When I started this hobby in February 2015 I had no idea about the scalper/hoarder problems, the horrible store restocking or Mattel’s EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING distribution issues. To put only 2 or so of a licensed model car in a case and then distribute the cases sparsely has made me so bitter. It’s hard enough finding a store that restocks well but when they do restock there’s only a few of the good cars to stock and of course those are usually snatched up right away. This was supposed to be a fun hobby. No longer will I go hunting. No longer will I be wasting money, gas and precious time going from store to store trying to look for a car. Now I’ve got about a 1,000 cars just sitting and collecting dust. I’ve decided to just hold onto them and pass them along someday to my future son.
In the meantime, I’ve found a new hobby. 2DOF (2 degrees of freedom) Motion simulation. For the past month I’ve been building a racing simulator and still have a lot to do. I still need to build the mechanism to make the seat tilt and lean to simulate the movements of the cars in-game. So far, I’ve built bass shakers to vibrate and simulate the rumble of the motor. With my virtual reality headset, force-feedback steering wheel, bass shakers, and soon to come motorize racing seat, it will be a great experience! Anyway, with this new hobby, I no longer have to put up with the frustrations that came along with diecast collecting. However, if I happen to be at a store and I see a car I like then maybe I’ll buy it.....ONLY if it’s a car I really like.
In conclusion, the main thing that has made me leave this hobby is Mattel’s distribution. I refuse to waste any more time going hunting trying to beat the next guy.
I’ll leave you guys with a few pictures of my new hobby....this may be my last post on LaLD. It was fun-ish while it lasted. Goodbye scalpers and hoarders. Goodbye Mattel. Hello new hobby.
Homemade bass shaker/buttkicker
The computer that’s powering my simulator