Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

god I'm a sad fucker

This book you're writing, when is it out?

Will @Datsuncog be writing the preface for you?

It'll be great ?

[Dick Longbridge]

On 7/25/2020 at 11:46 PM, TheDoctor said:

Sorted the missing rear lights on the Ertl Celica by printing some off from a photo onto self adhesive photo paper. Worked out OK... 

Finally dug mine out as promised. As with the majority of my collection, I've owned this since the 80s. Mine's a Polistil version - don't know if yours has the same markings? 

Your back lights look spot on!

 

[sheffcortinacentre]

Always wanted that matchbox ramp how much? Got a pic of the SUT coach? Remember those being around in the late ,70's when I was a kid.

[Dick Longbridge]

While I was digging through my boxes of cars for the Celica above, I found a few other unusual models. I've got two of these tinplate models. They were at my gran's place when I was a kid and I always used to play with them. When she passed on, I was given them. They're British made, around 30cm long and were elderly and well used back in the 80s. Does anyone have any ideas of manufacturer or date? I'd love to know a bit more about them.

[Dick Longbridge]

I bought this Mk1 Golf when I was at uni in the late 90s. It was as is and dirt cheap. The lights still work and I guess it would have been some sort of remote control setup with some sort of jockey wheel. There's a speaker in the roof as well. It's got pretty decent detail for a plastic model - the BBS bodykit and alloys are pretty faithful to the originals. No ideas on manufacturer. Again, any ideas appreciated. 

[flat4alfa]

Looks great.  It is a Mk1 Golf

Roof mic grille makes it sonic-controlled 

There is similarity to the decals on this Nikko in 1:12

[Dick Longbridge]

This one's a bit of a laugh. I was given it as a present by my first ever 'girlfriend' when I was in infant school. Looking back on it, I should have worked a bit harder with the relationship as she clearly was a woman with taste. It's a Hong Kong special and is a proper quirky thing. Check out the nose - room for a few straight eights under there! Looks like the plastic is aging a fair bit now, but it's safe enough and tucked away from the light normally. 

[Dick Longbridge]

3 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Looks great.  It is a Mk1 Golf

Doh! Edited. I've owned a number of mk1s and mk2s so should know by now. I'll blame it on the ale.

[Dick Longbridge]

This one's mint and boxed and quite an unusal one. God knows what's going on with the windows - looks like some sort of white chalky reaction? No sign of it elsewhere and the paint is factory fresh. Weird. 

[Datsuncog]

9 minutes ago, Dick Van Diesel said:

Doh! Edited. I've owned a number of mk1s and mk2s so should know by now. I'll blame it on the ale.

In fairness, the front end looks like a Jetta rather than a Golf... I do love these oddities, though.

[flat4alfa]

Found it

Unbranded, but decals on the packaging exact

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

What's going on, on that roof?

That's an excellent question... I haven't a notion.

It's Hot Wheels, of course, but there's no model name on it - just 'Disney Pixar', so I'm guessing there's some sort of film tie-in somewhere?

Picked up in case one of you drill-fiddlers is seeking a (slightly spiny) engine for a custom job.

30p, if anyone fancies it!

Can do you the Deora II for the same - I'm amazed the surfboards are still with it; one of them fell off in the bag on the way home. It's in pretty good shape overall.

The Mustang Funny Car is also available - a few small marks to the edges, but also anyone's for 30p.

1 hour ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

Always wanted that matchbox ramp how much? Got a pic of the SUT coach? Remember those being around in the late ,70's when I was a kid.

I think he wanted a fiver for it, and I was very tempted - but I think it had already  gone by the time I'd returned, so I bought the Metro instead.

But to compensate, here's my SUT Plaxton:

As mentioned, the wheels look slightly plasticky but the overall detail is great.

I liked this one as it seemed (at a glance) like the sort of slightly down-at-heel private hire coach that might have rocked up to the school gates to take us on a field trip to Navan Hill Fort or somewhere... compared to to the rest of the EFE range, which seemed to focus on Bedford OBs and Burlington Seagulls - nice models, but not ones that resonated personally with me.

As a 'modern' coach, I'm very fond of this one.

[AndyW201]

Fresh Hot Wheels case in my local Morrisons, nothing really new though, but I found a couple I've been searching for,

Had a few different coloured versions of this Audi, but I think it looks really nice in black.

This Porker seems to be fairly sought after by HW collectors,

And more 'found in the loft' business, some plastic this time!

Any of the 1/24 kit fans know if this is anything special/sought after?

According to the box and instructions, it dates from 1989. As can be seen, it's never been started, it's all good apart from a slightly bent A pillar from storage. A mate gave it to me about 10 years ago after finding it in his loft when he moved into his house. Sadly I never seem to get the time to build kits, though I did a few back in the '90s.

[Datsuncog]

Other Hot Wheels for cheaps include:

'83 Chevy Silverado and '64 Lincoln Continental; both with some marks, but hey - when filling a bag with tat, it didn't take much to persuade me to lump them in.

30p each!

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, Dick Van Diesel said:

Wells Brimtoy Gyro Racing Car 

https://www.bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk/lot/marchtoysale2018/40

 

[flat4alfa]

4 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Other Hot Wheels for cheaps include:

'83 Chevy Silverado and '64 Lincoln Continental; both with some marks, but hey - when filling a bag with tat, it didn't take much to persuade me to lump them in.

30p each!

I said I wasnt going to buy the small ones any more but in this case 60p is well spent.

Sold 

[sheffcortinacentre]

That brings back memories,think they mainly did coastal runs etc don't think they did local authority work, until privatisation the local council run bus company did that.

[flat4alfa]

14 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

The Mustang Funny Car is also available - a few small marks to the edges, but also anyone's for 30p.

Will take all three, unless there is an issue

Make that £1.50 spent then 

[Mr Laurence]

19 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

 

And more 'found in the loft' business, some plastic this time!

Any of the 1/24 kit fans know if this is anything special/sought after?

According to the box and instructions, it dates from 1989. As can be seen, it's never been started, it's all good apart from a slightly bent A pillar from storage. A mate gave it to me about 10 years ago after finding it in his loft when he moved into his house. Sadly I never seem to get the time to build kits, though I did a few back in the '90s.

Like pretty much all out of production Tamiya kits, yes these are quite sought after. Unstarted boxed kits like this seem to go for £50+ on eBay

[Datsuncog]

6 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

I said I wasnt going to buy the small ones any more but in this case 60p is well spent.

Sold 

 

3 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Will take all three, unless there is an issue

Make that £1.50 spent then 

That's no bother - will stick those five aside for you, and post up the other finds tomorrow!

[AndyW201]

44 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

 

I liked this one as it seemed (at a glance) like the sort of slightly down-at-heel private hire coach that might have rocked up to the school gates to take us on a field trip to Navan Hill Fort or somewhere... compared to to the rest of the EFE range, which seemed to focus on Bedford OBs and Burlington Seagulls - nice models, but not ones that resonated personally with me.

As a 'modern' coach, I'm very fond of this one.

I'd love to see a version of this old survivor in model form,

As much part of Middlesbrough history as the Transporter bridge! A Teesside coach all its life, first owned by Rennison's of Stockton, then bought and run by Kings Coaches from 1973 until it's retirement in 2008! It got that  paint job in 1973 when Kings bought it and never ever had any sort of external body restoration whatsoever, other than a few giffer style touch ins. The signwriting on the rear still had the old 5 digit phone number (Middlesbrough went to 6 digits in the late '70s...). In the last few years of its life, it performed shuttle bus duties under contract to a local bingo hall, I was working the taxis at the time and when I used to rank up outside there, I always used to love seeing RXG still working, along with its stablemate, BAJ 707T, a Bedford/Duple Dominant. Sadly, it did seem like both were going into preservation after retirement but it appears both have now been scrapped.

[flat4alfa]

15 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

along with its stablemate, BAJ 707T, a Bedford/Duple Dominant

Are you sure Bedford?

It looks like the cat has been offended

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, AndyW201 said:

I'd love to see a version of this old survivor in model form,

RXG 810H was in Auf Weidersehen, Pet

But I assume you already knew that, looking at your avatar of Oz's Zephyr!

[bunglebus]

Who knows RC cars? I remember acquiring a silver MK1 Golf off a mate when we were kids with massive wheel arches, it's one of a few that mysteriously disappeared. Googling finds a silver one but the arches are too small

But I'm sure mine had much bigger arches like this Tamiya

I don't think that one's right either as it didn't have pegs though the body. Would have been 80s at the latest

[egg]

12 hours ago, bunglebus said:

To my amazement, I have just learnt that Budgie VWs are available again, made from the original moulds. Purchase likely!

 

https://www.budgiemodels.com/

I'm also amazed! Most re-issues leave me a bit cold, but seeing as they are still made in the UK - with even some original tooling (this is the riveting machine) I'm a bit tempted too.

[AndyW201]

15 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Are you sure Bedford?

It looks like the cat has been offended

Gaah! My excuse - it was late and it had been a long day. Kind of missed the big F O R D lettering on the front...

15 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

RXG 810H was in Auf Weidersehen, Pet

But I assume you already knew that, looking at your avatar of Oz's Zephyr!

Of course, bloody forgot that as well! It had a Leopard as a co-star!

(Edit, it's another Ford, not a Leopard. Thanks to quicksilver for the info)

As can be seen, Kings were the shiters choice of coach travel in Middlesbrough. That's without mentioning their fleet of beige/brown velour 1980s VanHools and Setras...

[Datsuncog]

Just realised there's two more Hot Wheels from yesterday's haul:

I'd grabbed this Mack R-series in the vague hope it might be another really old Corgi casting showing up as a HW reboot - but no, other than the general size, there's nothing shared with the 70s Whizzwheels version, I'm afraid.

Behind the lairy wheels and blown motor, there's quite a decent model of the sleeper cab- equipped RS700 though.

The base says it's from 2016, so pretty modern.

50p?

And then, there's this:

Billing itself as a 'Dragtor', this seems a spiritual successor to the Matchbox Superfast Mod Tractor - though I'm reasonably certain it's missing some sort of body cowling, probably made of plastic.

As it stands, I guess we're looking at a potential engine donor (hey, it's mostly all engine) - would anyone care to start the bidding at 10p?

[Dick Longbridge]

10 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Found it

Unbranded, but decals on the packaging exact

Looks every bit as oddball as I expected! I wonder if the silver 911 is the same manufacturer?

9 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Wells Brimtoy Gyro Racing Car 

https://www.bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk/lot/marchtoysale2018/40

 

Excellent find. I've just been reading up on them to try and date it, but can't find anything specific. I'm going to hazard a guess at 1950s? Great to know what they actually are after all this time.

[Datsuncog]

And moving on to Matchbox territory...

Some more pretty modern stuff - a US fire tender, some sort of 'food truck', and an off-road rally truck that's been repurposed as...

AUTHENTIC LIVERY YO

The food truck, although an interesting subject, is almost entirely made of plastic, bar a small diecast strip on the base to hold the wheels in place. Now, I'm not dissing plastic toys but it just feels not-very- Matchbox.

The fire truck's not bad though, bar some loss of silver plating to the plastic bumpers and side panel.

I'd swiped these more in case anyone could use the wheels on another project, but they're not bad in their own right.

30p each!

[Datsuncog]

More Matchbox high-jinks with these off-roading nutters:

(L-R)  'Vantom'; 'Sonora Shredder', and 'Cliff Hanger'.

While the middle one seems to be based on a Chevrolet pickup, the others appear decidedly fantasy.

Apart from some wear to decals and a bit of minor axle flex, these aren't bad.

If I'm honest, I swiped these principally because I could have had a bit of fun with these back in April, when I had several one-ton builders' bags of sand and grit, and rather more time on my hands...

Maybe I'm a bit late.

But they're not bad models, all the same - since I've only really been interested in Matchbox's prototypical older cars, items that were more obviously toys like these never even got a glance on the pegs at the time.

I will sell them for 30p each, but I will do so slightly reluctantly while thinking about big bags of sand.

 

These rather fearsome items are perhaps, if I were to put my Guardian-reader hat on, indicative of the reach of the military-industrial complex and attempts to normaliise heavy-handed policing of the kind we're currently witnessing in Trump's America through the medium of children's toys...

...but then Corgi were making Riot Police trucks with water cannons back in 1976, so I guess that particular ship has long ago sailed.

(As an aside, I recall a 'peak Guardian' article a few years back decrying Lego for 'selling out' by making constructor sets featuring logos of real-life oil companies like Shell and BP, and complaining that rampant capitalism was ruining the childhood of today's children. I, and many others, pointed out below the line that Lego had been putting out Shell-branded products since the 1950s, and Dinky Toys were producing a range of branded  and lorries - including Castrol - as far back as the 1930s... plus ça change...)

Still, these are a bit scary nonetheless. The Riot Truck in the middle is an immensely heavy all-diecast thing; all the more surprising considering the lightweight nature of the Food Truck above.

The vehicle on the far right is all-plastic, and appears to be a Burger King toy made by Matchbox - so it's non-mainline, and considerably more flimsy.

Again, while these are up for rehoming at 30p each, they do make me feel that I've somehow missed out on Matchbox over the past few decades... I dunno what I'd do with these, but I sorta feel they're the flipside to the lovely Citroen DS and Volvo P1800S  that appeared in the mid-2000s.

Lastly for Matchbox (or rather, modern Matchbox), there's these:

Plastic-a-go-go, the grey GMC Airport Shuttle uses the same construction method as the Food Truck of an all-plastic body paired with a diecast base strip, while the (Chevrolet badged?) Prisoner Transport truck is plastic up top with a diecase grille and base.

The GMC is actually very detailed, although the finish is somewhat compromised by 'marbling' in the silver-flecked body moulding, creating darker swirls on the roof and rear panel.

The Chevy is a bit less finely done, while also being absolutely minging with toybox gunk.

I might keep the GMC for now, but the Chevy Prisoner Transport is up for 30p to whoever fancies it.