• Determine Which Toy Vehicles You Want

• Gauge the Age of Toy Vehicles

• Understand Toy Vehicle Scale Sizing

• Pick Up the Hottest Hot Wheels

• Maximize Your Matchbox Collection

• Value Diecast Vehicles & Other Toy Vehicles

• Care for Your Toy Vehicle Collection

• Find Diecast, Toy Vehicles on eBay

• Buy Diecast, Toy Vehicles With Confidence

Determine Which Toy Vehicles You Want

Determine Which Toy Vehicles You Want

Before searching through the more than 100,000 toy vehicle item listings on eBay, decide which toy vehicles you want. Collect your passion by searching out items you’ll love for years to come.

Some toy vehicle collectors stick to a general category, such as diecast cars, diecast passenger trucks, toy vans, toy boats, toy aircrafts, toy motorcycles, toy helicopters, or toy buses, but we recommend getting as specific as possible. For example, if you always liked playing with Tonka toys when you were a kid, build a collection of pressed steel Tonka trucks.

Rev up your toy race car collection

You may not be able to fit a full-fledged race car in your garage, but you can stock your shelves with diecast replicas of cars made famous by your favorite NASCAR, Formula 1 (F1), NHRA, Indy, and LeMans drivers.

• NASCAR toy vehicles: Action/Revell, Racing Champions, and Team Caliber (TC) produce diecast toy vehicles of the cars driven by Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Rusty Wallace, as well as NASCAR legends such as Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Dedicated racing enthusiasts also need promotional vehicles that advertise specific products and brands.

• Formula 1 (F1) toy race cars: Stock your shelves with diecast toy vehicles of the cars driven by Grand Prix racing stars such as Michael Schumacher, Mario Andretti, and Mark Webber. You'll find options from Hot Wheels, Minichamps, Exoto, Corgi, Matchbox, Maisto, and more.

• National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) toy cars: Find miniature diecast versions of the funny cars, top fuel cars, and pro stock cars used by top NHRA drivers including John Force, Tony Pedregon, Greg Anderson, Kenny Bernstein, Joe Amato, Gary Scelzi, Larry Dixon, and Tony Schumacher. Top NHRA diecast toy car brands include Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Maisto.

• Indy toy cars: Championship cars have an aerodynamic, low-to-the ground look. Collect small diecast versions of the cars raced by Indy stars such as A.J. Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi.

• LeMans toy cars: Find Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Ford diecast toy vehicles made famous by France's famous LeMans endurance race.

Select specialty toy vehicles

Pay tribute to working men and women with a collection of specialty toy vehicles.

• Farm toys: Look for modern and old-school farm toys, such as toy combines, toy tractors, toy balers, John Deere replicas, and Caterpillar vehicles from Ertl, Norscot, and Tonka.

• Construction equipment toys: Along with farm toys, the Ertl, Norscot, and Tonka brands produce toy construction equipment such as Caterpillar replicas, toy cranes, toy dump trucks, toy cement mixers, and more.

• Emergency vehicle toys: Nab toy police cars, toy fire trucks, toy ambulances, and other toy emergency vehicles from brands such as Code 3, Welly, Franklin Mint, Dinky, Corgi, and Brooklin.

• Delivery & service vehicle toys: Pick up toy commercial trucks and vans from Johnny Lightning, Hot Wheels, Ertl, Danbury Mint, and more.

• Military vehicle toys: Flush out toy military vehicles such as toy tanks, toy Hummers, toy Humvees, and toy Jeeps from Micro Machines, Corgi, Dinky, Tootsie Toy, and more.

Find the toy cars you love

Attention car enthusiasts: Make your wildest car ownership dreams come true.

• Toy tuner cars: Jada, Micro Machines, and Hot Wheels produce the hottest car modifications, such as the Shelby Mustang, in scale sizes.

• Toy muscle cars: Bulk up your collection of high-performance vehicles with a sporty look. Look for diecast scale models of the Pontiac GTO, Trans Am, Corvette, and Camero.

• Toy dream cars: Collect diecast BMWs, diecast Porsches, diecast Ferraris, and other toy vehicles representing cars scores of people only dream of owning. Popular brands include Minichamps, Exoto, and Tomica.

• Movie-inspired miniatures: Find toy vehicles based on your favorite movies and television shows such as a toy Batmobile, toy Herbie, toy General Lee from "The Dukes of Hazard," and toy cars from the  James Bond films.

• Precision vehicle toys: Precision vehicle toys have working operating features and a true-to-life interior, exterior, and colors. Popular brands include Ertl (makers of John Deere Precision vehicles) and Franklin Mint.

Gauge the Age of Toy Vehicles

Gauge the Age of Toy Vehicles

Toy vehicle materials, manufacturing techniques, and detail can help you determine the age of a vehicle. For example, manufacturers produced simple toys made of cast iron, pressed steel, and slush before World War II. During war time, iron and steel were mainly used by the military. But after the war, the toy vehicle industry again used the materials as well as Bakelite, diecast, and plastic. The toy vehicle industry also took advantage of the technical advances achieved during the war, producing more detailed toy vehicles.

• Diecast toy vehicles: Diecast toy vehicles come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Tootsie Toy, Corgi, Dinky, First Gear, Franklin Mint, Maisto, and Matchbox produced vintage diecast cars and trucks manufactured before 1970. Vintage Hot Wheels, including Red Line Hot Wheels, were manufactured between 1968 and 1980. You can also find a large selection of modern diecast cars, diecast trucks, diecast airplanes, diecast motorcycles, and diecast boats on eBay.

• Pressed steel toy vehicles: Look for vintage pressed steel cars, trucks, and jeeps from Nylint, Tonka, Buddy L, Marx, Structo, and Wyandotte. You can also find modern pressed steel trucks, vans, farm equipment, and other specialty vehicles produced by Tonka and Nylint after 1970 on eBay.

• Plastic toy vehicles: Collect vintage plastic toy vehicles from Revell, Marx, F&F, and Ideal or grab the latest modern plastic toy vehicles, including  military Micro Machines, Ertl farm toys, Herpa toy cars and trucks, Tonka trucks, and NASCAR race cars.

• White metal toy vehicles: White metal toy vehicles, often made of pewter, come in hand-built designs.

• Cast iron toy vehicles: Sturdy cast iron toy vehicles were produced before World War II and sold under the Hubley, Arcade, and Dent brand names.

• Tin toy vehicles: Vintage tin scale models realistically portray vehicles produced from the early 1900s through the 1970s, including American cars of the 1950s and 1960s. Modern tin toy vehicles are also available.

• Slush toy vehicles: Barclay, Kansas, Tootsie Toy, and others produced basic, lead-free slush (also called hollow cast or pot metal) vehicles before World War II.

Build a contemporary toy vehicle collection

Keep your collecting goals in mind when you shop for toy vehicles that hit the market after 1990. They'll stop you from getting caught up in fads. You may want to look at:

• Contemporary aircraft toys: Find the latest rescue aircraft toys, military aricraft toys, NASA aircraft toys, and commercial aircraft toys.

• Contemporary motorcycle toys: Collect toy motorcycles like those produced by Harley Davidson and Orange County Choppers (OCC) .

• Contemporary diecast cars: Discover diecast cars from Corgi and Hot Wheels manufactured after 1989.

Many contemporary collectible diecast toy cars feature photo-etched door handles, window frames, wipers, and radiator grilles. Manufacturers of mass-produced items can use the expensive process to copy scaled down patterns onto a thin sheet of metal and then etch parts onto the metal using acid. The process produces more detail than traditional molds.

Understand Toy Vehicle Scale Sizing

Understand Toy Vehicle Scale Sizing

Focus on scale models of a specific size. Scale indicates how large a replica appears relative to its real-world counterpart. As scale ratio increases, size decreases. For example, a 1:43 Mini Cooper will be smaller than a 1:18 Mini Cooper, and a 1:18 Mini Cooper will be smaller than a 1:18 construction truck. Sellers may indicate scale as a fraction or ratio.

Some brands focus on a specific scale. For example, Mattel uses the 1:64 scale for the majority of its Hot Wheels diecast cars. Other toy vehicle brands offer a larger selection of sizes. For example, Revell offers diecast miniatures in a variety of sizes including 1:18, 1:24, 1:25, and 1:64.

Pick Up the Hottest Hot Wheels

Pick Up the Hottest Hot Wheels

Mattel introduced its Hot Wheels brand of 1:64 scale diecast toy cars in 1968 and contemporary versions of the 2.5-inch (6.4 cm) cars regularly hit the market. Rather than attempting to find every Hot Wheels car ever produced, collectors keep an eye out for:

• Red Line Hot Wheels: Red Line Hot Wheels, manufactured in the late 1960s and early 1970s, have a thin red stripe around their wheels. A 25th anniversary version was also released in 1993.

• Real Rider Hot Wheels: Mattel manufactured Real Rider Hot Wheels featuring Goodyear rubber tires between 1981 and 1986 and released a four-car series of Real Riders in 1995. Treasure Hunt cars from 1995 and 1996 and racing cars may have similar wheels. Sellers can use the term "Real Rider" to describe a Hot Wheels car with rubber wheels, and will specify if it came from the original 1981-1983 production or 1995 series.

• Blue Card Hot Wheels: Mattel released Blue Card Hot Wheels, featuring an all-blue package and large white numbering in the lower right corner, from 1989 to 1995.

• Treasure Hunt (TH) Hot Wheels: Mattel began distributing Treasure Hunt (TH) Hot Wheels in shipments of new toy vehicle stock in 1995 and continue the practice. Treasure Hunt toy vehicles look similar to the new models in their shipment, but include slight variations and custom packaging. Expect toy vehicle models from the 1990s to fetch a slightly higher price than the most recent contemporary Treasure Hunt Hot Wheels.

• First Edition (FE) Hot Wheels: A new series of Hot Wheels produced after 1998 should have the First Edition (FE) Hot Wheels name.

• Hot Wheels race cars: Collect Hot Wheels replicas of NASCAR, Formula One (F1), and NHRA race cars.

• Monster Jam Hot Wheels: Monster Jam Hot Wheels replicate crushing Monster Trucks from the 1990s through today.

To get the most out of your Hot Wheels collection, assemble a long Hot Wheels track and race your cars. Also look for a carrying case.

Maximize Your Matchbox Collection

Maximize Your Matchbox Collection

Stock your shelves with diecast Matchbox cars or diecast Matchbox airplanes. First manufactured by Lesney Products and distributed by the Moko company, Matchbox toy vehicles first hit the toy scene in England in 1952. Since its inception, the Matchbox brand has gone through a lot of changes and you can see many of those changes by looking at Matchbox packaging. For example, from 1952 to 1959, Matchbox toy boxes read "A Moko Lesney." The language changed to read "A Lesney Product" through 1982 when Lesney filed for bankruptcy and went into receivership. You can also look for specific models:

• Matchbox Models of Yesteryear (MOY): Lesney introduced Matchbox Models of Yesteryear (MOY) in 1956. These replicas of classic cars from the early 1900s feature opening doors and hoods.

• King Size Matchbox cars: Marketed as "collectible," larger 1:43 scale King Size Matchbox diecast cars measure about 3.5-inches long.

• Superfast (SF) Matchbox cars: The Superfast wheels used on today's Matchbox cars where introduced on the first Superfast (SF) Matchbox cars, featuring a thin axle, in 1969.

• Matchbox model kits: In the 1970s Matchbox bought AMT, a plastic model kit manufacturer, and released a series of Matchbox model kits focused on 1:72 scale military vehicles. The line lasted about a decade.

• Matchbox Sky Busters: The first Matchbox Sky Busters commercial airplane replicas were released in the 1970s and a new line featuring Continental Airlines came out in 1992.

• Matchbox Challenge Cars (MBCC): Tyco released a series of 10,000 Matchbox Challenge Cars (MBCC) in 1996. When Mattel purchased the Matchbox brand name, it temporarily halted distribution until 1998. Matchbox Challenge Cars (MBCC) come in shades of gold, and have black interiors, clear windows, and blister cards that look different from other Matchbox cars released the same year. Most were released individually, but No. 55 and No. 70 were only released in 10-piece starter packs.

• 50th Anniversary Matchbox cars: Matchbox turned 50 years old in 2002 and released a line of 50th Anniversary Matchbox cars to commemorate the milestone.

When Universal Toys bought the Matchbox brand name in the early 1980s, Lesney co-founder Jack Odell retained some Matchbox tooling rights. He released diecast toys similar to Matchbox under the Lledo brand name, which has its own section on eBay.

Value Diecast Vehicles & Other Toy Vehicles

Value Diecast Vehicles & Other Toy Vehicles

Certain toy vehicles have a higher market value than others. You can estimate the market value of toy vehicles by searching Completed Listings. Results will tell you the amount other buyers paid for similar items in the past 14 days and will help you set the maximum price you're willing to pay for an item. Expect to pay more for:

• Limited Editions (LE) toy vehicles: Limited Edition toy vehicle runs have a predetermined number of copies. The manufacturer destroys the cast once it produces the final copy of the toy vehicle, making limited editions highly collectible. Sellers should include information about which vehicle in a run they are selling and the total number of vehicles produced in a run. For example, 124 of 1,000.

• Limited production cars: Toy vehicle collectors often seek Chase cars from Racing Champion (RC), Treasure Hunt (TH) Hot Wheels, and Matchbox Challenge Cars (MBCC). Some also seek Johnny Lightning White Lightning diecast cars featuring a white base, rims, tires, or interior. They make up about one percent of a run and other toy vehicles in the run will not have the same white component.

• Out-of-production toy vehicles: Toy vehicle manufacturers sometimes choose to stop producing an item and later reissue an identical toy vehicle. Collectors often seek out of production toy cars and trucks.

• Retired toy vehicles: A toy vehicle manufacturer can choose to stop making a particular toy vehicle and may reissue it with changes to color or detail at a later date.

• Toy vehicles with papers: Danbury Mint (DM) and Franklin Mint (FM) , companies specializing in collectible toy vehicles, often include papers with their diecast creations. Serious toy vehicle collectors will want a Certificate of Title (DM) or Certificate of Authenticity (FM) from these manufacturers.

• Regional favorites: Pay attention to where a toy vehicle Seller lives. Coveted items in one part of the country may not generate as much buzz in another region. For example, people living in Iowa may want classic American cars while folks in parts of California prefer muscle cars. When you come across an item listing for a toy vehicle you need, continue to look for similar items and compare prices.

Look for toy vehicles in mint condition

Replicas with all of their original packaging and paperwork typically sell for more than identical items without packaging. Always keep original packaging intact if you plan to resell a toy vehicle. The word "mint" indicates that an item has no wear or defects. You may see variations in toy vehicle item listings:

• Mint condition toy vehicles: Mint condition toy vehicles have no broken, misaligned, or missing parts, perfect paint, and no external signs of assembly such as glue marks.

• Mint in Box (MIB) toy vehicles: Mint in Box (MIB) toy vehicles come in mint condition and have their original box and packing material.

• Mint On Mint Card (MOMC) toy vehicles: Mint On Mint Card (MOMC) toy vehicles are sealed in their original blister packs.

Sellers may also list a toy vehicle's condition as “Other.” These toy vehicle miniatures can have damage such as chipped paint, broken or missing parts, misalignment, or general wear. Some toy vehicles in their original packaging fall into this category. For example, toy vehicles can experience wear by rubbing the side of a blister pack. Sellers should describe any damage to the toy vehicle and provide a clear picture of the toy vehicle in their listings so that you can make an informed purchase.

Care for Your Toy Vehicle Collection

Care for Your Toy Vehicle Collection

Properly store and maintain your toy vehicles so that you can share your passion with future generations.

• Ditch dust: Protect your collection from dust and show it off with a display case.

• Prevent fading: Keep your toy vehicles out of direct sunlight that can fade colors and warp plastic toys.

• Retain value: If you plan to resell your toy vehicles, keep them in their original packaging.

Use a soft brush, soft cloth, or Q-tips to clean dirty vehicles. Add a few drops of a lukewarm water and mild detergent solution to your brush, cloth, or Q-tips if you need more cleaning power. Although you'll want every part of your toy vehicles to look shiny and new, resist the urge to clean decals. You won't be very happy if you rub away their detail.

Find Diecast, Toy Vehicles on eBay

Find Diecast, Toy Vehicles on eBay

Once you know what type of miniature vehicle you want, go to the Toys & Hobbies portal, click Diecast, Toy Vehicles, and start shopping!

• Product Finder: Use the Diecast, Toy Vehicles Finder on the left side of your screen to quickly narrow down item listings by brand, vehicle type, material, and scale.

• Categories: The Categories list located directly below the Finder will help you find listings by vehicle type or material. You'll find links to Aircraft, Bikes, Motorcycles, Boats, Ships, Cars, Trucks - Cast Iron, Cars, Trucks-Diecast, Cars, Trucks-Plastic, Cars, Trucks-Pressed Steel, Cars, Trucks-Other Materials, and Other Vehicles. Once you click a link you'll find another Categories list that'll help you further narrow down your results by era.

• Keywords: Search eBay listing titles for specific words. For example, if you wanted to find a Jeff Gordon race car, you'd type "Gordon" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Look for lots to quickly build a collection and have multiple items automatically ship together. Visit eBay's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

• Let sellers help: A good item listing should include a detailed item description and clear picture. If you need more information, email the seller your question by clicking Ask seller a question under his or her profile.

If you can't seem to find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save your search on My eBay and eBay will email you when a match becomes available. Also search for collectible diecast vehicles in eBay's Collectibles section.

eBay Toy Finder can also help you find hot and award-winning toys appropriate for kids of any age.

Buy Diecast, Toy Vehicles With Confidence

Buy Diecast, Toy Vehicles With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the " Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay are not covered by eBay protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorized payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to $1,000.

• eBay Security & Resolution Center: Visit the Security & Resolution Center to learn how to protect your account and use eBay's quick and efficient resolution tools.