Grown-ups flaunt fleets of toy cars, say hobby keeps them young at heart

BENGALURU: On a cloudy Sunday morning, the poolside of Regency Place Apartment on Richmond Road was abuzz. Backpacks and carton boxes were opened with much care, and tumbling out of them were hundreds of miniature toy cars of various sizes, colours and designs.
Hovering over the toy cars were 13 adults — aged 19 to 61 years — admiring and discussing the tiny models they carefully placed on the table.
The meeting was the usual monthly get-together of Beantown Model Collectors’ Club, a group of automobile enthusiasts who share a common passion for collecting miniature models of cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships. The club, established a year ago, has 18 members from all walks of life, who have been collecting these models from childhood.
The meetings are theme based and the one for September was motorsport. On display were 250 models from F1, NASCAR, Indy, WRC and Le Mans, to name a few. The pieces included rare collections such as Jody Scheckter autographed Tyrrell P34, Michael Schumacher’s collection, winner of Moto GP 2002 and Valentino Rossi’s Honda RC211V, among others.
For many of them, the car craze started when they were as young as 10, but they continue to treasure their dented Hot Wheels. The passion has persisted and turned into a much serious business now, with their treasure trove running into hundreds and thousands of models. “Age is no bar for this. It’s a hobby that keeps us young at heart and these meetings help destress,” said Varun Nayar, 61, who used to work in the stock market.
Agreed Ganesh Pai, a freelance consultant: “When we were small, there was not much access to such toy cars. Today, and we continue with that passion.”
The collectors find their miniature models in toy/hobby stores, online stores, source them from foreign countries and buy them in e-auctions. “What makes a piece special are its details. Every company produces only a certain number of miniature cars. Some of them are limited editions. The number of cars of a particular model in a specified colour is very limited. Some rare pieces are unpainted (I have two). Most manufacturers do not rerun their cars. A model is the cheapest when it’s released and then with time its value escalates. We might stumble upon some of the rarest pieces when we go grocery shopping,” said Ajay Padmanabh, who owns around 5,000 toy cars.
The prices range from Rs 100-Rs 30,000. The Jody Scheckter autographed Tyrell P 34 is the 63rd piece among 500 produced and costs around Rs 30,000. “Most of us consider our collections as investments rather than toys. Besides just meeting up every month to spend time with fellow collectors, the club plans to have exhibitions, talks at schools, where we can teach young kids to start these small investments early,” said Aditya Menon, president of the club.
When like-minded people met
“I have a model of a Volkswagen Polo on the dash of my car, which is also a Polo. When I was waiting at a signal, the driver of the car in front of me got out and knocked on my window. He wanted to take a photo of the model car and introduced himself as a miniature model collector. That’s how it all started. We found more passionate people in stores and through social media,” said Aditya.
The youngest member of the group is Pranav Cherukat, a second-year mechanical engineering student at Amrita School of Engineering. “I save my pocket money to collect these cars. My parents are supportive; they will let me buy cars for Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000. But they won’t let me buy a phone for that amount,” he said.
The biggest challenge, the collectors say, is to find space to keep them. And, of course, to keep children away from playing with their precious pieces.