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It’s Market Tat Friday for me.

This little care package of stuff @Datsuncoghas kindly accumulated and stored for me, arrived today.

2E24055B-4B8A-4D86-B60D-36792E2626C1.thumb.jpeg.762b51659473aca85a402813aaae1b35.jpeg

The bigger SL is perfect and unmarked, it’ll make the others on the Corgi shelf jealous. The SD1 has a back window and the proportions look a bit better than the Dinky one I’ve got.

But the 240Z is the best, because I’d forgotten all about it.

I might dig out my R17 and dodgy Chines R15 to do a “ Who did it worst with that Renner.

All in all well chuffed, roll on Belfast Market coming back.

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REVELL LOWRIDERS

What do we know?  They were around 1:64 and I assume at premium pricing.

IMG_3367.thumb.JPG.752d7ee6d2db82cc0de47ef8941dec07.JPG

Bought this 1964 Impala over ten years ago, no idea when or where.  It's in great condition because its been in a box much of the time.

IMG_3369.thumb.JPG.364dc25ed7f1159876b2ef5307662158.JPG

Does this

IMG_3370.thumb.JPG.a2ff3f6b4e744d2a6d7f1e07bd676280.JPG

And this 

IMG_3371.thumb.JPG.713256b1694be86ed7c2294b25e39427.JPG

No identity on base though.  Who really made them?

IMG_3373.thumb.JPG.11518d4e497088b567d823ec2c5b52e1.JPG

Do have a thing about the '64 Impalas, not least Cheech's car in Up In Smoke

Quote

(Cheech Marin) "Hey how am I driving, man?"
(Tommy Chong) ": I think we're parked."

 

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4 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

20200131_124543.thumb.jpg.d8c4a189be9e9bf9ad847a0e0198ee4f.jpg

It's Tat Friday here too. Just got back from town with lunch to find the post lady had brought me a box of delights from Belfast. Firstly the Dinky DeSoto in just the condition I like them. Obviously having been unpacking yesterday it wasn't long before my indifferently restored example showed up with its povo spec blackwalls. 

IMG_20210312_142057.jpg

IMG_20210312_142443.jpg

IMG_20210312_142029.jpg

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1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

REVELL LOWRIDERS

What do we know?  They were around 1:64 and I assume at premium pricing.

IMG_3367.thumb.JPG.752d7ee6d2db82cc0de47ef8941dec07.JPG

Bought this 1964 Impala over ten years ago, no idea when or where.  It's in great condition because its been in a box much of the time.

IMG_3369.thumb.JPG.364dc25ed7f1159876b2ef5307662158.JPG

Does this

IMG_3370.thumb.JPG.a2ff3f6b4e744d2a6d7f1e07bd676280.JPG

And this 

IMG_3371.thumb.JPG.713256b1694be86ed7c2294b25e39427.JPG

No identity on base though.  Who really made them?

IMG_3373.thumb.JPG.11518d4e497088b567d823ec2c5b52e1.JPG

Do have a thing about the '64 Impalas, not least Cheech's car in Up In Smoke

 

What a stunning model. Want.

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The other item in the package is something I've had the major horn for ever since DC received it himself from the late lamented Junkman, though I didn't expect to end up with the actual same example. Must dig out my Zodiac for a comparison , that would make for an interesting exercise in wasting the afternoon. Many thanks Tim, you've brightened up a rainy Dumfries Friday. 

IMG_20210312_141950.jpg

IMG_20210312_143241.jpg

IMG_20210312_143420.jpg

 

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19 hours ago, Amishtat said:

More unpacking.. 

IMG_20210311_171823.jpg

Mmm, what's the backstory on this one? Someone producing Code 3 repaints to order?

Looks well done - something you commissioned, or just a lucky find?

 

Corgi's take on the Plaxton Paramount 3500 is a really nicely done toy - good weight to it, and the opening door and luggage compartments are very nicely engineered. I'm really pleased with the example that showed up last month from @jon.k.

397409799_IMG_20210303_1442142.thumb.jpg.34a63eab028f975a69751a10b113b93c.jpg

1679396436_IMG_20210303_1442232.thumb.jpg.decba9b9bd5354c50543811d762fdab7.jpg

64431895_IMG_20210303_1443512.thumb.jpg.b5da83292f41b016423e470bc26cc6d8.jpg

279299242_IMG_20210303_1444042.thumb.jpg.887097bfa34a37fc153fee54c1a20442.jpg

The crimped-on axles are really free-running - this thing's better than a spirit level when it comes to detecting slight variations from the horizontal, and I've had a number of, shall we say, Italian Job moments when I've just managed to stop it rolling off a table and taking a lump out of the wooden floor...

1886240353_IMG_20210303_1442562.thumb.jpg.54758a3b3a2cf9230a8192c4bf941254.jpg

The manufacturing process seems to have involved tampo-printing to each side, and then stickers and mask-sprayed paint on the rear panel.

1326934685_IMG_20210303_1444192.thumb.jpg.1da035802dff2bb871dca3ecd7f516e9.jpg

No rivets either - it appears that the two-piece body is held together by a pair of lugs beneath the back window, and the grille then pushes through as a retaining peg at the front to keep both halves together.

733049193_IMG_20210303_1442412.thumb.jpg.96536ff0668b059842ddb0f70b2665f7.jpg

Detail is rudimentary in places, but as a modern coach of its time, it still has a lot of appeal.

The casting started off in the 1985 Corgi catalogue as the C769 National Express Coach, wearing National Express Rapide colours, although the glazing appears clear in the booklet pic but is blue on Jon's example - not sure if it's a change from the prototype, or if it only later acquired a tint. The wheels also changed between the dished two-piece wheels on the prototype to the flat, one-piece wheels on the production version.

939630704_IMG_20210312_1601492.thumb.jpg.a1420948767c4541ebb7be74ac2301f6.jpg

It also appeared the same year as the more generic 'Holiday Tours' Coach, as C770.

725676132_IMG_20210312_1602242.thumb.jpg.13e4c6effbbdad6ec71382687555efc1.jpg

I'm not much up on buses, to be fair, but I know the Plaxton persisted in the range for a long, long time, wearing a range of different operator liveries - and this stepped up once Corgi management bought out the Collectables side  from Mattel, Corgi's one-time owner between 1989 and 1995.

 

Mattel kept the tooling for the Juniors-size cars (and marketed some of the castings under the Hot Wheels brand for quite some years), but had no use for the larger 1/36 and similar castings since they had no US market sector, so these reverted to Corgi Classics. But, the problem was that under the terms of the buyout deal, the new Corgi Classics Ltd was barred from competing with Mattel by selling toy vehicles - they could only market adult collectables.

Not to be outdone, a number of former Corgi Toys were suddenly promoted to the 'Collectables' line - with the Plaxton, Routemaster and Metrobus castings all repackaged with more detailed liveries added to the basic castings. Equally, some older Corgi castings from the 1970s and 80s found themselves repackaged along with a fairly cheap-looking plastic replica manufacturer badge, to apparently satisfy the 'adult collectables' requirement - the Jaguar XJS, Ford Sierra, Rolls Royce Corniche, Ferrari 308GTB and Peugeot 205 Mi16, to name but a few. This was in addition to the expanding 1/43 Classics line, and the 1/76 Original Omnibus Company buses.

For the new Corgi company, it was a win-win: they could sell better-finished models at a higher price point than just 'pocket money' toys, and they were able to reuse old tooling which had paid for itself decades ago  - which, along with a shift in production to the Far East, allowed bigger profit margins.

Unfortunately I divested myself of all my 1990s Corgi catalogues a few years back as I thought I was done with diecast, which was a bit of a mistake... but I can definitely remember the Plaxton wearing the beige Wallace Arnold livery, amongst others, together with rather better wheels.

1889578437_IMG_20210303_1444342.thumb.jpg.2757a1f36dc28216f0f705e45a90d4ad.jpg

A nice one to have!

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2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

IMG_3367.thumb.JPG.752d7ee6d2db82cc0de47ef8941dec07.JPG

Do have a thing about the '64 Impalas

That's rather nice - I have a model of a 64 Impala with opening doors that looks very similar - I've had it so long I don't think I even took pictures of it. I know it's in the loft so if I unearth it I'll take some for comparision

I did have the Corgi Plaxtons coach, quite an impressive beast bar the frankly terrible wheels and under-spec axles. Not being into buses and coaches it went on to pastures new

20200901_160107

Today's arrival is this Corgi DeTomaso Mangusta (why are the names reversed on the base?)

20210312_16261520210312_162640

Now while it is a very nice thing, it's not a patch on the earlier release. Unfortunately mine arrived like this

20200903_154235

And is currently stripped for resto, needs new glass after brake fluid ruined the original. It will be magnificent once it's done though

20210312_16180120210312_161909

 

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1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Mmm, what's the backstory on this one? Someone producing Code 3 repaints to order?

Looks well done - is there a backstory here as something you commissioned, or just a lucky find?

 

Corgi's take on the Plaxton Paramount 3500 is a really nicely done toy - good weight to it, and the opening door and luggage compartments are very nicely engineered. I'm really pleased with the example that showed up last month from @jon.k.

397409799_IMG_20210303_1442142.thumb.jpg.34a63eab028f975a69751a10b113b93c.jpg

1679396436_IMG_20210303_1442232.thumb.jpg.decba9b9bd5354c50543811d762fdab7.jpg

64431895_IMG_20210303_1443512.thumb.jpg.b5da83292f41b016423e470bc26cc6d8.jpg

279299242_IMG_20210303_1444042.thumb.jpg.887097bfa34a37fc153fee54c1a20442.jpg

The crimped-on axles are really free-running - this thing's better than a spirit level when it comes to detecting slight variations from the horizontal, and I've had a number of, shall we say, Italian Job moments when I've just managed to stop it rolling off a table and taking a lump out of the wooden floor...

1886240353_IMG_20210303_1442562.thumb.jpg.54758a3b3a2cf9230a8192c4bf941254.jpg

The manufacturing process seems to have involved tampo-printing to each side, and then stickers and mask-sprayed paint on the rear panel.

1326934685_IMG_20210303_1444192.thumb.jpg.1da035802dff2bb871dca3ecd7f516e9.jpg

No rivets either - it appears that the two-piece body is held together by a pair of lugs beneath the back window, and the grille then pushes through as a retaining peg at the front to keep both halves together.

733049193_IMG_20210303_1442412.thumb.jpg.96536ff0668b059842ddb0f70b2665f7.jpg

Detail is rudimentary in places, but as a modern coach of its time, it still has a lot of appeal.

The casting started off in the 1985 Corgi catalogue as the C769 National Express Coach, wearing National Express Rapide colours, although the glazing appears clear in the booklet pic but is blue on Jon's example - not sure if it's a change from the prototype, or if it only later acquired a tint. The wheels also changed between the dished two-piece wheels on the prototype to the flat, one-piece wheels on the production version.

939630704_IMG_20210312_1601492.thumb.jpg.a1420948767c4541ebb7be74ac2301f6.jpg

It also appeared the same year as the more generic 'Holiday Tours' Coach, as C770.

725676132_IMG_20210312_1602242.thumb.jpg.13e4c6effbbdad6ec71382687555efc1.jpg

I'm not much up on buses, to be fair, but I know the Plaxton persisted in the range for a long, long time, wearing a range of different operator liveries - and this stepped up once Corgi management bought out the Collectables side  from Mattel, Corgi's one-time owner between 1989 and 1995.

 

Mattel kept the tooling for the Juniors-size cars (and marketed some of the castings under the Hot Wheels brand for quite some years), but had no use for the larger 1/36 and similar castings since they had no US market sector, so these reverted to Corgi Classics. But, the problem was that under the terms of the buyout deal, the new Corgi Classics Ltd was barred from competing with Mattel by selling toy vehicles - they could only market adult collectables.

Not to be outdone, a number of former Corgi Toys were suddenly promoted to the 'Collectables' line - with the Plaxton, Routemaster and Metrobus castings all repackaged with more detailed liveries added to the basic castings. Equally, some older Corgi castings from the 1970s and 80s found themselves repackaged along with a fairly cheap-looking plastic replica manufacturer badge, to apparently satisfy the 'adult collectables' requirement - the Jaguar XJS, Ford Sierra, Rolls Royce Corniche, Ferrari 308GTB and Peugeot 205 Mi16, to name but a few. This was in addition to the expanding 1/43 Classics line, and the 1/76 Original Omnibus Company buses.

For the new Corgi company, it was a win-win: they could sell better-finished models at a higher price point than just 'pocket money' toys, and they were able to reuse old tooling which had paid for itself decades ago  - which, along with a shift in production to the Far East, allowed bigger profit margins.

Unfortunately I divested myself of all my 1990s Corgi catalogues a few years back as I thought I was done with diecast, which was a bit of a mistake... but I can definitely remember the Plaxton wearing the beige Wallace Arnold livery, amongst others, together with rather better wheels.

1889578437_IMG_20210303_1444342.thumb.jpg.2757a1f36dc28216f0f705e45a90d4ad.jpg

A nice one to have!

Hey cheers for that, I always wondered why the Paramount toy became a bit posher as time went by.

Midland Bluebird had a sizeable fleet of these up until about 2002 and I travelled regularly on one on the 38 to Edinburgh before I had a car and well before Edinburgh Park station was built.

The one on the left, WSV140 (A184UGB) used to be a regular on the service, I made this one in 2001on the then current First Edinburgh livery,  from a National Express Coach given to me by my friend Michael on the proviso  that I restored it. So I did!

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The one on the right was GSU 339 in an earlier pre-FirstBus livery. I also regularly travelled on this one.20210312_172415.thumb.jpg.96b54ac4157af450a35128d7a5dac85c.jpg

The middle one was bought from the Linlithgow bus station shop in the 1980s and is an even earlier  livery. Note wheel variation:

20210312_172405.thumb.jpg.95acfa59618c9be49f368f3d44063ee3.jpg

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I don't know a lot about this, other than I've had it since about 1986 or so. My Dad has always been a bit of a bus licker and it's possible this was an attempt to inculcate the interest in me. Unsuccessfully, as it turned out but you can't blame the man for trying. Next time I speak to him I'll ask about it, I'm sure he had some other stuff from J. D. B. repaints, whoever he is or was. Hedingham are still going to the best of my knowledge, certainly it's not unusual to see buses thus liveried around North Essex. RoadworkUK will know more I imagine. From its condition it doesn't appear that I played with it very much, possibly it's one of Dad's collection which has ended up with me at some point. Shame about the box, but it's quite a nice little local curio all the same. 

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1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Corgi DeTomaso Mangusta (why are the names reversed on the base?)

Count yourself lucky!

I've one from Hong Kong - that is spelt in French !

IMG_3382.JPG.12561d456bdb926285b503d15395505d.JPG

It measures to approx 1:34 in length, so larger than the Corgi(s).

IMG_3383.JPG.6d19973e72814b849bdc4d3e1ac8cb41.JPG

MANGOUSTE DE TOMASO, it states.

IMG_3385.thumb.JPG.1ed8e42c44a4004cdf14e09c997d24a9.JPG

Bought it for a couple of quid for its body shell.  Bit ratty, but seen these for silly money.  No other spanner has done a slot car of the Mangusta, which was the idea.

 

The word mangusta is Italian for mongoose, the animal that can kill cobras.  Because De Tomaso fell out with Shelby.  But you knew that anyway.

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It's incredible how many toy manufacturers had a crack at the Mangusta - despite being pretty niche, it must have really captured the public imagination on its release to garner such a strong appeal.

The non-Whizzwheels Corgi captures the shape well, and looks good on those wheels. I only had the Dinky version, which had great-looking wheels but looked a little flattened overall.

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