Shite in Miniature II

[Datsuncog]

They're all by Maisto, and the vans were badged as Ford Econovans underneath - don't think they were quite the same as the Mitsubishi L300 light van, but then the castings were fairly basic!

EDIT: think the Econovan was an Australian badge-engineered version of the Mazda E-Series, which looks broadly correct:

The Granada and the Red Cross Econovan came as a two pack from Poundstretcher, which I bought new in the early 1990s, while the Sierra XR4i and Ford Motorsport Econovan were possibly a similar two pack - I picked those up at a car boot sale in Australia in the early 2000s.

'Hungry Jacks' is the Aussie branding for Burger King - both the Sierra and the van came with Hungry Jacks tampo prints on the roof, so maybe they were promotional giveaways with kids' burger meals or something?

The Sierra was definitely 'inspired' by the Matchbox version!

[bunglebus]

I'd have snapped all of those up. Nearly bid on that green 50s thing on eBay, ERTL I think

[155V6]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

I'd have snapped all of those up. Nearly bid on that green 50s thing on eBay, ERTL I think

I think I've still got nearly all of them.There may well be a sale coming up,so let me know if there's anything there you fancy

[bunglebus]

6 minutes ago, 155V6 said:

I think I've still got nearly all of them.There may well be a sale coming up,so let me know if there's anything there you fancy

Most of them but especially the yellow Golf. Sierra and not-a-Hi-Ace are also cool but I'm sure there are others who would be even happier with those. Black Torino and that 50s Chev would also be on my radar

[155V6]

5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Most of them but especially the yellow Golf. Sierra and not-a-Hi-Ace are also cool but I'm sure there are others who would be even happier with those. Black Torino and that 50s Chev would also be on my radar

The Golf can go,the Sierra & van are staying as I really like them.The black Torino is,I think,a Chevy Chevelle,that can go as well as the 51 Chevy.

[sierraman]

This would have been a great addition to the 1/36 Corgi range. 

[155V6]

A few finds from 6 car boots & a load of charity shops 

Siku Pimlico Plumbers VW Transporters

Apparently,there are 13 variations of these,all with different number plates.I only need 1,so the other one will be up for grabs

Matchbox VW Van & Vauxhall Cavalier

Cavalier was in a tray of cars in a charity shop,most of them were quite new &  some were cheap Chinese stuff,but they all had the dreaded paper tags.They had all been reduced from £2.50 to £1.00 though 

Elmo's car is a Matchbox/Tyco which I hadn't seen before.Corgi Rockets are one thing I very rarely leave,even if they're completely wrecked

That was all I found in over a week,except for a Britains motorcycle which has completely disappeared 🙁

[155V6]

9 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I wonder if perhaps the re-tool for the Seville was required because the original 1980 die tooling was worn, damaged or otherwise deemed incompatible with 2000s casting machinery - or maybe there was a need to redesign it to meet modern toy safety standards, say to thicken pillars or reinforce rivets ?

The 1980 copyright notice would indicate that Mattel view it as the same product, even if it's not the same tooling - which should (in theory) dissuade another manufacturer from trying to copy the earlier casting.

I did have a no-name Chinesium Seville in silver with opening doors and featuring slightly incongruous racing stripes, which was otherwise quite similar to the Hot Wheels - wish I could do a side-by-side now!

It may have gone to @155V6about five years ago in a woefully uncatalogued joblot of no-names and odds and ends, now I think of it... you can just about see its rear quarter bustle beneath the Red Cross Mk2 Granada.

Not sure where that lot are yet,but I did find a carded version of that Seville while I was looking for something else

[egg]

23 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I've a theory that a lot of these 'volunteers' who selflessly give up their time to 'help with the pricing' at our local charity shops walk out with anything genuinely valuable, after throwing a desultory 20p into the till - and then punt them straight onto eBay when they get home.

I volunteered in a charidee shop mid-90's and there was a tiny bit of that going on, but of course, pre-ebay so you had to know whether something was valuable. I think I had one old shirt for free as I was going through a bit of a captain70's phase.

[bunglebus]

8 minutes ago, 155V6 said:

Not sure where that lot are yet,but I did find a carded version of that Seville while I was looking for something else

I think that's Yatming

[bunglebus]

50 minutes ago, 155V6 said:

The Golf can go,the Sierra & van are staying as I really like them.The black Torino is,I think,a Chevy Chevelle,that can go as well as the 51 Chevy.

Lovely - yes I agree that's a Chevelle and a Pinto at the back? I like that too

[Noel Tidybeard]

ford airborne camper is naice

[Datsuncog]

28 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Lovely - yes I agree that's a Chevelle and a Pinto at the back? I like that too

If memory serves, the black car is a Chevrolet Chevelle by Welly, and the dark blue car's a Zylmex Chevrolet Monza that had been sloppily overpainted.

43 minutes ago, 155V6 said:

I did find a carded version of that Seville while I was looking for something else

That's the very one (though, obviously, not my old one).

Quite well proportioned, though typically odd decals.

[bunglebus]

Not coming soon to a shop near you

 

[Jon]

I've recently re-found my small tat photography mojo again, so took a bout of shots the other day. Will post some up but first up, here's something a bit smaller scaled than usual:

This Micro Machines was the sole diecast car-shaped rendition I picked up in my 3 day trip from Dunedin back to the central north island. We hit up all the antiques and charity shops we could find, as we were travelling back in a LWB VW Transporter with a semi high roof and a wheelchair lift, so I was hopeful of taking full advantage and snag some cool furniture, etc. Was not to be, sadly.

 

Still, this proved to be a bit of a different challenge to snap, purely on its size alone.

 

As you can see, it's a very crude caricature of a Datsun 240Z but somehow, these little blighters really appealed to me as a kid. I think it was a case that the packaging really sold it, with the subjects arranged on a shiny silver platform at 45 degrees, as if they were in a show room. And the rainbow motif on blue graph paper effect of the card was also really jazzy. I think even then, I couldn't explain what it was that made them oh so American but it very much shone through.

 

I'd never had a 240Z before, so couldn't resist this one for 50p. Was hoping to find some details about it in the Micro Machines book I have but it's not featured, sadly.

 

Quick Google reveals that it featured in the Asian Sports Collection, as shown. Not the most interesting set with (presumably) 2 x Mr-2s and 2 convertibles of some make and model. I'm guessing RX-7, purely because I can't think of another Japanese drop top of that era.

 

Anyway, that's my 240Z. Nice to have some representation of Micro Machines, since they were so formative growing up. A little bittersweet, as I didn't find my sweet jar full of them when I went back to visit my parents, so hopefully they're hidden away somewhere safe.

[sierraman]

2 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Not coming soon to a shop near you

 

Their distribution is an absolute joke, if I ran a business like that I’d be insolvent in no time. 

[eddyramrod]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Not coming soon to a shop near you

 

I need at least two of those, stat.

[Noel Tidybeard]

now we all know this is oraite

but this is a nicerer colour

double trouble

[flat4alfa]

15 hours ago, 155V6 said:

Not sure where that lot are yet,but I did find a carded version of that Seville while I was looking for something else

If I can see a cast swage line halfway down the door on that Yatmong, then it isn't a copy.  The picked-out window frames also are not on either Hot Wheel HW.   Cor.  Like.  Selling the CogSale™ duplicate in your sale?

[bunglebus]

14 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

the dark blue car's a Zylmex Chevrolet Monza that had been sloppily overpainted

Ah yeah Monza was my other guess but I couldn't see the big lights

[flat4alfa]

On 6/27/2023 at 10:25 AM, Datsuncog said:

I wonder if perhaps the re-tool for the Seville was required because the original 1980 die tooling was worn, damaged or otherwise deemed incompatible with 2000s casting machinery - or maybe there was a need to redesign it to meet modern toy safety standards, say to thicken pillars or reinforce rivets ?

The 1980 copyright notice would indicate that Mattel view it as the same product, even if it's not the same tooling - which should (in theory) dissuade another manufacturer from trying to copy the earlier casting.

What they've put on the base is '©1980, 2011' so that fits

What is noticable is how much sharper the original 1980 die is.  Saying that, this one here is a first-release 1980 Hong Kong example

[bunglebus]

2 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Honk Kong

Lol

Who wants a £40 Maisto XJ220?

[Datsuncog]

26 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Who wants a £40 Maisto XJ220?

Absolutely nobody, that's who.

 

Though at least it doesn't have its door mirrors broken off (yet).

[danthecapriman]

Something else I had no idea existed.

Hot Wheels Ford Granada mk2.

Found it by chance really. Casting looks nice, although the paint finish looks a bit on the cheap and quick side! It doesn’t look the same as the Bi-Turbo I sold. Looks a bit more high quality and it’s got proper metal axles too. Not sure about the wheels though. 
Nice unusual model though.

[bunglebus]

WTF. That's one of the Mebetoys era jobbies. Big want face for that one

[bunglebus]

Here's a casting I really wanted ever since it was launched a few years ago, Hot Wheels Rockster,  an off-road VW T1 crew cab! It's only ever been a premium release and made of unobtainium over here - so when they released this one I was on it literally the second it went live on the website

[sierraman]

After complaining bitterly about charity shops not selling anything apart from dead pensioners clothes, I picked this Revell BMW 850i up for a quid. It’s all there but a bit chipped so I think I’ll give it a respray? 

[Datsuncog]

5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Ah yeah Monza was my other guess but I couldn't see the big lights

Heh, that's cos they've been Humbrol'd over!

It was the first Zylmex I'd ever owned, picked up at a jumble sale when I was nine or ten... I'd never even heard of the manufacturer before, so it was very exotic and a source of great intrigue to me.

I tried to scrape the paint off the glazing, (it looked like it had been dipped rather than painted), but once I did so I twigged the screen was cracked anyway. Meh.

It wasn't much use for playing with on my Matchbox Motor City playsets, but its scruffiness made it a valued player front and centre in the sprawling toy scrapyards I would periodically assemble - and which I now realise wasn't all that unusual.

Or, not that unusual for the denizens of this thread, anyway.

[sutty2006]

On 6/26/2023 at 6:10 PM, TheOtherStu said:

So following on from this fred, on Friday I was mega busy. The tat Friday fortunately didn't really deliver.

Except it did. All bloody weekend it was in my head. It'll no doubt be gone by Friday, because this happens to me but I've decided I have far too much love for this. I explained it to the wife and she said yes too!

I’ve just found one in my loft, amongst other stuff

 

 

 

Talacre beech being a place I would always spend summer holidays or half term in the 90s with Nan and grandad in their static caravan. 

[sutty2006]

More chod I’ve found in the loft during clearout season. 
 

 

nice rowntrees boxed up

 

sentinel newspaper, still going and still local. 

 

these could have been bought with petrol, or cereal. Can’t remember. The copper looking beetle is a pencil sharpener! 

 

awesome AA van.

 

one of my favourites, RAFA.