Collection Story - brimportcollection

 

An interview that represents everything I wanted when I started my blog. I wanted to present the people behind the collections that I admire. I wanted people to share their experiences and their struggles that they led to reach their goals. I wanted to create a community with the right values and a community from which we can learn more about life or just more about collecting. I had the honor of getting all that with this interview. I am proud to present an interview with the man behind the Instagram profile @brimportcollection Bruno Serafim. I promise you, this is an interview that you will remember.

First, tell us something about yourself?

Hello fellow collectors! My name is Bruno Serafim and I own the Instagram account called @brimportcollection a.k.a. BR Import Collection. I was born in 1986 in São Paulo, Brazil, and my parents are Brazilians too, though we descend from Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch who migrated to Brazil during the first half of the 20^th century. I was lucky enough to be raised by fantastic parents who always provided me with everything I needed to become who I am today. I also have a sister, who is 2 years younger than me, and a nephew.

At school while I was at a younger age I was very shy and have always had the habit to be very dedicated to my studies. I used to be “that kid” who would sit in the first roll, ask many questions to teachers and get the best grades in class. My father always told me that the future could be difficult and I should prepare in the best possible way for it. Whenever I watched movies with an apocalyptical script like Mad Max I always imagined that the future would be like that, very decadent and difficult, so I should prepare for that. I guess it helped to keep myself very focused in school and I am very thankful for that. On the other hand, American movies helped me to develop a great passion for cars usually depicted in such movies, mainly muscle cars like Corvette’s, Firebird’s, Charger’s, etc. I will talk more about my passion for cars further below.

 

After school, I graduated with an M.D. in engineering at the most important university in Latin America and immediately started working in the capital markets. By the time I graduated, I could already speak four languages – Portuguese (my native language), English, Spanish and German. Firstly, I worked for an Investment Bank, then I worked in the Treasury of the largest bank in the Southern hemisphere and eventually I worked at the investment desk of one of the top-3 family offices in Brazil. Afterwards I decided to shift my career significantly into the Consultancy segment and I started working as a Project Manager at the Mergers and Acquisitions sector at an American Consulting company.

 

Besides São Paulo, I also lived in the US for a while when I was working in the Consulting segment. At some point, I was transferred to a city called Bridgewater in the state of New Jersey, just 40 miles from NYC.I always tried to hang around as much as I could in NYC and other cities near the Northeast coast on the weekends. Due to my profession as a Project Manager, I also had the opportunity to be abroad many times. I already visited more than 20 countries at a relatively young age.

Sometimes it feels a bit weird to acknowledge the fact that I know more states from the US than from Brazil.

Currently, I run my own company focused on technology solutions comprehending automation systems and solar energy, it is a completely new chapter in my life. To be ahead of a business and take important decisions that will cause an impact not just in my fate, but also in the future of others, is a huge challenge and a source of motivation. Complex and difficult tasks have always made me motivated and what I am.

For most collectors, family is usually a priority over their collecting habits. That said the fact that I am divorced without kids gives me complete autonomy to spend money on my collecting habits without asking permission to anyone. On top of that, my girlfriend enjoys scale models and tries to be supportive with my hobbies. In that sense, I consider myself a very lucky guy.

 

How and why you started with collecting scale model cars?

My story with model cars started very early in life. For some unknown reason, I like cars pretty much since I was born. From what I can recall in my oldest memories, I was already a car addicted when I was just as young as in my first anniversary. I like to say that it was simply born with me, because it wasn’t an external influence from my parents, my relatives, nor my friends. I can remember that the very first time I went to a real circuit, when I was 5 years old, I didn’t go because someone took me there, I asked my parents to take me there. It was magical and I can still remember it very well. At the time, my uncle was a manager at General Motors Finance and he arranged tickets for my father and I so we could stay at the paddock of the Interlagos circuit and watch a national Stock Car event sponsored by General Motors. The sound of the V8’s and being able to see great drivers with my own eyes was an unforgettable experience. I saw the former Formula 1 driver Ingo Hoffmann driving his racecar and win one of his many national titles that day. Many years later, I ended up adding a scale model of his car to my collection.

Racecar drivers have always been a source of motivation to me. In fact, being a racecar driver has always been my true ambition throughout life. I grew up watching races and racing movies like Days of Thunder. Moreover, I am a Brazilian who grew up watching Ayrton Senna master the sport and win all those races in Formula 1. Brazil is the birthplace for many top-class drivers and it has always fascinated me.

Unfortunately, it’s not an accessible sport in any way and my parents couldn’t afford it at the time when I was young, but I always kept my motivation very high in life to fulfill that dream. I’m yet to achieve that, and I am getting closer as time goes by.

I can recall that my first actual “model” was an R/C BMW CSL Gr. 5 on BMW Motorsport overalls that my parents gave me as a gift in my third anniversary. During childhood, I had dozens of Hotwheels and I used to make actual races on the floor of our living room, splitting them by classes with different speeds (I anticipated the existence of racing classes without even knowing they existed!). From my oldest recollections, I can tell I have always been crazy for racecars.

My first actual collection “per se” was a variety of late 80’s and early 90’s supercars in 1/24 scale which later became a 1/18 scale collection with the same subject while I was still pretty much a child yet. I can also remember that I built 3 Tamiya kits in 1/24 scale with my father, the green JTCC Nissan Primera Castrol, the black Nissan “Kure” Nismo and the red & white Toyota Supra Sard. Since I was still very young, I couldn’t take enough care of the models and I eventually lost all of them to dust.

Later in life, about 8 years ago, I spotted a couple of 1/43 scale racecars at a local newsstand while I was leaving a restaurant. I wanted to have a better look at them. The small size and the level of detail caught my attention immediately. The paint job was very good and the details felt amazing for such a tiny model. The referred models were a couple of Altaya’s and one of them was the 1955 Le Mans winner #6 Jaguar D-Type driven by Mike Hawthorn. At first, I wasn’t going to buy it, but my ex-wife (who was still my wife at the time) said “why don’t you start a collection? You like that stuff so much.” I can recall that I immediately remembered of all those racecar models I had during my childhood, the R/C BMW CSL, the toy-car I ran over my birthday cake during my first anniversary (my mom wasn’t impressed), the Hotwheels used to race on the floor of the living room, the 1/24 and 1/18 supercars… so I mentally said to myself - “why not”?– thenI bought that Jag and that’s how my current venture in the collecting hobby started.

What is the subject and goal of your collection?

 

My collection, like most collections, evolved  a lot. Despite all changes throughout time, all I can say is that my collection focuses essentially on racecars. At first, I collected Le Mans and Formula 1 cars of my interest, whether it was because of some interesting background story, because of the winning curriculum, or even because of the looks. The subject has switched many times so far. There are so many racecars around that the possibilities are almost infinite, with many sub-themes varying from F1 cars driven by Brazilians, racecars from a specific year or race event, F1 cars that never qualified for a race, Le Mans winners, Gr.5 silhouette cars, Le Mans prototypes, JDM racecars, race cars from a specific brand/make… it does not have an end!

On the F1 corner, I collect all cars in 1/43 scale from the high air box era, which comprises the seasons from 1972 to 1976, and the ground effect F1 cars from 1979. Also on the 1/43 scale corner, I collect all the Group 5 Silhouette cars and Group C prototypes that I like, plus some racecars made by HPI. I really miss that model manufacturer, they used to make so many great models with great quality. It’s such a shame they are not in the business anymore doing 1/43 scale models (they only do R/C cars nowadays).

 

I also have a few complete team sets in 1/43 scale in my collection, including racecars, transporters, service vehicles and crew members, such as the 1977 Porsche LM winning works team, the 1973 Lotus JPS F1 team, the 1973 Tyrrell F1 team and others.

 

Lately I’ve been adding some 1/18 scale high end models that raced in endurance events during the 50’s and early 60’s. E.g., 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO made by CMC, 1958 Ferrari 250 Testarossa made by CMC, 1957 Jaguar D-Type made by Exoto, 1963 Shelby AC Cobra made by Exoto and 1961 Ferrari 250 Sperimentale made by Tecnomodel. I also have a couple of highly-detailedIndycars made by Replicarz and Carousel. All these models are ultra-realistic and very expensive, but I guess I was not satisfied and recently added a couple more models in 1/12 scale to be displayed as central pieces in the living room.

I recently reached 500 scale models in my collection, but I thought it was way too much to my standards, so I decided to downsize it to approx. 350 models, which I intend to keep at that level. As we collectors grow our collection, I guess we start to prioritize quality over quantity.

 

Who is your favorite model car manufacturer, and why?

There are many very good car manufacturers around and there are several different items to consider when choosing the ideal model manufacturer. In addition to this, quality can be very different among different models from the same manufacturer, so it’s not just about the manufacturer only, it’s also about the model itself.

I would say that in the 1/43 scale market, Spark has been the most successful and fast-growing company in recent years. They offer great quality for a price level considered acceptable by most long-term collectors. Other brands that offer a similar level of quality simply charge an obscene amount for their models (hello BBR!). Besides that, the rate of new releases that Spark is issuing every week is just insane.

Besides Spark, I would say that my favorite manufacturer is HPI, their models simply look gorgeous and the presentation box is fantastic. As I said before, it’s just sad to see them stopping with their amazing work. On the lower end we also have very good “bang for the buck” options, in which I would highlight CMR and some PW series made by Altaya.

On the 1/18 scale corner, there are a few worth mentioning, such as CMC, Exoto, AutoArt, Replicarz, and Carousel.

 

You collect racing model cars, do you have your favorite driver, racing championship, and favorite racing decade. Could you tell us why is that your choice?

I like everything fast and loud when it comes to racing. Like most people, I also like the underdogs. The idea of being able to surprise the big dogs with few limited resources is something that attracts me, the idea of the unexpected. In regards to Formula 1, the 70’s were the best era IMO, we call it the era of the “kit cars”. Virtually anyone could buy an F1 car. One just needed to buy a chassi from a bigger team, put a Cosworth engine with a matching Hewland gearbox on it, lift it with a Koni suspension plus 4 wheels/tires, have some creativity designing the body panels and that’s it, you had a Formula 1 car in your garage! Cars also had a shorter wheelbase and larger rear tires, so they behaved like a go-kart, except for the fact that they developed 600 horsepower. It was a chaotic beauty!

I also like very much the Group C era, in which factory teams could develop and create amazing pieces of machinery that could go even faster than a Formula 1 car. Then there also Group 5 Silhouette cars that I enjoy a lot. I mean, what kind of person wouldn’t like a flame-spitting monster roaring like a thunder ina heavily modified body to accommodate ridiculously wide F1 wheels? J

Last, but not least, I’m a huge fan of the car design of the 50’s and the 60’s. I think they were sexier and more beautiful with all the rounded shapes designed to reduce drag in straights. That’s the reason why I started collecting these cars in 1/18 scale as well.

Your real and dream car is?

Currently I don’town anything special. As I said, I’m a racecar guy, not a production car guy. My daily drive is a very boring silver Ford New Fiesta which I am replacing this month for a double cabin pick-up in order to be able to carry work tools during the week and our mountain bikes during the weekends when my girlfriend and I go out and tackle mountain bike trails.

My dream daily use car has always been a yellow Lamborghini Diablo, but currently I also fancy about having a Corvette C3 fully prepared for time-attack and track day events, a true racecar built for the single purpose of racing. Stock car wheels with slick tires, polycarbonate windshield/rear/side windows, fully stripped interior, racing seats, high temperature brakes, etc... and don’t forget the re-worked silhouette body panels to accommodate the wider wheels and for the looks.J

Did you have any time moments of doubt. Maybe you wanted to sell the collection, or you had a pause or something similar, and how did you get over it?

Once I heard this saying from a fellow Australian collector that resumes very well what I think of this. We, collectors, are not the owners of the modelcars, we are just their temporary shelter. Although we collect them and love them, someday our priorities in life are going to change, or we simply won’t be around, but the models will remain in one way or another, whether it is in my collection or in someone else’s collection. Once I understood this, I knew that I could have any model I wish, but parting away with them is an unavoidable part of the process no matter what happens or what I do, it’s just a matter of time.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking of parting away with them and invest the proceeds in another project, like a “1:1”, as we call a real-life car. Still, I am currently very satisfied with enjoying the models in my collection. Maybe I will part away with them in the future, if my priorities change or if I simply stop enjoying them, but I still think I will continue to be a collector for the rest of my life, even if the models I currently have in my collection aren’t the ones I’ll have in 10, 20, 50 years from now.

I don’t see any issues with selling my models, I already sold many models I thought I would never sell. It wasn’t really that difficult because I think every long-term collector needs to revisit their collection focus every once and a while. During this process, many models may have to be sold in order to free some space for the new ones. I am currently undergoing that process and I have more than 150 models from my personal collection available for sale as of now.

Besides that, I strongly believe that collecting cannot be confused with hoarding. If you are not able to display them, then you probably have more models than you should. Some collectors end up running out of display room for the new models and start hoarding models inside carton boxes in the garage and/or closets. When it happens, I think it’s time to evaluate if you really need them. In my opinion every collection needs to be displayed.

Every collector has that "the one" model that he waited for a long time, which is yours?

Once I had a model on pre-order for almost 5 years before it was released. It was a Brabham BT45B driven by José Carlos Pace in the 1977 Formula 1 Grand Prix, made by Minichamps. I think it was the longest period I ever waited for a model to be released and I like this model very much because in my opinion, it is one of the coolest racing cars ever made.

There are some other models that had been already released but I had to chase them down for a very long time until I could find one that I could buy. A recent example of this is the HPI version of the Porsche GT1 winner of the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours. Some of the HPI prototypes in 1/43 scale with removable engine cover are really difficult to find these days and, when you do find one, they won’t come any cheap.

Could you describe what is the best part and worst part of this hobby?

I could mention at least a few major upsides of this hobby. The first one is to be able to meet a lot of people with a common interest. I’ve been making many friends through the hobby from all parts of the world, I met many great people from different origins who eventually became friends for life. This is priceless. The other upsides I can mention here is that they are a distraction from daily concerns and issues, models don’t complain about anything, it’s a cheap hobby from a recurring expenses perspective since they don’t cause any additional expenses except for the models themselves, and learning. Oh boy… how I learn…  I learn a lot with my models. I always try to research the background story about every model I have and there are a lot of great stories in motorsport to inspire us.

I think the first downside of it I can think of is the cost of high-end models, but again, it could be a lot worse. I think there are hobbies that are a lot more expensive, like having a sportscar. Every time you sit in a sportscar can cost you the amount a high-end model if you take into account all the costs associated with buying and maintaining such car. It can also be cheaper than gambling!

We are aware that sometimes our hobby can look strange, what do the people around yousay about your hobby?

People usually find it interesting. Some people who tend to like that kind of stuff always ask me to have a look at the collection to be “updated” on the new arrivals. I mean, if you have a nice display and make an effort to organize it well, a collection will always look attractive even for those who are not into this type of stuff.

Sometimes I also feel very surprised by some people who I would never imagine that would like it, but when they see it, they simply love it! It’s getting more and more difficult to find new people interested in starting this type of hobby, but a nicely displayed collection will always be appreciated by most people.

Are you satisfied with the diecast society in your country?

In Brazil people are very limited to Formula 1 only. I’m a huge fan of every kind of motorsports so I think people in here could be more open-minded to different types of motorsport series such as Endurance, Rally and GT Racing, like in Europe.

What advice would you give to people who want to start with this hobby?

Here is my 10-Commandment List for Collectors:

1.     It is impossible to own every existing item in the universe of any specific object. Do not become a “completist”.

2.     Set aside a specific budget amount or percentage of your income for the hobby.

3.     Even though the temptation may be huge sometimes, try to keep your spending below your budget.

4.     Always remember that your hobby is for pleasure, not to cause you problems of any nature.

5.     There will always be someone who has an item you don’t, just focus on your own collection.

6.     There will always be someone who wants something that only you have. Be careful with your “hobby friends”.

7.     Set up a clear focus for your collection, it will be much easier to manage it this way. Knowing all the items you have in your collection is a good start.

8.     Participating in a group of collectors is good for you. It improves your self-esteem, opens your mind, helps you to make new friends, creates alternative channels to buy more models, provides access to more knowledge and opportunities. However, stay alert to #5 and #6 Commandments.

9.     Every collection has an end, whether it is because you already have all items you wanted, lack of room, to dedicate more time to your family, disease or because you already fulfilled every goal you have in your collection.

10.  Have fun as much as you can during the process and be proud of your collection.