Shite in Miniature II

[sheffcortinacentre]

The Weetabix corgi juniors Leyland you sent off tokens for there was also a cardboard cutout lorry on the box ( mum used to have Weetabix) so had about a doz of the cardboard ones think I've still got the corgi one.

[RayMK]

11 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

..............(Re: the ERTL Texaco Tanker)

Glad you enjoyed! I've never heard of that ERTL range - a quick online search throws up this sort of thing, does that look about right?

 

Nice looking model, anyway!

 

That one was not available during my two fuel stops with a Dodge Intrepid when in the Seattle area in the 1990s.  I settled for the much older style of tanker and a 4 seat open tourer. I'll take a photo soon. The vehicles are in a display cabinet upstairs and I still have the boxes somewhere.

[Datsuncog]

22 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

The Weetabix promo I remember jad a Police Sierra, XR3i, a yellow Aston Martin and possibly an XJS. The artwork on the packet had the Weetabix personified characters dressed in the stereotypical suede fur-collared coats, acting as used car dealers.

Full set on ebay, complete with little white carbdoard boxes for £15 posted. 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223473656162

That's brilliant - good to see! Nice little set for the money, definitely...

The 'Arthur Daley' Weetabix characters are dimly familiar, now you mention it... I had at least two FX4 taxis and a whole heap of those (awfully wide) XJSs, so maybe I did manage to get a couple of cars from that particular promotion. The Kelloggs Model A van is still the cereal promotion that really sticks in my mind, for some reason!

I notice that one of the other Weetabix promo sets had the yellow Aston DB6, so quite likely there was a bit of overlap!

12 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

The Weetabix corgi juniors Leyland you sent off tokens for there was also a cardboard cutout lorry on the box ( mum used to have Weetabix) so had about a doz of the cardboard ones think I've still got the corgi one.

Blimey, that's brought back a bit of a memory - for reasons still unclear, we used to have a carboard cutout Weetabix van as part of our Christmas decorations. It must have been the same one, though how it managed to become part of the festivities - usually hidden deep in the tree branches - I still don't know... yep, it was my favourite 'Christmas decoration'.

In my mind, it was a Leyland Terrier like the diecast Corgi Juniors version - but a quick online search seems to indicate it was actually a Commer RG 12  (aka Dodge 100 Commando) - assuming they didn't do a cut-out Terrier too, at a different point?

I can only assume it either fell to bits after a few years, or we forgot to retrieve it one year... cheers for that!

[Datsuncog]

17 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Another

R&L Diecast

Amazing how many different versions of the Mk1 Range Rover are out there!

I also find it interesting how some cars are modelled by pretty much all the main manufacturers, while others just aren't... and it's seemingly little to do with the popularity of the real thing.

Waaaay back upthread I think there was a similar discussion a year or two back, where it was pointed out how many toy versions of the Volvo 740 saloon were made (Matchbox, Corgi, Siku, Majorette, and no doubt others),

… but none as the more popular estate version.

Equally, the longrunning Volvo 245/265 estate was modelled in small-scale by Corgi and Majorette...

and in large-scale by Dinky and Matchbox Superkings…

Yet saloon versions seem to be much less common (I had this pretty crude Volvo 164 by Summer Toys)

From searching, it seems Yatming, Playart and Norev Jet did do saloon versions of the 244/264, though I've never seen any of them in real life.

Interestingly, Playart seem to have been the only toy company to ever model a Volvo 340...

They're a manufacturer I'd like to find out more about.

I appreciate that Polistil etc made larger 1/25 models of the 740 estate; but I'm thinking more of the pocket-money end...

 

You'd think that, say, the Mk2 Cavalier/Opel Ascona C might have made a nice model for Matchbox or Corgi in the early 80s, but surprisingly not (and even the Mk3 Cav/Vectra A didn't survive as a Matchbox 1-75 for all that long).

(I think Schabak and/or Gama may have done a 1/43 Ascona at the time, but they were always a bit pricey to be called toys, and not very common here. )

But toy versions of the Sierra were produced by nearly all the main manufacturers; just not their main rival from GM. While working in the model shop in the mid/late 90s, I seem to recall people often coming in looking for Vauxhall models and there simply weren't any out there... if you wanted a model Nova, a BP promo one from ten years earlier was the best you could hope for.

Ditto the Matra Rancho - everyone seems to have modelled that in multiple sizes (often alongside a Range Rover, too) yet their real-life counterparts were not terribly popular. Corgi had theirs in the line-up for years - well into the mid-90s, by which time nearly all the real ones had turned to dust and blown away in the wind.

Anyway... just more pointless musings here.

 

Maybe one day I'll try to muster these thoughts into something coherent!

There is a certain irony that I've only been able to think about the subject of diecasts more clearly after getting rid of nearly all of my collection...

[bramz7]

Mebetoys/Hot Wheels did a Volvo 343 in 1/43. 

 

[Datsuncog]

9 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

Mebetoys/Hot Wheels did a Volvo 343 in 1/43. 

Crikey Moses, so they did.

And one in 1/25, too.

This is all fantastic info, thanks!

Seems that Mattel did some cracking Italian-built 1/25 scale stuff, which I'm really not familiar with compared to the Polistil and Martoys/Bburago offerings.

I had a 1/25 Fiat Uno 55 in brown back in the early '80s, but I believe this was brought back from Spain by a family member as a gift - were these ever sold in the UK?

Once again, the AS hivemind proves invaluable!

[sheffcortinacentre]

That's it cut out loads.

I always thought it strange that matchbox launched the MK4 Cortina in the 1-75 range just as it was being replaced by the Mk5 in real life & that no one else offered a MK4 or Mk5 in Thier toy range here in the UK?

[stuboy]

popped into charity shop, saw a load of burago 1/43 on the shelf and was shocked they want £10 a car.......... walked out

[Split_Pin]

I only knew of the 1/25 Hotwheels 343 as I have the 1/43 version, the others are new to me. Mind blown by the Audi 100 and Talbot Horizon. I've just spilled a whole pint of WANT over my slippers.

You are spot on about gaps in model ranges in the 1980s too. It wasn't until my parents realised that cars weren't just a fad for me that I was allowed to buy a more expensive Gama 1/43 and even then it was just the one, an Audi 80 B3.

Once I discovered Swapmeets, I was able to get my hands on previously unknown models of everyday car such as a Guisval Renault 12, Corgi Renault 16 and a Dinky BMW 2000. I was also thrilled to get hold of a Corgi Mini Marcos as I had no idea you could get a model of that strange car my parent's neigbour had.

Another car widely modeled was the Mercedes 190. Matchbox and Corgi had almost identical 1/36 items in their range, Bburago produced it in 1/43 and 1/24, and Majorette, Guisval and Siku all had one in their range.

Matchbox, Corgi, Majorette, Bburago, Polistil and Guisval all made a Renault 5, as another example.

 

[Jon]

20 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

From searching, it seems Yatming, Playart and Norev Jet did do saloon versions of the 244/264, though I've never seen any of them in real life.

 

 

 

Here's my Playart 244 I picked up a few months ago (and documented on here previously), bought mostly for its novelty factor in saloon format and also its great condition:

 

 

 

I certainly didn't pick it up for its favourable scale of wheels though, as the donk rims plonked on really let the show down. The shovelled nose is also quite LOl-some. That said, the rear end treatment is a lot more accurate and I reckon this model would look stonking with some early Matchbox Superfast skinny wheels on it, instead.

 

Oh and thanks again Tim for another lenghty, well written prose on a subject few would care about but a core on here really appreciate!

[Datsuncog]

12 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Another car widely modeled was the Mercedes 190. Matchbox and Corgi had almost identical 1/36 items in their range, Bburago produced it in 1/43 and 1/24, and Majorette, Guisval and Siku all had one in their range. 

Funny you should mention the 190..

Yesterday's mail call, via eBay: Corgi's first release of the Merc 190E, showing rather nice lines.

Also available as a taxi and in touring car livery, after a few years they dickied-up the casting a little by adding front and rear spoilers and side-skirts - sporty, for sure, but this is the version I prefer. German-spec Taxi has quite a lot of charm, too.

EDIT: more pics added (as the train wifi didn't feel like uploading more than two photos earlier).

Box is utterly FUBAR'd, but seller was very upfront about its poor condition. It is, however, complete.

 

This is the only example I've seen for sale in an original yellow Mettoy-era box; all the others (and there haven't been many) have been in the 1985-on blue boxes.

This dates its production to a few fraught months in late 1983, before Mettoy's bankruptcy and subsequent rescue package killed off quite a few models scheduled for 1984 release. 

Although there's a few bits of rough casting and a little bit of paint rippling to both doors, this really is quite a lovely model and I'm very pleased to add it to my other Corgis of the time.

It's shown again in the 1985 Corgi catalogue as part of the revamped range (with an even more shonky front number plate than mine, note ye well)...

... but by either 1986 or 1987 it was replaced with a completely different be-spoilered casting, which may or may not have re-used the glazing and grille from C385 (I don't have one to compare).

Maybe it's just me, but the original version just looks a little more balanced.

The blue version of this model is maybe best known, as it was given away by the bucketload by Mobil in the late 80s as part of their promotion, mentioned upthread.

Next job - track down 1986 and 1987 Corgi trade catalogues!

 

[sierraman]

Isn’t it diecast tat Friday Datsun? 

[Datsuncog]

On 6/21/2019 at 11:22 AM, sierraman said:

Isn’t it diecast tat Friday Datsun? 

It is!

Although, after last week's cornucopia of tat, this week reveals that Market Blokey must have had a bumper day up at Nutt's Corner Market last Sunday (AKA 'the Badlands')… because his stock has been seriously depleted from a week ago.

Here's the state of play this week:

Some 1960s Corgi, Dinky and Lesney Matchbox, but not many.

Many many Britains (?) cheerfully toxic farm animals, though.

Coronation Coach looked in good nick, but £30 price tag. Blue train is a heavily playworn 1970s Dinky jobber; non-motorised. Dinky Bedford Val coach was a tenner last week; he may have relented a little on price this week but it's still got no interior or engine cover.

Tat box, then...

Not much new in here, sadly.

I was most displeased at the destruction that'd been meted out to this otherwise decent enough example of a Corgi Rockets 'The Saint' Volvo P1800. Grrr.

Someone on here was looking for caravans - Sheffcortinacentre?

Top one looks to be approx. 1/35, lower one 1/43 ish (MB Stretcha Fetcha to provide a sense of scale). Both kinda crude, but only 50p a pop.

Some big Triang tinplate trucks, both missing their grilles and with a lethally sharp edge exposed. I believe one of these is responsible for a large scar on the back of CogSr's leg, sustained while pulling one of these across wasteground on a string - which appalled and fascinated me as a kid.

Should I be worried that these are starting to appeal to me a bit?

I used to have this one... and I believe I sold it, boxless and also with cracked tyres, for £3 about nine years ago.

A very green Banana-Squeezer (as these were apparently known by our motoring forebearers - all this humorous talk of Crapis and All-aggros ain't new) complete with diorama.

Quite nice Unic taxi. Not sure what the 'Code 3' refers to on the Model T Ford van below it - the Birds Custard livery looks like a pro factory job, either Code 1 or possibly Code 2 if made as a promotional model (although it's possible it's been just put back in the wrong box). But just look at the previous price! £10.50, and that wasn't recent.

And, as I only noticed afterwards, the infamous Y5 Lipton's Tea Talbot van:

These vans caused a bit of a stir in collecting circles in the late 1970s, after Lesney applied to the Royal Household for permission to apply the 'by Royal appointment' coat of arms to their model, as per the original Lipton's Tea vans.

This application was believed to be a mere formality, so you can imagine the shock and horror within the company when permission was denied, without further explanation offered. After all, Lesney had repeatedly won the Queen's Export Award for many years running, hadn't they?

The most embarrassing factor was that, confidently anticipating a positive response, Lesney had already gone ahead and built tens of thousands of these  models complete with the Royal Crest, many of which had already been shipped out to retailers.

There followed quite a bit of red-faced confusion about whether Lesney would be forced to recall and destroy their entire stock, and collectors quickly went a bit potty buying up as many examples as they could find, because they were bound to become rare and very very valuable if the recall happened.

Ultimately, an agreement was brokered with the Royal Household that the initial run could be sold through, but subsequent batches made would have to wear a generic design rather than the Royal Crest. Phew.

Of course, as the vast majority of the initial run had already been snapped up at inflated prices and squirrelled away as an investment piece, this van is probably the most common Model of Yesteryear to be found mint and boxed. Its value today... well, £2 sounds about right, doesn't it?

 

On that note, I read quite an interesting article about the rise and fall of collectables in the Guardian only yesterday:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2019/jun/19/what-beanie-babies-taught-a-generation-about-the-horrors-of-boom-and-bust#comments

I found this comment below the line particularly revealing:

Quote

Exactly this process of boom and bust happened with Billy Bunter books of all things. Price crashed when the world ran out of people old enough to be nostalgic about the Fat Owl of the Remove.

I guess this is the exact same thing happening here - the world has now run out of people old enough to be nostalgic about Model T Fords and Thorneycroft fire engines. More supply than demand. 

But I'm finding myself a little tempted by these Matchbox MoYs, which are a good deal more detailed and substantial than their Lledo counterparts. They'll never be worth megabucks now (unless there's a sudden nostalgic rush from people who remember their grandfathers collecting them?), but surely they'll never be cheaper? I mean, a mainline Hot Wheels from Tesco costs nearly £2 these days - and these models are now cracking on for 40 years old. But I guess they always fulfilled a different function from Matchbox toys, and this is the result...

 

Other oddities on the stall today:

A telephone/intercom system for home, office or factory? Well, ok.

As long as your factory's not more than six feet long through, yeah?

I wonder why things like this used to be thought of as fun, whereas now I just tend to find them a little bit creepy-looking? The unfair subversion of puppets in popular culture to reflect the sinister and supernatural? I blame R.L. Stine's 'Goosebumps'.

 

Any interest in any of the above? Just holler!

[Amishtat]

Nothing there for me thanks DC, that puppet is disturbing though 

[Datsuncog]

Did I come away empty-handed?

Did I bunnies.

Bang! A Corgi Rockets Jensen Interceptor, and the last hurrah of the old Huskey Ford Wrecker, now transmogrified into a Corgi Juniors Ford Camper

(though this one is, obviously, missing its camper back.)

The Jensen is a particularly nice casting, even if the chunky Rockets wheels kinda spoil it.

A much nicer model than Dinky's notoriously cackhanded version; it's not perfect paintwise and, annoyingly, the glazing is cracked  - but I felt £1 wasn't too much to spend to be able to handle, photograph and properly get to grips with this one.

For the past few weeks, I've been hoking in the 50p Tat Box and annoying myself by picking up and putting down a Matchbox Ford Cargo Skip truck (in slightly worse nick than this library pic, and missing its skip).

Today I resolved to just buy it, so naturally it was gone.

But there was this...

A Majorette Ford Cargo Skip Truck, also missing its skip. Much spirited digging did not reveal it, sadly (though did cause a nearby American camera crew to ask me to quiet it down, as some chirpy presenter-type was interviewing one of the old giffer stallholders opposite).

Dunno why it has a body kit, mind. Ford Sc3n3?

Also, these.

Cheapo far-Eastern models of generic US Custom Vans, hey?

Apparently not.

Yes, apparently these Hong Kong built toys are both Bedford CF vans. Hmm.

Of the two, the white one seems to be slightly better quality in terms of its detailing, while the black one is somewhat cruder in its shaping. They're very very similar, but not the same at all.

I can almost believe that the one on the right is a CF1 Facelift/CF2, though the black one is less convincing - the indicators are in completely the wrong place.

The white van looks rather less slab-sided, and the rear lights would suggest the aftermarket units popular on Australasian-market CF1 models - because it doesn't match the standard 'long' UK spec rear light on the original vans, and definitely not the much wider units fitted to the CF2.

Interesting all the same!

Lastly, some more terrible, cheapo tat.

The police car appears to be a really crude effort based on the Majorette Chevrolet Caprice:

Look at the gap between the body and the base!

That said, the overall proportions aren't too bad.

 

But make no mistake, this would have been a cheap toy indeed.

The third 'Custom Van' of the day is equally crude in its proportions and detailing - maybe based on some kind of Ford?

There's not a lot of love for models of this type, so I kinda couldn't help myself... I had a fair few low-grade toys like this, and they didn't often get played with because they just looked a bit crap. But they're kinda interesting all the same...

[DoctorRetro]

I have a different Volvo 740, some Chinese No-name. 

Will get a pic when I get a minute later. 

[Datsuncog]

6 hours ago, Jon said:

Here's my Playart 244 I picked up a few months ago (and documented on here previously), bought mostly for its novelty factor in saloon format and also its great condition:

 

I certainly didn't pick it up for its favourable scale of wheels though, as the donk rims plonked on really let the show down. The shovelled nose is also quite LOl-some. That said, the rear end treatment is a lot more accurate and I reckon this model would look stonking with some early Matchbox Superfast skinny wheels on it, instead.

Ah, of course - apologies, you did a great job of capturing its mix of really good and hilariously bad bits. The casting looks bob-on, it's just the bit involving the plastic front end moulding... and the wheels...

I don't believe I've ever owned any Playart models, which is a pity as they do some very unusual castings. The Wikipedia page seems to imply many of them were cribbed from Tomica, Matchbox, Corgi, Dinky and even Majorette models, although not straight copies - sometimes even scaled-down from larger format diecast.

Do they crop up very often in NZ? 

12 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

I have a different Volvo 740, some Chinese No-name. 

Will get a pic when I get a minute later. 

Ah, cool... I think I used to have a plain black 740 which was some cheapo job from a charity shop. There's some interesting stuff out there, for sure!

(just realised last night I've a couple of Corgi Juniors set aside for you - Rover SD1s, Volvo 245, plus a Matchbox Lotus Europa - drop me a line with your address if you still fancy them!)

[Jon]

Ha, shite minds think alike!

 

 

Here's the Summer Bedford CF* I picked up last year, purely on the basis of the incongruity of its identifying base, as it looks nothing like a Bedford CF! Like you, it cost me 50p (or, $1NZD) - I'm just not sure if this was an 'ironic' purchase or not as it's pretty bloody awful (it looks like the black casting you picked up, which is much cruder than the white one - a copy of a copy, maybe?!) but perhaps 50p is the arbitrary amount we collectively feel is safe to be frivolous with? That other cheapy van you picked up is based on the 1975-1991 Ford Econoline - as indeed is that generic looking Majorette van/minibus with plastic rear opening doors, which I never liked as a kid as I thought it was a made up casting. I only found out its true identity very recently and I reckon that the cheapy one you picked up is a much finer rendition.

 

Re: the 244, Playarts don't seem to crop up too often in NZ, though I did miss out on a 343 some months back, as I couldn't justify the $5 start price. I do have these two nifty Opels, though:

 

Looks like they originally had tabs for a tow bar but never had them attached, which is actually a much neater solution.

 

 

I picked up the yellow one first then the green one a few weeks later, from the same seller - well, you've got to collect all the variants, haven't you?

 

 

Apologies for potato cam photos but this was from my early days of mini-shite collecting, waaaay back in May 2018, according to the photo date - it's scary to think how much I've acquired in just 13 months!

[Split_Pin]

I love that Senator, much better proportioned that the Siku example.

I also must get a Corgi Mercedes 190 in standard trim because it's the best I've seen. The proportions are spot on.

[Datsuncog]

10 minutes ago, Jon said:

Here's the Summer Bedford CF* I picked up last year, purely on the basis of the incongruity of its identifying base, as it looks nothing like a Bedford CF! Like you, it cost me 50p (or, $1NZD) - I'm just not sure if this was an 'ironic' purchase or not as it's pretty bloody awful (it looks like the black casting you picked up, which is much cruder than the white one - a copy of a copy, maybe?!) but perhaps 50p is the arbitrary amount we collectively feel is safe to be frivolous with? That other cheapy van you picked up is based on the 1975-1991 Ford Econoline - as indeed is that generic looking Majorette van/minibus with plastic rear opening doors, which I never liked as a kid as I thought it was a made up casting. I only found out its true identity very recently and I reckon that the cheapy one you picked up is a much finer rendition.

Re: the 244, Playarts don't seem to crop up too often in NZ, though I did miss out on a 343 some months back, as I couldn't justify the $5 start price. I do have these two nifty Opels, though

Hah, brilliant! Yes, your yellow one is indeed identical to my black version, other than the yellow one seems to have had the 'Made in Hong Kong' wording erased from the baseplate.

Odd that it's rather more specific about being a CF, while the white one (which does resemble a CF slightly more) opts for the slightly terse 'Bedford' as its only marker.

Cheers for the ID on the black Econoline - and I think I might have found an even worse rendering of it in my archive pics. I thought the very long wheelbase looked slightly familiar.

This one went to 155V6 last year. It's shite, something my brother probably got bought from a pound shop in 1991 to stop him whinging, bagged up with a load of plastic soldiers that wouldn't stand up and planes and tanks in gruesomely incompatible scales. Yet, for all that it's oddly endearing in its incompetence... 

 

Those Senators really are lovely - and fortunately the wheels look a lot better than those fitted to the 244. They missed a trick by not labelling them as Holden Commodores, though... could have been a breakthrough into the Antipodean market. Well bought!

[Datsuncog]

9 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I love that Senator, much better proportioned that the Siku example.

I also must get a Corgi Mercedes 190 in standard trim because it's the best I've seen. The proportions are spot on.

Yeah, Siku seem to suffer the same problem as other manufacturers, in that many of their castings are brilliant while others are just... weird. The Siku Granada estate suffered badly too with its massive wheelarches! But Playart's deffo a manufacturer I need to find out some more about, I reckon.

That Merc's been on my list for a while; Corgi took a lot of care in getting it to sit just so (shame they didn't manage the same with the Metro, but I gather that was down to BL's cloak of secrecy). I spent much of yesterday evening just gazing at it, to MrsDC's amusement/concern... if I see another one, I'll let you know!

[Split_Pin]

Ha ha yes the Metro is awful, complete with comically oversized rear badges! What were they thinking when the Mercedes and Sierra were so fine.

[DoctorRetro]

Here's my Volvo 740 - in actual fact a 760.

Badly painted and has a piece of lego instead of front suspension. Also wearing different wheels. 

[155V6]

On 6/20/2019 at 11:56 AM, Datsuncog said:

Amazing how many different versions of the Mk1 Range Rover are out there!

I also find it interesting how some cars are modelled by pretty much all the main manufacturers, while others just aren't... and it's seemingly little to do with the popularity of the real thing.

Waaaay back upthread I think there was a similar discussion a year or two back, where it was pointed out how many toy versions of the Volvo 740 saloon were made (Matchbox, Corgi, Siku, Majorette, and no doubt others),

… but none as the more popular estate version.

Equally, the longrunning Volvo 245/265 estate was modelled in small-scale by Corgi and Majorette...

and in large-scale by Dinky and Matchbox Superkings…

Yet saloon versions seem to be much less common (I had this pretty crude Volvo 164 by Summer Toys)

From searching, it seems Yatming, Playart and Norev Jet did do saloon versions of the 244/264, though I've never seen any of them in real life.

Interestingly, Playart seem to have been the only toy company to ever model a Volvo 340...

They're a manufacturer I'd like to find out more about.

I appreciate that Polistil etc made larger 1/25 models of the 740 estate; but I'm thinking more of the pocket-money end...

 

You'd think that, say, the Mk2 Cavalier/Opel Ascona C might have made a nice model for Matchbox or Corgi in the early 80s, but surprisingly not (and even the Mk3 Cav/Vectra A didn't survive as a Matchbox 1-75 for all that long).

(I think Schabak and/or Gama may have done a 1/43 Ascona at the time, but they were always a bit pricey to be called toys, and not very common here. )

But toy versions of the Sierra were produced by nearly all the main manufacturers; just not their main rival from GM. While working in the model shop in the mid/late 90s, I seem to recall people often coming in looking for Vauxhall models and there simply weren't any out there... if you wanted a model Nova, a BP promo one from ten years earlier was the best you could hope for.

Ditto the Matra Rancho - everyone seems to have modelled that in multiple sizes (often alongside a Range Rover, too) yet their real-life counterparts were not terribly popular. Corgi had theirs in the line-up for years - well into the mid-90s, by which time nearly all the real ones had turned to dust and blown away in the wind.

Anyway... just more pointless musings here.

 

Maybe one day I'll try to muster these thoughts into something coherent!

There is a certain irony that I've only been able to think about the subject of diecasts more clearly after getting rid of nearly all of my collection...

There's a Maisto/MC Toy 740 saloon which looks narrower than it should too.

[155V6]

I also had a 245 which looked like a copy of the Majorette model,but was bigger,around 1/50 scale,Zodiac Midnight Toys?

[Jon]

I saw a terrible Volvo 740 Chinese  model in an 'antiques' shop today, along with 2 Playarts, all of which I nearly  bought purely because of recent chat on here. I can't remember what both Playarts were but one of them was a knock-off, sligthly smaller scale Mercury Commuter Wagon, as so (it doesn't look as good in real life):

But it was $2 and not NZD but USD, as my shite witterings are currently coming from Colorado! Looking at prices on Ebay whilst looking at images, perhaps I should head back, as they seemingly command minor coin for what they are. Anyway, I did pick up a few other items instead, so will update in good time. That said, I do have some backlogged scene piccies of recent NZ buys to update, too but maybe when I'm not on holiday.

I also had that 1:32 Corgi Merc 190, mint in box and bought 'new' circa 1993/4 from Monkbar model shop in York, which back then was a mine of obsolete castings they hid in small nooks and crannies. I also had the bodykitted blue Mobil issued version and agree that the casting was much poorer for the mods, though it was emulating the 2.3 16v Cosworth version, so I can see the reasoning behind it. I did like the old school 4 spoke wheel inserts they put on the Mobil one though, as I'm sure they hadn't been issued on a Corgi model for years before that.

Funnily enough though, I didn't mind the Superkings version of the 2.3 16v, which again I bought from the same model shop in the same period. I remember going in, choosing it but not having enough money to afford it by a few pence, so had to wait until the following weekend when more pocket money was issued. I remember the wait, as I was nervous that it wouldn't be there when I returned, not thinking that it had already been sitting on the shelf for years!

In retrospect, I think the most appealing element was the box art! I also liked the Superkings 7 Series BMW I had, too.

 

[Split_Pin]

I have a marked lack of late Superkings in my Collection. The only ones I have are the Royal Navy DAF 3300 tractor unit, Jaguar XJ6 and white Sierra Cosworth which I bought again to remind me of my excitement in 1989 of having a model with the current 'F' registration mark and '1989' on the base.

I'd like the 190, Rolls Silver Spirit, Range Rover, Transit Ambulance and the really late Mazda RX7.

[Spottedlaurel]

Some great content in the last couple of pages.

Interesting to see the Cadbury's Majorette set. I have the Roses and Bournville trucks and thought it seemed like odd branding for a French manufacturer.

Sometime in the '70s I got the Weetabix Racing Car as seen on this page: http://cerealoffers.com/Weetabix_Ltd/Weetabix/1975/Cars_of_Yesteryear_-_Formula_1/cars_of_yesteryear_-_formula_1_car.html

[DoctorRetro]

We were in Herne Bay today and there were some little market stalls on the seafront. Found a one with model cars, and of course had to raid the 50p tray, as well as a few other larger scale ones for my son. 

Plenty of these around. 

One of these, worth something if ebay is to be believed. 

No name Mini. 

No idea, but looked interesting. Matchbox. 

1/38 scale Escort. 

007 shite? 

1931 Peerless. No idea why, and is massive, but was only £2.50.

[sierraman]

One of the Superkings I had as a kid that sticks in my mind was the ERF Fire Tender. Can remember being ill and having an overnight stay of hospital and for being brave my Dad taking me to Toys R Us and picking that. Memories eh!