Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Info on hobby shops.
Post Reply
User avatar

Topic author
vanhookvintage
FOTA Chairman
FOTA Chairman
Posts: 2121
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:34 pm
Your Name: vanhookvintage
Favorite F1 Team or Driver: Ferrari
Location: Upper Black Eddy, PA USA
Status: Offline
United States of America

Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Post by vanhookvintage »

Hi All,

My niece got me a gift certificate for the holidays from MotorsportsMiniatures.com I think their focus is die cast collectibles, but they also have a few kits. I contacted the owner, Steve Mattero, to see if he had other kit inventory that wasn't listed on the website. He had 2 lists, but it's been like pulling teeth (my niece actually ended up sending a thoroughly pissed-off email) to get a response, and am now waiting to hear if one of the kits on the non-website-list is available and at what price.

Anybody dealt with this before? I don't want to flame him, I just want to cash in my gift certificate before my up-coming surgery! :shock: :shock: :shock:

Cheers,
Greg
"Everyone dreams of driving a Ferrari, it was my intent from the start." Enzo Ferrari

Noddy
World Champion
World Champion
Posts: 626
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:26 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Post by Noddy »

I have known Steve for over 30 years. His "focus" has always been hand-built 1:43 models from master builders but as the market has changed he, like everyone else, has been forced to shift to Spark and similar models. He, like many one-man bands, is often lacking in the inventory list department and struggles to find the time to fix stuff like that but is an honest and trustworthy dealer. Be patient and I'm sure you will get your model.
User avatar

Topic author
vanhookvintage
FOTA Chairman
FOTA Chairman
Posts: 2121
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:34 pm
Your Name: vanhookvintage
Favorite F1 Team or Driver: Ferrari
Location: Upper Black Eddy, PA USA
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Post by vanhookvintage »

Noddy wrote:I have known Steve for over 30 years. His "focus" has always been hand-built 1:43 models from master builders but as the market has changed he, like everyone else, has been forced to shift to Spark and similar models. He, like many one-man bands, is often lacking in the inventory list department and struggles to find the time to fix stuff like that but is an honest and trustworthy dealer. Be patient and I'm sure you will get your model.
Thanks Noddy, That's good to know. I'm sure I'll be happy - just impatient.

Cheers,
Greg
"Everyone dreams of driving a Ferrari, it was my intent from the start." Enzo Ferrari
User avatar

Topic author
vanhookvintage
FOTA Chairman
FOTA Chairman
Posts: 2121
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:34 pm
Your Name: vanhookvintage
Favorite F1 Team or Driver: Ferrari
Location: Upper Black Eddy, PA USA
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Post by vanhookvintage »

I ordered two kits from Steve's off-line lists, and they'll be shipped to me on Wednesday or Thursday. One is a 1/43 BBR Ferrari 333 SP, and the other is the Tameo WCT88 Mclaren MP4/4, with the high-detail PE monocoque and engine. Looking forward to getting my hands on those! So, it all worked out in the end. The lists are definitely worth taking a look at! :D :D :D

Cheers,
Greg
"Everyone dreams of driving a Ferrari, it was my intent from the start." Enzo Ferrari
User avatar

jmpsebring
FOTA Vice Chairman
FOTA Vice Chairman
Posts: 1902
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:35 pm
Location: Wash DC
Status: Offline

Re: Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Post by jmpsebring »

Also known him for 30??? years. If you knew Tim Crete, then you know he's no longer with us. Steve is trying to help the Crete family 'get rid' of his collection. Just a reminder to all. Help your loved ones out. Make a list of your stash so somebody can do something with it later. :(

Noddy
World Champion
World Champion
Posts: 626
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:26 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Post by Noddy »

jmpsebring wrote:Also known him for 30??? years. If you knew Tim Crete, then you know he's no longer with us. Steve is trying to help the Crete family 'get rid' of his collection. Just a reminder to all. Help your loved ones out. Make a list of your stash so somebody can do something with it later. :(
I wasn't going to bring that up as it didn't really seem pertinent but, yes, after Tim's passing his kit collection went to Steve. This turned out to be a massive project to inventory as decals were stored flat separately from the kits with Tim having a numbering system to identify the glassine envelopes. There was also a huge problem in that not every kit was complete and every kit had to be opened and evaluated. Some of the kits actually had too many parts! Tim may have added aftermarket wheels for example. In other cases parts had been liberated for use on other models. All this before a list could be compiled.
I was fortunate to be able to pick through a small part of the collection and purchase some of the best kits but the inventory process was never completed and, last I heard, Steve had moved the entire remaining collection to someone else. Perhaps that fell through, I've no idea.

Noddy
World Champion
World Champion
Posts: 626
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:26 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Post by Noddy »

jmpsebring wrote:Just a reminder to all. Help your loved ones out. Make a list of your stash so somebody can do something with it later. :(
A member here is helping Peter Wingfield's family with his collection - some of which are models in process, some are kits owned by clients, some are his personal inventory / collection, etc. etc.

A friend and I have a pact to help each other's spouses with our collections as otherwise some very expensive models are going to be mistakenly sold cheap or binned.
User avatar

Topic author
vanhookvintage
FOTA Chairman
FOTA Chairman
Posts: 2121
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:34 pm
Your Name: vanhookvintage
Favorite F1 Team or Driver: Ferrari
Location: Upper Black Eddy, PA USA
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Anybody Dealt with Motorsports Miniatures?

Post by vanhookvintage »

Noddy wrote:last I heard, Steve had moved the entire remaining collection to someone else. Perhaps that fell through, I've no idea.
Steve told me that the collection was in someone else's hands, but I don't know who, and I didn't know the story about Tim Crete, either, but I just found this article about him: http://autoweek.com/article/united-spor ... ps-le-mans. It's making me sad that I've benefited from his passing, but the kits will be in good hands.
"Everyone dreams of driving a Ferrari, it was my intent from the start." Enzo Ferrari
Post Reply