Wiking’s founder was uneasy about speculative collector prices

Friedrich Peltzer appreciated people collecting his models, but was less enthusiastic about the prices some collectors put on them. Wiking’s own history describes his repeated insistence that the models should be available to everyone.

In 1978, responding to collectors’ requests, he issued a folder of reprinted brochures and a chronological list of new traffic models. He supported documenting the range. What troubled him about the collectors’ “yellow catalogue” was its speculative pricing.

That distinction is still useful when reading old model-car literature. A catalogue can help identify a moulding, colour or release without its printed valuation being a reliable price today.

Do you use your old Wiking reference books mainly to identify variations, or to keep track of what is missing from a series?