Diecast Piece Of The Month, December 2010

Once a month, I'm going to start a new feature here at Diecast Desination. I'll feature some of my favorite diecast pieces with several detailed looks at them from different angles. Sometimes a piece will hold up from one angle, but not from others. By my definition, if they hold up when viewed from all sides, that makes them a classic. The first piece I'd like to put the spotlight on is an extended cab Ford F-150 pickup made by Suntoys. Suntoys are generally considered to be on the lower end of the quality scale as diecast vehicles are made, but I think they have a lot of character to them. They can usually be counted on to be accurate representations of the vehicles they represent, with extras such as emblems and grills tampoed on to add more realism.

From the front view, you can see the extra effort they made to make sure the grill and headlights stand out. There is also a tiny emblem along the side tampoed in the proper place and the taillights are painted red to look realistic.

Something I really like about this particular piece is that the axles are securely held in place where they belong. A lot of pieces like this feature axles just thrown in and when sitting on a level surface, can cause the body of the vehicle to sit too low over them, giving them a "low rider" kind of look. This pickup's axles don't move around and hold the truck at a proper height. Not too high like an offroad vehicle and certainly not anything resembling a low rider.

From any angle and any lighting source, I think it looks pretty spiffy. When I found this one, I went back and picked up a couple extras. Maybe they'll re-release this one in another color or two, but if they don't, I might have to customize one of my others and try another paint scheme. Perhaps a dark Ford blue or black.

Here it is from a rearward view in glorious black and white. It looks great from any angle!

Let me know what you think of this new piece of the month concept and if you have any comments or questions about any of my vehicles, I'll try to answer them.