Shite in Miniature II

[Datsuncog]

So, Matchbox playset digressions aside - whence Tat Friday?

After I'd taken some deep breaths and splashed on some cold water following the disgraceful attempt at rinsing me for some items that were worth 50p at best, it was time to go.

But first I sauntered over to check on the 50p tray on Alan's Emporium.

Well, that was a waste of thirty seconds.

But, Friday without tat just isn't Tat Friday.

Clue's in the name.

So, trying to make the best of a bad job, I juked off the M2 approach road and on in to Cityside retail park.

There are a number of establishments there which can be relied upon to supply Mattel products. And beggars can't be choosers, hey?

I chose to interpret the presence of a Seat Inca as a sign of good fortune.

B&M didn't really pony up with the goods, mind - just a load of mid-2023 Hot Wheels and some Matchbox of a similar vintage, all of which we've seen ad nauseum.

Plus an annoying youth with trendy hair and huge headphones wandering up and down the toy aisle, putting me off my stride.

Focus.

Home Bargains had even less. No Matchbox anything, and only a couple of Hot Wheels 5-packs and some of those pink Dodge Charger monster trucks left on the shelves. No mainlines at all.

Pensively, I went in to a large Action Cancer charity shop nearby, just in case.

They'd moved everything round since I was last in there, so it took me a while to find the toys section. But then it's not like these places ever have much in the way of...

STOP THE BUS

(again)

Just as I crouched down and reached out to see what exactly was in these £3 mystery diecast bags -

*YOINK*

A hand reached from behind me, and deftly plucked one of the bags off the shelf.

I just caught sight of a very tidy Superfast Ford A-Series wrecker in red and a Plymouth Gran Fury police car at the bottom of the bag, as they sailed over my right ear...

It was him again. Fucking Hipster Haircut Headphones from B&M.

Yoinking some very nice 70s Lesney from literally beneath my nose.

Like, what?

I surreptitiously kept an eye on him just in case he put the bag down again, but of course he didn't. He paid and left.

Fuck a duck.

I turned back to the other bags, but they were about 60% Hot Wheels fantasy castings, 20% no-name far-eastern tat, and the rest were just modern Matchbox and Hot Wheels which must have spent a brave bit of time in the bath, as the wheel axles were all pretty rusty.

So my misplaced sense of outrage decided that if I couldn't have the really good ones, I didn't want any of them.

And so I left.

I was running late, but my diecast desires remained unmet.

I dashed into Asda, but their Hot Wheels were still stuck in mid-2023 too. They had a fair few premiums, mostly of the Fast & Furious variety, but none that took my fancy.

A sprint into Tesco revealed nothing more than some fairly ancient Hot Wheels languishing in a corner - wasn't the selection with the orange Mazda Cosmo from 2022?

Either way, no dice.

So, it was left to Poundland to apparently make my life appear fulfilled..

Huh. A smattering of old-case Hot Wheels, and these 'Turbo Gears' trucks which actually looked not bad for £2, and were giving off Matchbox Convoy vibes.

Also in the range were these weird cylindrical playsets:

Which kinda looked like tins of tuna.

They were all basically the same thing though, just with a different vehicle and only the most minor of cosmetic changes.

Nah. I'm not that desperate, kids.

But, just as I turned to leave with a heavy heart...

Well well well. Right up in the very top corner, well out of reach of all but the gangliest of kiddiewinks - some recent-case Matchbox.

Not many though.

Perhaps Haircut Headphones was in earlier and nabbed the rest of them too...

But, a purchase was made.

And all was right with the world.

[Datsuncog]

So what did I get?

These two.

I've been looking for a Honda E for a while - I kinda like them, to be truthful. This looks quite nice in red.

I nearly bought the Bronco Sport last week in the Abbeycentre Poundland store, but put it back again. Today, I buckled.

It's an odd choice of a thing, apparently built on the same platform as the 4th-gen Ford Focus. Apparently, the yanks like 'em. Detailing is good.

And then, over lunchtime I called past another charity shop, and to my amazement...

One solitary Matchbox '33 Ford Coupe, all by itself on a shelf.

I've found more diecast in charity shops today than in the previous decade, and that's no lie.

So I did.

Apparently, this finish is unique to a few multi packs - it's not a mainline.

To cheer myself up, I opened up a few packages of other recent arrivals.

Hot Wheels:

And Matchbox.

Hey, you gotta find some fun where you can in this cold ol' world.

Happy Friday, kids - make it a good 'un.

[bunglebus]

Some bits have come my way surplus to requirements, anyone need a Hot Wheels Jetta (X2)

Majorette 934

Or Morris convertible? A few minor creases to card

All at original shop prices otherwise they'll go on eBay

[flat4alfa]

Was at work missed all the fun 

You know, this photo is the lift in spritz of the day 😎

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Apparently, this finish is unique to a few multi packs - it's not a mainline

 

[bunglebus]

Site is playing silly buggers again so I'll just post this pic of the Convoy Truck Stop set I enjoyed as a kid

[quicksilver]

6 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I had this set too, or a very similar version of it at any rate.

It was pretty good, though there was substantially more thin cardboard - and an even thinner Poundland-tablecloth grade plastic playmat - involved than I'd anticipated.

I did like the little card signs to pop on the roof of the cars in the 'dealership', with things like 'Low Miles!' and 'Like New!' on them - gave it just that touch of realism.

No idea what became of this - probably car-booted in the early '90s. Still boxed, too.

I had the Super Spin Car wash, which actually squirted real water.

And a Corgi garage that was basically a multi-storey car park but had a showroom on the ground floor with a turntable and a light to illuminate whatever star car you placed on it. I remember getting that for Christmas and putting it together for the first time at my grandparents' but getting a bit frustrated as they didn't have many toy cars I could use with it.

[bunglebus]

Came back from Newcastle with a few new bits, and more had arrived in my absence

This was an eBay purchase, first of the new style Moving Parts I've seen, hopefully the recycled metal won't suffer zinc pest or similar

Bought this in Sainsbury's while I was away

This came out of Asda, perhaps slightly more modern subject matter than I normally go for, but any 911 is a cool 911.

Chrome finish is a right bar steward to photograph of course

Aaaages ago I was trying to find all the copies, knockoffs and look-a-likes in my hoard for a mass photoshoot with their respective originals, but no matter how much I searched I couldn't find my Lucky Toys Porsche/Audi. Eventually it dawned on me that I'd sold it. No idea why, but it annoyed me enough that I gave up on the entire mission.

Anyway, I bought another one - and it's the orange version rather than white, which I'd never seen before anyway

@FakeConcern very kindly sent me this to go behind my purple Corgi Buggy. Don't think I've come across one of these for sale anywhere before

Nextly, another eBay arrival. I think one of you lot has a Zee/Zylmex Celica, well now I do too

It has a working sunroof!

Lastly, back to green Volkswagens with a better condition army spec Dormobile than my current one. These always seem to want to list to one side after Matchbox changed from the plastic suspension to just crimping the axles directly to the base. A bit of play after years of...er...play, means they always try to wobble one way or the other. Annoying.

[andrew e]

I didn’t know those Dormobiles came with those wheels!

[FakeConcern]

I love stuff like the sunroof on the Celica!

[sierraman]

Purchased this today whilst in Poundland buying an air freshener. I like this as it’s ’street furniture’ in a crap colour. As I kid I’d have loved this. 

[FakeConcern]

26 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Purchased this today whilst in Poundland buying an air freshener. I like this as it’s ’street furniture’ in a crap colour. As I kid I’d have loved this. 

I have no idea what that is meant to be...

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, andrew e said:

I didn’t know those Dormobiles came with those wheels!

I think just the later ones with no sunroof/interior, so also the Hungarian versions

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

I have no idea what that is meant to be...

My excellent* camera skills. It’s a Mazda 3. 

[Datsuncog]

Just following on from yesterday's little packaging-opening party, I thought I'd document how I get models out of their blister packs.

I like to open up any models I acquire and handle them, not just keep them pristine and unopened. No judgement on anyone who chooses differently; that's just me.

But I also like the packaging, as I feel that's all part of the toy's appeal too. 

I love the artwork, and for older models it plays a big part in the nostalgia factor.

Late 1970s and early 1980s Lesney artwork styles bring back strong memories of staring at toyshop display cases, trying to decide what to spend my pocket money on. I've only a couple of boxed Lesney from this era, but I'd like to find more.

Ideally, I wish Matchbox would make their oddly named 'Power Grab' boxes as their standard mainline packaging, as I find them so much easier to open and store.

And hey, maybe if there's a continuing drift towards reducing plastic in packaging, it could happen - I note that the 2023 power grab boxes came with tissue paper liners to protect the model inside, while older releases had clear plastic bags doing the job.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Moving Parts range (like Bunglebus' newly arrived VW Type 3 fastback upthread) boasts both recycled metal in the models, and 100% biodegradable paper-foam packaging. However, this packaging has drawn some criticism online from collectors who've found that it doesn't seem to protect the models from damage, or paint rubbing while in transit. So we'll see.

But anyway. For now, most Mattel mainline releases come in plastic and cardboard blister packs - and removing the model without trashing the packaging is something of a challenge for me, since I like to keep both.

I've tried and failed to emulate YouTube videos which use acetone as a solvent to dissolve the blister adhesive - and consumer-grade paint thinners also seems too weak to do the job, though I understand Wilco-branded stuff was good, if sadly unobtainable in Norn Iron.

So, what's my favoured technique?

I've a little plastic tool apparently designed for use with modelling clay. It's thin and angled at one end, and just slips easily between the card and the plastic blister in the middle, where there's generally a gap or dimple in the plastic.

See-sawing it backwards and forwards as I go cuts through each side of the printed paper on the backing neatly, preventing tearing.

I generally just go up as far as the top of the blister side, so as to leave a 'hinge' connecting the blister to the back.

Then the same for the other side, and out it comes.

Of course there's some tearing along the glued surfaces - but when the blister's lowered back down again, it's really not noticeable.

So I can mess around with the lil' Honda, display it for a bit, and then ultimately put it away again in the original packaging without it looking too  shit. I don't glue them shut again or anything - it'll never be MINT UNOPENED and I don't intend to pass them off as such, but that's not why I collect these; I just do it because it's fun, not for the resale value.

We all know where that ends up, anyway.

Incidentally, I've noticed that a few Matchbox come with a bit of stiff clear plastic behind the model - the Bronco Sport had this yesterday, as does the Lamborghini LM002.

I'm assuming this is to avoid paint loss from rubbing - though I dunno why some models have it, but not others?

So yeah - there's some I might open straight away, and others I'll maybe put away for a while, then come back and open them when I feel like it.

I'm unlikely to run out of them anytime soon...

[MiniMinorMk3]

Here's my lighter fluid technique for blister pack opening

I guess I should go and by a new HotWheels and a new Matchbox to see if this works on the latest models, maybe if I spot a Mini somewhere I might be tempted.

[AndyW201]

18 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Some bits have come my way surplus to requirements, anyone need a Hot Wheels Jetta (X2)

Majorette 934

Or Morris convertible? A few minor creases to card

All at original shop prices otherwise they'll go on eBay

If there's still a Jetta available Rich, can I take one? Cheers.

[bunglebus]

On a personal mission in that London today. Selfridges don't sell fridges but they do sell Hot Wheels

[Datsuncog]

Huh, so Selfridges is still packing the same 2023 HW mainlines as Poundland and Tesco - ah well.

I notice there's no prices on the shelves or pegs - did you catch how much they're looking for the bog-standard stuff? Just out of interest...

[sierraman]

In selfridges if you have to ask…🤣

[danthecapriman]

For anyone interested, I’ll be putting more stuff up on my sales thread tonight.

Theres shit loads! 

 

[eddyramrod]

For those who've been following the occasional updates, My build project has finally come to fruition.  I don't think I shared the last before pic...

And a couple of days later, this is the underside...

And then a trip to the Dark Desert Highway to collect a Cadillac, and meet an original...

Corgi Dodge Kew Fargo, sliced just ahead of the rear axle, mated to the lower deck of a Corgi Carrimore mkIV trailer, sliced just aft of the front buttresses.  Redundant small-scale Humvee body trimmed down to make equipment lockers under the bed.  The rack behind the cab is a solitary surplus "rave" from a 1960s Britains farm cart that has long gone, lightly trimmed.  So now it can take its place in my recovery fleet!

[andrew e]

Eddie That’s fabulous!

[junkyarddog]

Picked up this beauty today at an Autojumble. 

Bought it from a vendor that hails from Co Down,northern Ireland,and this gent told me he has a customer that buys from him "Restores" then sells them again,at a loss.

I'm just wondering if it's the same chap creations that we sometimes see on Tat  Friday's?

Anyway here it is,a Guisival Mk1 Ford Capri boy racer Policia edition!!

[andy18s]

I picked this F150 up this week.

1/25 scale but without any markings apart from Made in Thailand underneath. 

Nicely detailed down to the rubber tyres.

 

[sierraman]

44 minutes ago, andy18s said:

I picked this F150 up this week.

1/25 scale but without any markings apart from Made in Thailand underneath. 

Nicely detailed down to the rubber tyres.

 

Looks like a Maisto to me? 

[bunglebus]

4 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Huh, so Selfridges is still packing the same 2023 HW mainlines as Poundland and Tesco - ah well.

I notice there's no prices on the shelves or pegs - did you catch how much they're looking for the bog-standard stuff? Just out of interest...

£3.00 I think. Did see a Hamley's which is usually that or more for mainlines. 

I was on a Hot Wheels mission but not for toys. Unfortunately despite walking 12 miles so far and visiting more Primarks in central London than I'd care to think about, none have the Hot Wheels Racing jacket l saw in their window display, and none of the staff seem to know about its existence. It's driving me nuts to be honest, been into lots of stores locally and on my travels, emailed, called - only one store knew the garment as they'd had a couple as returns. Starting to feel like I'm losing my mind!

[andy18s]

47 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Looks like a Maisto to me? 

It feels like a Maisto but has nothing to say,just the scale and Thailand markings.

Only a fiver so I'm not complaining lol.

[Tenmil Socket]

2 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

Picked up this beauty today at an Autojumble. 

Bought it from a vendor that hails from Co Down,northern Ireland,and this gent told me he has a customer that buys from him "Restores" then sells them again,at a loss.

I'm just wondering if it's the same chap creations that we sometimes see on Tat  Friday's?

Anyway here it is,a Guisival Mk1 Ford Capri boy racer Policia edition!!

It’s got to be the same person surely?

[Datsuncog]

37 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Bought it from a vendor that hails from Co Down,northern Ireland,and this gent told me he has a customer that buys from him "Restores" then sells them again,at a loss.

I'm just wondering if it's the same chap creations that we sometimes see on Tat  Friday's?

Oh, brilliant! 

I'm absolutely positive this is the same guy. The use of UHU glue, the random words across the top of the screen, the 'spotlights' made from buttons and earrings...

I'm gonna have to hoke out all the pics I have of this craftsmanship, aren't I?