Shite in Miniature II

[andy18s]

Toms model autos have a few multibuys going on at the mi,including Matchbox stuff

https://www.toms.nl/

[bunglebus]

4 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

 Cheapo Gift Packs Of Regret 

That's the kind of crap well meaning relatives buy you because you like toy cars. Even a kid knows they're utter crap and destined to die via hammer/putting in the road to get run over/squashing in a vice/throwing onto the house roof etc

[sierraman]

I got a load of them in included in a job lot recently, about 30 of them. They just went straight in the bin. 

[bunglebus]

Think the only value in them is finding the worst possible representation of a still recognisable model.

[sierraman]

I started going through them but it made me disproportionately angry. Crushed one flat in the vice then slung the lot in the bin. I wasn’t even going to burden the kids with them, even they knew that they were shit. 

[junkyarddog]

Me and my nephew have used them for banger racing.

We Had some epic battles with them.

Sadly he decided to grow up,he prefers real cars now.

[Split_Pin]

I purposely kept a few sets of them from around 1990 because they were knock off castings. My granny used to buy me them.

One of the sets a 'Super Sport 5' which is ostensibly a mixture of post 1983 Matchbox and older Superfast castings and the other set are rip off Polistil items which were shit in the first place.

[Datsuncog]

Aye, that seems to be the way of them - some are hilarious because of the minimal amount of metal in them (bonnet and some thin spindles representing A,B and C pillars surrounding a very large sunroof).

The occasional pirate casting/strange tampo slogan/weird subject matter is worth saving for the lols - like this Rover SD1 with US-spec headlights - but most are sheer rubbish, cracker-grade stuff.

I'd suggest putting them in a sealed plastic tub and burying them deep in the garden, but the zinc alloy is probably so dreadful that there'd only be grey dust for future archaeologists to dig up...

That dreadful no-name Volvo 740 with the 'Safety!' decals does amuse me, though. Keeping that.

[warch]

Weirdly I often find matchbox toy cars whilst carrying out archaeological excavations. Some have even found their way into museum archives though not on public display sadly. I found a Skybusters Stuka wedged behind an 18th century weir last year, on a footpath between a secondary school and the town it served, probably dropped by a school boy on their way by.

[sierraman]

1 minute ago, warch said:

Weirdly I often find matchbox toy cars whilst carrying out archaeological excavations. Some have even found their way into museum archives though not on public display sadly. I found a Skybusters Stuka wedged behind an 18th century weir last year, on a footpath between a secondary school and the town it served, probably dropped by a school boy on their way by.

Go on tell us more!

Closest I’ve had was finding the back half of a Corgi Marcos on an Allotment. Also found a Lesney Kingsize bulldozer. Absolutely fucked but I’ve kept it nonetheless.

[bunglebus]

I have a Zephyr I found metal detecting with my kids, some little boy was probably gutted he lost that in the 60s/70s

 

20190604_122711 by RS, on Flickr

[MarvinsMom]

the only thing like that i've come across was some years ago when digging out a privett hedge at my parents old house.

that revealed a Corgi Juniors Starsky and Hutch Ford Gran Torino.

the cars body was in good order, the wheels though had come off as the axels had rusted through. and no, it wasn't one of my toy cars.....

[warch]

This is why I like playworn toys, there's a bit of history associated with them that a mint in box example simply doesn't have. My old garden must've been chock full of the little toy guns that Star Wars figures came with, I've still got pretty all of my figures and about two guns. I did piss off the members of the golf course behind my house though, one of the bunkers was just the job for replicating the sandy wastes of Tatooine, so they'd often have to play around me*

*Mind you I was 27 at the time.

[Bren]

2 hours ago, warch said:

Weirdly I often find matchbox toy cars whilst carrying out archaeological excavations. Some have even found their way into museum archives though not on public display sadly. I found a Skybusters Stuka wedged behind an 18th century weir last year, on a footpath between a secondary school and the town it served, probably dropped by a school boy on their way by.

When I was little I found  corgi ferrari daytona under a bramble - a child had pushed it there but was not able to retrieve it.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

When I was 7 , my Dad demolished a coal bunker in our back yard and behind it was a Dinky XK120 and a Packard convertible. I've still got the XK nearly 50 years later , I think I threw the Packard away because the screen was broken.

[Datsuncog]

My mum once found a very weathered wheel-less Corgi Juniors Metro with the roof stoved in, while digging the borders in the front garden... the odd thing was, it wasn't one of mine. I can only assume someone chucked it over the wall at some point.

I seem to be more of a loser than a finder - I've previously related the tragic loss of my Hot Wheels Crack-Ups taxi into a hedge, and also losing (but then finding many years later) my Matchbox Chevy Laguna Pro-Stocker.

But I also managed to lose a 1960s Corgi Land Rover at a beach outside Millisle, when an elaborate tunnel I'd built in the sand collapsed and I couldn't manage to retrieve it, no matter how much I dug.

Similarly, I had great fun playing with my cars in the old foundations of a greenhouse removed from the back garden - but only when it was all levelled and grassed over did I realise I was missing my Hot Wheels Minitrek and ERTL Pontiac Bonneville...

So all those are still out there for someone to find!

I did manage to recently secure replacements for the Minitrek and Bonneville, mind.

In terms of finds, I did once turn up the corroded remains of a Matchbox VW Camper round the back of the local scout hall... I think it'd been stuffed with play-doh, the salt in which seems to act like acid on zinc alloy.

Also the bonnet of a Corgi Cadillac Eldorado once showed up under the trees in the school grounds...

I didn't know what model it was off at the time- but by the 'feel' of the casting and the colour, I was somehow certain it was a Corgi item.

Dunno why I've still kept them!

Anyway- Tat Friday?

[eddyramrod]

Tat Friday indeed!  I'll be off to Andy's stall in an hour or so.

[andy18s]

If you spot anything Manta or 80's rally car shaped,can you give me a shout?

And Alvis Stalwart.....

Many thanks

[Muniphobia]

I had a matchbox mercedes convertible in metallic red I lost in the garden as a child.  I remember going to Woolworths and remember getting a replacement one that was in a non metallic red that I still have.  I always had hopes of buying a metal detector to find the first one but never got round to it and now we moved there's some buried treasure for some other kid to find

[Datsuncog]

So then, a cold but clear morning up in the north...

And some fresh tat on the stall this morning.

Anyone like Husky toys?

Some not-too-bad mini-not-Corgis - a VW loader, Ford Camper, Bedford TK skip truck, Citroen DS Ambulance, Jag Mk10 Fire Chief Car and Guy Warrior Milk Tanker - all priced at £2 a throw.

The green Foden is a Lone Star Impy model; actually quite nice and seemingly in original fettle. Shame the body's gone missing.

Coupla Frosties promotional Corgis behind there too - the Jaguar and Porsche.

And an 80s Hot Wheels model of a '20s Cadillac or something just visible - missing its windscreen.

The Bburago 1/24 scale BMW E32 in DTM trim is one we sold by the bucketload in the late 90s.

 

A few more Husky - bodyless Ford Camper, an Aveling Barford snow plough, and an ERF Cement Mixer - all very bright and presentable. 

The Lesney Farina 1800 has busted glazing, annoyingly.

Corgi Majors Bedford TK Horse Transporter in the background also missing glazing as well as tyres.

The plastic ERTL Knight Rider thing is some sort of Transformer-esque affair - it was on 'Mary's Stall' last week when I scooped the Lucky Toys Ford pick-up, and was offered to me for a fiver.

Not really my thing, and seems that it's now migrated across the market again.

So Eighties, it hurts.

 

Some Lesney Road-Rollers, a Majorette digger and pick-up, a knackered Superfast Volks-Dragon and some random trailers by Budgie and Crescent were also in evidence, but didn't set my heart a-flutter.

Some tiny Hong Kong tat:

I guess not much better than the cheapo Chinese rubbish discussed yesterday, but stuff like this tends to survive even less well than most diecast - so it's nice to see it still around.

Moving across the stall, then...

More boxed Corgi Promos - a Transit and an Iveco for Batchelor's Peas. More in-focus IRL, promise.

Majorette Renault Box Truck in Coca-Cola livery, still sealed, just visible below.

Hiding amongst the other assorted tat, a grimy but decent Speedwheels-era Dinky Land Rover fire appliance, and a resto project Daimler ambulance - £5 each.

Matchbox Superkings Excavator, the rear trailer from the Dodge Land Train, a tyreless Massey Ferguson tractor with double-axle trailer, plus a very grotty Scammell Wreck Truck completed the loose stuff on the stall today.

Looks like the Scammell may have spent an extended holiday buried in someone's garden.

Other than the glazing unit and a missing tyre, this might actually scrub up fairly well. I am kinda looking for one of these... hmm.

As well as the Beemer, there was also this Bburago Alfa 156....

And this slightly crude Russki box van - though the load box seemed to be somewhat detached from the chassis.

Finally, these boxed 80s and 90s Matchboxes kinda appealed... and at £1.50 each, they're hardly overpriced.

No Tat Box today, kids - maybe everything sold during last week's frenzy, or maybe he just couldn't be arsed with it this week.

No Mantas here either - or Alvis Stalwarts, but that's now added to the wants list. They'll show up sometime soon, I'm sure of it.

 

A quick tour of the other stalls didn't reveal very much of interest - Alan's Emporium had a few large scale plastic tractors, but not really much else. Charity Stall had not much more than playworn cheapo toys (though boosted its shiter points by having a Haynes manual for a Maestro); and even Giffer Alley couldn't muster anything more than a few unboxed Days Gone.

One of the antiques stalls (and, be advised, it's a loose term here) had these back again - last seen in the autumn:

Some kinda pewter things, very heavy. For giffers who considered themselves a cut above the common-as-muck MoYs?

Also these:

£6 each for the comics collection DGs seems a smidge on the heavy side; the Porsche partworks occupy that hinterland of just enough to catch my interest, but not enough to make me part with cold hard cash - unless very cheap, and I bet they're not.

914 on Fuchs rims is quite nice, though. Cayenne up the top left might be picked up at some stage too, if I'm feeling desperate for a diecast fix some Friday.

So! Not quite a golden morning in the annals of tat collecting, but some reasonable stuff nonetheless... and yup, I did make some small purchases.

Pics incoming!

[bunglebus]

I'm still hoping my red Dinky Transit and Matchbox Dune Man will turn up at my mum's, although I suspect someone pinched them. Definitely going to have some floorboards up one day!

[Datsuncog]

So, what managed to get me to open my wallet this morning...

Well, the boxed Matchbox seemed decent enough to take a punt on:

My brother had the Chevy Blazer years ago; it always seemed too light for its size, but then I guess it was one of the first to come with a plastic base. The aerial was also lost within ten minutes, so it's nice to have one that's complete.

The School Bus is another I owned while damaged, and got shot of it a few years ago. I do like this one, despite the scale disparity - think I'll be keeping both of these, for the foreseeable.

 

I also nabbed this, though:

While not much of a Dubber, I think when one of these popped up before, the advice was to snaffle them as they can fetch good money.

I'm not really interested in flipping it, so if anyone fancies it at £2, let me know...

 

Oh, and I also managed to pick this up for 50p:

A loose skip that belongs to the Husky Bedford TK Skip Truck.

I'll add that to the one I have in the sales box, just to complete it.

 

So, not quite as much as last week's epic haul - but that's okay.

And if there's anything you've seen in the above pics that you can't live without, just holler...

[junkyarddog]

I was hoping that you'd nab that skip as they are hard to find!

Husky VW is nice too.

Did you get the Scammell wrecker?

That looks good under the grime.

[egg]

@Datsuncog - do you know how much the smaller MB Aveling roadroller is please?

If it's up to £4 will take it please.

[andy18s]

Corgi Iveco and Transit prices plz?

Probably easier to say I'll pay up to £3 for the pair....ta

Edited February 7, 2020 by andy18s

[quicksilver]

If it's in the £2 section or no more than £5 could you grab that Lone Star Foden for me please?

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, junkyarddog said:

I was hoping that you'd nab that skip as they are hard to find!

Husky VW is nice too.

Did you get the Scammell wrecker?

That looks good under the grime.

Yeah, I wound up with so many skip trucks lately and barely a skip between them!

I ended up punting the unknown green skip off to Sierraman last week along with the Matchbox Cargo, even though it wasn't the correct one...

Only to belatedly pull up some Google images, and realise it did belong to the Majorette Cargo after all.

It was the only truck where the green skip cleared the boom, but it looked all kinds of wrong when loaded - so I decided it mustn't be the right one...

Turns out I was WELL RONG M9.

It's just badly proportioned.

But I'm quite pleased with the metal skip for the TK, anyway, and it makes me inordinately pleased to reunite incomplete models with their components.

I didn't grab the Scammell wrecker... not yet, anyway.

But I might call back over in an hour...

 

1 hour ago, egg said:

@Datsuncog - do you know how much the smaller MB Aveling roadroller is please?

If it's up to £4 will take it please.

Not quite sure on the price - Market Blokey indicated a general £2 on the smaller stuff down that part of the stall, so will nip over at 12 and see if it's still there, and sub-£4!

 

1 hour ago, andy18s said:

Corgi Iveco and Transit prices plz?

He was looking £1.50 for the boxed 80s Matchbox - so I'd like to think the Corgi might be something similar.

That said, market logic isn't always quite that straightforward...

I shall enquire!

[Datsuncog]

6 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

If it's in the £2 section or no more than £5 could you grab that Lone Star Foden for me please?

Yup, will see if it's still there!

Lovely little thing... I should have snaffled it, but I think I was cautious of overdoing it after last week's tat-stravaganza.

[BigMac]

Could I get the boxed g-wagon and ford camper if they are still available. Thanks 

[RoadworkUK]

Man, how "Free collection card inside" has me pining for days gone by.