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Shite in Miniature II


Split_Pin

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Swung past Tesco last night and happened* to find myself in the toy aisle.

There are now three diecast dump bins on the shelves - two for Matchbox and one for Hot Wheels. But seemingly well-sifted by other funny-looking middle-aged men collectors.

A quick guddle through them didn't net me the hoped-for '57 Ford Custom 300, though I was sorely tempted by the HW Lamborghini Miura in blue, and the SWB Nissan Patrol.

As I was exiting the aisle, adopting the air of one merely browsing gifts for a fictional niece or nephew, I noticed a Ford Custom abandoned on a low shelf down by the Lego.

Get in.

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The black paintwork means it's an awkward thing to photograph in low light, but it's a really nice model - nicely rendered and with some very subtle detailing, like the Ford lettering on the bonnet.

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One that could be improved with a spot of careful paint wash to tone down the grille's shine, no doubt. Some red paint for rear lights and this could look very nice indeed...

Certainly lifted my mood, anyway!

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Crikey I had the Anglia, Reliant Regal, Rover P4 and the 100E.

I remember being excited about the Anglia as I bought it in April 1996 right when Vanguards were a new brand. I also struggled to find a model of one at the Swapmeets despite Dinky and Lesney producing it.

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10 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

That's one of the ones I had to put back tonight. I couldn't justify adding over a fiver to my shopping bill!

Yep, that was how I felt about the pair of Hot Wheels - I felt I could just about rationalise £1.50's worth of frivolity on the Custom 300, but not another four quid for the Miura and Patrol SWB too. The shopping bill was enough of a shock as it was...

I think the yellow EmGeeBeeGeeTee is the only one from this case mix I've still got half an eye out for - I had two of the red ones from the UK Collection, but hurriedly offloaded those back in January. I'm not so bothered that I'd actively seek one out, though; will just continue to poke at the dump bins whenever I'm passing in case I get lucky.

Agree with you on the metallic blue Capri too - I've still got the yellow and black one unopened from earlier in the year, but the blue one looked so darned good I wasted no time in tearing it open...

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55 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Really good models for the price - they certainly gave Corgi a scare at the time.

 

Corgis stuff at the time was quite poor, their only decent casting was the Mk2 Zephyr, the rest were badly proportioned.

The Lledos are still a cheap way to start a collection, they were not made in limited numbers, so there are lots in circulation. It's a pity that Corgi have changed the range so much and just seem to be making Fords, Fords and more Fords these days. 

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48 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

@Datsuncog

Re; your post a couple of pages back, I'm pretty sure I had your last gold coloured Matchbox Volvo C30! If you happen to see them again, are you willing to pick me up a couple of black ones, if they're not too dear? I only have one so far...

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Heh, I thought that if it had gone anywhere, my gold C30 might have gone your way! I hadn't yet managed to drag out my carry-case to check, but that answers the question.

Sure thing - I might well be in town tomorrow morning, so I'll take a look and see what's left - is it just the black ones you're interested in, or would any C30s be of interest? There was at least one other gold one last week, and I think some red ones too (though you look pretty well stocked with those!)

They're a pound each, so not too bad - although most seem to be opened, they look as-new still.

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2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Heh, I thought that if it had gone anywhere, my gold C30 might have gone your way! I hadn't yet managed to drag out my carry-case to check, but that answers the question.

Sure thing - I might well be in town tomorrow morning, so I'll take a look and see what's left - is it just the black ones you're interested in, or would any C30s be of interest? There was at least one other gold one last week, and I think some red ones too (though you look pretty well stocked with those!)

They're a pound each, so not too bad - although most seem to be opened, they look as-new still.

Thanks. For £1 I would have as many as you could get up to say £10 with black then red then any other colour with gold last in order if you really don't mind. I know it sounds excessive, but I was hoping to get some for C30 club members, one of whom had them as a centre piece on the tables at his wedding and they all got nicked!

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Watcher shite-pickers, I've popped back into my imaginary time machine for the first time in 2022 I think(!) and thought I'd nip over briefly to 1990's outback Oz.

 

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Bagged an HZ ute, to try and fit in somewhat. As you can see, the passing road train made the camera go all blurry. Strike me roan!

 

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Rolled into town for some supplies but the flamin' galahs were fresh out of all of their ranges of plant-based meat alternatives apparently, so I settled for far too many crates of Castlemaine XXXX instead, from Hotel Motel.

 

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Then straight in to some hard yakka to pay my way. I was there to pick up a consignment of sherry but upon loading the first bottle, the rear wheels comedically fell off the ute, rendering some understated dry comments from those in short shorts.

 

The End.

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Definitely not. The Corgi one is more 70s looking than that and it has curtains and a pull out awning.  Also it's diecast, the one pictures is plastic. I think its New Ray and would have come with a Saab 9000.

It's way overpriced and the seller is talking shit about it being a rare set as the Senator never came with a caravan. From memory it was a Jaguar, Mercedes W114 and I think latterly a Sierra.

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The model shop I visited earlier has a website hwmodels.com as well as the usual Insta and Facebook stuff.

Here's what I came away with;

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There were various other variations of both those castings to chose from but I didn't recall laying eyes on either of those ^ before

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Yeah lots of VWs. The bajas were again versions I hadn't seen, nor had I the white Volksrod - I do have the other two but loose. The red one is one of the earliest releases with the opening decklid

*edit the bajas are certainly unusual as they are listed on Wiki as (confusingly) both mystery models, which they clearly aren't, and under Kar Keepers which came packaged in a protective shell. The white Custom Volkswagen Beetle is a K-Mart exclusive, so all quite nice finds

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I thought the SL was an ex-Corgi casting but maybe not. It is an error car though as the windscreen is missing

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Only modern I picked up - gotta love a DMC.

Wish I'd taken more detailed pics as there was so much to see - he even had the set of ex-Corgis that I found the Jeep from recently 

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1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Definitely not. The Corgi one is more 70s looking than that and it has curtains and a pull out awning.  Also it's diecast, the one pictures is plastic. I think its New Ray and would have come with a Saab 9000.

It's way overpriced and the seller is talking shit about it being a rare set as the Senator never came with a caravan. From memory it was a Jaguar, Mercedes W114 and I think latterly a Sierra.

Oh I didn’t realise the one with the awning and pot plants was the only one (we have a couple of those and they are lovely!) Corgi made. I think it usually came with the Mercedes as you and I’ve also seen it in a box with a Sierra and with a Range Rover.

As I said we have the plastic one, didn’t know what it was so now looking up New Ray, thanks.

Edit; @Split_Pin

Now I've seen this, I want one haha!

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15 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

Oh I didn’t realise the one with the awning and pot plants was the only one (we have a couple of those and they are lovely!) Corgi made. I think it usually came with the Mercedes as you and I’ve also seen it in a box with a Sierra and with a Range Rover.

As I said we have the plastic one, didn’t know what it was so now looking up New Ray, thanks.

Edit; @Split_Pin

Now I've seen this, I want one haha!

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I only know as I have the Saab which is quite a nice thing. It looke like an upscale copy of the Corgi 1/43 Turbos version.

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Whistle-stop tour through the market this morning didn't yield very much, though a bit more than last week...

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Minic road roller was unusual, as well as being mint and boxed. Early Vitesse circus van was also clean, but not really my bag.

Dinky Aston cabrio was, of course, an Atlas reissue.

Better pics of the two Corgis:

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Thames caravanette and Dodge Kew wearing a few battlescars, but still quite presentable.

Tomy AFX cars were dusty and a bit broken, in the case of the Ferrari F1, but still kinda cool.

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Solido AEC bus came in ludicrously oversized packaging. Joal Volvo coach is one that's showed up on the stall previously, but not boxed.

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Some Corgi and Vanguards commercials also put in an appearance, plus a well-used Tonka tipper. I was a bit tempted by the unboxed Ergomatic artic, but where to display the big stuff...?

The Matchbox and Hot Wheels were back again:

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Much hoking through the Matchbox did not, unfortunately, yield any more C30s - seems that the Phantom Volvo Pincher has moved their operations to Belfast. Sorry, @FakeConcern!

Seems that people rummaging through the tubs has proved something of a problem - quite a few models have fallen out of the taped-up packaging.

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What did show up were a few 'Fast Lane' models - which appear to be Majorettes repackaged for Toys R US.

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(Also opened, so can't guarantee these are correct!)

There were also more 1/76 buses and coaches:

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Not quite as cheap as the last lot - £10 asking price on these.

The Nemesis was, of course, already at the stall when I pitched up just after 8, and seemed to have picked up quite a nice Corgi Commer police van.

Not that I'm jealous.

Other stalls had very little to tempt - after a strong start, Alan's 50p Table had lapsed into mediocrity.

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Not much to get the juices flowing there.

He also had a few buses, but again at £10 asking price.

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I doubt I'll be able to get back over to the market today, unfortunately, but if there's anything you can't live without then let me know...

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I couldn't help myself.

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Hard to believe the 'spaceship' Civic dates from the 2009 catalogue year.

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Detail is really rather excellent - badging and lights very finely rendered.

Again, I missed this the first time round - although I picked up the odd Matchbox around this time, it was mostly the toy versions of older classic models like the Citroen DS, VW Kombi and Mini Van.

I'm not even a huge fan of this generation of Civic, but there's something about this that I liked. There was a choice of red or white - thought the white showed off the detailing more.

I'm a sucker for the early '90s packaging, it turns out.

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I think I might already have an identical Isuzu Amigo/ Vauxhall Frontera Sport, but I couldn't leave it.

The box indicates it came from a now-defunct Northern Ireland retail chain, Wellworths.

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I bought a lot of my Matchbox from Wellworths, back in the day - 99p in 1992 shows us just how little these had increased in price over 30 years.

Similarly, it was the packaging rather than the model which spurred this purchase...

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Unfortunately this Merc turned out to be rather chipped, as well as jammed into the wrong box - it's an MB-39 Mercedes-Benz 600 SEL, not an MB-33 500 SL.

Meh.

But it turns out those eight-dot wheels do give me a bit of a nostalgia rush.

Plus, this is stickered up for Leisureworld - another now-gone Belfast institution.

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An absolutely huge city-centre toyshop, "going up to Leisureworld" was a yearly highlight, probably around this time of year, in order to gather ideas for the all-important Letter To Santa... It really did feel magical. So many displays, so many corners containing hidden delights, spread over three floors.

Ah now. All now gone, the Queen St site levelled and being used as a car park. Only fragments like these remain, imperfect though they may be...

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Those Civics are worth a fair bit. I had to pay £25 for a boxed red one frpm ebay as there was very little alternative to finding something close to the red Mk8 I had earlier this year. It is a fab model though.

I too love the MB 8 dot wheels. I think they were introduced in about 1984? I recall them being fitted to a lot of exciting new castings at the time. The W140 is just excellent, it typifies  Matchbox at the time, just before the Tyco era.

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43 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Those Civics are worth a fair bit. I had to pay £25 for a boxed red one frpm ebay as there was very little alternative to finding something close to the red Mk8 I had earlier this year. It is a fab model though.

I too love the MB 8 dot wheels. I think they were introduced in about 1984? I recall them being fitted to a lot of exciting new castings at the time. The W140 is just excellent, it typifies  Matchbox at the time, just before the Tyco era.

I have the S-class, both the silver and the brown motorfair one. Really nice weighty casting. 

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17 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

. From memory it was a Jaguar, Mercedes W114 and I think latterly a Sierra.

 

15 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

 Corgi made. I think it usually came with the Mercedes as you and I’ve also seen it in a box with a Sierra and with a Range Rover.

Corgi also did a caravan with the Peugeot 505 (GS1) and two versions with Escort Vans, C13 RAC and C14 AA. There are also various cars in the Corgi Classic range like Merc 190E.

The Jaguar XJ12 with caravan was a Matchbox Superkings, K69.

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On 31/10/2022 at 17:44, bunglebus said:

Anyone ever seen the extra chassis/wheels under the Sand Digger before? Was on eBay but I got out bid

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Well I missed out on this one, but another turned up! Still no idea about the extra wheels, there are no markings on it other than Goodyear tyres

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