Another year comes to an end, and we don’t know about the rest of you collectors, but this year, we felt very underwhelmed. The market continues to be dominated by sealed models, with slim pickings for collectors of opening models, who had to contend with decreased selection and level of detail, and an unwelcome addition of skyrocketing prices.  GT Spirit claimed the lion’s share of the sealed resin market with their excellent subject matter, steady release schedules (though not so steady as of late), and attractive pricing. The two notable releases from them have been the much anticipated Singer 911, and the extremely popular Porsche 964 by RWB.

AUTOart have been causing quite a bit of a stir with their new ABS models, with mostly mixed reactions from collectors, who feel like they’re getting substantially less model for their money. Let’s hope next year they figure out what they’re doing with their ABS models and clean up their act a bit, because so far the masses seemingly aren’t impressed.  However AUTOart did impress us this year with their stellar, but eyewateringly expensive, Honda RA272. The Nissan 240Z Wangan has to be one of the coolest models so far released by AUTOart, and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage (1985) harkens back to the good old days of solidly built diecast models. The Mercedes Benz G63 6×6 mostly impressed with its cool functional suspension and shelf presence.

Bburago have taken up where Hot Wheels left off and released a reasonably priced Ferrari with decent quality, hinting at greater things to come. CMC came through, as always, releasing a masterpiece, the LO2750 transport truck by Mercedes Benz, complete with wooden planks and a soft cloth tarpaulin cover. MINIKRAFT Models proved that quality opening models aren’t dead, and released a superbly detailed Audi RS7 Sportback, which surprised us with how good it is.

The folks at Schuco have been mostly hit and miss, with one of the hits being the excellent Porsche Cayman GT4. Last, but not least, Soul Models decided to tackle the one model no one else seemed to be willing to make, the Ariel Atom – the V8 version for good measure.

These are the nominations we’ve received this year, so cast your vote, and keep in mind, your vote does not necessarily have to go to the model which is most detailed (otherwise CMC would always win), but the one that you were either looking forward to most this year, or were genuinely impressed with, whether it’s the detail, the overall finish, or the want factor.