Shite in Miniature II

40,653 · December 30, 2023

2 hours ago, cms206 said:

Finally managed to turn up a Saga (or 3... and half a dozen Matchbox 240s... ) at The Entertainer in Buchanan Galleries!!!

Clearly there's some sort of distribution error! I carried out a dawn raid on The Entertainer in Belfast yesterday, and their pegs are still laden with the same 2023 Matchbox and Hot Wheels mix that we've been seeing for months past... No Protons, no Volvo's, no nuthin'.

Did manage to score myself this quite nice Chevrolet racing rig, though.

They had the Rover P6 on a trailer in there last week, which I took a shine to, but the queues were nuts so I just left it. They were all gone by the time I returned, though.

I snoozed, so I losed.

I've popped it from the blister pack now; they're really quite a nice duo. Pics later.

Also noticed that Poundland are now offering out Hot Wheels mainlines for a quid, with something called Poundland Perks - which I'll assume is a loyalty card or app or something, like the increasingly infamous Tesco Clubcard Price or Nectar Prices in supermarkets.

There was no additional info to be found about the Perks in store, and there was nothing I really wanted off the pegs, but if anyone's planning bulk-buys, it's something to be aware of! Cheapest in town, for sure.

42,623 · December 30, 2023

The Transfer Window has opened again. As promised the next subject was a Record Porsche.

This is just a reboxed Solido with a set of decals for a livery that Solido did not issue.

The car in question is the 2nd placed class winning Joest Racing Porsche 908/80 Turbo, chassis number 936/80-004, that was driven by Jochen Mass and Reinhold Jöst.

Unlike the Luso BMW I did a few weeks ago finding pictures of the car was fairly easy.

This will help with placing the decals that are not on the little picture that came with the model.

First thing to do was the usual wash using a bit of detergent and a brush.

Then we had the problem of the mirrors to sort. These get in the way of the big stripe decals that go over the top of the wheel arch, so need to be removed.

I find the best way to remove the mirrors is to dismantle the model and then push them out from the inside. It is a good way to preserve the stubs on the ends of the mirrors and thus make them easier to reattach when the decals are done. Also it gives me a chance to get rid of the yellowed glue from to ends of the mirrors and the body.

I use some of those small screw drivers to get the mirrors out. Also notice how basic this model is, a body, a two pieces base with seat and a couple of axles with wheels.

Well that's those out.

Now on with the decals. Three done, only another thirty to go.

There's some more on the front and the rear wing.

There's one stripe done and the big front decal.

These old decals are very fragile. I have already broken six of the, including the big stripe, the big front decals and a couple of the smaller ones. It's a right pain having not only to align the decal, but to make sure the breaks are not that visible.

Well that's it for today, time to let those dry for now. More tommorrow. Also spot the error, I soaked the Bosch/Bilstein/Shell/Sachs decal but it would not shift easily. After the problems with the breakages I did not try to hard so I left it slightly obscured by the stripe.

56,319 · December 30, 2023

24 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

They had the Rover P6 on a trailer in there last week, which I took a shine to, but the queues were nuts so I just left it. They were all gone by the time I returned, though.

I snoozed, so I losed.

I've popped it from the blister pack now; they're really quite a nice duo. Pics later.

Also noticed that Poundland are now offering out Hot Wheels mainlines for a quid, with something called Poundland Perks - which I'll assume is a loyalty card or app or something,

I see the P6 still from time to time if you want one - Perks is an app just for NI and IOW apparently!

56,319 · December 30, 2023

Another delivery, job lot from the big three. 1st up, everyone's favourite Corvette from Dinky

A rather tidy MGA from earlier in Corgi history

A couple of Matchbox, KP-1 Caper Cart and Merc SLC

And the best one in my eyes, a lovely Rover 2000 with Trans-o-Lite

1,732 · December 30, 2023

Today’s haul is most likely the last for this year. XR4i from Solido, Bburago Citroen C1, a Corgi 3,0S and a couple of VW T3s. All from a couple of charity shops in Sweden’s own Jerusalem: Jönköping.

42,752 · December 30, 2023

On 29/12/2023 at 15:56, Tenmil Socket said:

Who did this go to? The thing of nightmares...

It’s here with me

I’d lost my job just days earlier

I think I was emotional

5,111 · December 30, 2023

You must really be emotional being reminded of it again!

13,584 · December 30, 2023

It's like something out of The Cars That Ate Paris.

32,089 · December 30, 2023

9 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

It's like something out of The Cars That Ate Paris.

My mum suggested that film to me when I was a teenager, what a strange production it was!

42,752 · December 30, 2023

just looked it up

never seen it

13,584 · December 31, 2023

Delayed report from yesterday's toy fair + subsequent shop visits, had people round yesterday (what, interacting with real humans?).

Sadly no MIB Superfast that I 'needed', but a decent selection of randomness for not too much.

Matchbox kit will allow me to do a better job than I managed in the very early '80s, one of my very first kits.

Bigger trucks varied from £2-5 each. Berliet should apparently have a dolphinarium on the back, but works nicely without. Particularly pleased to get the Majorette Scania and Esso tanker for £2, then picked up a matching small trailer elsewhere.

Camping Cruiser and a few of the 1/64-ish things were 50p each. I think that selection included the Majorette Countach, yet again a completely new one to me (Majorette's rendition that is, obviously).

BRE Datsun 240Z was £3, pair of Corgi 505s were £2 each.

On the front row L-R we have Corgi Regal, Superfast SM, Caravan maybe from a later twin pack?, Majorette Countach, Matchbox Renault 11, Dodges Caravan and Dakota, Mercury with early wheels and steering, XJ40.

Now regret not getting an Efsi Commer Walkthrough with missing front axle and Dinky Bedford TK refuse truck at £6-8 (he had a couple at different prices).

HWs mostly came from Asda and the Thunderbird from The Range. Defender 90 looks like a nice thing.

27,911 · December 31, 2023

I dropped into The Entertainer on Friday. Nothing to report on the Hot Wheels, but more alarmingly, practically nothing by Matchbox. Nice Lady (they so often are, in that shop) casually informed me that they're not expecting any more of the basic models.

56,319 · December 31, 2023

53 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Camping Cruiser and a few of the 1/64-ish things were 50p each. I think that selection included the Majorette Countach, yet again a completely new one to me (Majorette's rendition that is, obviously).

Looks like a nice haul. The Camping Cruiser is such an oddity, there seem to be quite a few around so it must have sold well enough - maybe due to the popularity of "motor caravans" at the time?

I think the blue Lambo is the nicest version, not sure how many others there are

56,319 · December 31, 2023

17 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

I dropped into The Entertainer on Friday. Nothing to report on the Hot Wheels, but more alarmingly, practically nothing by Matchbox. Nice Lady (they so often are, in that shop) casually informed me that they're not expecting any more of the basic models.

I do ask in mine - they just don't get deliveries of them very often.

Sadly I don't think Matchbox sell very well, they're not as appealing to (normal) children as Hot Wheels due to being regular cars and not as colourful, and I don't think the mixes help either - there's only so many people that want Renault Kangoos or airport shuttle buses. If there were only 2-3 of each car they wouldn't warm the pegs forever and new stock would get ordered in

13,584 · December 31, 2023

11 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I think the blue Lambo is the nicest version, not sure how many others there are

Oh yes, definitely the nicest of that trio. Initially it looks a bit wide, which Majorette had an issue with at the time (TR7, etc), but actually it's probably more realistic than the Superfast version.

39,412 · December 31, 2023

7 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I do ask in mine - they just don't get deliveries of them very often.

Sadly I don't think Matchbox sell very well, they're not as appealing to (normal) children as Hot Wheels due to being regular cars and not as colourful, and I don't think the mixes help either - there's only so many people that want Renault Kangoos or airport shuttle buses. If there were only 2-3 of each car they wouldn't warm the pegs forever and new stock would get ordered in

I agree, these days it’s all about brash shouty American stuff. The Entertainer near us hasn’t restocked for a month, off the back of the market being flooded with them I can’t see them continuing to retail Matchbox in the U.K. I would expect to see them pulled within the next year unfortunately.

56,319 · December 31, 2023

They (Countach) are quite wide anyway at a round 2 metres. Don't think the strange Carlos Fandango wheels help

42,623 · December 31, 2023

Just done a bit more decal work.

Rear view that only the winner did not see.

Second big stripe to split when it was in the water. Old decals do have a reputation for this. Also I should have placed that one first, as the stripes shouldn't really come together. Also you can now see why the mirrors had to come off as the decal covers the hole in the body.

Cockpit decals on. That front view of the car helped with the placement, without the picture it would have been a complete guess.

Air box stripe was a pain to get straight, but at least it stayed in one piece...

as did the big top stripe on the right.

With most of the top of the model being wet it's time for a break again. I might get it finished later today.

25,764 · December 31, 2023

Picked up another Mexico partwork car the other day.

Septic Mondeo!
I always preferred the Contour’s front and rear styling over the Mondeo’s tbh. Either way, it’s quite an unusual subject for a model.

I’ve actually worked on one of these. Years ago, must have been about 2003ish, when I worked in a garage someone booked in a Contour for a service. At the time I had absolutely no idea what they were so it was quite a surprise on the day when a Mondeo with weird front and rear ends turned up! It’s exactly the same as a Mondeo really otherwise.
I always thought it very strange someone would bother importing one of these tbh, given how easy a Mondeo was to get hold of, and that would have been rhd.
Never saw it again unfortunately and no idea what happened to that car. It was Jade Green metallic and looked really good. It’d be interesting to see what happened to it.

42,752 · December 31, 2023

I drove one, for a week, in early fall 1997. Road trip.

With my cousin and a mate, collected it from rental place on Long Island NY and travelled the North Eastern Provinces, up to Montreal Canada, taking all the sights we could there and back, in the time we had. Hotels and Motels.

Daft Bostonians thought our SE UK accents were Australian.

Drove well, like the European it was. Was especially suited to whizzing about the winding, hilly terrain of Vermont, which reminded me of Cumbria.

It was a deep red metallic.. The trout snout wasn’t quite as off-putting as the Red Lipstick coloured dashboard. And carpet. And seats. And all the rest of the interior trim.

At 3am at a motel in Connecticut, we locked ourselves out in the car park, while the engine was still running. Handy. Cost us $100 to get that opened (in seconds) by a local Cooter type fella

10,798 · December 31, 2023

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I do ask in mine - they just don't get deliveries of them very often.

Sadly I don't think Matchbox sell very well, they're not as appealing to (normal) children as Hot Wheels due to being regular cars and not as colourful, and I don't think the mixes help either - there's only so many people that want Renault Kangoos or airport shuttle buses. If there were only 2-3 of each car they wouldn't warm the pegs forever and new stock would get ordered in

Mattel really don't seem to have a clue when it comes to distribution. They never appear to gather any feedback on what sells and what doesn't, and keep throwing equal quantities of things into batches completely at random so we always end up with some selling out immediately and others sitting around for months. It's a funny way to run a business.

25,764 · December 31, 2023

10 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

I drove one, for a week, in early fall 1997. Road trip.

With my cousin and a mate, collected it from rental place on Long Island NY and travelled the North Eastern Provinces, up to Montreal Canada, taking all the sights we could there and back, in the time we had. Hotels and Motels.

Daft Bostonians thought our SE UK accents were Australian.

Drove well, like the European it was. Was especially suited to whizzing about the winding, hilly terrain of Vermont, which reminded me of Cumbria.

It was a deep red metallic.. The trout snout wasn’t quite as off-putting as the Red Lipstick coloured dashboard. And carpet. And seats. And all the rest of the interior trim.

At 3am at a motel in Connecticut, we locked ourselves out in the car park, while the engine was still running. Handy. Cost us $100 to get that opened (in seconds) by a local Cooter type fella

It’s the Contour that defies the ‘world car’ thing Ford came up with at the time. The intention was a car that was broadly the same that would be sold the world over with only minor regional differences to comply with different rules etc in different countries. But then you get to the USA! Probably one of the biggest markets for these cars and they insisted on different styling! I prefer it personally, but it does go completely against what Fords idea was!
It didn’t last all that long though as the later cars ditched the idea of unique US styling and went to the standard Mondeo look. Seems a strange thing to do really!

I think the 2.0 Zetec was the Contours smallest engine too?

42,623 · December 31, 2023

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

It’s the Contour that defies the ‘world car’ thing Ford came up with at the time...

Ford had done the world car thing a decade earlier with the Mk3 Escort. Those were mostly the same car world wide, but US versions were very Americanised

The hatchback versions looked more like a US spec Volvo 343.

42,623 · December 31, 2023

2 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Mattel really don't seem to have a clue when it comes to distribution. They never appear to gather any feedback on what sells and what doesn't, and keep throwing equal quantities of things into batches completely at random so we always end up with some selling out immediately and others sitting around for months. It's a funny way to run a business.

I doubt Mattel have much to do with the distribution once there stuff has landed in the UK. It is probably more to do with what the retailers order from ABGEE. Obviously ABGEE are dependant on Mattel but again it is probably down to what they order in and think will sell.

Mattel | ABGee | First Choice in Toy Distribution

10,798 · December 31, 2023

14 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Ford had done the world car thing a decade earlier with the Mk3 Escort. Those were mostly the same car world wide, but US versions were very Americanised

The hatchback versions looked more like a US spec Volvo 343.

The Escort was supposed to be a world car but didn't end up that way. Although it was part of the same programme and looks broadly similar, the US Escort actually has very little in common with the European one so it failed in that aim - no panels are interchangeable and only the CVH engines are shared. It wasn't until the Focus came along that they truly had a world car that was fundamentally the same in every market.

2,987 · December 31, 2023

18 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Ford had done the world car thing a decade earlier with the Mk3 Escort. Those were mostly the same car world wide, but US versions were very Americanised

The hatchback versions looked more like a US spec Volvo 343.

In spite of the "World Car" pretensions Australia, New Zealand and a few other markets got a badge engineered Mazda 323 with blue ovals!

25,764 · December 31, 2023

Must admit, I do like the US versions of their European models. The US Escort looks much better and more interesting than the one we had. Although maybe that’s just because the US one is so much less familiar and therefore something different!?
I think the interior’s were far far better than what we got too. Much more range of colours and styles available, we seemed to be dull and boring in Europe as always and stuck with usually miserable grey! Americans seemed to want to hold onto the vibrant colour choices of the 60’s and 70’s for much longer than we did. Even in the 90’s you could still get cars with bright red, blue or green, even brown and beige interior. It seemed far more restrained and restricted in Europe and Asian cars to dull muted grey’s.

34 minutes ago, Richard_FM said:

In spite of the "World Car" pretensions Australia, New Zealand and a few other markets got a badge engineered Mazda 323 with blue ovals!

I’ve seen those. Weren’t they called Ford Laser or something? I’m sure there was a Ford badged Mazda 121 too.

25,764 · December 31, 2023

In a similar theme,

Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz. As seems usual for the Mexican market they used Ford cars with Mercury model names and vice versa. No idea what that was about, but the cars are usually the same!

The real Tempo was a pretty bland mundane thing but the model is a great looking likeness of it. Check out those wheels too! They look very 80’s, almost like something you’d find on a Mitsubishi or similar Jap cars.