This forum is for collectors of emergency vehicle models to discuss any aspect of the industry. Feel free to post comments on current releases, future models, items for sale/trade, or items wanted.
Well it has been a bit since we have been here.
Steve just got off the phone with Jeff and is pleased to hear Jeff has not thrown in the towel on ATEV. Can anyone hear the theme to Rocky playing now? :)
For those that are new and have no idea who we are--here is a litte about us:
We are the founders of ATEV ~est.1996~. The original board was
"The American Toy Fire Truck & Emergency Vehicle Trading Place".
Shortly after starting the original board, on a cold winter drive on Rt. 33 in Virginia, Jodi asked Steve if ATEV would not be simpler? ATEV he asked? American Toy Emergency Vehicle club and ATEV the club was born.
So with that bit of history out of the way, we are pleased to see ATEV still around. We contacted Jeff and offered to help or even obtain ATEV back in the hopes of keeping it going.
ATEV is a labor of love and takes a lot of work and participation from members. Even with the less active market, many great contacts and fun times can still be had.
Steve is currently collecting the 1/64 scale Law Enforcement vehicles from Green Light and Jada. Most of our collection is in boxes and has more dust than daylight these days, but we still have them:)
What else is out there?
What have you been collecting?
How about maybe an introduction to remind others on here who you are and say a little about you?
It was always planned to have meet/trade gatherings at local Denny's or similer place.
Is anyone interested in this still?
Where are you?
Who is near you?
What date is good?
Plan an afternoon over coffee and fries. Don't forget the toys...
I stop in here once every couple of weeks. As to collecting, the occasional 1/50 piece off eBay for kit bashing, but other than that, I'm pretty much done. With the (so called) 1/64 scale market being so incredibly unreliable on accuracy in scale(especially JL, Jada, & etc... with Jada seemingly having no clue at all what "scale" means) I dumped that scale years ago. With the exception of a few kit bashes I wanted to keep, most of my Code 3s were given away to other collectors, or traded. When they went into half the accuracy for twice the price mode, I was done.(never drank the Kool Aid) TWH has promise, even at the high price, but I only have 2. They just haven't produced anything I really like besides those 2. With economic conditions of the past 4 years( no where near "better off") I, like many others, have to be VERY selective on what is spent on. My collecting dollars now tend to go to fire arms instead of die casts.
I have been an avid "lurker" of the ATEV board for more years than I can remember and back in the early days made many contacts in the USA. This board at the time was the only one about for collectors to share whatever they wanted to share. Sadly in recent years it has been quiet but I have still been checking in a few times a week to see if there is anything new going on.
I hope it keeps going and like our hobby gets a bit of a revival going in the next few years
Keep up the good work
ps we have Denny's here in NZ if you guys are keen on meeting downunder
As we sold the rights to the name, with Jeff's permission we were thinking about an idea.
How about an ATEV meet next year maybe in the summer (2013) in Las Vegas?
Maybe have a weekend with a dinner, some in room trading and a kit bash contest/award. We would put the money up for contest winners. Maybe even get a trophy made for 1st place and maybe runner up? If you might be into this, please reply here pending Jeff's permission to use the club name.
We have a few contacts in the area that might give a group room rate and for the fire buffs an afternoon of cameras and fire stations could be planned with a tour bus? Again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS and we hope you all have a fun and safe New Years:) ~ Jodi & Stevo
First and foremost let me say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims, families, and emergency responders of the Newtown, CT. tragedy.
Hello Guys and welcome back,
If others out there are like me then there are lots of collectors that check in periodically with the ATEV board but don't necessarily post comments. I have gained a lot of information from this board over the years and have enjoyed at times, some of the bantering and bickering between collectors. All those skirmishes ever meant to me was that people were passionate about collecting. In spite of the economy and availability of funds for many collectors I'm sure that passion still exists for many. I have recently retired from the public safety field but I'm involved with teaching new EMTs and Paramedics part-time. So I certainly have much more time to get back into my die-cast collection which consists primarily of Code 3 pieces. With my new found time I am re-discovering my passion for the collectibles and spend time canvasing the internet to see what's going on out there. I recently spoke with an official from Funrise Toys and during that very enjoyable conversation I was told that Code 3 would be taking down their web site within the week. Well, the final announcement came out today bidding farewell to all of the collectors.
Who Knows, if the economy turns around anytime soon then maybe there will be a corresponding upswing in collector activity. I for one certainly hope so. Farewell Code 3 Thanks for the run, and to all of you collectors out there please enjoy a safe and happy holiday season.