Pretty nice model cars at Costco

I stumbled across these at Costco yesterday and thought they'd be of interest to a lot of you guys. They seem to have Maisto's whole 1/18th scale "special edition" line, all for $12.99 a pop, although what'll be on the shelf when you go is anybody's guess. There's a lot of muscle, not surprisingly, but also a decent smattering of other stuff. (911s, S2000, 'Vettes, modern Mustangs, 240Z and 350Z, BMWs, Benzes, Lambos, etc.) I saw some people saying they've found "Premiere Edition" models mixed in there in the past too, which are supposedly nicer and include some cool cars like the 300SLR, R8, Carerra GT, etc.

I picked up a 240Z and a 2013 Viper.

They're pretty impressive for $12.99 a pop. Everything opens, lots of nice detail, and they're pretty heavy and decently sized (the Viper's around a foot long and weighs almost two pounds). One thing I did figure out is that Maisto makes the same models forever, and the older they are the crappier they are, so it's worth looking up close at them before you buy one. It's hard to go wrong for $12.99, but there's a big difference in quality between the two I bought, which were released within the last two years, and some of the older ones like the XJ220, which has been in production for almost 20 years and is much more crude and "toylike."

Anyway, might be worth making up an excuse to go to Costco if you're a member.

(Hope I'm not breaking any rules with this, by the way...)

Costco is for members ONLY!

We had them at Sam's as well. Yes, I was eyeballing the Z.

those are toys.. models are made of plastic and you have to put them together.

Was at a different Costco today, and sure enough, they're not limited to just Maisto "Special Editions." Not only did they have a bunch of "Premiere" cars like the Carrera GT I bought and the Panamera, they also had a whole bunch of reboxed Bburago cars, including the Nissan GT-R, Porsche 356 Cabriolet, and Alfa 8C. I would've bought the Alfa had they had any red ones.

The GT is pretty cool, though. The only issue I have is that, for some unknown reason, everything behind the front bumper, as well as the panel at the back where the exhaust exits, is chromed plastic. As far as I can tell, the back panel is Carbon Fiber, and the stuff in the front should be plain black. I think I might take the car apart and rattle can these parts black.