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02/26/2007
"The Meal I Had Last Night.."
I am a graduate from the University of South Florida's Fine Arts school as well as the College of Education. In one of my many Art history classes the professor asked this question: "What is the difference between the following two statements: - I know what I like - vs - I like what I know – when talking about modern art…?” The discussion went on for most of the remaining 2 hours of class. He was trying to illustrate the point of – if you know a little something about a work of art you will probably “get more out of it” then if you are going in or experiencing it “cold”. One of my favorite modern artists is Jun Kaneko and he is a contemporary ceramic artist. He is best known for his ceramic “dangos” (the Japanese word for dumpling) that can be as large as 10 feet tall and weigh over 1,000 lbs. When asked about his intent behind these massive pieces of art he explained this: “… no matter how well I describe the meal that I had last night… no matter how long I talk about it… no matter how many details I provide… you will never taste it…” In my opinion you can use both of these ideas to talk about many of today’s die cast cars that are on store shelves right now. Sometimes we as collectors will just never “get” the intent behind some of the stuff these companies produce. When I see some of the “unique” die cast on the pegs at Dollar General or Big Lots of Family Dollar I do not expect much – I really don’t. I am often times am very surprised by what I buy. But when I see a car that cost $3.00 or more by a upscale manufacturer in a fancy type of plastic clam shell package and the car is nothing more than a piece of garbage I would just like to toss my hands into the air and exclaim “I just don’t get it” loudly while still in the store! On the other hand, when I purchase a simple $1.00 car on a simple card inside a blister with great details, top notch paint, above average weight and great play factor traits it just blows me away. I understand that many cars today have a certain function they were made for. They may have been made to play with on a certain track set or to display or just for general die cast car enjoyment in any fashion. In addition to the function they must look and feel right. Nobody likes car that look funny no matter what the quality is and the same goes for the quality cannot be that high of the thing is all plastic even if it looks good. It doesn’t have to look right, it has to feel right as well. There are certain cars that are in stores today that are for lack of a better term – goofy. Maybe the aim was for children, but I wonder if it hit the target they were aiming for? I have seen many cars piled into a shopping cart marked down to 2 for $1.00 at Wallymart that shows me that many cars are indeed missing there respective target audiences for one reason or another. What about those cars that come out as brand newbies and are used once or twice and the pulled from the line for all future use? Did a toy car maker hit there target when there $3.00 cars are still there a year after the release just taking up peg space. Were these really garbage when they came out in the first place? I really believe that Joe’s site is here to help many manufactures get there aim right, so they can hit the target more often than not. Some are listening; many are not even looking for an opinion these days. Makes me wonder who is going to be doing things a little different in the future and who is going to stay on the track that they have already laid? I guess time will tell… “Steve a.k.a---ThunderRoller You may reach me at: ThunderRollerSS@Yahoo.com |
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