Model cars were originally made as children's toys, as  most of us already know. Most of my own collection is from my childhood. Nowadays some manufacturers are making models purely for collection purposes.

Model cars, from the fact that they are model duplications of an actual car, are unlike other collection objects and for the collector, there are also various different motives. These can be broadly divided into two parts. One, the person who makes model cars (a modeller) and two, he whose major aim is to collect (a collector). From their respective standpoints, various  ways of model car enjoyment are advocated. It is probably a common point of both that they like not only the model, but the actual car as well.

Dinky cars dominated the diecast toy car market, they were first introduced in 1934 as accessories to model railways and were manufactured by Meccano, (founded by Frank Hornby). Early Dinky cars, have a Meccano stamp somewhere on the car. Its main rivals were Corgi and Matchbox.

The value of a model car is first of all determined by it's scarcity value. Old models, and those produced in small numbers are more valuable, and there is a strong possibility that the price will rise. Next, a model car is appraised according to it's originality.

The better a model car has been persevered in it's original form, the higher appraisal it will receive. The value will also vary depending on whether the workmanship of the model is good or not. After all, when the workmanship is good, more people will want the model, and as the demand increases, the price will rise in due proportion. In addition, the type and manufacturer become to a certain extent a criterion for fixing the price.

Dinky : Originally made in the U.K. by Meccano, Dinky Toys were available as early as 1933. Vehicles from the 1950's and 60's are the most sought-after on the secondary market now. Many Dinky's were also manufactured in France, and since 1979, none have been produced in England.  They were produced by the Meccano company of Liverpool founded by Frank Hornby in 1901. Most famously known for their constructor kits and Hornby 0 gauge trains. Meccano began to produce diecast figures and station accessories to add realism to their train layouts.

Today Dinky Toys are highly collectable and with specialist fairs and auctions all around the globe, the value of high quality models continues to rise steadily.

Corgi : These have been made in the U.K. since 1956, and the character-related vehicles, such as James Bond's or Batman's, are highly prized. 

In the beginning a collection of model cars is usually motivated by some interest. For example, collecting cars which you would see every day on the roads, or high class, famous cars such as the Rolls Royce & the Mini. When your collection reaches to about 100 cars, there comes the fun of classifying them into types. There is the collector who will only collect buses, or only police vehicles, but usually you find most collectors have a wide range of vehicles with-in their private collection.

Manufacturer - This is a classification by the manufacturer of the model car, or brand name.
Era - A classification by the time at which the model was made. In recent years we have come to see some superb models, but looking back there are by era various special characteristics.

1920 - In their earliest stage, model cars were without window glass or chassis and had metal wheels in a two part simple model. Today, because so few have been preserved, they are now valued on the basis of their scarcity.

1934 - Some models were composed of four parts and the proportion of the car has become more perfected.

1947 - With the coming of the post-war period, models which up to this time had  tin plated floor supported by the wheel axle, now have the floor attached directly to the body with screws, and finally have the axle supported by the floor board, a method which came to be adopted for mass production.

1955 - The car body painted in two tones appears and racing car numbers that had previously been sprayed on  are now applied as printed decals. Even more improvement were added such as the use of glass in the windows, inlaid headlights transparent plastic and equipped with a steering wheel.

1958 - In cars, excepting open cars, the interior structure such a seat, dashboard, and steering wheel, which had up till this time been omitted, is added, in plastic parts, and in while the outer appearance was almost perfect, spring suspension was added, and the front wheels were fitted with a steering device mechanism to make them moveable from left to right.

1960 - In the 1960's there were a number of rather ingenious mechanical parts added, such as a boot lid and bonnet which would open & close, an engine under the bonnet and a spare wheel & tyre in the boot. Later, part by part improvements were made, such as doors which freely open & close and jewelled glass headlights were attached. As the years progressed models became more & more sophisticated, such as models having all four doors, bonnet & boot that would open together with seats that would have reclined or slide.

You may say that as model cars, they quite nearly duplicated the real car.