Buddy L Vintage Diecast Cars, Trucks and Vans

Your Complete eBay Buyer's Guide to Buddy L Vintage Die-cast Cars Trucks and Vans

When it comes to collectible vintage die-cast cars, trucks, and vans, few names are as revered as Buddy L. Since 1920, the Buddy L Toy company has produced miniature-scale model cars and other motor vehicles. Learn how to sort through all the Buddy L toys on eBay to find the ones you're looking for.

You'll find more than just Buddy L trucks on eBay. Buddy L also makes toys modeled after an array of other motor vehicles, including ambulances, buses, cars and car transporters, construction equipment, delivery vans, fire engines, and trains. You can find inexpensive emergency vehicles, police vehicles, farm vehicles, and commercial vehicles branded by companies like Texaco and Wrigley's Spearmint Gum. Moreover, within each of these categories, you'll find an even greater variety of types. Of the vintage Buddy L trucks alone that you can find on eBay, there are dump trucks, tow trucks, delivery trucks, garbage trucks, monster trucks, and many, many more. Chances are that if you can buy a vehicle type in real life, you can buy it as a Buddy L toy.

When browsing Buddy L toys on eBay, you'll often notice two years indicated in the listings. One year represents the year of manufacture, meaning the year the toy was made, while the other indicates the vehicle year, meaning the year the original vehicle after which the toy was modeled was built. Different Buddy L toys can also be distinguished by their color and the make of the vehicle after which they were modeled, such as Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Porsche, and Toyota. Die-cast Buddy L toy vehicles may be made of cast iron, pressed steel, or tin.

It's reasonable to believe that the older a vintage Buddy L toy is, the harder it may be to find new. Therefore, in most cases, the vintage Buddy L toy trucks and other toy vehicles you will find for sale on eBay will be offered used. When buying a used Buddy L truck or other toy vehicle, inspect it closely to make sure it contains no dings, dents, scratches, markings, missing or broken parts, or other imperfections. Make sure the paint job is complete and not peeling or faded. Try to get confirmation that the paint job is original and that the vehicle wasn't repainted. Make sure that the metal has no rust.

However, there is one advantage to buying a used Buddy L toy: custom paint jobs. If there's a special vehicle that isn't present in the Buddy L collection, consider looking for a custom item to complete your collection.