Top five 1/24 sales

For the first time, a truck series diecast has earned a spot in the top-five priciest eBay diecast sales of the month. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it comes from Chase Elliott, who recently earned his eight-straight National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award.

In 2013, Elliott captured his first NASCAR national series win, taking the checkered flag first at the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Elliott led 22 of the 64 laps at the road course in the No. 94 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Hendrickcars.com Silverado. The win also marked Elliott’s fifth-straight top-five finish in just his sixth Truck Series race.

Nearly 700 Raced Win versions of Elliott’s No. 94 were produced by Action/Lionel — 552 standard Raced Wins and 150 autographed versions — and remain a grail for many Elliott fans. One non-autographed version sold Nov. 21 for $800.

Elliott’s truck win marked the beginning of an era while another diecast that sold for $800 marked the end of one — Jimmie Johnson’s seventh and final championship.

Johnson underscored NASCAR’s playoff system rewards winning at the right time. Johnson won the first race in the Round of 12 at Charlotte, which secured his spot in the next round. He then won at Martinsville in the opening race of the Round of 8, effectively negating two outside top-10-finishes, including a 38^th at Phoenix, securing his spot in the Championship 4.

Again, Johnson capitalized when it mattered most as he faced Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch for the title at Homestead.

After Carl Edwards wrecked attempting to block a run from Joey Logano in the closing laps, and another caution set up an overtime finish, Johnson took the lead from Kyle Larson approaching the white flag and held on to secure his seventh Cup championship.

An Elite version of Johnson’s “seven-time” clincher, one of 575 units produced, sold Nov. 13 for $800, tying it for No. 4 this month.

Two other cars tied for runner-up for November, both commemorating the “firsts” for two drivers with nine combined Cup titles.  

Securing three bids and selling for $860 was an Elite autographed version of Kyle Larson’s 2016 Michigan Raced Win, his maiden Cup Series victory. Larson’s first win, complete with shredded tires, confetti, streamers and damaged quarter panels from his burnout, has earned grail status among collectors of “Yung Money.”

Nearly four decades earlier, another future champion, Dale Earnhardt, made his first Daytona 500 appearance, and a custom marking the occasion tied for the runner-up spot in November.

Earnhardt made an impressive debut in the 1979 Daytona 500 in his rookie campaign driving for Osterlund Racing. Driving the unsponsored No. 2 Buick, the future seven-time Cup champion impressed throughout the weekend and led 10 laps before a broken rocker arm and valve spring relegated him to an eighth-place finish. Though the 1979 Daytona 500, the first live, flag-to-flag broadcast of “The Great American Race,” will forever be cemented in NACAR history for Richard Petty’s dramatic win as Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed on the backstretch of the final lap, it also marks the first time a national spotlight was shone on the future Intimidator.

Though several diecasts have been produced of Earnhardt’s rides from his rookie season, including his Chevy Monte Carlo, Oldsmobile and Pontiac Ventura, the Buick Century he piloted in the 1979 500 has not been produced.

As such, prolific custom maker JDK Customs offered Earnhardt fans an astonishing custom of the Earnhardt’s debut Daytona 500 ride. Jim Kennedy, the man behind JDK Customs (you can read more about him here), took a Franklin Mint diecast he said was “heavily modified to look like the Buick that Dale drove.” This included painting the chassis, swapping the wheels for accuracy, and modifying the hood, side windows and front fascia.

“This will be the only one I will be making of this car, so it is a true 1 of 1 Custom diecast,” Kennedy wrote.

Plenty of bidders vied for the striking custom, and after 30 bids were entered, the 1979 Earnhardt Buick Century custom sold for $860.

Despite the eye-watering custom price sale, that wasn’t enough to earn the top spot for the priciest 1/24 sale of November.

That honor goes to Elliott Sadler’s 2009 Best Buy Geek Squad Car of Tomorrow. The extremely rare promo 1/24 diecast, commemorating Sadler’s one-time scheme in the 2009 AAA 400 at Dover, was limited to just 60 units and autographed by the former Richard Petty Motorsports driver. The Sadler grail sold Nov. 12 for an incredible $2,000, giving it the title of priciest 1/24 diecast sale of the month and among the most expensive sold this year.

Top three 1/64 sales

November’s 1/24 sales were spread across different NASCAR generations, both drivers and cars, and across multiple series. There’s far less variety in the most expensive 1/64 sales of the month. In fact, Red Bull Racing Team diecasts swept the podium (and the No. 4 spot, for good measure).

Ringing it at No. 3 is Brian Vickers’ 2011 No. 83 Red Bull Camry, which sold for $290 Nov. 1. The 2011 marked the final season for Team Red Bull, which later became the jumping off point for BK Racing. Vickers piloted the silver No. 83 to three top fives and seven top 10s in 2011.

Vickers also lands at No. 2 this month with his 2010 Red Bull COT. With the original box in stellar condition, Vickers’ 2010 Red Bull ride sold for $325.

Completing the sweep for Team Red Bull is AJ Allmendinger’s 2007 No. 84 Red Bull Camry COT from Motorsport Authentic’s Pit Stop series. This version was the only Allmendinger 2007 1/64 COT released (a non-COT Camry was also produced in 1/64 scale).

The 2007 Allmendinger Red Bull sold Nov. 17 for $450.

November continues what has been a string of extremely pricey recent Red Bull 1/64 diecast sales. Last month, Brian Vickers’ 2008 Red Bull COT sold for $316, while Allmendinger’s 2008 COT commanded a staggering $1,010.  

In all, these five Red Bull Racing Team 1/64s sold for a combined $2,391.

There were several notable 1/64 sets sold in November. Among these were Action’s 30 Years of Champions set, highlighting all Cup champions from 1971-2000 (sold via Best Offer), a full Motorsport Authentics Talladega Nights set ($250), and a customized display featuring each car that won 2000 Winston Cup Series races. Another notable sale is a Days of Thunder 1/64 set of customs made by Racecar Graveyard (read more here). The custom cars were secured in customized Winner’s Circle packaging. The set sold Nov. 17 for $227.50 with 25 bids.