Shite in Miniature II

[Datsuncog]

Loving those pics Jon!

All my Hot Wheels/ Matchbox get opened now; their only purpose is to be enjoyed, they're not investments to me.

There really are some superb castings out at the minute, though - and more to come, with any luck.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Here's something you don't see modelled much

Norev Renault 15

And for comparison here's a Solido Renault 17

[bunglebus]

More mooching around the shops, speak now if you fancy any of these. Comes to something when Metal Machines are the same price as Hot Wheels 

[bunglebus]

Amazed to see the Color Shifters Mini still on the shelf - it can stay there for £7

[Tenmil Socket]

7 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Amazed to see the Color Shifters Mini still on the shelf - it can stay there for £7

£7 ! 😳

[AndyW201]

Just ordered these from Ana's Hot Wheels site on FB. The Mitsi is one Ive already got but in the small box. I've never found a carded one in the wild.

The Audi E-Tron, though, is a new one I've not seen yet in the shops. Must be from the impending new case (that we may or may not get over here...)

[Datsuncog]

14 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Amazed to see the Color Shifters Mini still on the shelf - it can stay there for £7

Actual image of Sainsburys' corporate buying team discussing Hot Wheels price points.

[flat4alfa]

16 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Amazed to see the Color Shifters Mini still on the shelf - it can stay there for £7

Asda do the two-car dunking drum set for £13 it says so here on their webshite

[flat4alfa]

[bunglebus]

Big Entertainer! 

Ran the gauntlet past those annoying Fart Ninjas to this 

All older releases though.

Range next door had a handful of slightly newer ones but nothing exciting 

[flat4alfa]

42 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

They are 2020 releases I don't remember Tesco getting hold of

[bunglebus]

They were turning up in Poundstretcher for a while (like today) and I got mine out of the 2p machines at Hemsby last summer 

 

[andy18s]

On a fb auction page

 

[flat4alfa]

15 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

POSTLADY™ HAS DELIVERED

Oh what have I done...

As today is a Market Breaky™ - an identifying game is open instead!

Here is what was unwrapped.  What do you see?  Farmer Tom knows already

Procurred for £2.08 each (+P&P) from a job lot BIN spotted by roving tat spotter @64A60

[NorfolkNWeigh]

A Vogue with a roof is a novelty on here.

[bunglebus]

Ghia with mutt

[flat4alfa]

19 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

They were turning up in Poundstretcher for a while (like today) and I got mine out of the 2p machines at Hemsby last summer 

Ah.  I've haven't been into a Poundstretcher since the toilet roll famine of covid.

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

They are 2020 releases I don't remember Tesco getting hold of

They seem to have been Chinese-market models brought over as parallel imports, arriving here in dribs and drabs - Home Bargains and The Original Factory Shop both had them on the shelves in 2021, and Poundstretcher had them last year (and still does, plainly).

I've seen them on general market stalls too - plus obviously they've appeared at amusement arcades also - so they seem to have wound up going through general wholesale channels, Maybe Makro or Costco was knocking them out by the carton at some point?

At a guess, all the virus-related bother in China and beyond from 2020 onwards possibly meant that Chinese distributor warehouse stock ended up sealed off while in transit for months/ years in some areas - and was long obsolete by the time anybody got round to emptying containers?

The short card 2020 releases intended for Tesco are probably still languishing at Felixstowe docks...

[NorfolkNWeigh]

42 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

They seem to have been Chinese-market models brought over as parallel imports, arriving here in dribs and drabs - Home Bargains and The Original Factory Shop both had them on the shelves in 2021, and Poundstretcher had them last year (and still does, plainly).

I've seen them on general market stalls too - plus obviously they've appeared at amusement arcades also - so they seem to have wound up going through general wholesale channels, Maybe Makro or Costco was knocking them out by the carton at some point?

At a guess, all the virus-related bother in China and beyond from 2020 onwards possibly meant that Chinese distributor warehouse stock ended up sealed off while in transit for months/ years in some areas - and was long obsolete by the time anybody got round to emptying containers?

The short card 2020 releases intended for Tesco are probably still languishing at Felixstowe docks...

Ooh, I’ve never seen that 59 Dodge Police Car. I need to get one and ‘ shoot a coat of primer’ 

This for philistines , is a Copperhead Road reference.

[Datsuncog]

12 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Ooh, I’ve never seen that 59 Dodge Police Car. I need to get one

Daaah, I just sold a spare one the other week for 50p!

I'm afraid it's packed and gone now - but clearly there are still some on the shelves in Poundstretcher, if you can find a branch locally...

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Ooh, I’ve never seen that 59 Dodge Police Car. I need to get one and ‘ shoot a coat of primer’ 

This for philistines , is a Copperhead Road reference.

I don't think there were any of those in either box today

[Datsuncog]

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

More mooching around the shops...

How annoying that the only cheapo Matchbox Working Rigs left in Poundstretcher are the same two I already have...

They're not bad toys, though - and unusual choices of working vehicles to depict.

The GMC attenuator truck doesn't do very much - you can lower the attenuation device at the rear and swivel the direction sign up and down, and that's about it.

The tree maintenance truck has rather more to impress...

Look at the reach on that.

The orange plastic work platform is a bit clunky-looking, mind. Fortunately, it unclips.

Actually, most of the plastic bits unclip, and pretty easily too. I'd say that played-with examples from this range which are still intact will be uncommon in years to come.

I'd originally thought that both these toys shared a common cab casting, but it was only when I compared them that I realised the orange GMC is quite a bit bigger - despite being based on the a smaller G3500 model, while the green cherry picker represents the heavy duty G8600.

Comparing the bases indicates the green version was introduced for the 2011 catalogue year, while the orange one dates from around 2019 - so there's been some upsizing over the years.

Both have been available in different colours in the past, it seems.

I also find it interesting that Matchbox carry their fictional logos across multiple ranges - 'Ozima Tree Service' features in the Hitch & Haul range too.

[Tenmil Socket]

On 5/11/2023 at 1:52 PM, Datsuncog said:

Had to nip over to Screwfix early doors today, so took the opportunity to have a peep at diecast availability in the north Belfast area...

B&M (open from 8am, tat fans) had a decent selection, though nothing much new.

Plenty of Hot Wheels, but mostly racer, custom and fantasy type releases left on the pegs. Some of the packaging was quite torn - kids, eh?

Matchbox were now properly in their own space, rather than on clip strips dangling along the aisle.

Nothing we haven't seen before, though. Seemed to be a mix of 2022 and 2023 releases.

Loads of those annoying little baggage truck things, too.

Also still some Flying Customs to be found, though only four varieties left - just one Firebird and one Mustang Mach 1, and the rest were all Barracudas and Custom Ottos.

Nipped across to a smaller Tesco branch which I don't normally frequent - and they'd a good lot of 2023 case Matchbox on the shelves:

But again, we've all seen these before.

Hot Wheels not quite so abundant - and only the Challenger held any vague interest.

Called across to a biggish Poundland store in the main shopping centre, and there was a slightly better Hot Wheels selection to be seen, in terms of realistic vehicles:

More Matchbox here too - first time I've seen mainlines in this branch.

One solitary long card 'Matchbox Collection' model - the fairly unappealing Speed Trapper.

Some oddities in their Far Eastern cheapo 'Nitro Legends' range though - a custom Beetle pickup...

And a reasonable enough stab at a C3 Corvette:

I've seen worse. Much worse. And two for £1 will keep some car-lovin' kiddies happy, I reckon.

Lastly, I swung by another Poundland branch over in the nearby retail park:

Much more space for Matchbox here - a good selection, and much cheaper than those at Tesco.

Makes me wonder how come Poundland can sell current mainline Hot Wheels and Matchbox for £1.50 a throw, when 'every little helps' Tesco are wanting £2.00 and £2.20 respectively?

I'm guessing Poundland aren't making a loss on each sale (well, they were two weeks ago, but that was a different matter...), so that's some fairly hefty profiteering on Tesco's part.

I noticed that this branch had the older paired Camaro from yesterday's 'Then And Now' find:

I thought about it - but I didn't.

I did pick up a Toyota Tacoma from B&M, though.

I've been hemming and hawing about this one for a while, but since it was the last one there, I finally took the plunge...

Others I'd looked at seemed to have really rough, gappy castings around the headlights which put me off - but this one looks fine.

Removable camping rig is an appealing novelty, I'll admit.

And base detail quite good too.

It's not really a vehicle I've a huge amount of interest in - as far as I can tell, the Tacoma is basically a HiLux but not as good - though I've enjoyed seeing plenty of them rescued by Matt's Off-Road Recovery on YouTube, so I guess there's an element of amusement there...

(I'd quite like to see a Hot Wheels version of his 'Banana' Cherokee or, better yet, the MORRvair...)

EDIT: Looks like Johnny Lightning already muscled in there...

What’s the R03 on the base?

 

[bunglebus]

Thought I was done but spotted a BuM on my way back to the job

Decent display in Tesco but no dice

Couple of goodies in a smaller store but not at that price

[bunglebus]

6 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

What’s the R03 on the base?

 

Build date - letter is the year, numbers are the week.

Used to have a list for Hot Wheels somewhere, the online reference site vanished

[sierraman]

I liked the Real Working Rigs siding flatbed but yet to find one. 

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Daaah, I just sold a spare one the other week for 50p!

I'm afraid it's packed and gone now - but clearly there are still some on the shelves in Poundstretcher, if you can find a branch locally...

Sorry I swiped that one.  It's not going to be repainted though!

 

FRIDAY FUN FACT DEPARTMENT

The Steve Earle video set the internet* alight as the feature car isn't even a Dodge at all, it's a 1950 Chrysler Windsor

Up against the house though 30 seconds in is a 1950 Dodge.  Not sure if it's either a Meadowbrook or a Coronet, anyhow probably was just mechanical and interior comfort differences.  Brochure consult.

The actual lyrics say 'BIG BLOCK Dodge'.  But there was only the one engine in the line, the 230ci six.  The V8 wasn't in the Dodge line until 1953, even then it wasn't that much larger as it was a smaller variation of the Chrysler engine.  Oh the excitement.

Now daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
'Johnson County Sheriff' painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer, then he looked inside
Well, him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound

It would make more sense to have a rumblin' sound from a Hemi as fitted to Coronet from 1958, but could the Johnson County Police in Tennessee afford those?  The Appalachian Mountains weren't exactly a wealthy place to be, hence the moonshine business

Good old Matchbox with their '59 Coronet

 

*in 1988 there was not much Internets about, I was being hysterical.

 

[Datsuncog]

33 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Couple of goodies in a smaller store but not at that price

Yeesh, Tesco.

All the same, I've yet to see a Matchbox Citroen Ami in any of the stores I've browsed - seems to be part of a case that never hit NI stores last year.

I'm not exactly mad keen for one - but I'd likely pick one up if I chanced upon one.

The search continues - B&M still seems to be wheeling out 2022 case items alongside 2023 cases, so maybe I'll hit lucky sometime soon... or, indeed, once the next 2023 case lands - as the Amis you saw seem to be the broadly similar '23 release, with the 'Matchbox 70' logo on the card.

[MiniMinorMk3]

3 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

As today is a Market Breaky™ - an identifying game is open instead!

Here is what was unwrapped.  What do you see?  Farmer Tom knows already

Procurred for £2.08 each (+P&P) from a job lot BIN spotted by roving tat spotter @64A60

1. Corgi 01806 second issue Morse Jag
2. Corgi Classics Ford Popular
3. Corgi 154 Ferrari Formula 1 Car
4. Dinky 139 Cortina (Repaint?)
5. Corgi 238 Jaguar Mark X
6. Dinky 165 Humber Hawk
7. Corgi 229 Chevrolet Corvair
8. Dinky 172 Studebaker Land Cruiser
9. Corgi 239 Volkswagen 1500 Karmann Ghia
10. Corgi 241 Ghia L.6.4
11. Corgi 332 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato
12. Dinky 145 Singer Vogue
 

[flat4alfa]

5 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I also find it interesting that Matchbox carry their fictional logos across multiple ranges 'Ozima Tree Service' features in the Hitch & Haul range too.

Terry Ozima was Matchbox Ambassador to Collectors for 2009.

Other Ambassadors have been seen named on Matchbox releases, notably tucked in the the Datsun 510 Rally tampo variations

2006 John Yanouzas
2007 Jim Gallegos
2008 David Tilley
2009 Terry Ozima
2010 John Nijhuis
2011 Chuck Wiersma
2012 Shabbir Malik
2013 John Lambert
2014 Nigel Cooper
2015 Larry Scaduto
2016 Dirk Schleuer

 

Yanouzas

 

Nijhuis ; Tilley ; Schleuer

Ozima

Wiersma