Model Semi Trucks

If you see it driving down the highway, you can likely have it - in a smaller size, of course - in your model truck collection. Die-cast trucks are some of the most-popular collectibles within the model car and truck hobby collecting world. Many are produced as promotional items for companies of all kinds, but at-home collectors and hobbyists can surely find kits to build their own. Die-cast toys and models have been popular since the 1950s, and over the years, their detail and quality has continued to increase.

In the late 50s and 60s, many companies came on the market and in the late 1960s, Hot Wheels began producing its die-cast cars and trucks, which included semi models. In the 1980s, die-cast semis as advertising vehicles became hugely popular, and companies like McDonalds, Sears, Kodak, and Texaco commissioned toymakers to produce promotional model that weren't for children but instead were meant for adults in the collectibles market.

In the 1970s, trucks and other commercial vehicles became the main toys produced in the die-cast market. Matchbox began to produce vintage truck models that advertised brands such as Coke, Colman's Mustard, and Cerebos Salt. Some were made exclusively for particular markets and became quite expensive thereafter: Arnott's Biscuits vehicles were only distributed in Australia and Sunlight Seife (soap) was exclusively in Germany. Many die-cast model makers went belly up in the 1980s, while others were purchased by large toy manufacturers, like Mattel, which continues to manufacture model trucks today.