What hobby?

[netmatrix 0]

I had to let this out. Its been bothering me for the last week. This happened 2 weeks ago. Specifically on Sunday at Parkson Sg Wang at 7++pm. I was there to look for some books in the vicinity of Times Square and Sg Wang. So stopping by dept stores to lok for cars seem ok. But i already know its not a good place to find cars. Not since 4 years ago. I was running through the MBX rack and hope to land some nice ones. Lady luck has it, i did!! Landed the elusive and hard to find MBX Civic Type R! And also a MBX 911 GT3! That made my day a little since i was dissapointed not to find some books i wanted.

Then next to MBX range was HW cars. Doesn't look like much. But i did see a Surfin schoolbus. And i held on to it. I didn't really like this bus. The color is a put off really. Like a piece of turd. But it is heavy. And here automatically, the first thing that comes to my mind was, "Buying by the kilogram". I wonder why such an ugly thing would be in demand? Its appeal is only the weight. But i held on to it, still pondering to get it or not while sifting though the rack.

Then came a kid and father combo. Which is ok as they started from right side as i was working from the left side. Midway through i was glanced by the dad of the kid on my MBX finds. You could almost smell jeleousy in the air. haha. By the time i reached the right side i decide to hang back the surfin schoolbus. Immediately the dad grabbed it and showed it to his kid. And you know what? The kid say he already have it. And this part is the best, the dad hung on to the bus. Looks normal? Think again.

It is obvious the kid wanted new cars and not something which he already has. But the dad........ . So kiasu. I believe he wanted the bus because he "knows" its valuable because of its weight. But the kid isn't interested at all because he already have it. Thanks for teaching your kid kiasu'ism man. I'm sure if i put back the CTR and the GT3 the cars would be grabbed instanty by him. I believe he should let the kid decide what he wants and not screw him into believing this is valuable 10 years later. Parents should treat this as a hobby for their kids. Not stock market or antiques to trade or sell! There are enough such kind of buyers already!

So in the end i came back still not feeling happy. Even though i have 2 hard to find cars. And then realise collecting HW is...... what hobby?

[YU5H 0]

for me it's a hobby

[Adrian1 0]

Ya, for me also a hobby..car hobby

[danielh 0]

interesting, some parents buy them for their children as toys. As you knows young child wanted to play with it. They knows what is HotWheels is all about. They might have seen it on TV as what we has seen the advertisement by hw's. And they are tempted by it ,wanted their parents to buy for them. . To teach them to collect hw as hobby at their early age or collection in carded form will torture their mental. All they want is to open and play and their happy with it.
Perhaps, by reaching the age of teens then, they will know what is hobby of collecting hw about.
Same to us, we bought them as for hobby because we can owned many types of car makes in smaller scales and the best things is affordable. To me, i have to buy more of each makes, one for keeping, another for custom and lastly one for my 3 years old son because all he want is to play with it .If i couldn't get what i wanted, i will always tell myself there will be available again or go to other places to find. And collecting hw is a hobby to me.

[aphong2681 0]

It's still a hobby to all of us man..we collect the cars that we like right? And it happen that some cars are highly sought after by collectors resulting it to be hard to find. The father could be a collector himself. He could be taking/buying the extra for many other reasons. It could use trade/swap or even sell to other collectors. But b4 buying it for himself, he could be asking the son juz to make sure that the son really don't want the car??

My concern is why shld we be bothered by his action? I mean, u alr let the car go since u don't want it, right? No regrets? Unless u had been thinkin abt it 'value' urself..It sad to me to hear how u felt but u r the one who triggered it. I won't deny that I sometime was caught up in similar situation as well - to buy it for its value or to buy it bcoz i like it? Unless if someone had told me to help to look for it, i won't buy it.

So chilled up bro and let's enjoy the hobby. If someone decided to hoard it, let them be. It's not the end of day if we miss the model that we want so much, right? Hardwork always pay, and the joy u felt after u had found it can't be describe by words only..

I gotta agree that the CTR is HTF. But other models are quite ez to score bro. The MB white Subaru police car, dark green 911 GT3 & black viper are ez to get during the 7-11 promo in April, and still ez to score nowadays..

[danielh 0]

"So chilled up bro and let's enjoy the hobby. If someone decided to
hoard it, let them be. It's not the end of day if we miss the model
that we want so much, right? Hardwork always pay, and the joy u felt
after u had found it can't be describe by words only.. "

agree with aphong... one word .."satisfied!" if i found what i wanted after all the hard work and hunting. Cheerss!!!

[kukubeh 0]

^ well said bro aphong. =)

[netmatrix 0]

The father did ask his son. And the son did say he didn't want because he already have. Father does not show a collector face, but merely HIS need to have it. If that father is a member in this thread, then read on. Please, your kid knows what he wants. If he doesn't then you should not bother having this hobby, because Trading cards games offer more returns. Yes its not my problem. I'm just waiting for it to be Your Problem. Which won't reflect because 20 year later you might have forgotten about it.

I'm all over hoarders. A curse for them to be bankrupt is already laid. hahaha.

Well it isn't turning as a hobby anymore. Not when u cannot get cars. People are changing too much these few years. And they say people generally. But what i see are parents changing the kids. And the kids grew up to be people you love to hate. 20 year old drives a 3 series courtesy of daddy-o. Lavish spending. Yet no idea how life goes about. Seeing this first hand you would say the same thing. They buy things without attachment. Soulless people really.

I always thought rich kids buy expensive toys. Not HW cars because they do not match libido size. But that day, i see rich father teach kid being KIASU. Kudos to kid brushing off father. But hope kid is strong enough not to be swayed by father to KIASU'ism.

Back to this hobby. Picked it up because i genuinely love cars. See my books, my computer pictures and details. I'm only part through history of cars. Now i'm all into Morgan cars. Hw collecting is a bonus really. One that i could do without. I think its probably a good time to quit because the people i want to get away from comes to haunt me. It has turned my hobby into hate/stress/mind numbing chore.

I should have spend more time on my bicycle. I think the time is ripe for biking, kill a few motorcyclist and bury the 300 plus Hw & MBX cars i have. Hasta La Vista baby!

[enyomic 0]

my frens call me a car dealer .... can open car showroom .. lol

[cawan 0]

some said they are a HW collector.. referring that they collect THunt only..

some use backdoor to get nice car

some not think to others

some will slave others HW collector by selling skyrocket price

some ...

[cawan 0]

back to netmatrix, yes those boys is looking for what he interest with, not hobby that persuade by his father..

[aphong2681 0]

So bro netmatrix, did the father bought the school bus?

BTW, how does a collector looks like? We have a few parents here as collector as well. How can we decide a person we randomly met while browsing thru HW is a collector or not? Can I say a grandmother whom I met while browsing on MB cars is buying it for the purpose of reselling them? I believe we all do came accross all kind of ppl when goin hunting right? These 'ppl' could be buying as a gift as well, right?

What I'm trying to make it clear here is we cannot make simple judgement against a person whom we randomly just met. Whether one can/cannot buy what one desire for what ever reasons.

Rich kids buying expensive toys? That's just so wrong! Yes they can afford to buy expensive-bigger toys, but they can't enjoy cheaper toys too? It doesn't mean that they are rich so they can't save $$$ as well. Not every rich thinks the same..

What good do one get having so much money, but cannot enjoy life? Money is not the answer to everything!

What do I get by envying my friends who is drivin/riding to college
when I myself took a 2hrs bus ride daily? What good do I get knowing that now I'm driving my own car to work and some
dudes still driving their sport car which was a gift from parents?

Satisfaction bro. One could continue envy and achieve nothing but more whining, but one could as well stop envy and start doing something!

From parents' point of view, I do not think it was b'coz of 'kiasuism' but more to trying to provide the best to their children. The father could be buying a beemer 3-series for the son after considering various aspect like the comfortness, built quality, safety, etc..

U can stop collecting HW and start new collecting hobby. But can u stay away from hoarders? I can't! Amulets, stamps, CDs, etc..it's all the same..

To me, u shld do what u feel like u want to do. Collect what u like and don't waste ur time/energy & stress urself thinking abt wht others do. You know y u had picked up this hobby! So cheer up bro!

[kurz 0]

easy lar..the kid already have it in his collection..but the father dont have it yet..so he keep it lar..lol
or maybe he's getting it to trade with other collectors..
dont always think bad of others lar..
there could be many stories behind the event that we wouldnt know.

btw i like surfing school bus..i have both of this yr's variation

and since u said u have 300+ collection that u feel like burning 'em..y not trade with us?
u might even get the cars u wanted

like bro py..through trade, he easily got 9 of '07 TH..that's the use of a HW community..make full use of it

[undercoverbrother 0]

Just chill, maybe you're thinking too much hehe.. maybe he's just being plain excited dad who don't really keep track what his son got and was like "hey it's a school bus!", convinced son not interested, "really?", and finally he put back.. just that. Probably nothing to do with 'kilogram' factor, kiasuness all that, i dunno. Sometimes body gestures doesn't really hints anything, unless he called the staff and like "you got another 10 pcs of these?", hehe.

Just take our fellow father and son boardie here boneshaker. The dad's your typical 'collector' collector, and the son's who follows around all the time and his knowledge about every models variants exclusives drag buses whatsoever probably could hustle most of boardies here, but his own collections? yes a normal kids collection with all sorts of loose cars kept in bags or scattered around, playset and all that. I guess it don't take a collector dad who's familiar with 'greenies, valuable cars, heavy stuff' and all that for their children to be one, the father should understand better what the kids appreciate and not necessarily they need to 'change' their children for that unless the kids themselves wanted to.

aphong2681 wrote:

So bro netmatrix, did the father bought the school bus?

Spoiler:

 

BTW, how does a collector looks like? We have a few parents here as collector as well. How can we decide a person we randomly met while browsing thru HW is a collector or not? Can I say a grandmother whom I met while browsing on MB cars is buying it for the purpose of reselling them? I believe we all do came accross all kind of ppl when goin hunting right? These 'ppl' could be buying as a gift as well, right?

What I'm trying to make it clear here is we cannot make simple judgement against a person whom we randomly just met. Whether one can/cannot buy what one desire for what ever reasons.

Rich kids buying expensive toys? That's just so wrong! Yes they can afford to buy expensive-bigger toys, but they can't enjoy cheaper toys too? It doesn't mean that they are rich so they can't save $$$ as well. Not every rich thinks the same..

What good do one get having so much money, but cannot enjoy life? Money is not the answer to everything!

What do I get by envying my friends who is drivin/riding to college
when I myself took a 2hrs bus ride daily? What good do I get knowing that now I'm driving my own car to work and some
dudes still driving their sport car which was a gift from parents?

Satisfaction bro. One could continue envy and achieve nothing but more whining, but one could as well stop envy and start doing something!

From parents' point of view, I do not think it was b'coz of 'kiasuism' but more to trying to provide the best to their children. The father could be buying a beemer 3-series for the son after considering various aspect like the comfortness, built quality, safety, etc..

U can stop collecting HW and start new collecting hobby. But can u stay away from hoarders? I can't! Amulets, stamps, CDs, etc..it's all the same..

To me, u shld do what u feel like u want to do. Collect what u like and don't waste ur time/energy & stress urself thinking abt wht others do. You know y u had picked up this hobby! So cheer up bro!

Totally what homeboi aphong said.

[aphong2681 0]

undercoverbrother wrote:

... and not necessarily they need to 'change' their children for that unless the kids themselves wanted to.

[demonicle-hwcmalaysia 0]

let's face it. we cant stop these kind of people. we can only TRY to educate them. thats y whenever i see someone at a hotwheels rack i jus say hi. n try to get to know him. ask him how long he's been collecting, wat he collects n etc. i never jus watch wat he's buyin. we go thru the racks together n if i'm holding something n he sayss he wants it, i'll pass one to him.

i've met tons of ppl this way n many of them have come to be good frens of mine. the minute we see someone at t HW rack, we automatically think "oh no! another predator is here!".. wat do u think he's thinking????

i know wat he'll be thinking. "oh man! a scalper is here!"

so thre's no point in arguing about this. jus make frens. it's that simple. the more ppl u know, the more fun this hobby becomes. if everyone is a scalper to u, then this ain't a hobby anymore..

another things is.. if a certain model is so hard to find, jus give a shoutout here. i know many ppl have extra of those most wanted models. their will be more than willing to share. thats why we are a communitty here. to help each other out.

so if we meet ppl at toy departments, jus say hello n invite them to HWCM instead of acting like a counter terrorist while he is the terrorist. u'd never know when he'll turn around and say to you
"oh, i'm already a member, my nick is blahblahblah"

this is where i'm trying to change ppls mentality. this hobby is NEVER fun when u collecting alone. meet new ppl, share views, opinions. maybe ur kids cud be frens too! a lot can come out of this hobby if we change our mindset....

[demonicle-hwcmalaysia 0]

let me paint u a picture of a similar incident that really happened.

sory for using the real nicks of the person involved. but this is wat happened a few months back.

impavido n boneshaker are father n son as we all know.

not long back, impavido went wit his father to KLCC, they found the new Matchbox wave hanging on racks. the father saw a mercedes benz cls n passed it to impavido. impavido said he already has it. but boneshaker still held on to it. he never put it down.

imagine if u were there with the same mentality... u wud say that he's a scalpeR? u wud say he is kiasu??

boneshaker DID go n pay for it! eventho his son already has it n didn't want it! OMG!!! HOW CAN BONESHAKER DO THIS????

the same week, i met boneshaker at the gathering, he passed me the CLS n told me he bought it for me...

so.... who are we to judge someone we do not know.

say hi first, get to know him n then u can judge him...

[undercoverbrother 0]

Hehe boneshaker name called out twice this thread..

[Fadli85 0]

Encountered similar situation too at Sunway Pyramid, passed by a Matchbox got some Subaru Police cars and a few others interesting one but since I already have one, I just left it there for other collectors or enthusiasts, so at least it's available each to everyone, then came one uncle, with a waist pouch, suddenly grabbed a whole lot of the stuff, put it aside on one place, holding onto them like a pot of gold, then scan the pegs some more....

I feel so sorry for other collectors that day for missing the cars they still don't have.

[redkop 0]

From parents' point of view, I do not think it was b'coz of 'kiasuism' but more to trying to provide the best to their children.
I gotto declare I'm neither the father concern nor the uncle with a pouch bag. Lol. But a dad with 2 monstrous sons. Being a dad myself, yes, I certainly believe it's all gotto to with an overly concern dad trying to get the best for the son and the dad's mere body language sent out the wrong signal to Netmatrix. I wouldn't blame Net for having such thoughts, had I been there I would have the same thoughts. But again, we can't pre-judge people, but if we care to know them better, they're not as bad as what we thought.
Hoarders, well they're here, there and everywhere and it's not going to stop right here. We gotto admit the we ourselves had been one before at some point of time, but as we grew older our priorities changed and we narrow our collection into something really worth collecting or that we really like and not slipped into an obsession level hoarding everything..Yup, HWs collection or for that matter whatever brand it may be is all about a hobby, nothing to get personal about, it's not about competing with each other One just can't compete, there're just too many collectors out there, but sadly many collectors took it as competition and friends turn into foes. How sad. Simply said, one will never be able to collect or hoard everything under the sky, there'll simply too many cars in the market. You try hoarding too many, you go bust soon, you have difficulties getting rid of it later. The road ahead is long and winding, many thousand of cars coming along or that we have missed previously, so how to continue to hoard?

[pydrumerboy 0]

Hey net, I have offered you free cars you don't have, you have not taken up the offer until now.....Oh well I have tried to help you, but maybe you don't need help....do you read your pm or not. Ini ikhlas la..... by the way to others no free cars ok.

[demonicle-hwcmalaysia 0]

pydrumerboy wrote:

Hey net, I have offered you free cars you don't have, you have not taken up the offer until now.....Oh well I have tried to help you, but maybe you don't need help....do you read your pm or not. Ini ikhlas la..... by the way to others no free cars ok.

:headbanger: :headbanger: :headbanger: :headbanger: :headbanger:

[Adrian1 0]

This things aready happens so long..
So, wait what, just put it down and relax...

[netmatrix 0]

Well very good answers guys. Anyway how did you guys know it was an uncle with a pouch with a kid tagging along? Holy crap!

Anyway i'm quite fed up, because everytime i go to dept stores or hypermarkets, there is always a guy with a cart, a basket or some sort with some large stash. Last biggest haul i saw was a guy with a cart hauling a LOT of tesco cars when it was selling at RM3. Almost half the 3 big boxes full went there. I hung around to see if he was promoter or not, but.....

Hi pydrumerboy, i did check out your msg long time ago. But i still wanted to find it myself. But now, i'm the not so proud owner of 6 yellow GTO and 5 Racer series GTO. And the yellow one can still be found at CS. No chili but bananas. hahaha. One of the yellow one is going to be an Evoluzione.

Well i'm not here to cause controversies or anything. Its just not like last time. I don't like the changes. The price, the lage influx of bulk buyers, the shops, yada yada.

Anyway, i would probably stop again. Because i cannot get any feel for collecting anymore. It hurts somehow. I don't like that.

Anyway, i'm not that crazy to flame my collection. Most probably be cataloged to my auto books and magazines. And then gather dust.

Anyway i collect HW not because its the hottest car model like GTR. I want it because i could always say,"God damn! this is the car in my mag or book! So this is how it looks like!"

Anyway i would not abandon HWC just yet. Anyway i'm cool with many things. Even gay people..... i'm not one la! You know its just some days, you just "putus fius" and then need to recharge battery. hahaha.

[pydrumerboy 0]

My friend, allow me to help you out, I understand your frustration. In fact the 2 red gtos that were sitting in that 7-11 in Kajang for God knows how many months, went missing right after I told you in one of the threads here, is no coincidence. Once people know they exist its gone. I repeat not a coincidence. That is why I do not reveal locations anymore and only will answer quries for locations through PM "selectively". This part I can control. However from your many post, I sense you are a genuine collector, so that is why I just wanna help you out. This is one way to collect no. Sometimes you need to allow for outside help to come in to get the cars you want. Because reality is, sometimes the cars you want just simply eludes you and that particular funny car wave was pretty short and not to mention shortpacked. On the other hand the yellow one is abundant and never ending since the bad bagger, qombee, chevy, camaro wave.... so allow me to give you a red gto, since I have extra to help you complete your collection. Nothing beats a gto in red, not even the coppered colored one. So please let me know where can I post the car. The offer will always stand. Thats all I have to say.

[kukubeh 0]

^ reminded me of the carbonator.

[pydrumerboy 0]

Well kuku, thats because its in the same wave.

[Fadli85 0]

I think I want to go with py from now on, no revealing location...

[CHAH 0]

bottom line, HOBBY should be fun.

If there's no fun in doing or having a hobby, then something is definitely wrong
somewhere.........

so, chill and keep your hobby spirit alive....no matter what it is.......

[aphong2681 0]

Well Net, glad to hear that you won't quit collecting once and for all..that's the spirit! Cheers!

[redkop 0]

Net, no reason to quit just because of a few unpleasant encounters and let's not have sleepless nights over the hoarders. One just can't hoard forever, a lot of dough is needed. Before we know, next wave comes along, what's next? Hoard again? Lol. Unless we don't have to work and/or earn a leaving,we can continue to do just that. Hey, look on the bright side, they hoard, you save. And you could be saving to buy something more valuable. I'm sure you can find something you like in the ebay with 26 plus thousand listings daily or something nearer to home. Glad you're not giving up.

[enyomic 0]

Hmmm, hoarders are always in for the quick money ... buy today sell tommorrow. But there are hoarders who buy today, sell 2 yrs later like me. It's sometimes called investment but it's also to help new collectors to attain models they could not get anymore in the market BUT they may need to pay higher price.

Supply and demand also plays an important role in getting Mattel restocking the shelves faster. If you have hoarders who quickly help clear some stock, it would help in getting new stocks in.

In Singapore, even it is a small market, hoarders play an important role on movement of merchandise. The more they buy the better for consumers but there is a problem, you will see lots of dead stock running around. The TRU i frequent to is now having a shelf with 20% filled with dragtor and that is bad.

Just my 2cents. Dun give up on this hobby or we may end up collecting stamps like kids ...

[netmatrix 0]

Hi, pydrummer. Really appreciate the offer. But i'll stick to the yellow one and the racer red ones. If lady luck has it, i might land one under supernatural circumstances. Really appreciate ur guide to the location of probably the last red GTO in KL. hahaha. Never mind, i'm pretty happy with the maroon racer GTO.

Quote :

Supply and demand also plays an important role in getting Mattel restocking the shelves faster. If you have hoarders who quickly help clear some stock, it would help in getting new stocks in.

This is true. But at the same time its creates a pocket where people who really wants "that" particular model, is left high and dry. No stock movement for the rest. Which also creates overstocking. Doesn't help here.

Also was Fast Fish a wanted model? I skipped buying it for 1 week because i think no one likes it, and it was gone everywhere! Green and Red included.

Anyway i just bought a Ferrari 5 pack at RM26.90 at Jusco Puchong. Strange that this is the only one priced like that on a rotating rack and the are many more on another rack that are priced RM32.90. Why ah?

[enyomic 0]

miss pricing .. very common practice in jusco bro ... sometimes on j-card day can get double discount .... 70% then another 70% .. saw it with my own eyes ....shocking

[aphong2681 0]

Jusco r having promotion now.. all HW 5 pack selling at RM26.90..discount another 15% if u're a JCard member..the same for basic cars (now @ RM4.90)

[enyomic 0]

actually the ferrari 5 car pack over produce untill spill over every where ..... i c tons of them in singapore and it's darn scary ....

[aphong2681 0]

enyomic wrote:

actually the ferrari 5 car pack over produce untill spill over every where ..... i c tons of them in singapore and it's darn scary ....

Yeah, they even change the packaging for few other 5 packs as well..
like General Motors 5 pack (the new packaging with new name GM Tribute)

Almost bought the Ferrari 5 in new packaging liao, but lucky found d old one to compare, so tak jadi..

[netmatrix 0]

Because a lot of people buying red ferarris, and ferraris, and more ferraris. So they make a LOT of those. And what heppened to those people who says they would do anything to hoard ferraris? Missing!! Even at cheap RM26.90. Missing! What a screw up i tell ya.

I should approach the Mattel people and commit 200 packs of these Ferrari 5 ate cheap price. Then make them all missing from market. That should create a bad shortage and i will be the only source for it. muahahahahah!!! *evil laugh* Then i can be evil and say this, " You want the Fezza 5 pack? RM50..." *with a cool face*

[demonicle-hwcmalaysia 0]

netmatrix wrote:

Because a lot of people buying red ferarris, and ferraris, and more ferraris. So they make a LOT of those. And what heppened to those people who says they would do anything to hoard ferraris? Missing!! Even at cheap RM26.90. Missing! What a screw up i tell ya.

I should approach the Mattel people and commit 200 packs of these Ferrari 5 ate cheap price. Then make them all missing from market. That should create a bad shortage and i will be the only source for it. muahahahahah!!! *evil laugh* Then i can be evil and say this, " You want the Fezza 5 pack? RM50..." *with a cool face*

:CLAPCLAP: :CLAPCLAP: :CLAPCLAP: :CLAPCLAP: :CLAPCLAP: :CLAPCLAP: :CLAPCLAP:

[netmatrix 0]

Shut up net!!! hahahaha