Shite in Miniature II

[Amishtat]

Found that Darda 205 whilst looking for something else, it's clearly suffered from some marker pen attention and hasn't got a working motor any more. From Everybody's Hobbies in Ipswich about 1988,this was a great shop but we didn't go to Ipswich much when I was a child. Now I look at it properly, the front valance was clearly less sturdy than my grandparents kitchen. 

[Spottedlaurel]

1 hour ago, Amishtat said:

From Everybody's Hobbies in Ipswich about 1988,this was a great shop...................

I used to love going in there, especially after I moved into Ipswich in 1989 - still have some kits in my stash that came from there (and others from Galaxy Models, also now gone). I think the Scalextric 300 set that I got for a present in 1980 was also bought there.

[AndyW201]

Apologies for dragging up an already well-discussed subject, but today I dug this out, in it's incredibly fragile and battered, and typically yellowed packaging,

Bit of an oddball this version. 

IIRC this casting first saw the light of day as the 'Spender' Sierra, released as a tie-in to the Jimmy Nail BBC cop show of the time.

However it wasn't a great effort. Sapphire Cossies always came with colour coded bumpers and bonnet. Plus the small fact that the real G325 WVW in the series was Ebony black in colour, not silver...

Nevertheless, it seemed to sell pretty well and can still be picked up today at reasonable money. 

That also did a police version, and a couple of rally versions too,

It seems though that the normal road going Cosworth is virtually unheard of. I've found one picture of it on Google and can't ever remember seeing one on eBay, whereas the other versions seem to come up quite regularly.

So, I got her out of the box for what must be the first time in over 25 years.

Ah, the old ludicrously simple Corgi way of securing a car to the base. Much more pleasant than having to undo 793 screws and piss about with small plinths securing the car to the big plinth like with Corgi Vanguard models these days.

What I can't figure out with this car (and Corgi generally, around this time) is what it is meant to be. Is it meant to be a toy, or a collector's item? The packaging seems to be identical to RUK's earlier 2.3 Ghia Sierra, with the badge/sign thing. Haven't got a clue what that's for either, whether it's meant to make the car look like it's in a showroom, I don't know,

However the bumf on the back of the box seems to allude to some sort of collectability! This Sapphire also seems to be the only pretty recent casting in this collection (I'm guessing it's why it's called the Ford Cosworth on the packaging, to differentiate it from the earlier Ghia hatch version, referred to as Ford Sierra on this box) the rest going back to the mid '80s and beyond.

It's still a mystery as to why it was cast in the old 1/36 scale though, as Corgi seemed to be getting more into producing vehicles in 1/43 by then for its collectable and TV related stuff.

However, for something originating in the early '90s and with a toy like feel, it's not a bad model. The front is recognisable as a Cosworth, woeful bonnet gaps notwithstanding.

Not a bad representation of the engine and ancillaries. The cast-in strut towers are a nice touch.

Inside we have a fairly good representation of a set of leather Recaros and the Sierra dash. RHD too,

I did have to 'improve' it a bit. As can be seen, the door frames are a tad on the thick side, some black around the window frames would have helped things a bit. However I blacked out the small triangular trims on the bottom corner of the rear side windows, the C pillar trims either side of the rear screen, the edge of the rear spoiler and the door handles, which helped the looks I think. I also added a bit of silver sharpie to the inner spokes of the wheels. Compare the trims and the wheels with the other versions above, and I think it looks better.

A bit of an oddball, and a bit 'toy-like' compared to the 1/43s in my collection, but it's been nice having this one out again.

[AndyW201]

And another one, currently on display,

I do like the Corgi Vanguards Sapphire casting too. Sadly the Cosworths seem to attract too much miniature scene-tax for my liking, so this is the only Saph in the collection so far, although I have been tempted by the cancelled-order black GLSi's currently all over eBay.

So, this one (obviously) is part of the Vanguards Boy Racer collection. Pretty well rendered, and a contrast to the mostly 1970s flavoured cars in the rest of the series. I remember from my Max Power days, loads of modified and tuned up Fords having Tiger Stripe graphics. These are done well, and I like the big TurboSystems windscreen graphic.

As usual, small details like the badging are done nicely, including the tiny 4X4 ones on the front wings, the lattice wheels are good, though some blackwash in between the spokes would make them better, and the stance is nice and low, like a proper 'Cosseh'.

Again, the Cosworth Recaros are done very nicely, with a 'ruched' leather effect.

(Excuse the chipped spoiler, this one's been in the wars a bit!)

[flat4alfa]

Ok, I give in, I'm feeling so left out I will just have to photograph the only Sierra I have!

Built up from spare parts gathered together as it came to me as a bare shell, now up and running complete with lights front and rear. 

[flat4alfa]

Got this from @eddyramrod.  Hot Wheels Dodge Aries Wagon

Wanted to do a sort of wagon homage to this kitch heap from Planes Trains & Automobiles

Gave it a fiddle and now looks like this.  Not completely happy and needs more detailing, but oh well, at least it kept me off the streets

I just don't have the eyes to do these small ones anymore

[flat4alfa]

Got this from job lot internet purchase.  Matchbox Mercury Commuter

Wanted to do a homage to the kitch heap I smoked along to Festival Unexceptional last year

 Gave it a fiddle and come up with this.  

Not completely happy, or quite finished it, but the doggies seem happy enough

[Split_Pin]

I've never seen the Corgi Sapphire presented in that collectors box before.

That series was a bit of a strange one for the reasons you mention. They also did a 2cv in green and white but that appears to have been deleted. I had the Peugeot 205 and I got the Mercedes from a car boot sale, sadly without its box. Apart from the Sapphire it seemed to be a way of wringing some more mileage out of some models which were pretty long in the tooth by the late 1980s. The Rolls Royce, Jaguar XJS and the 2cv were all 1970s castings and the Sierra MK1 was nearly 10 years old by then. It's a pity they didn't offer the Rover 800, Mini, Escort MK3 or even the Metro with this packaging as that would have been something I'd really have liked to own.

[Jon]

I bought a load of those reissued Corgi 1/36s back in the early/mid 90's, as they were usually available from the giant new Tesco, just up the road. £2.95 rings a bell, which makes that worth about £6 in today's money, according to online inflation calculators.

That's not bad for the Rolls Royce version, as it's a hefty old bugger!

I'm guessing the tacky badges with useless clips were merely there to add a bit of perceived value to the whole affair, since it must've only cost pennies to chuck it in.

Looking back at the models available on the box, I only had the JB Aston Martin DB5 and the Cosworth police car in this outfit. I did however have a couple of 205 T16s and an R5 Turbo II in racing liveries, which came in square boxes, as such:

Again, note the tacky lapel badges. Seems I mustn't have liked Minis at the time, as I owned all of the above bar the Minis! I did have an Italian Job 3 pack set though, to redress the balance. My feeling is that all of the above were seen primarily as toys but I reckon that the types who collected Yesteryears and Days Gone may well have been tempted like magpies to the shiny badges of one or two of the older castings.

 

Incidentally, this seller has a few Sierras available, should anyone feel the dire urge:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx?searchString=sierra&type=Search&searchType=Member_341779&user_region=100&user_district=0&generalSearch_keypresses=6&generalSearch_suggested=0&generalSearch_suggestedCategory=

Hardly bargainous but I'd never seen this one before:

Surely that's a 1990's tampo design it's been adorned with? I love the decidedly half-arsed application, at the front. Bonus points for caramac interior and Ghia trims, rather than the generic items that many later versions were sold with.

 

Oh and sorry for more dribbling on but the seller also has this, which I think a serial Escort MkIII collector on here had yet to find?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/toys-models/die-casts/corgi/listing-2651223423.htm?rsqid=02fff6f98ca04cccacea28ac727b111a-003

Been listed loads of times with no bids, so the £10 or so opener would defo buy it.

[Jon]

Anyway, in a bid to ignore all the boring things I need to get done today for just a wee while longer, you may as well see what I picked up last week, when bored and killing time:

 

To me, this looked like a relatively faithful re-issue of the excellent Superfast VW 1600, a version which I had with the skinny Superfast wheels and purple paint job and which I liked very, very much. Chances are it's still sitting about at my parent's house.

 

Opening doors, like the original. This seems to be a thing with these 50th anniversary editions, except of course for the ones they sell that don't have doors...

 

Up front, the casting is quite nice but it's been modified from the original, which had the headlamps cast into the base, with funny little tabs to attach them. I think I preferred the original but then I would say that.

 

Now, sincere apologies for the terrible pics but the over-the-top packaging doesn't make documenting such things an easy task. Happy to say that, without a direct reference to hand, this rear end looks quite faithful.

 

Now like I say, I was bored and killing time plus also taking advantage at being able to hit the shops again, mostly unhindered with restrictions, so this was the outcome. According to what these go for on Ebay, it seems that again, I picked it up at a 'good price' of £4.50ish.

Once again though, I bought this mostly with others on here in mind. I'm sure someone would like to add this to their collection and in return, I'd be happy to inherit something older and more 1/43 in size (but I don't expect a minter, by any means), as I'd much rather strike a trade than a sale - after all, I've already spent the cash! 

Of course, this notion plays mostly on the premise that I'd be able to swap in person, or at worst be able to post in the UK, to keep costs down. I've potentially a trip earmarked for next year (I was due to be visiting right now..) but who knows if that'll be either sanctioned, or affordable! Ah well!

[bunglebus]

That's really nice - I'd like to compare it to an original (by which I mean I want one), I know when I saw a preview of it there was no detail inside the doors, unlike the original.

Found a video though

 

 

[BL Bloke]

That does look nice. I've got both the red regular wheels and purple Superfast versions in my childhood diecast box. I'll have to dig them out and take a couple of pics. 

[bunglebus]

The one I want to find is the rare big wheelarch/skinny superfast wheel variation.

There are also two different regular wheels, er, wheels.

I have to sit on my hands when I see them on eBay with all their spotlights and uncracked pillars as I've had about a dozen go through my hands in search of the best. 

[sierraman]

I had the exceedingly rare silver one, not even listed as a variation.

[bunglebus]

Pics please - the light pink ones can go very silver with too much sunlight, they put the same paint on the 57 Chevy. Not suggesting yours was!

[sierraman]

6 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Pics please - the light pink ones can go very silver with too much sunlight, they put the same paint on the 57 Chevy. Not suggesting yours was!

Note the word HAD.?

It was in my parents loft when I left home years and years ago, anyway they had to sell the house so when I went back in the loft it wasn’t to be found, because it was battered and missing the doors I think mum had presumed it was worthless old junk and chucked it in the bin. It was definitely a silver one, there were no traces of pink on it.

It had been my cousins before, he used to keep a load of toys at a distant aunts house, whenever we went there I was allowed to pick one from the summerhouse to take home. Despite being missing the doors I used to have a box with all the damaged cars in, at the time I was fixated with scrapyards, in fact at primary school I wanted to be a scrapman when I grew up! 

[bunglebus]

These two are supposed to be the same colour

I'll have to check but I think these are the Fastbacks I kept, regular wheels is the one with separate rubber tyres, there's one with non-removeable tyres too

[sierraman]

Not mine here but a pic from an excellent matchbox website

[Jon]

During peak lockdown, whilst it seemed like every man and his dog was sitting on Trademe bidding things up to silly amounts, I missed out on a few things but did win a couple of auctions, one of which was this motley collection:

 

Paid £4 for this bundle! Why? Well, the Passat is a Schabak, albeit it one missing bits and painted all over in marker pen. Could be a fun project one day, perhaps.

 

There was one more item though...

 

This! A Schabak MkII Golf, in much better nick. Inexplicably, this also had a black marker pen treatment, with a big number 7 drawn on the bonnet and the hatchback window. Managed to get the bonnet one off with a whiteboard marker but the hatch one is a bit more stubborn. The side rubbing strips are also marker penned but aren't too bad, so will likely stay. 

The main bit is that there's no missing bits or bad paint scratches and these are usually more than £4 on their own, so happy days!

[Split_Pin]

5 hours ago, sierraman said:

Not mine here but a pic from an excellent matchbox website

I always assumed that the above was just a faded version of the metallic pink. I got the above coloured example at a swapmeet back in the early 90s when they were just old cars and I bought a slightly darker version from eBay in the last few years.

I've had a few other fastbacks, such as the purple skinny superfast wheeled version, Dinky version and a Minichamps 1/18 example but the above has always been my favourite. It's a relatively detailed casting, especially the badges in the correct font at the back which was a really nice touch.

I found out that the Minichamps one is really rare and worth quite a lot, only after another collector ripped me off in a swap which I thought was a fair deal at the time (nobody on here). There were 2 colours, powder blue and metallic blue, the latter being even rarer and was the one I had. Thankfully I 'only' paid £40 for it back in 2004 when they first came out but it still angers me what happened.

[sierraman]

During the seventies a lot of castings were done in silver as a colour trial as it highlighted any issues with casting quality. Could be one of those. I’m always curious as to how/why some prototypes/preproduction escape from the factory. Maybe one of the guys in the paint shop got bored one day and did their own run! 

[flat4alfa]

[Bren]

My latest purchase -

[Christine]

Shcabak conrad scirocco mk2. Caravelle and transporter

[Christine]

And a  Jetta !  

 

[Sudsprint]

A few Fords (no Sierras though)..

[bunglebus]

6 minutes ago, Sudsprint said:

That MK2 Escort looks a bit odd from the back - what make is it, Solido I guess?

[Burnside]

Sorry everyone, but I've gone and dug out my matching pair of Corgi Sierra's! 

I've had these since about the mid 90's from memory. The local Co-op Superstore had them in a reduced to clear box. So had to buy both! 

An to balance out yet more Sierra's, here some other Corgi vehicles. Most are recent replacements from my childhood. Except for AA Transit and Renault Traffic, which also came from the same Co-op. 

Was thinking of doing another miniature tat clearance. As have more tatty 1:55-1:64 cars here than I'll ever get round to repainting. Will have a sort out over the next few days. Likely be 50p-£1 each. 

[Sudsprint]

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

That MK2 Escort looks a bit odd from the back - what make is it, Solido I guess?

Yes, Solido.

[Split_Pin]

6 hours ago, Burnside said:

Sorry everyone, but I've gone and dug out my matching pair of Corgi Sierra's! 

I've had these since about the mid 90's from memory. The local Co-op Superstore had them in a reduced to clear box. So had to buy both! 

An to balance out yet more Sierra's, here some other Corgi vehicles. Most are recent replacements from my childhood. Except for AA Transit and Renault Traffic, which also came from the same Co-op. 

Was thinking of doing another miniature tat clearance. As have more tatty 1:55-1:64 cars here than I'll ever get round to repainting. Will have a sort out over the next few days. Likely be 50p-£1 each. 

That AA Transit is really nice and I like those Corgi Sierras with those wheels.

I used to like anything fitted with them or the 4 leaf clover type because I think they were new in the mid 1980s. Most of my Corgis up until then had the more usual web-type wheels.