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Shite in Miniature II


Split_Pin

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So Mrs Socket has gone out shopping with my sister. I’ve since polished, hoovered (vacuumed) and put a wash on. I’ve now turned my attention to RC Golf.

I’m going to fit LED lights and the original front headlights are solid. Therefore I bought these *crystals to replace them. The trouble is that I don’t like the design and they’re either slightly too small or large. I’m going to put the slightly smaller in the oven at 100 degrees (Fahrenheit?) to see if they’ll melt a little and thus become wider and flatter?

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12 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

So Mrs Socket has gone out shopping with my sister. I’ve since polished, hoovered (vacuumed) and put a wash on. I’ve now turned my attention to RC Golf.

I’m going to fit LED lights and the original front headlights are solid. Therefore I bought these *crystals to replace them. The trouble is that I don’t like the design and they’re either slightly too small or large. I’m going to put the slightly smaller in the oven at 100 degrees (Fahrenheit?) to see if they’ll melt a little and thus become wider and flatter?

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It appears to have worked!7ED57A73-2DD9-4E47-B121-6BBFBF04A1ED.thumb.jpeg.3bcb46837355f622f2b7771532a425c5.jpeg

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12 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

So Mrs Socket has gone out shopping with my sister. I’ve since polished, hoovered (vacuumed) and put a wash on. I’ve now turned my attention to RC Golf.

I’m going to fit LED lights and the original front headlights are solid. Therefore I bought these *crystals to replace them. The trouble is that I don’t like the design and they’re either slightly too small or large. I’m going to put the slightly smaller in the oven at 100 degrees (Fahrenheit?) to see if they’ll melt a little and thus become wider and flatter?

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Quite useful those. I used some to make some new eyes for an Owl Bird scarer. 

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30 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

The Riviera requires multitasking if you want to play with it and operate both front and rear lights at the same time!

I can confirm this. One of my absolute favourite Corgis for what that's worth. It's such a nice casting, the wheels suit it in my opinion. I'd love a real one. 

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Post day!

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That's right, it's Politoys M number 515, the Iso Rivolta! In the unlikely event anyone pays attention to my posts here, you may remember I picked up the later Pilen version of this casting a while ago, but it's just not the same as the real thing so I couldn't resist this.

As expected for a late 60s Politoy, it's an absolutely lovely little thing. Highly detailed, beautifully finished and a joy to hold and look at. A quick comparison demonstrates just how much nicer it is than the Pilen, although perhaps it doesn't come through in the photos

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The doors do seem reluctant to stay fully closed, but apart from that it's a real winner. It helps that it's in really nice condition, but then I rarely see Politoys that have suffered serious playwear. They must have seemed pretty special when they were new, and were looked after accordingly by their first owners. I'd really like to know how they were priced in comparison to a contemporary Dinky or whatnot.

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That new Rivolta of yours @barrett has just led me to stop drinking my morning coffee and delve through the brunt of my 1/43s, which are currently homeless but carefully stored under my wardrobe:

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Despite them looking like they're liable to be chipped or damaged, I can reassure you all they're safe and sound.

 

Anyway, this is a bit down and dirty as I've taken a few quick pics whilst the missus has gone down the hairdressers. Here's my Joal version, as seen here before:

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Evidently, it's not as nice as your Politoys version (especially the wheels, which are now quite jarring) but it's perhaps a nice, affordable alternative - somewhere between your Politoys and Pilen version. The number plate and lack of tow bar help sweeten up the back end, for instance.

 

But your Politoy's wheels still win hands down, so here's my adorable Solido Ferrari GTC, to make up for it:

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I'm not a Ferrari bloke but this is the one big exception; again, I've waffled on here about it but the one I saw parked up in a side street in York c.2006 was just achingly gorgeous and I'd have one if ever I could afford it. Even some bastardised US one with a small block Chevy in it, I don't care.

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Shit, I'm an idiot, my red Rivolta is a Joal not a Pilen! Your one with metallic paint looks so much nicer though, @Jon. I'm not sure, but I suspect they were being made all through the 80s, maybe even beyond, and I'd guess the red one is quite a late issue in the scheme of things. The other Joal which I would like to see is the Alfa Giulietta SS, which an afforable alternative to the original and is often seen in that nice gold paint. I've come close a few time, but I'm still holding out for an original.

The Ferrari is lovely. That's on my want list. I had the Solido Alfa 2600 in my hands the other day, but put it down again as I already have two of the superior Politoys versions

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These are lovely things, European 1/43 diecasts of the 1960s and 70s really were, in my opinion, a cut above what we got in the UK.

I only have a couple, a Joal Chrysler Alpine and a Pilen Seat 124 Coupe. The latter is especially good with full opening features, jewelled headlights and a nice metallic brown paint finish.

It kind of went to shit in the later 1970s though. I have what was a Mebetoys Volvo 343 boxed and branded as a Hot Wheels. I do really like it but it is terrible, with grey plastic lights, proportions that are far too chunky  and no separate baseplate, with the axles mounted directly to the injection moulded interior. I also have a BMW 635 which is very Bburago like. It Says Hot Wheels in in base but I think it was a Polistil or something.

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15 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

These are lovely things, European 1/43 diecasts of the 1960s and 70s really were, in my opinion, a cut above what we got in the UK.

I only have a couple, a Joal Chrysler Alpine and a Pilen Seat 124 Coupe. The latter is especially good with full opening features, jewelled headlights and a nice metallic brown paint finish.

It kind of went to shit in the later 1970s though. I have what was a Mebetoys Volvo 343 boxed and branded as a Hot Wheels. I do really like it but it is terrible, with grey plastic lights, proportions that are far too chunky  and no separate baseplate, with the axles mounted directly to the injection moulded interior. I also have a BMW 635 which is very Bburago like. It Says Hot Wheels in in base but I think it was a Polistil or something.

In the 1960s, I don't think there was any diecast toy that came anywhere near a Politoys or the best of the Mebetoys range. Honestly, they still stand up today against expensive scale models in terms of proportions and quality. There is a lovely deep lustre to the metallic paint that none of the UK makers could really match which is just the icing on the cake. I really do love them, and that's why it's the only thing I collect - not only are they just really nice objects, but the subject matter is really unusual. I know Corgi did the odd coachbuilt prototype or whatever, but I love the range of one-offs, low-volume production cars or concept cars that the Italians were making, and all modelled so accurately.

You're right, though, they did all go downhill as the '70s went on. When Politoys became Polistil the focus moved towards much more toy-like 1:43s and 1:66s with no opening features, plastic bases, generic wheels etc. They also did a great range of 1:24 cars which I suppose could be sold at a much higher price than a 1:43. They're really nice things, but still quite plasticy and toy-like compared to the 1960s heyday, and they've definitely dated quite badly.

Mebetoys were usually one notch below Politoys - arguably the Corgi to Politoys' Dinky, or vice versa depending on where you allegiances lie. In the early '70s Mebetoys was bought out by Mattel in the US, and whilst the detailed, quality products continued for a while, they soon gave way to much simpler toys with plastic bases etc, like your Volvo 343. These were sold in the US (and possibly elsewhere) as Hot Wheels, so your BMW will be a Mebetoys product too. Again, there is some nice stuff from this era, but it's definitely not a patch on the early stuff.

I suppose, as did Dinky and Corgi in the UK, that all the Italian firms suffered from unprofitablity. The Politoys M Series was of such high quality it almost bankrupted the company - hence why the following models were so much simpler. I suspect this is why there were so many Soviet-built copies, as selling off some obsolete tooling to the Ukrainians or whatever no doubt gave a welcome injection of capital when the Italians were struggling to stay above water. I'd guess the slightly outré choice of subject matter would have limited sales outside Italy, too, which was hardly a wealthy country with lots of disposable income at the time.

The outlier was Mercury, which was always a little bit cruder than the other two, a little more toy-like (although the best Mercurys, like my recently-acquired Flavia coupé, are up there with the best), but seemingly they carried on well into the late 70s, maybe beyond, without a noticable drop in quality and still staunchly modelling Italian cars only. By the time they were building Fiat 128s and 125s, they were actually better, more accurate models than what Polistil and Mebetoys were churning out.

I'd recommend anyone who likes old diecast to try and pick up at least one '60s Politoys if you don't have one, they're such lovely things and they genuinely bring me a lot of joy. And I don't even collect toy cars!

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11 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I have what was a Mebetoys Volvo 343 boxed and branded as a Hot Wheels. I do really like it but it is terrible, with grey plastic lights, proportions that are far too chunky  and no separate baseplate, with the axles mounted directly to the injection moulded interior. I also have a BMW 635 which is very Bburago like. It Says Hot Wheels on the base

 

11 hours ago, barrett said:

In the early '70s Mebetoys was bought out by Mattel in the US, and whilst the detailed, quality products continued for a while, they soon gave way to much simpler toys with plastic bases etc, like your Volvo 343. These were sold in the US (and possibly elsewhere) as Hot Wheels, so your BMW will be a Mebetoys product too. Again, there is some nice stuff from this era, but it's definitely not a patch on the early stuff.

Exactly this. I've grabbed several of the later Hot Wheels branded versions, they're OK as toys go but the cheapness is obvious. I only have one pre-Mattel Mebetoys, this Maserati Mistral. Although it's far from mint, the quality is clear to see

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The early Mattel era cars are still really nice, again this Bora is worn but is a nice thing

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The best I've got my hands on is this Lotus Europa though, one of my favourite cars in my collection 

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Not a lot of base detail but the rest of it is great

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Here's one of two BMW 635s from the later era of cars, no opening parts, cheap base and wheels that clip on rather than having metal axles. 

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Diecast-related delivery this morning:

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Ordered late on Tuesday night, arrived on Saturday morning - for less than the price of a wanky latte, too.

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Hey, it's an old publication - but it has some great pics of stuff I never knew existed.

The same seller had another three copies listed for sale for £2.87 each, posted, so...

As a bonus, I love the pic of the authors on the back of the dust jacket; it looks like a snap of them getting busted by their wives doing a spot of illicit diecast trading round the back of the garage.

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There's certainly strong vibes of Bob Fleming and his co-host, from The Fast Show on that photo!

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And incidentally, I had the Police version of that #13 ambulance in the above double page spread photo, on my Trademe watchlist:

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Does it say who made this? Logo's not one I'm familiar with.

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It was a bit broken and a smidge too old/basic for my liking, for me to bid. It went for 8 quid in the end; that's 2.5 super-wanky coconut lattes, where I come from!

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Hopefully I didn't miss out on the bargain of the century...

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Manged to fit in my first visit to the local independent charity shop for a few weeks, was interested to see what new stock they had. Postcards have gone up from 10p to 40p each!

The £1 each, three for £2 shelf was pretty barren, but these were in the cabinet. Any of interest here?

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The Siku Range Rover and odd Corgi Cubs thing found their way home with me. I'll endeavour to go back next weekend if any of the others are 'needed' here.

P.S. Those price tags do come off....

Haven't gone through them all yet, but unpacked more of my boxes the other night:

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Had to cobble together some extra shelving, even then the 'display' is a little cramped. Going to have to edit it a little.

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Depending entirely on the prices, because I couldn't make them out: I would be interested in the green-over-yellow Buick, the brown-over-cream Standard Vanguard and the cream Vauxhall Velox.  What's the yellow convertible beside those?  I can't tell from this angle.

 

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12 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Please grab me that Dinky Big Cat for £4.50 if you can! The chances of it being there in a week are pretty slim though

I'll get there as soon as I can!

12 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Depending entirely on the prices, because I couldn't make them out: I would be interested in the green-over-yellow Buick, the brown-over-cream Standard Vanguard and the cream Vauxhall Velox.  What's the yellow convertible beside those?  I can't tell from this angle.

 

Yellow/green Buick looks to be £6.50, brown/cream Standard £3.50, cream (+ maroon) Vauxhall £8.50. If they're also of interest, the Jaguar Mk1/2 is £7.50 and whatever the brown/cream car is behind the Buick £4.50. Mystery yellow convertible up for £8.50. Enlarged extract:

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Appears to be LHD, have a bonnet emblem and an intact windscreen.

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ordered a Combo from the Bay of E , awaiting parcel from the land of Cheese and Immigrants..  BMW's and Trabants!!!

A.C.B.-Shop
Lillengasse 39
67105 Schifferstadt
Deutschlan

£19inc delivery , where UK sellers wanted close to £40!!!

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1 hour ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I'll get there as soon as I can!

Yellow/green Buick looks to be £6.50, brown/cream Standard £3.50, cream (+ maroon) Vauxhall £8.50. If they're also of interest, the Jaguar Mk1/2 is £7.50 and whatever the brown/cream car is behind the Buick £4.50. Mystery yellow convertible up for £8.50. Enlarged extract:

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Appears to be LHD, have a bonnet emblem and an intact windscreen.

Still don't recognise the convertible from this angle, but never mind... the prices quoted are enough to have me running away, very very fast!  Thanks for the clarification though.

Oh and the brown and cream car is an early 50s Hudson by Dinky.

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19 hours ago, Jon said:

There's certainly strong vibes of Bob Fleming and his co-host, from The Fast Show on that photo!

JCIA=&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

 

And incidentally, I had the Police version of that #13 ambulance in the above double page spread photo, on my Trademe watchlist:

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Does it say who made this? Logo's not one I'm familiar with.

1647255444.jpg

 

It was a bit broken and a smidge too old/basic for my liking, for me to bid. It went for 8 quid in the end; that's 2.5 super-wanky coconut lattes, where I come from!

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Hopefully I didn't miss out on the bargain of the century...

It's a CIJ, probably a bargain at £8, I reckon that's probably £25-35 over here, although there can't be a huge market. The same firm did this amazing Alpine A108 which I'd really like to have one day
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And a lovely Ami 6 which I need to complete my collection of Ami 6 models...

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I found a few of my weirder 1:43s last night, including a Verem Maserati Indy and a JRM Citroën police H van which I dragged out of the bottom of a box of die casts I bought and stuck some Corgi tyres on. 

I also appear to have a 1:50 Dutch Tekno Leyland DAF Concept 95 which I don't remember buying. That will be for sale soon. 
 

My losers' F1 grid is also coming on nicely; I keep acquiring the '94-'95 season no-hopers to eventually stick in a cabinet. 

Although I thinned my collection down, I still have quite a few of the buggers spread between my rented room and the remains of my desk at work, now interred in several boxes down the unit. 

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16 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I'll get there as soon as I can!

Yellow/green Buick looks to be £6.50, brown/cream Standard £3.50, cream (+ maroon) Vauxhall £8.50. If they're also of interest, the Jaguar Mk1/2 is £7.50 and whatever the brown/cream car is behind the Buick £4.50. Mystery yellow convertible up for £8.50. Enlarged extract:

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Appears to be LHD, have a bonnet emblem and an intact windscreen.

If the Buick is still there, yes please. I think the mystery convertible is a Dinky Packard but might be wrong. 

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21 minutes ago, Amishtat said:

If the Buick is still there, yes please. I think the mystery convertible is a Dinky Packard but might be wrong. 

It's the French Dinky Chrysler New Yorker - a rare model, particularly in that colour scheme, and quite valuable. Would be £60+ on ebay in that condition - somebody should snaffle it up immediately!

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