Byline: Aaron Gifford Staff writer
These are, indeed, your father's Matchbox cars.
Die-cast metal cars are the best-selling items at the new Jams Sports Collectables memorabilia store in Chittenango. The cars' main buyers range in age from 25 to 60, and 'even grandmothers' collect them, store owner Marianne Finocchiaro said.
The cars vary by size and scale and sell from $55 to $250 or more. A larger model replicating the race car that the late Dale Earnhardt drove in his 75th victory has a book value of $500, but may sell for as low as $265.
'When he died, that stuff shot right through the roof,' said Jack Dykeman, the store's purchasing agent.
Finocchiaro owns the Ten Pin bar and restaurant on Route 5. Over the years, she watched NASCAR races and Syracuse University football and basketball games with her patrons, and eventually became a racing fan herself.
She recognized a prime business opportunity, building an addition onto her restaurant to sell sports memorabilia. Word got out to local residents quickly, and she bought advertising time on the radio station K-Rock to reach a growing contingent of Gen X racing fans in the Syracuse area.
'With NASCAR, once you pick a driver you like, people really follow it,' Finocchiaro said. 'It's a sport that lasts from February to November. It's getting bigger and bigger all the time.'
She also carries licensed SU, NFL and Major League baseball gear, but their sales pale in comparison to the NASCAR items. She said leather caps and racing jackets have been the hottest items, next to the die-cast cars.
People have also stopped at the store to buy NASCAR Christmas bulbs, clocks and mudflaps, Finocchiaro said.
Nationally, sales of goods licensed by NASCAR exceed $1 billion a year.
On Thursday, Chittenango resident Bob Drevier paid $833 for a stainless steel sculpture of Earnhardt.
The piece, called 'The Intimidator,' was created by artist Mark David Galloway, of Clay. It's about 22 inches high and 19 inches wide.
Galloway recently also made aluminum sculptures recalling Sept. 11, 2001, for Syracuse's Clinton Square.
Dykeman said Earnhardt's widow commissioned Galloway to create the piece.
'There's only going to be 333 of them in the world,' Dykeman said. Drevier 'figures it's going to be worth a lot more money someday.'
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Al Campanie/Staff photographer
BILL OLMSTED,of Chittenango, tries out a Dale Earnhardt Jr. jacket at Jams Sports Collectables behind the Ten Pin bar and restaurant in Chittenango. NASCAR items are in high demand this season. Color
