Burago
This
section is generically referred to as "Burago"
even thought it represents all of the die cast cars
I have collected over the years. The primary focus of
my collecting at first was the Burago brand, made in
Italy. As time progressed I started collecting other
brands, but in the beginning it was Burago...
Ground
zero. Below is the first Burago die cast I purchased
way back in 1979. It's #0113 Datsun 240 Z in medium
blue.
If
I had only known then what I know now. I paid about
$3.50 for it. At the "peak of the market",
one like this sold for $127 on eBay. And this isn't
even a rare one. By 1998 I had one of the largest die
cast collections in North America. The major brands
represented in the collection were
- Burago
- Polistil/Politoys
- Mebetoys
- The
Danbury Mint
- Franklin Mint
By
last count there were about 600 Burago, 350 Polistil/Politoys,
200 Danbury and Franklin Mint and 2300 other brands.
While the collection had started primarily in 1/24 scale,
I expanded to 1/18 with the addition of Burago's "Diamond"
series. The first was the Rolls Royce Camarque in a
wonderful metallic copper. After 1/18 came the 1/43
scale and then the smaller 1/64 (Matchbox/Hot Wheels
size).
I
started to sell off the collection in early 1999, beginning
with the duplicates. It had just gotten completely out
of hand. It was impossible to display the collection
and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to keep
track of what I had. Of course there are some models
that I regret selling at this point, but I did keep
a small, core collection that includes some of the rarest
and most beautiful.
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