Datsuncog

37 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

have you seen any R Reg TX's over there? if I had the ability i'd love to preserve one, just for K reg mondeo type reason

Yes, there was an R-reg still in service a couple of years back - it was absolutely hanging, and I'm quite sure the bodywork was only held together by the advertising wrap. Haven't seen it since before COVID, mind - seems quite a few hackneys were taken off the road while everything was in lockdown, and then never seem to have resumed duties. There was a fairly clean FX4 Fairway on an M-plate still plying for hire until 2020, but I haven't seen it since.

37 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

I wonder how much of a triggers broom it is

No doubt quite a bit - and it's possibly an apocryphal story (and one I've recounted before), but I was told by a colleague about a licencing swoop a few years back, where a couple of taxis were stopped at the bottom of Donegall Pass by the police just to check their documents.

The drivers just ran away - simply legged it, abandoning their vehicles and their confused passengers.

Initial checks showed that the number plates did not match those shown on the hackney licences, nor did they match the vehicle VIN numbers...

I've also heard tell of velcro numberplates, and a reliance on 'the MOT hack' - a sound and roadworthy black cab which doesn't actually do any taxi work, but is kept to rent out to other taxi operators around MOT/PSV time for a few hours. Maybe just the stuff of urban legend, but looking at the absolute state of some of the cabs plying for hire, I start to imagine there could be a grain of truth in it...

13 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

interesting that its operating as a Mini cab, is that legal over there?

Possibly not; but then the taxi service industry in Northern Ireland has always had a reputation for being a little colourful... 

On 21/11/2023 at 18:14, SunnySouth said:

Was there ever an update on what became of the “famous” Isle of Wight Audi? ISTR it ended up at auction somewhere?!

The last I heard, it had ended up in Ireland being advertised on DoneDeal.ie for about five times what it had originally been sold for... no idea what became of it after that.

On 01/12/2023 at 21:45, RoadworkUK said:

 @Datsuncog I'd rather like that UPS truck if it doesn't yet have a home...

On 01/12/2023 at 22:16, NorfolkNWeigh said:

If that Mercury  and Old Bill XJ40 fell into my box at some point , I wouldn’t kick ‘em out of bed.

Sure thing, folks - will bundle those in with your other bits and bobs.

S-reg TX1 still pounding the mean streets of Belfast on Thursday. That's 25 years of fares. Looks like it's now operating as an accessible minicab rather than a plated hackney, mind.

Impressively, it had a black tide mark up to the rubbing strips and then another tide mark in rattle-can silver up to the doorhandles.

Right right right... So this morning I was mostly done with editing the photos from the first pass of the stalls, and had only a few tepid dregs of coffee left, when through the coffee shop window I noticed a flash of red on the pavement outside...

Traffic warden.

And it occurred to me that this may pose a problem, as I'd parked on the street outside in a valiant but doomed attempt to beat The Nemesis and score myself a minute or three of additional tat-hunting time - which I wouldn't have got if I'd parked in the Cromac St car park over on the far side.

But - was the on-street parking in Oxford St one hour max stay, or two hours max stay?

To tell you the truth, in all the excitement I'd kinda lost track.

But I'd definitely spent more than an hour in the market. About half of that was helping Nemesis find the missing headlight for his Cragstan plastic vintage roadster.

All of a tizz I pelted out, no doubt trailing scone crumbs in my wake, to see how things stood.

How they stood was that I was blocked in by a double-parked truck unloading potatoes, with the warden working his way down the row of cars, checking the number plates.

Graaah.

I managed to squeeze my way out of the space before the Red Peril arrived, and then motored on over to the other side of town to Cityside.

I had a sneaking suspicion that the big Poundland store over there might be a better spot for those Q-case Hot Wheels that continued to elude me.

(This was the same store that mistakenly priced a load of Matchbox for 50p earlier in the year.)

And I was right.

G'wan, ya boy ya.

Finally.

Not 50p each, but not bad value overall.

That's me happy.

No Protons, but then I think they're in the later 2024 case, no?

They also had some of the newer case Matchbox, though not very many - and no Volvo 240s to be seen. This time.

Then I went back to the car, and realised there were a load of requests for the market stall... daah.

So Market Blokey did inform me that he'd have some more rummage boxes next week - he's not wild keen on them, presumably as they're low-value, low-profit - so I'll have a look for the pink HW truck for @bunglebus and the yellow Majo 4Runner for @Spottedlaurel; not to mention the (hopefully complete) set of plastic ships for @FakeConcern.

I'm a bit unsure what the pricing structure was this week - boxed stuff was advertised as £2, and I asked about the Tat Box items and was advised that they were "ehhh... not much", which my skinflint ears had picked up as maybe 50p, more likely £1.

So, I'm not entirely sure how these worked out as £10 the lot:

The Vitesse UPS van was in with the £2 stuff, so I can only presume the other loose items were also £2 a go.

Well, okay. I probably should have tried haggling, as I thought this looked rather more like a fiver's worth - but hey.

I mean, the clean Superfast Mercury Villager and the minty Corgi Transit are probably not massively overpriced at two quid; the Jag peelermobile is a bit worn but generally ok. The Hot Wheels Dodge van is one I owned but sold on, unopened, a few years back - and I was just idly thinking the other day that I should try to find another. So it kinda fell into my lap, so to speak.

But - so it goes.

Right now, I'm keeping the Hot Wheels - but the UPS van, both Corgis and the Lesney Mercury are up for grabs at the £2 paid.

But equally, I won't be sad to keep them...

And I think that's about it, as the last of the light fades from the frosty December skies... dawn to dusk tat.

Happy Friday to you all, kids.

Not a huge amount on the other stalls, sadly:

Optimistic Bobby had managed to lose one of the ships from last week.

Well, he had it. It was around somewhere. He just couldn't put his hand to it.

I told him if he could find it, I'd buy it... so we'll see.

He still has the Piku Alfas...

...and the Tudor Rose Willys Jeep.

WOT NO 4X4

Some hot Slade action available, though.

Colin's Irish Tat had a few new Greenlights:

Also the Oxford Commer PB.

Isetta bubble car was an ADAC liveried thing.

Charity stall had very little...

And neither did Alan, particularly.

No takers yet for the bust Corgi Pug 205.

Shocker.

Ah well... scone time.

The butter pats are, predictably, rock solid...

10 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Is that pink Hot Wheels transporter cheap enough to ignore how terrible it is? Wouldn't mind that 

Ehhh... They're not that cheap. Certainly nowhere near as cheap as I'd hoped.

£2 a go? 😬

This Superkings Peterbilt sleeper cab was originally paired with the Christian Salveson trailer, I believe.

I was kinda interested, but then flipped it over and found it was held together with screws and glue...

Mmm.

Less good.

This no-name smaller rendering of the same subject was pretty crude:

Possibly by Summer, going by the wheels?

Every expense spared.

Lone Star Majors generic artic was in okay nick, but suffering from axle shonk and - honestly - just doesn't do it for me.

More rubbish commercials, plus a not-too-bad Majorette Toyota 4 Runner:

This all-plastic Cragstsan vintage roadster was a bit of a oddity.

Nemesis was interested - and, impressively, after some sifting managed to find the broken-off headlamp at the bottom of the box.

Other more recent stuff kind of appealed to me, but only because it was there.

Possibly a Corgi three-pack?

Rubbishy Matchbox Renault ambulance with plastic body and metal base.

For form's sake, I riffled through the crate of boxed models...

EFEs abounded, but nothing much to warm the cockles this morning.

Seventies MoYs, and an odd all-plastic Fowler steam wagon in Halls Mentholyptus get-up.

Fark me, were people still joining the Lledo Collector's Club in 2002?

Guess they must have been.

How's that investment coming along?

MK3 Transit minibus possibly the only item of any real interest - and that's pushing it...

The black Merc outside told me our old chum The Nemesis was already in and at work, and indeed he'd found a few items of interest - quite a clean '60s Corgi Land Rover S2, a Husky Guy tanker, a very tidy '80s Corgi caravan and a Matchbox Superkings Iveco (?) truck and tanker.

Some Superfast era Lesney were lurking, too:

And Hot Wheels blackwalls.

I've still a perplexing attraction to Corgi Cubs, though fortunately I've already got a nice one of these tankers:

No maker's name on this trailer, just the 'TT' sticker - but something makes me think this is a Corgi Qualitoys item.

Fairly bashed Majorette Focus.

Bbbbburago Hippo.

Can't now remember who made this tipper, but it was a late '90s item.

Slightly slab-sided New Ray Impreza in annoying c.1/30 scale

And there's more...

Not a bad morning, all things considered.

Certainly a bit nippy, though.

And not very much warmer in the market hall.

But... tat?

Well, yes.

Sort of.

Aha!

Haven't seen a proper rummage box for a while... though contents were kinda mixed.

A lot of promotional Lledo, MoY, Maisto and Corgi Cameos in amongst recent-ish Teamsterz and Mattel stuff.

And yet, something told me it might be worth having a good old poke right to the bottom of the box...

3 hours ago, Jon said:

STOP PRESS:

New date of 27th November declared for Christmas, in small New Zealand town:

Officials yet to confirm, but early numbers suggest 120 separate items for one particularly spoilt manchild lucky, well adjusted adult.

A shiny pound for anyone who can name the lot!

Delighted (and relieved) to see that the models from St George's showed up safely in time for their epic voyage to the ends of the earth... Royal Mail was still telling me the parcel sent via your folks was undelivered as of Friday, after two weeks in transit.

What a haul!

I'd probably have an aneurism if I unwrapped that much tat on the same day.

Enjoy!

Absolutely no idea what they're trying to say here.

Other than "F U, plebs, I'll park on the pavement if I want BECAUSE TESLAAAAAAH"

Possibly.

1 hour ago, barrett said:

wow! I had no idea the Spot On Lambretta even existed. Turns out, that's because it's incredibly rare.

This one is a bit nicer than yours, but check out the sale price...

I only know of it from the Graham Thompson book - I've certainly never encountered one before! Seems a few sites refer to it as one of the rarest Spot-Ons out there (an accolade I thought belonged to the #401 VW Variant with skis).

It's small, pretty fragile and was only apparently on sale for a few months - so I can see why they're not really all that common.

It also continues to pose that eternal question - is it 'Spot-On by Triang' or 'Triang by Spot-On'?

45 minutes ago, andy18s said:

Dare I ask how much the Guiltoy ferrari were?

I think the 1/18 stuff was £10 a go, they usually are - and the smaller 1/24 models like the Guiltoys may have been priced the same, or they might have been a bit less. I'd guess they were probably around the £5-£7 mark.

The Nemesis was, of course, up and nemesising by the time I wafted in.

Having already established there wasn't all that much tat of interest on the main stall, the Stall of Great Optimism was appealing to both of us - though it soon became clear my pockets weren't deep enough to make me much more than a spectator today.

After some spirited negotiations with Optimistic Bobby, the stallholder, he came away with a couple of still-boxed Lone Star cap guns, plus some other toys of a similar vein which might be best described euphemistically as of their time.

However - he did have an interesting proposition for me...

Mmm... a small cache of playworn Spot-On?

For £20?

Sold.

Floride is missing its windscreen and tyres, though the plastic bumpers are (largely) intact. There's been some fairly inexpert touch-up paint, but it's not as bad as others I've seen.

Isetta bubble car has thrown a tyre at the back, but is otherwise complete, if slightly the worse for wear.

Lambretta is missing pretty much everything bar the kickstand and rear wheel hub, though I understand some parts - like the side panels - are available as reproductions.

All in all - a nice little trio!

Even amongst apparently nothing, sometimes tat can find a way...

I'll have a think about what to do with these - my first instinct is to hang on to them, as I especially like the tiny little scooter.

[EDIT - interest expressed in the Isetta]

I'll let you know if I decide to pass 'em on. There's a lot of stuff I've acquired that probably doesn't have a long-term future with me, but I'm still enjoying having them around, and giving them an occasional airing as a laptop mascot.

So, watch this space, as they say.

I also swung by Home Bargains earlier to get some sandpaper, and happened across this directly opposite the tools...

It's maybe a little lairy for my tastes, but if anyone fancies it for £1.49, then I'm happy to pop it in your current or future tat box...

Still haven't seen any Alfa Sprints or S2 Landies on my travels through the stores stocking the latest cases. I'm not mad keen to get my mitts on them, but it's curious I haven't yet encountered any.

10 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

If you see these again and can get them for £10-£12 (I know you love to haggle!) then Mrs Concern would be interested thanks for posting the picture anyway.

Will see what I can do!

They're certainly unusual little things - and as the card backing is only stapled onto the blister, the ships should  be easy to remove for display without causing much damage to the packaging.

No idea where all these were turned up, but there's a lot of appeal in cheapie toys that were never really treasured or valued, and so are rare finds now.

Nemesis was very interested in some of the stuff on the stall here - Hong Kong plastic stuff is very much his bag. 

Nothing to tickle me on the Charity Stall this week...

And nothing on Alan's Emporium either.

Though these caught my eye...

Dunno if they're original 50s items, or modern collectables.

So I hung about for a bit, waiting for The Peloton to bugger off so I could get a coffee.

Colin's Irish Tat stall had some new arrivals, though:

Assorted partwork scooters, at £8.

Green Oxford MK3 Cortina, too.

The DeAgostini French Dinkys remained unsold, too.

I was looking for the Corgi Mustang and Porsche repros on the Tat Stall last week, for @FakeConcern - but looks like they've swapped stalls.

And gone up in price a bit. No Mustang now, either.

Hot Wheels - same as it ever was...

Though there wasn't nothing...

Optimistic Bobby had some quite interesting rarities.

Piko/ Anker Alfas from the former DDR...

Couple of these 'Woolbro' Leyland/ Daimler buses from Hong Kong...

Various tinplate friction drive buses of uncertain origin, too.

Further Lesney reductions...

And some quite appealing Minic-scale ships.

But the prices asked... between £15 and £25 a go, sadly.

Yeah.

Mmmm... 

30 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Sorry chaps, this will mean the market has burnt down or something. There’s only good stuff when I forget.

😂😂

This theory still holds!

Meh.

Although - what appeared to be a table full of Bburago and Maisto turned out to be (slightly) more interesting:

Guisval Porsche 926 racer

Guiltoy Ferrari 250GTO

Guiltoy F40

Not quite Mercury Fiat 850 levels of desirability, but mildly unusual for a damp Friday morning in Belfast.

o