I have sold has been a big deal. There are only about 10 people worldwide who can claim the honour of owning a Finnish Diaclone 'Black Tracks' Corvette Stingray, so I have been incredibly fortunate to have had two at the same time. I bought the second broken one loose to try and upgrade the damaged parts on mine. Alas, virtually everything on mine was in better condition anyway, so it ended up being a loose display extra of the absolute highest quality. Eventually though, circumstances and priorities won out, and it got sold. Good, no one collector should have two of these when so many don't even have one.

Finnish Diaclone "Black Tracks"

You must know about this toy by now, unique colour scheme created by Takara, exclusive to Finland in 1984, exclusive to the kiosk chain "R-Kioski", if not then you can read more HERE. Now a toy this rare should be an absolutely easy sell, blink and it's gone. The problem is, I am a knowledgeable collector so this figure's rarity and value was completely known to me. For another collector, they actually could not have wished for a worse seller, because I was always going to squeeze out every little drop of value I believed it to be worth and a bargain was never on the cards. In addition, financial circumstances meant a trade was never going to be much of a possibility, although I nearly caved when a C-325 Greatshot was offered in part exchange. 

The weapons are worth more than most other toys

In actuality, this was a really hard sell, and not because of the missing side door and break/glue damage. Because it was a Black Tracks, because it displayed amazingly well despite damage and because it had all its weapons for display, I wanted a great deal for it and I went to a Diaclone collector who had bought lots from me in the past for premium prices. He needed 3 months and I agreed, after all for that amount of money I could wait. Three months turned into 5 months turned into no contact. I cancelled the deal and offered it to another collector who I knew would love it, but the price did not agree and he refused. Another collector I sell to was interested but he too needed a few months to pay and also needed a little convincing of the price. 

So eventually I turned to someone who initially had not shown much interest, but I gave it another shot at a reduced price. Finally, six months after it was first made available for sale, I was paid and the Book of Black Corvette Ownership has a new chapter. A fine owner he is too I might add, it warms my heart to know how loved this specimen will be.

You can read more about the difficulties in selling rare toys in tonight's TFSource Article HERE.

One is more than enough

All the best

Maz