Keeping cars organized

redlinederby Thursday, 4/29/2010
Site manager

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How do you keep your cars organized?

As I buy more and more cars...and get donations ...I'm finding it extremely difficult to keep things organized so I can find cars when I need them. Just looking for ideas and examples of how y'all keep your cars straight.

Right now I have several of the 45-car plastic cases. I was thinking about making some thing shelf/drawer type things that can stack. I'm necessarily looking for a way to keep cars "nice" and protected, more so just to keep them in order.


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Bandeezee 4/30/10

Yeah, I'd like to see peoples answers to this questions too. I don't have that large of a collection, but my collection is getting close to the 150 to 200 car range and I'm running out of space in my 100 car carrier. I know the math doesn't sound right, but some of the cars are still unopened and the slower cars don't get put in the case (they get thrown in the rubbermaid pile, lol). Alphabetical order probably wouldn't work for me because I don't remember them by name much. So, right now it's pretty much organized based on speed; however, cars run different on different tracks, so placement changes all the time.

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redlinederby 4/30/10
Site manager

I guess I kind of naturally organize them by manf. So all the Ferrari's together, Porsches, etc...and then those are part of the bigger Exotic grouping.

So maybe a shelf/case per car type? But then you'll have empty slots in cases which I can't stand to see when I have others cars without a home.

Since the league has started, I keep all my FTEs in a separate case too, an old Matchbox 24 case.

Also given the League scenario, I've had to put effort into keeping non-racing cars away from racing cars, or non-league racing. I have lots of variant cars and I have to be careful not to get them mixed with the league cars.

I think something like the hardware cabinets would be sweet for cars; thin drawers that slide open.

How sweet would one of these be all stocked up with cars?
Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

This might be a summer project for me...as if I don't have enough ideas in my brain to do this summer. Ugh.

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JDC442 5/4/10

I like the idea of organizing them by makes (Ferrari, Porsche, American Muscle, etc). Storing them safely is a whole other matter. I've spent a lot of thought over the years trying to figure out the ultimate storage system, but haven't quite found or created one that 'does it' for me yet.

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JDC442 5/4/10

The rolling tool box would be an awesome storage case. Perhaps lining the drawers with thick foam rubber with cut outs that would hold and protect the cars?

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markkaz 5/11/10

http://www.HotCases.com The have both loose car as well as carded storage systems.
I am a BIG fan of their storage containers for BP's!

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

While their foam inserts for loose cars are very nice, I prefer to use Jammers cases
so that I can see through the plastic. You can order them directly from Plano or they
are also available at most Walmarts for $6.00. They are often on the bottom shelf
under the Maisto stuff.

http://www.racegrooves.com/hb/fea/JammersCases/_PlanoJammersCases.htm

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

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redlinederby 5/11/10
Site manager

I have about 5 of those Jammer cases from Walmart. They do the trick. Not sure I like the need to flip the case to see both sides, but at $6 you can't beat them.

I still might explore the tool chest idea.

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JDC442 6/26/10

Mark~ i like the see-through Jammer cases as well. My favorite cases are still the 4 tray 48 cases I grew up with. One of the pics you show has a lot of the first cars I ever collected from the late 70s. Yours are in much better shape than mine however due to some hard play. You have quite the variety of diecast. I noticed some World Race series, and perhaps Matchbox, but am not sure about the rests.

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markkaz 6/29/10

I don't have any from my childhood. They were purchased when I started collecting in 1998.
The last Jammer are Maisto models. Their Fantasy Collection on top, licensed issues on the bottom.
Those are old pics. I have almost two full Jammers of their Fantasy models now.

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David 7/26/10

What method does everyone use for keeping track of their cars? Any kind of cataloging or database? As I get more and more cars I want a way to keep track of what I've got and what I want.

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redlinederby 7/26/10
Site manager

I have mine sorted pretty simply:
- American
- International
- Fantasy
- FTE

I started sorting that way mostly because of the fantasy league races, but I've found those groupings pretty well sum up how I would look for cars. Someone says "Corvette," I know it's in American. Ferrari...heading to International. Now finding the specific car within 3 Jammers full of American cars might be a little trial-and-error, but I can accept that.

I thought about coming up with a more specific sorting method but figured it wasn't worth the trouble. There's a point where you have so many categories that you just can't keep it up. Probably depends how many cars you have too. Unlike some, I don't have rooms full of cars

I don't really have a list of cars I want. I'm not a completist. I just grab the ones I like when I'm at the store. As far as what cataloging, I do take photos of every car and put them up on Flickr. It serves me as a database but also as image hosting for the RDR sites...plus it's fun to take photos.

Hit up the Hot Wheels Wiki if you needs names or other car data, I've found it's a great resource when looking up names of cars that aren't stamped. http://hotwheels.wikia.com/wiki/Hot_Wheels

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JDC442 7/26/10

Since I started collecting back in the 70s, I have usually sorted my cars according to when they came out/were produced. This is easiest to do with cars still in the package, cause the dates usually on the package and if not, all the info necessary to determine this date can be found on the package. These packaged cars are kept in plastic totes, sorted by their production dates. In order to sort my loose cars by date, I've made little index tags on which i've written the name, color, wheel type, and 'dates' (date of original casting and also date this particular model came out). For reference, I've used my Tomart Price Guide.
I also separate my packaged cars by type of Hot wheel, like FTE, Classics, Larry's Garage etc.

*If you're just beginning to collect, sorting your cars by type (domestic, international, muscle, FTE, Corvette, Ferrari or even color) is a simple way to start

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David 7/27/10


...I don't really have a list of cars I want. I'm not a completist. I just grab the ones I like when I'm at the store...

If I just grabbed the ones I liked, I would be a very broke collector (but I'd have a lot of cars!) I use want lists to try to limit/pace myself. It also gives me goals to reach. For example I like to collect Ferrari's as well. But there are so many that I began to feel overwhelmed trying to get them all. So, to quote Julie Andrews, I decided to start at the very beginning. Right now I'm collecting the Ferrari 156 models. There are only a few of them and it is a mainline casting so they shouldn't be too hard to track down. (hopefully)

Now if I see a car that I don't have, I'll get it, but I only actively look for a specific car.

Lists also let me keep track of what I will trade or have traded.


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