My Ongoing Tribute to the Greatest NASCAR Driver Ever

Dale Earnhardt

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Collectibles community reacts to Earnhardt tragedy

By Van Cox
March 8, 2001
12:30 AM EST (0530 GMT)

He was John Wayne in a firesuit. The ultimate working class hero whose presence transcended all socio-economic boundaries.

There has never been, nor will there ever be, another Dale Earnhardt. He was THE man in NASCAR racing. The Intimidator's immense popularity is still evidenced by the sea of black hats and T-shirts seen in the grandstands each week.

And while Earnhardt was looming large on the race track, he was lapping the field in the racing collectibles market. Most insiders agree that over the past decade, the seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion has outsold every other driver by a margin of around 8-to-1 -- in some instances even more.

Dale Earnhardt was to racing collectibles what Elvis Presley was to rock 'n' roll. Earnhardt did more to stimulate interest in the hobby than any one person in NASCAR history. His popularity and business acumen helped cultivate the market, thus allowing other drivers to benefit through the sale of their own memorabilia.

He was as meticulous about the development of his line of souvenirs and collectibles as he was about the preparation of his race cars. Gifted with a discerning eye, he knew what would appeal to collectors and what wouldn't.

He insisted on the highest quality and reasonable production numbers. He was even particular about the venues through which his goods were sold.

Earnhardt's passing has a greater impact on both collecting and the collectibles industry than any other single event, real or imagined.

"We've never known anything of this magnitude," said Whit King, editor of Racing Collectors Price Guide magazine.

"I've heard some dealers say that he made up as much as 50% of their sales. That's huge when you consider it's just one man going up against every other driver from every other series."

Indeed, Earnhardt was the bread-and-butter of the collectibles market. From the manufacturer right on down to the dealer, he was the man the industry revolved around.

"Dale Earnhardt is the reason I'm in business today," said Eugene Kaplan, co-owner of Diecast Direct, a retail collectibles shop in Mooresville, North Carolina. "He is the reason a lot of people are in business and the reason we've been able to stay in business."

Earnhardt's dominance in the collectibles arena is most evident in the die-cast vehicle category. Kaplan explains that Earnhardt product was so coveted by collectors that it often took up the slack of drivers whose collectibles were not as much in demand.

"Dealers could always count on anything Earnhardt to move fairly quickly," he elaborated. "Sometimes, a dealer might have to take a dozen or two cars that were not such good sellers just to get a dozen Earnhardt cars. We could afford to do it because we knew the Earnhardt pieces were sure sellers.

"People who aren't even Earnhardt fans collect his stuff. We've had a lot of people come in over the past two weeks just looking for one of his regular cars to remember him by. There is just something magic about Earnhardt and that black No. 3."

Immediate Reaction

As a stunned nation got word of Earnhardt's death, the collectibles market was already whipping itself into a frenzy. Product was quickly disappearing from retail stores and trading on internet auction sites was a fever pitch.

Within days, the inventory of Earnhardt memorabilia on EBAY had swollen to over 1000 pages--more than 50,000 items.

As the demand skyrocketed, so did prices. An autographed 2001 Earnhardt team handout picture sold for more than $300. Reports had Earnhardt's 1:24 scale 2001 Action Elite Goodwrench and Oreos cars bringing as much as $700.

A 1:64 scale Oreos car went for around $200. Keep in mind that those die-cast prices were realized on the secondary market. Despite the overwhelming demand for product, Action never raised its prices to its distributors. And to their credit, many collectibles dealers-Kaplan included-never raised their prices either.

While fans are still scrambling for Earnhardt memorabilia, activity has subsided a bit over the past week.

"It has tapered off some," said Kaplan. "The big prices that we've been hearing about seemed to have come down after that initial rush. Earnhardt product will always be in demand-and in some cases expensive--but I think things will level off over the next few months."

Nobody is happier to see things start settling down than longtime Earnhardt collectors like Mike Gibson of Fort Worth, TX.

"It was tough there for awhile," Gibson conceded. "There wasn't much to be found, and sometimes what you could find was overpriced. Guys like me, who has been collecting Earnhardt stuff for 15 years, had to make a choice: pay the price or take a chance that you'll ever find it again at any price."

Action Answers the Call

NASCAR racing's greatest tragedy has generated many questions and much speculation regarding the future of racing collectibles. The biggest variable in the whole equation has been whether or not more Earnhardt merchandise--die-cast replicas, in particular--will be produced in the future. A total absence of new Earnhardt product could deliver a blow to the collectibles industry that would be tough to overcome.

The answer to the question on every collector's mind is, "yes." Action Performance Companies, which has held an exclusive license (now shared with marketing partner Hasbro) to produce Earnhardt die-cast since 1994, will continue to offer his collectibles--probably for years to come.

In the short term, Action will move forward with production of 2001 Intimidator die-casts, boosting quantities to meet the increased demand.

"We are certainly building more Earnhardt product," said Fred Wagenhals, president, chairman and CEO of Action, and a longtime Earnhardt friend.

"We want to take care of the needs of our regular customers, but we want to do it tastefully and tactfully. We are being very cautious about numbers. We are only increasing production of 2001 product by 20 to 25 percent."

Even before Earnhardt's death, work had already begun on the development of a legacy series featuring cars he raced throughout his storied career.

Plans called for that series to extend well past the driver's retirement, which most expected within the next two to three years. Wagenhals says that, at this point, his company intends to proceed with that program.

"We have the photographs and the tooling to replicate 40-50 different cars that Dale drove in his lifetime," he elaborated. "Of course, the market couldn't stand releasing all of those cars at one time. But if we offer one per quarter, that would stretch it out over a number of years."

The charismatic king of racing die-cast believes that demand for Earnhardt collectibles will remain steady in the long term.

"Dale Earnhardt is an icon on the same level as Elvis and James Dean," said Wagenhals. "There is still a big demand for their collectibles years after their deaths-even by people who weren't even born when they were alive. We want to do our best to preserve Dale's legacy. But again, it has to be done tastefully. We'll be working closely with Teresa Earnhardt and Richard Childress to make sure that we manage the program in a way that best pays tribute to Dale."

The Outlook

The promise of more Earnhardt die-casts will hopefully offer some stability to the market, though the jury will still be out for the next few months.

Expect many longtime licensees to create some type of commemorative program to honor the fallen hero. One thing is fairly certain -- any Earnhardt product released over the next year will be scooped up quickly by the collecting public.

Both King and Kaplan agree that, over the long haul, Earnhardt collectibles will earn a higher appraisal than those of any other driver.

"Dale's die-cast has always held a higher value than anybody else's," Kaplan noted. "That's just going to be amplified now."

King adds that the greatest values will be assigned to products released before Earnhardt's death.

"The 2001 cars are really hot right now," he observed. "The older cars like the original silver car and some of the Monte Carlo Aerocoupes are always going to bring big money. The potential value of anything made in the future is going to depend on the timing of the release and production numbers."

While die-cast is auto racing's signature collectible, there are plenty of other categories--and every one of them will be affected by the loss of The Man in Black.

For example, Earnhardt trading cards are already starting to gain momentum--especially race-used memorabilia and autograph cards.

And speaking of autographs, anything with Earnhardt's signature on it is sure to fetch a hefty price. However, collectors should make sure that any autograph can be authenticated before shelling out big bucks. One huge advantage to trading card inserts is that the manufacturers guarantee every autograph to be real.

So, aside from a track record that contained nary a blemish, what was it about the Dale Earnhardt mystique that made racing's greatest legend so collectible? Simply put, he was the American Dream--the small town boy who made good.

As veteran motorsports broadcaster Ken Squier so aptly stated, "He was a common man who did uncommon deeds."