Shite in Miniature II

[sierraman]

I’ve seen mint ones of those still with the seats and the window intact for a quid. Even in the box they fetch no more than £3 or so. As a 1970’s curio it’s worth sparing from the bin but other than that there are virtually no market whatsoever for the Yesteryear stuff.

[Amishtat]

Never knew there was a Corgi Senator. Every day's a school day..

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I’ve seen mint ones of those still with the seats and the window intact for a quid. Even in the box they fetch no more than £3 or so. As a 1970’s curio it’s worth sparing from the bin but other than that there are virtually no market whatsoever for the Yesteryear stuff.

Ah bollocks, that's reminded me of the " Old cars" on the high shelf at my Grandma's house. Of course we weren't supposed to play with them, just the box of my Dad's old Dinkys that were battered and worthless. Luckily I've got that box of Dinkys, don't know what happened to the Yesteryears, but I've now got* to start buying them , thanks for that!

[Split_Pin]

Tim that French Dinky Honda is the mutts nuts, good find. I have long lusted after French Dinky stuff but prices are ludicrous. Now almost every one I ever wanted is now available cheaply and almost as good as the original to my laymans eye. I want to get the Renault 6 next.

 

I'd happily contribute to a joint production where we conduct some sort of ' Beyond the Press' filmed experiment where Days gone items are exploded and squashed this way and that!

 

HERRE WE GO!

[Amishtat]

A fiver does seem extremely cheap, I was pleased to get the Atlas Dodge Royal a couple of months ago for a tenner when another chap at a separate stall was asking thirteen quid for the same selection. I'd certainly have difficulty resisting a Renault 16 if one came my way. Speaking of which I really hadn't intended buying anything today but there was this inviting looking junk shop and you all know the rest..

Never even knew Dinky did a Rapier until a few months ago, although now of course I need the Gazelle and Minx to go with it.

[Christine]

Say wot?

 

 

 

 

[Amishtat]

That Vogue's taken the roll badly!

[Christine]

We were too poor to have roller skates      My MGB suffered too

[Felly Magic]

Corgi could have put Stobart on a dogshit, and somebody would buy it! 

[sierraman]

Ah bollocks, that's reminded me of the " Old cars" on the high shelf at my Grandma's house. Of course we weren't supposed to play with them, just the box of my Dad's old Dinkys that were battered and worthless. Luckily I've got that box of Dinkys, don't know what happened to the Yesteryears, but I've now got* to start buying them , thanks for that!

For £20 you could fill a shelf with some fairly mint ones. They are that desirable. The ones one the stall I pass at work never seem to sell, though I was toying with the idea of buying the Ford Woody he had.

[sierraman]

Found a candidate... An absolutely hideous generic van with its generic wire wheels.

[Split_Pin]

That Vogue is a rare colour chap, repair but do not paint imo. I can't recall the exact name of it, but Humbrol do a shade very close to that for the roof pillars.

[Christine]

Do you want it ?  

[Jon]

I reckon Days Gone (By) are ideal candidates for modifying, since they're nicely built, not too small or big, definitely not rare and cheap as chips. Rather than crushing them, chop them about with gay abandon and see if anything good arises. Weather them etc. without any modern liveries and see if they can actually look good. Heck, even a steampunk theme would have to be better than crushing them and I'm not really into steampunk.

 

Those Corgi ones though are bloody awful, although admittedly a lot nicer with the later styled wheels they came on:

 

 

Granted, they couldn't be worse, so it wasn't a high bar to surpass. I actually had loads of them, as back in the 90's, my Dad would fill up at the local Fina garage and save up all the points and give them to me to spend on these blue boxed trinkets. So in a way, I've good memories of these, as we'd take the trip together to go choose the latest one. Indeed, collecting mini-tat was a shared hobby between us, which is possibly one reason why I've started hoarding collecting again.

[DoctorRetro]

Got these just chucked in the toybox, hope I haven't ruined something valuable! 

 

[Jon]

Anyway, talking of mini-tat, I've quite a backlog of stuff to document, so here goes!

 

 

My favourite Trademe seller had seemingly come across a rich seam of 1980's 1/43 Solidos, so naturally, I bid the opening prices and thankfully, was the only bidder! What's more, he combines items for postage and only charges the postage costs on the first item bought, which means that the following stuff cost me a smidge under £2 each delivered and only two of them came unboxed.

 

 

 

 

Though I'm quite enamoured with this Escort, it's one of the unboxed ones and by far the worst condition, as it's obviously been played with in the mud and seemingly must've sat on an electric hob which was turned on, as the other side has suffered from a bit of melting! Still a very nice thing though but I do hate those cheapy star patterned wheels.

 

 

 

Seeing this listed got me a bit hot under the collar, I'll admit - even with guff wheels and Martini stripes. Here's hoping an elite set of professional racing cyclists can keep up with this road monster.

 

 

 

Frankly, this abomination is, well, an abomination. Far too toyish for me with those cheap wheels hilariously inset but possibly ripe for a bit of playing about with? I see this as a Solido's Corgi Cameo and put an equal amount of effort in depicting this M1 on the M1.

 

 

 

 

However, I'll let the star wheels go on this one, as the rest of it is so ace! A Poire in lurid green! I'll admit that documentation here is also pretty poor and not commensurate of the excellence of this little gem, so I'll no doubt make a better effort some time down the line. Indeed, all the low res murkiness was able to convince me to give my SLR another try, so look out for a slight upgrade in quality in future posts.

 

 

 

Fire up the (inaccurately RHD (for 1981) and V registered) Quattro! Shiters as pedantic as myself may have also noticed my scything quip (or should I say, Quip???!!!) at the expense of BBC Drama's historical car accuracy department, by ironically titling said small item with a capital letter, when of course well all know that it should NEVER occur, as Audi always spell quattro with a lower case. Excuse me whilst I toddle off to Pistonheads to right a few grammatical wrongs.

 

 

 

Check out the much nicer gold multispokes on this 505 NEW MAN. Nicer wheels = nicer camera, it seems. I was also quite anxious to get this one too but actually, although the axle widths are probably quite accurate, it does add a light air of hilarity, as do the graphics. So in light of that, here it is unconvincingly racing along a mountain pass.

 

 

 

And here it is doing some of that ice racing. OUTTAMYWAY SAAB!

 

 

 

Back to more prosaic settings now, in light of the depressingly subdued tone of this pig nose Visa. My Solido 205 is the identical liver colour to this, too. 

 

 

Finally in hoard, I ended up with two boxed BMW 530s:

 

 

 

Which inexplicably means that I now have 3 of them!

 

 

And a fourth back in the UK, which I painted very badly as a kid! The two new ones both show quite a bit of scuffing to the decals, so the worst affected one will get a respray some time down the line, most likely in the distant future.

 

More updates to follow at some point...

[Split_Pin]

Do you want it ?

Cheers chap, I have a boxed one in good condition already.

[Split_Pin]

1980s Solidos

 

 

A rich seam indeed, thanks for sharing this. These have floated in and out of my collection for years.

 

I really regret selling a MIB Talbot Horizon in newborn baby shit brown. I also had the Escort but it had an RS Turbo bodykit. Then there was a Sierra XR4i and a BMW 530 branded as Dinky. The car has long since been sold but I still have the Dinky box if anyone wants it.

 

A beige 505 also came and went and last year I bought a white example which I still have.

[Jon]

I think you need to bosh up some photos of your stuff Split_Pin, as it sounds like you have some gems! Never knew about the Solido XR4i - that's one that's on the wish list now, with the gold wheels.

[Felly Magic]

There are a few Dolido 3 door Sierras in a bizarre spec on egay lately, basically XR4s with no spoiler and large side windows

[Split_Pin]

I think you need to bosh up some photos of your stuff Split_Pin, as it sounds like you have some gems! Never knew about the Solido XR4i - that's one that's on the wish list now, with the gold wheels.

Will do! The XR4i I owned did indeed have gold wheels and was in the 'rays of light' box that your BMWs came in.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Anyway, talking of mini-tat, I've quite a backlog of stuff to document, so here goes!

 

 

My favourite Trademe seller had seemingly come across a rich seam of 1980's 1/43 Solidos, so naturally, I bid the opening prices and thankfully, was the only bidder! What's more, he combines items for postage and only charges the postage costs on the first item bought, which means that the following stuff cost me a smidge under £2 each delivered and only two of them came unboxed.

 

 

 

 

Though I'm quite enamoured with this Escort, it's one of the unboxed ones and by far the worst condition, as it's obviously been played with in the mud and seemingly must've sat on an electric hob which was turned on, as the other side has suffered from a bit of melting! Still a very nice thing though but I do hate those cheapy star patterned wheels.

 

 

 

Seeing this listed got me a bit hot under the collar, I'll admit - even with guff wheels and Martini stripes. Here's hoping an elite set of professional racing cyclists can keep up with this road monster.

 

 

 

Frankly, this abomination is, well, an abomination. Far too toyish for me with those cheap wheels hilariously inset but possibly ripe for a bit of playing about with? I see this as a Solido's Corgi Cameo and put an equal amount of effort in depicting this M1 on the M1.

 

 

 

 

However, I'll let the star wheels go on this one, as the rest of it is so ace! A Poire in lurid green! I'll admit that documentation here is also pretty poor and not commensurate of the excellence of this little gem, so I'll no doubt make a better effort some time down the line. Indeed, all the low res murkiness was able to convince me to give my SLR another try, so look out for a slight upgrade in quality in future posts.

 

 

 

Fire up the (inaccurately RHD (for 1981) and V registered) Quattro! Shiters as pedantic as myself may have also noticed my scything quip (or should I say, Quip???!!!) at the expense of BBC Drama's historical car accuracy department, by ironically titling said small item with a capital letter, when of course well all know that it should NEVER occur, as Audi always spell quattro with a lower case. Excuse me whilst I toddle off to Pistonheads to right a few grammatical wrongs.

 

 

 

Check out the much nicer gold multispokes on this 505 NEW MAN. Nicer wheels = nicer camera, it seems. I was also quite anxious to get this one too but actually, although the axle widths are probably quite accurate, it does add a light air of hilarity, as do the graphics. So in light of that, here it is unconvincingly racing along a mountain pass.

 

 

 

And here it is doing some of that ice racing. OUTTAMYWAY SAAB!

 

 

 

Back to more prosaic settings now, in light of the depressingly subdued tone of this pig nose Visa. My Solido 205 is the identical liver colour to this, too. 

 

 

Finally in hoard, I ended up with two boxed BMW 530s:

 

 

 

Which inexplicably means that I now have 3 of them!

 

 

And a fourth back in the UK, which I painted very badly as a kid! The two new ones both show quite a bit of scuffing to the decals, so the worst affected one will get a respray some time down the line, most likely in the distant future.

 

More updates to follow at some point...

I thought that the only time Audi used a capital Q was on the urQuattro, possibly only after the quattro moniker was applied to lesser models.

This really is a new level of pedantism, I must confess.

[vulgalour]

I enjoy the effort you put into your updates, Jon, especially the backdrops.

[vulgalour]

SUPER MYSTERY POSTAL ARRIVAL from TheDoctor.  I feel like a minor Youtube celebrity, without the hassle of actually creating content on a regular basis.  It's quite a rush, let me tell you.  I do enjoy a good mystery parcel because even when it contains stuff I wouldn't normally buy or look for, it gets my imagination going on the possibilities and prevents me from being too narrow on my focus.  Other people call this 'facilitating his hoarding', but we all know they're just jealous.

 

The main thing I knew was coming from TheDoctor eventually was a broken Toe Joe that I can combine with my broken Toe Joe to make a Transporter Jransporter later.  I even had a spare axle in my bits box that had exactly the right width and the correct wheels to match the rest.  Looking forward to building this one.

 

 

The other Matchbox offerings in the box were ones I don't have and had been keeping an eye out for in job lots.  The other one of these horse boxes I've got is in pretty bad shape so it's nice to have a complete one.  I might turn my other one into a flatbed truck or something now.  Interesting factoid is that the plastic box on the back of these is the same as the earlier version that uses the AEC cab, it's just cast in a different colour.

 

 

I like this Land Rover 90 just as it is so it'll probably stay like this unless I acquire a better example.

 

The other thing I've definitely ended up doing now is collecting Corgi stuff.  It's even cheaper than the Matchbox stuff and some of it as actually reasonably cast. This Aston Martin is a bit unusual to me in that it has a metal base rather than the plastic I'm used to seeing and is a fair old weight as a result.  Not a car I would have picked and that blue has to go for something more suitable that isn't gold or silver.

 

Clear glass and no interior is unusual and the general look of the thing seems more accurate than the usual Corgi offerings.  I quite like this Transit tow truck and intend to do a repaint on it in something other than the BP livery.  Texaco might be more suitable.

 

Finally, a Land Rover with stupid wheels from the factory.  It's like Corgi could see into the future when they made this.  Probably repaint this one in blue, just like Drum's 1:1 version.

[rml2345]

I reckon Days Gone (By) are ideal candidates for modifying, since they're nicely built, not too small or big, definitely not rare and cheap as chips.

They're ideal for using in tabletop wargames as they're less fragile than the expensive resin stuff and considerably cheaper.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rml2345/32478424256/

[egg]

Datsuncog delivers the goods as normal, thanks! More work to do.

 

[Amishtat]

Found some of the missing Corgis so any excuse to hog the kitchen table..Still no sign of the Acclaim, Ballade, 924 or red Sierra but they'll turn up in time I imagine.

[Felly Magic]

If I find the Corgi Cameo bus I think I have I may attack it with hammers

[Jon]

Having mentioned previously that I'd relieved my favourite bricks and mortar model shop of its interesting stuff, I nevertheless made a return journey when I had the chance, just to check that this was so.

 

 

 

Thankfully, there had been a couple of additions to their 50p tub, which I couldn't resist:

 

 

 

 

In what turned out to be something of a coincidence, I nabbed two c.50 year old Matchboxes that Vulgalor has only recently mentioned on here, too. First, the DAF above was sans box and pipes of course (along with some of its paint but it's still very presentable) but the retaining pins for the load are intact and somebody has very carefully painted the load deck blue - so carefully in fact, there's no paint daubs where there shouldn't be, so someone back in the day had patience and a steady hand. I've half an idea to find some suitable pipe work for the rear (probably use straws sprayed with primer) but it's only half an idea mind, as I don't wish to commit to such an in-depth project and disappoint you all if I don't see it through to fruition.

 

 

 

This cheery Beetle couldn't be left in the box with lesser generic junk, so it came home with me too. Presumably had the same owner as the Victor estate I'd  bought previously, as it too has a marker pen racing number. No engine cover of course, unlike the intact boot lid on my lucky Victor find.

 

 

The two above were actually thrown in for nowt, as I also bought this:

 

 

Once again, I've fallen for a modern casting and worse still, a part work series one to boot! To further sully my good name, I actually laid down a decent amount of coin on this one but again, it was from a per diem cash slush fund I had from working away, so it's sort of Monopoly money in my eyes (#hiroller).

 

 

 

 

Serendipitously, the previous day I'd been thinking how much I'd love a Tatra 613 if money were no object and had even thought about what spec I'd like (decision: launch spec in gaudy colour, or early 90's front with placca trims and no body kit - I find it helps to have a contingency, even if the whole scenario is imaginary). Plus, I'd spent a little too long in their shop, mulling over other stuff and not buying it, so I didn't want to become one of those time wasting grown men who use the place as a calling post and spend next to nowt in the process; they seem to have enough of those already.

 

 

 

I like the detail of the cabin too, even if they could've been a little more careful going about the details. Anyway, if I ignore the cost, I'll grudgingly admit that I do rather like this and it certainly looks good parked next to my Solido Peugeot 604 on the shelf above the telly.

[vulgalour]

That's a handsome Tatra model.  In stark contrast, work has begun on my Transporter Jamsporter.

 

 

I've got to file the original truck or the donor truck, to bring the rear axles closer together since they look just a bit too far apart at the moment.  If I can file the donor section to match the front truck it will make the filling work needed a bit easier.  It's just the right size for slightly earlier cars, and just a bit too narrow for contemporary ones.  Shows great promise.  The bits of the donor truck left over are likely going to be used again on another custom, the interior looks particularly well suited to a number of castings.