Jon

I reckon the later issue of the Mk1 Dinky Transit was the best looking one. Less play value than the earlier version but proportionally much more accurate. The Mk2 version is also good, just a smidge too chiselled at the front. Lovely stuff, regardless. Hope you got a fair deal, @bunglebus!

Word salad Ahoy! Strap in... When my dad was about 10 or 11, or thereabouts, he was on an overnight ferry and had taken a drawstring duffel bag of Lesney toys with him. He tells me that once they docked and landed, he remembered that he'd left the bag hanging on the hook on the back of the cabin door, so wanted to go and retrieve them. Apparently, my Grandad refused, saying it was a lesson to be learnt to look after his stuff, or something. More sympathetic aunts and suchlike heard of this and over time, he was plied with replacements, here and there. This also coincided with a time that his interest in them was waining, so consequently a lot of them have survived boxed, in very good condition. There aren't loads but crucially, one of them is very rare and as such, very sought after, with prices to match. Due to my interests, I'm down to inherit my Dad's toy collection but I'd be lying if I said I'd absolutely no intention to pass this one item on - or indeed, would much rather he did, so he could fully reap the benefit (and delicious irony) of the lesson he learnt. I'd happily keep it also but I think this one particular diecast would stand a chance of remaining accountable and could bring a lot of joy to collectors, especially if sold to someone who shares their collection with others. The story would still remain in the absence of the actual item, after all. Indeed, its sale could add a bit of spice to the yarn! Spicy tales stand more chance of remaining family folklore, I reckon. I think I'll broach the subject when they come out to visit (their suitcase contents should steer us in the right path...) and see what his thoughts are. All the rest I'd keep, however. Their ubiquity and moderate value mean it's the story and personal connection that make them valuable to me. Once I'm gone, their context is lost and they're just lumps of metal to be judged on their merit (or lack thereof) by future generations. And I'm totally fine with that.

Or get a Bulgarian one, if you want a more affordable yellow option. I've got one somewhere but don't think it has a red interior.

My funds can very easily stretch to £2! Certainly be very rude of me not to take it off your hands at that price. I'll be in touch!

Ooh, that's a lovely piece of kit - and excellent memory! Like you say, I doubt you've paid over the odds for such an unusual accessory but if it's OK, I'll have to pass. Do you have a Jeep to go with it? They're on the more ubiquitous/affordable scale and are a neat little model. I've had to stop myself bidding on numerous ones, for this reason, though I keep an eye out for a conveyor belt version. If you're at all feeling burdened with the purchase, then let's revisit in a couple of months, as my folks are bringing out many, many items with them, leaving them with criminally underweight baggage on the return flight, so I thought I'd do a for sale thread and get some stock exchanged. I may be able to fully/part swap!

I visited the U Drop Inn (aka Cars garage real life forebear) in Shamrock, Texas back in 2017. I even documented it on my now largely defunct spotting thread: Not one to blow my own trumpet, but it's fair to say that page 13 of that thread is packed with some heavy hitting shite offerings. Seems I made only passing remarks about it at the time but my abiding memory was of a lovingly restored building, with a pleasingly austere interior (muted bedford cord on the booth seating, instead of the expected red and white modern vinyl, for instance), not being used for very much. I think there was some tourist info inside and a pleasant lady offered us a not so pleasant pod coffee, which led us to stay a while and then inevitably buy a fridge magnet, to commemorate our visit. Very glad it was saved though!

Could you add the PlayArt truck (of course) and red van to my (eventual) parcel, please?

Had a delivery of another impulse buy item, yesterday: A Tomica Dandy Citroen H van. Being Japanese, it does of course have some English phrase decals. Some of which make less sense than others. The faded line above says "GOOD OLD DAYS TIN TOY" - the second reference to Tin Toys in relation to Tomica in mere hours, after@bunglebus's notes regarding knock-off Tomicas. But perhaps just coincidence, rather than a Tomica/Tin Toys link? You'll have to trust me here that this really does read "BEST QUALITY AMERICAN FREEZER". I'm imagining that's a Japanese company that sells honey(?) but the words are all too generic for me to find any reference to the real life firm. The base is screwed on these vans - and indeed on another Tomica Dandy I bought off Trademe a couple of weeks ago and have yet to photograph. Their casting dates are a bit of an unknown to me but judging by the box art I've seen, I'm imagining late 80's/early 90's. On the ragged edge of my interest period but nice to have a Japanese made 1/43. What I really like about these H vans is all the opening parts. Those sliding side doors are satisfyingly smooth to operate. I swear the channels must taper ever so slightly towards the end of the door travel, as they click in to place beautifully - and stay there! But if so, I can't see it. Perhaps Tomica may be able to meet Elon Musk's demands for 10 micron precision tolerances in the Cybertruck's stainless panels... Out back, more play admiration value. Admittedly, the bottom doors are a little floppy in comparison to the side and hatch doors. Note the screw in the roof - the rear box body beneath it is modular but you'd be hard pressed to worry about the join (I think general clunky H van design helps). It compares favourably to the door gaps of a Dinky MGB, for instance... Here's a couple of images nabbed from Ebay, showing the reasoning behind this. Not sure those graphics have aged that well! I do have a soft spot for food trucks and mobile grocers, purely for all the miniature detail. My Lesney canteen trailer is a great example and my Corgi Juniors Mercedes mobile shop was a notable addition to my toy box but I'll admit that the clunky hinge work and questionable decals somewhat mire this effort, so I doubt I'll be looking out for one. Then, as I was at a bit of a loose end yesterday, I popped off a couple of quick scene shots. Only taken on my phone, not my proper camera - need to get the mojo back a bit, on that front. That said, the other Tomica Dandy is a prime candidate for some archived backgrounds I have. Anyway, if this has inspired anyone to bag one of these, may I present the link below: https://www.diecast4u.co.uk/tomica-dandy-citroen-h-van-american-freezer-van-rare Check the ash tray for loose change and you should cobble together the mere £150 being asked!! Rest assured, I paid a tiny fraction of that.

That Fiat 130 Coupe! Oh my...

Rather like @Datsuncog, today was certainly a bloody good day off and proved quite fruitful. Might be time to grab a cuppa - here goes... An early start, coaxing Mrs_Jon out of bed to go to a retro fair in The Big Town, about 45 mins away. Pickings seemed slim initially, so I 'made do' with a Hot Wheels Beetle dune buggy. I had a white version of this casting (with flames I think), bought from Tesco circa 1993. That one had the superior black wall wheels. But this was of mild interest, as it was made in India. Now, I can't remember if these are at all sought after but like I say, at this juncture things were looking desperate. Mrs_Jon found a large Hornse Bronte flour canister but we couldn't remember whether we had one already (turns out we do!) and it certainly wasn't a price that wouldn't matter either way. A second look at the guy with the diecast stall revealed that among all the carded Hotwheels, 20 year old Matchbox, US stock cars and numerous other things of uninterest, I found this.... A flipping Gamda Koor Sabra Corvair!!! It's a given that I covet heftily the examples that I've seen posted up here but I didn't expect that one would be found quite easily in NZ. It's certainly playworn but intact - just how I'm happy to recieve them. And indeed, with something so unusual, you don't pass up the opportunity. Impressions are that it's not a heavy item, especially with a plastic base but I'm guessing these were marketed heavily in the US, so with shipping costs in mind, it was likely built to a price. Regardless, I now have an Isreali casting, to another to add to the international element of my 1/43 (ish) collection. I also think it was very fairly priced at £6. Then we headed off to a few charity shops but Mrs_Jon took me off course to look at in intersting building we'd passed over, whilst traversing a bridge. After looking at an admittedly very nice (and closed) cafe at the arse end of a very ugly industrial estate, I was now suitably disorientated, so proceeded to drive around for several minutes and kilometers, despite being mere metres from our proposed destination. Luckily though, during our unexpected diversion, we drove past a car boot sale, a concept very much in its infancy in NZ (they much prefer garage sales). Despite there being less than a dozen punters, I managed to find this: A quick glance appeared to show it intact - or at least intact enough to make a recognisable Jeep, so £2.50 duly handed over. Arriving at the main event charity shop I had in mind, it didn't disappoint, with this lovely Ro80: Never seen one of these Rockets before, so it had to come home with me. The colour is very suited to this iteration, I reckon. It's fair to say that the Husky version is much more accurate but these Whizzwheels certainly represent a significant turning point in Corgi's history. There was also this very pleasant Dinky Conveyancer forklift truck. Comes with bonus period string, too. None of that nylon toss here. Taking a good look at it when I got home, I was surprised to see the seat lifted, to reveal the engine. Nice touch! Even nicer to discover was that it has working rear steering, activated by the steering wheel! It's missing whatever cranks the forks up and down by poking into the hole on the other side but I'm sure I could cobble something up. It also has no roll over cage but then it looks quite period correct without it, so I'm not overly fussed (unless anyone has a spare..). Then it was on to a second hand shop, which seems to stock a small amount of intersting diecasts, now and again. I ended up paying a quid for this Yatming Chevy Citation, especially since I'd mentioned my enthusiasm for the eclectic casting choices of Zylmex and PlayArt, which also applies to Yatming. Not the pinnacle of excellence in real life design or miniature reproduction but it's undeniably crisp on both accounts. They're likely a bit crap but I've always liked Citations. Admittedly, I could happily forego the nonsensical graphics but they do at least add a bit of period charm. Possibly. They might also rub off easily, perhaps.. This MADE IN CHINA sticker however, represented a whisp of nostalgia, as I'd totally forgotten about these prejudiced little gold stickers of yore, warning as much as informing punters that such items were from forrin Asian climes. Fortuitously, the shop had a copy of Motor Trend, featuring a couple of Citations (or manufacturer variants - I need to brush up on my US Malaise era models). They had a few other mags of interest, so I picked one or two others up: ...erm, 237 others, to be exact! Paid just over 10p each and got 81 issues of 1980's MT, as well as 19 x 1970's & 80's issues of CAR, amongst many others. Stuck my find up on the socials and one guy immediately went and bought a boot full, too: Proper gave me the warm fuzzies, that did. Even if I can spy at least one issue of CAR I don't have... Then as a little bonus to many on here, I took a quick snap in the local equivalent of Wilko (except for the closing down bit), so you could eye what's available here: Full size image, so you can zoom in on the prices. Judging by the batshit crazy $18 being asked for a Jetson car, I'm wondering if prices might be catching up with the UK somewhat - or stuff is just put on the wrong pegs. There were also these: Not at all my cup of tea but if anyone sees anything they absolutely can't live without, then let me know. Anyway, if you've somehow made it to the end of this absolute wall of text, then I think you'll agree that today was A GOOD DAY. Happy weekend, shiters!

I'm partial to the odd Zylmex and PlayArt now and again, mostly as they seem to have come out with some oddball castings - when they weren't busy cribbing other manufacturer's castings. I think that wagon is a homage* to the Tomica Nissan Cedric. This one's available via Ebay, for only £126... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174585085008

About a week ago, some very tempting French Dinky brochures were uploaded here, so I dug out my wife's yoga mat purpose built studio and took some snaps of a diecast emulator: Yes, it's one of those quite soulless Atlas Dinky remodels but in this case, it's of a Berliet Stradair, so I think it's OK. Rear of the box art demonstrates some very versatile play value. If you count the sub-parts of the load bed, this thing has SIX moving parts! And in true Gallic form, it's a lovely concept, with build quality that doesn't tolerate ham-fistedness. The novelty of a side tipping bed that tips both left and right, relies on the small sliding tabs each end to (sort of) locate/lock the bed, whilst the central hand crank is the only part of the mechnism that isn't attached to the bed by gravity alone. The problem arises when one tab slides out of place, or you tip the bed, having only moved one. The bed simply ceases to line up, so flaps around loosely - but not enough to fully detach, meaning it's susceptible to damage if handled too roughly. Therefore, I imagine intact original survivors are quite rare... A fair stab has been made of an engine-shaped object up front. Lots of parts are involved in what could've been a very simple toy. Anyway, I have mixed feelings for this recreation, mostly relating to the modern aspect. But this was the first gateway drug diecast purchase 4 or 5 years ago, which reignited my passion, so I guess it has some merits! In fact, I bought 3 more in quick succession shortly after and I'll admit that all 3 have their charms. But aside from the Atlas Galaxie and Thunderbird, I'm not sure that any others would spark a buy these days. Indeed, I nearly bought a lurid green Thunderbird a while back for about £20, until I thought of what old unusual casting could be bought for the same price, if I waited long enough.

This set of 3 randoms was on my watchlist on Trademe and sold for £21.50 or thereabouts a few days, which I thought was a smidge steep (especially for my pockets and especially for such small items). Seems like someone may have lucked out!

Good call on the Britains gents but it's more an issue that the SIIA grille is not present, rather it's an SIII. I know it's a sticker and thus fully replaceable but I'm not sure what my fabrication skills would allow on that front. Food for thought perhaps but in my defence, I had a zebra striped one growing up as a kid, so have ticked that box. But I haven't had a Dinky version, so it'd be a fun little project. And I'd look to replace the wheels with something, so if I got a late one with the awful 1 piece plastic wheels, it'd rid the world of one more pair, at least. And @Datsuncog - that's great news! I'll be in touch to make payment!

Behold! Look what came in the post for me, a few weeks ago: Like I've said, I definitely don't collect fire service vehicles - let's make that clear. But I didn't have one of these and it was cheap for a Spot On, so I nabbed it. Unlike its northern hemisphere brethren of these pages, it doesn't seem to have been made in Northern Ireland - or indeed Great Britain, for that matter. Might this be a New Zealand assembled Spot On that I've heard rumour of? Anyway, it joins the company of my equally undesirable yet affordable Spot On Land Rovers. Since I have 4 of them, I can line them up to demonstrate the front and rear ends of both types. The pickups (utes?) both have different wheels both to each other and to the station wagons. And both station wagons have a nub each end, presumably for 2 spare wheels. I thought the hand painted one far right had a mounting for a Capstan or some such but it's just where over sized the self-tapper's been bashed through by the previous ham-fisted owner. But I'll admit, I'm a sucker for a period repaint (this one's had 2 of them), so it'll stay as is. I could well do with disassembling it, to clean it though... They're nice bits to have around the place but I likely don't need 4 - I reckon I could rid myself of one station wagon, at least. If @Datsuncog could wait about 6 months, I could get one flown owner in my parents' luggage, when they return from their visit. So to sum up, this fire dept. has terrible paint and sagging/broken rear suspension but it's still a lovely bit of kit. I'd also like to thank our NI correspondent for the Spot ON/Corgi/Dinky comparison, as I think it's resisted my urge to add a Corgi LR to my collection. I had no idea they were so small in comparison! But if anyone comes across a very sorry looking Dinky SIIA, I'd like to take one on to butcher modify into a SWB one, like my driveway millstone: