1/43s: Premium vs basic

A quick search on Ebay or any online store will reveal a huge number of scale cars that are quite expensive - you'd be very easily misled into thinking they're of 1/18 scale. 1/43 scale is considered by many collectors to be the most valuable of scales to own - more 1/43 scale manufacturers operate in the high-end market than in 1/18, and the model range is quite a bit broader. 

Brands like Minichamps and Kyosho make more cars in 1/43 scale than larger ones, with premium packaging, branding and detailing apparently justifying the huge prices. 

What sets a "premium" 1/43 car apart from a "basic" one, such as one produced by Hi-Speed? 

Illustrating the point are the two cars you see here - Nissan Silvia S13 by Kyosho and Lexus IS200 by Hi-Speed. 

Right off the bat, you notice the quality of the lights - the Kyosho replicates the clusters of the S13 in exactness while the Hi-Speed model uses dabs of orange paint on clear plastic as indicators. The wheels are also scaled accurately on the Kyosho, while they're a tad too small on the basic model for what are 17 inch-ers on the real car. There are major differences in the quality of the window surrounds and the interior is wildly differing in terms of detail quality - the S13 has a distinguishable tape player. Paint is more or less the same, set apart by more accurate badging on the premium model.

Is the Kyosho worth the 1000 TK you pay more than the Hi-Speed, then? Definitely.