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Despite my best efforts, I can't resist job lots where there are fuzzy pictures of interesting or unidentified cars. Another box landed this afternoon with several oddballs and at least one little gem;

Superior SS-901 Micholotti Laser

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Definitely in the oddball camp is this 1:45 scale Lancia Stratos - not ID'd the maker yet

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and 1:48 Scale Porsche 935

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Yet another oddity, pull back 1:45 Merc has done one too many burnout and is down to its rims

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Unusual to see an opening bonnet on this type of casting

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All the above have (different) logos on the base that I don't recognise

This has a make (Ideal Toy Corp, 1982) but I assume it would have had some sort of firing mechanism?

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An unfamiliar casting from a familiar name - Polistil Porsche 917-10

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think this is a Welly but the base isn't giving much away. It has the square hole in the back like a Key Car

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This I can ID as a High Speed - I think the third version of this casting I've found - this is a pull back but I have a standard one and the one that wheelies

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I believe this is a Mira going by the logo - no name though unusually

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This is a Tintoys Masarati Bora

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Back in slightly more familiar territory, I was pleased to find this in the box...

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...as it goes on this trailer I recently acquired...

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...which is towed by this as part of a set!

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Funny enough though, my main target was actually this

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Chocolate hobnob present and correct

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5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I might be slightly loopy too, bought a job lot just for a car I already have, because they're hard to find

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I used to buy all of those Anglias that I could find when they were current & resell them🙄,weren't there about 135 tampo variations?

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55 minutes ago, 155V6 said:

I used to buy all of those Anglias that I could find when they were current & resell them🙄,weren't there about 135 tampo variations?

As far as I know there are only four versions, this one, which two different wheel styles, a blue Harry Potter version which was the first release, and a red one from a 2011 5 pack. I've only ever found the grey one.

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1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

As far as I know there are only four versions, this one, which two different wheel styles, a blue Harry Potter version which was the first release, and a red one from a 2011 5 pack. I've only ever found the grey one.

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I meant variations in the tampos on the grey version.This was when I was REALLY into Hot Wheels & used to try & get all the different versions of each car,even if there was just a slight variation.I don't remember ever seeing the red version though 😯

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Latest arrival from the Chinese-Corgi-By-Post crowd.

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Yup, it's the S1 Land Rover 109  Breakdown Truck. This is the one I'd been holding out for since I first saw their list of forthcoming models - since good, complete versions of this one are few and far between, without going down the resto route.

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Proportions and detailing look pretty good, though the limits of Corgi's plain-spun aluminium hubs do knock a few realism points off.

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The single-piece towing rig appears to be made of plain, unfinished mazac, attached via peened-over rivets formed from the main body on either side. They seem to be fragile; it wouldn't take a lot of boisterous playground action to work this one loose.

The rear canopy is tinplate, and formed in such a way to hold itself on to the rear bed through spring-tension. The roof-mounted lamp is a lovely extra, as it actually swivels on a star-clip retainer.

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It's a nice touch.

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All the models that have appeared so far in this remanufactured range had original launch dates from the mid/late 1960s, so it's interesting that this #417 breakdown version represents a much earlier toy, introduced in July 1960. Even then, it's based on the plain S1 LWB Landie (#406) which was introduced in 1957 - hence the tinplate base and plain wheels.

It's also interesting that the S1 Land Rover was already obsolete by the time this one appeared, and it took until 1962 for Corgi to update their range with a S2 109 - which carried a number of similarities to the S1, including the odd sharp-cornered roof which was not fitted to standard factory Land Rover pick-ups.

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The later S2, given code #438 in its most basic form, also gained sprung suspension and cast-in bumpers, which were less likely to get broken in rough play, as well as the outline of a number plate on the front wing.

(Mildly irritatingly, you can see that some of the silver paint seems to have worn off the bumper of the new arrival while in transit.)

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You'll note that the S1 casting has a shorter bonnet but a deeper cab, while retaining more or less the same footprint as its successor.

Also, the S1 has no interior - although the first Corgis were heavily advertised as 'The ones with windows!' to distinguish them from their Dinky counterparts, generally they didn't start getting interiors until mid-1959 - and even then, these were usually just a thin piece of vacuum-formed plastic to give a general impression of seats and a dashboard. 

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The styling differences between S1 and S2 LWBs can be well seen here, with Corgi replicating the later model's 'barrel profile' waistline and more cohesive lines (another of David Bache's designs, as it happens).

In terms of operation, the winch works extremely well:

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It's so simple, with a riveted rod flattened and drilled in the middle to accept a string 'rope', and then with a hub and tyre assembly acting as a stopper and as a knob to activate the mechanism. There's just enough friction from the inboard nylon bush to maintain the tension, and stop the hook dropping to the ground under load.

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Unsurprisingly, the same basic idea was scaled up and reused for the Majors series Ford H Type wrecker:

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Verdict: NICE.

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But...

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This is causing me some confusion.

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See, there seems to be some conflict here.

First off, Blue DTC Brands are, surely, incorrect in stating that this is a Series 2 Land Rover. I'm no expert, but this to me is a S1.

Secondly, going by the Great Book of Corgi, the #417 Breakdown Truck was indeed introduced in July 1960, but it's given as being withdrawn in 1965, not 1963.

However, the Corgi Book also goes on to note that during 1962, a number of Land Rover models were upgraded to add working suspension, and so used the same catalogue numbers as before, only with an 'S' after it, to denote the new suspension. Hence the Land Rover Recovery Truck being redesignated as the #417S until its withdrawal in 1965, along with the RAC Rescue Land Rover (#416S) and the RAF Land Rover (#351S).

Van Cleemput maintains that these were the same castings - he states that #417S was "the original 417 with suspension added" but looking at the photos, these are plainly completely different castings, now depicting the then-current Series 2 Land Rover.

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Annoyingly, the '417S' version of #417 isn't shown in the book, but it seems reasonable to assume that all Land Rovers became S2s around that time. Certainly, all Land Rovers shown in the Gift Sets from 1962 on are the new versions, yet there's no mention that I can find in the book of this casting being an all-new representation of the Land Rover.

Maybe Ol' Marcel was off on holidays, and no-one told him?

#477, as referenced on the little collector card, was indeed a reworking of the #417, but again, Marcel has it down as being introduced at some point in 1965 with little fanfare, presumably brought online as the #417S was sold through. The Great Book states that it was the same as its predecessor but now with a plastic (rather than tinplate) plastic half-hood and revised decals.

The photo in the book of #477 clearly shows a S2 version, wearing a revised plastic canopy at the back.

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Apparently this version of the Recovery Truck continued until its withdrawal in 1968 - but #477 definitely wasn't introduced in 1968, as the collector's card claims.

BUT, just to muddy the waters further, the 1965 Corgi catalogue illustration for the new #477 depicts a Series 1 Land Rover wearing the plastic hood!

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This is why diecast collecting does my head in.

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However, the basic #438 Land Rover S2 (like my green ex @Amishtat one in the pics above, seen wearing late-60s cast hubs) continued on well into the Whizzwheels era, lasting until 1976 as an individual model, and finally bowing out in 1977 when the No.19 Gift Set, with the Tipsy Nipper aircraft and trailer, was withdrawn -  making it one of the last of the older small-scale 1/43 toys to be made by Mettoy, and managing to sell over 10 million examples of all iterations over 15 years.

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Fair play.

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19 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Glad you (sort of) understand it, being as I'm no Land Rover expert i got thoroughly lost about halfway through!

Heh, I wouldn't go that far...

A bit of sleuthing around the Corgi Model Club page reveals someone posting pics of their originals - and it appears that the #417S Land Rover Breakdown Truck did indeed use the revised S2 casting - but the box illustration remained the same.

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So I imagine, when it came to re-doing the catalogue illustration for #477, the illustrator just modified the existing artwork for the #417S box, with the new plastic rear canopy overlaid.

A Land Rover is a Land Rover is a Land Rover, eh? Wossa difference?

Grown men (like me) 55 years later:

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Anyway when am I getting the African Safari Beetle, that's the one I'm looking forward to

No sign of that yet, either... here's the coming releases scorecard so far:

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Apparently the Mustangs are already being shipped... but if that's the approximate running order, then it looks unlikely that the Beetle will be appearing before the middle of next year.

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On 14/09/2021 at 20:36, flat4alfa said:

No, it's proof I've been in and out, and in and out, of way too many charity shops recently and gone a bit around the twist.

The first episode of PP aired on this day 40 years ago. I will be able to hear that graunching gearbox and whine and door shutting sound forever!

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Uncharacteristically for me, I'm going to steer well clear of the Land Rover chat and talk about Ford Anglias instead. Oxford Diecast did indeed follow the pack and made an Invacar blue Harry Potter style Anglia but also (to their eternal credit) made a version of the car I will always associate with this model. It really should have Weller wheels too but is pretty cool for a 1/76 model.

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The indicators are inaccurate on that.  A pre-1964 Anglia should have white; for a couple of years they went to orange with the addition of a white sidelight, then the sidelight was moved up into the headlight and the last year or two of production just had the orange indicator.  Pedantic?  Yes; my 1967 Anglia had the last configuration and I took notice.

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