Shite in Miniature II

[bunglebus]

Yes Mebetoys, there was a bit of discussion about these recently after I overlooked one at the boot sale.

The later ones all have the peg mounted wheels, not the greatest quality really

The earlier stuff is much, much better

This is my favourite

But I'd really love to get my hands on some of the large scale versions of classic Hot Wheels they made - big money for good ones these days 

[FakeConcern]

I have this one, I'm leaving it to @flat4alfa in my will...

It also says Hotwheels on the base

 

[danthecapriman]

Is this Granada of mine related?

The thought did occur to me recently regarding this model, could it be related to the old Dinky model that never made it into production?

[bunglebus]

Absolutely Mebetoys, nice find. Wheels weren't used very often

[junkyarddog]

I'd have to wheel swap that Granada!

[danthecapriman]

18 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

I'd have to wheel swap that Granada!

They really don’t suit it all do they! 
I can’t though, it’s in really nice condition.

[andrew e]

5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Why am I really tempted to post a load of random tat to Cumbria? 😄

You will be a murder accomplice 🤣

[Dick Longbridge]

On 20/12/2023 at 21:21, Dick Longbridge said:

These are now up for roffle here:

@flat4alfa I've added yours 👍

Two tickets remaining. Roll up!

[Split_Pin]

That Granada is another one to add to me 'diecast you didn't know existed until very recently'.

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

That Granada is another one to add to me 'diecast you didn't know existed until very recently'.

I had no idea either. It was purely by chance I found out about it while looking for something else.

God knows what the story is with these weird 1:43’s?

[sheffcortinacentre]

This summer I bought 3 fiat Cinquecento's of Dan, well the project is finished & will be presented to mates daughter-in-law on Christmas day.

I've forgotten to take pics of the SN95 Mustang so will try get some though this is just a simple repaint.

[Reluctant Adult]

Great to see Majorette will be doing a stock Volvo 240 Estate in ‘24. Fellow Nerds will note the “Lambda Sond” (catalyst) logo on the grille, signifying it as being a late model 😀

[flat4alfa]

14 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Is this Granada of mine related?

The thought did occur to me recently regarding this model, could it be related to the old Dinky model that never made it into production?

Studying the two, no there are too many differences

The Dinky tie-in was with Solido, not Mebetoys/Mattel

[bunglebus]

 

23 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

The Dinky tie-in was with Solido, not Mebetoys/Mattel

Is there a different one then? Thought we were discussing the one at prototype stage when Dinky went bust at the end of the 70s?

Gets confusing because the name has been passed around so much, Kidco Dinky, Matchbox Dinky, French Dinky, Atlas Dinky - who owns it this week?

[FakeConcern]

19 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

It is with a heavy heart that I must* now post this... disclaimer?  Warning?  Ultimatum?

I have a wife, as many of you know, and a marriage operates under Marital Law, a variant of Martial Law in which whatever She says, goes.  In view of today's events, I am instructed to type the following:

Please do not send me any more toys. *  (The asterisk is mine.)

Right, now I've got that out of the way, here's today's event!

What could this possibly be, that the postman was trying to deliver as we arrived home from taking the dog to the park?

Why it's a CogBox (TM), carefully curated over some weeks by Our Friend In The North.  So what have we got?

Above, the new arrivals in their boxes, and below: out.

Lancashire doesn't really have Dark Desert Highways but Southport Coastal Road would do, it's pretty desolate!

So I thought I'd give the Triumph some good exercise with the larger-engined Vauxhall!

There has also been action in the paintshop, some of it quite long-term.  Behind my display of cars I've owned (or my parents have) there sits a sub-collection of "Others," cars and trucks that I drove at work; cars that friends or other members of my family had; cars I went to buy but didn't; rental cars I've driven; cars that my parents had before I was born.  So into this category falls a fleet of Mercedes owned by my friend Steve and his mother Phillippa, two of which are reproduced here from a new Matchbox and a used Corgi Junior...

And a further Junior represents a car owned by my Cypriot friend Costas, which he said he used through his college years.

A somewhat mangled Matchbox has become Ray Doyle's iconic RS...

And while we're in the Screen collection, let's have Robert deNiro drive us through the streets and tunnels of Paris, shall we?

I already had the 406 thanks to one of you kind gents, and the BMW is a more recent arrival.  Which was white when it got here.

More kindness resulted in a home-made Rover 800 Fastback arriving here...

And further kindness brought me two Matchbox Rovers to make my own, the facelift version I had when my brain tried to escape.

Finally, one of you sold me a rather broken Vanguards Boy Racers Cortina mk2.  I made it a new back bumper (from a large staple!), turned it from a 2dr to a 4dr, found it some wheels (original to the Bond Sherpa van IIRC) and here it is now, representing HWM 457F, the 1500 Super that was the last car my dad bought new, in September 1967 just as the 1600 X-flow was coming to the showrooms.

 

So finally, let me reiterate...

Please do not* send me any more cars!

But Merry Christmas to those who did  

Some great work Ed, I love seeing pics of what you've done.

7 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

This summer I bought 3 fiat Cinquecento's of Dan, well the project is finished & will be presented to mates daughter-in-law on Christmas day.

I've forgotten to take pics of the SN95 Mustang so will try get some though this is just a simple repaint.

That Fiat with trailer is great and looks interesting, what's the back story to this? Yes please to pics of even just a simple repaint.

Thanks to everyone who has posted pics of their projects and re paints here I find it very inspiring and just another thing that keep me coming back to this thread (you can check out any time you like etc).

[danthecapriman]

11 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

 (you can check out any time you like etc).

…but you can never leave… (guitar!)

Seconded what @FakeConcern said. Great thread, and loads of inspiring projects going on as well as great old & new models to look at.

[flat4alfa]

Mattel bought Mebetoys in late-1960s (the Mebetoys creators went off to create BBurago). 

Production remained in Italy as Mattel Mebetoys, later rebranded as Mattel Hot Wheels.  The 1:43 range finished during the 1980s

One of these is this Hot Wheels Matra Murena.  Bought sometime ago off this thread I think

 

It now looks like this.  Finish was a bit clumsy.  But Mebetoys's drop in casting quality and the plastic lower-half wasn't great to start with

 

Red with a tan interior for this three-seater, resembling one I was actually chasing in real life a few years back, but didn't buy in the end

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Is there a different one then? Thought we were discussing the one at prototype stage when Dinky went bust at the end of the 70s?

Sorry yes I meant comparing to the Dinky prototype Granada.  It has too many differences compared to the Mattel model, also there was no link between Mattel and Dinky anyway, so unlikely to be related

What I meant is there was a Dinky use of Solido production (in France) in the final few months.  Such as these reproduced Solidos:

 

We can see also the Dinky Granada prototypes on same page, both diecast and resin examples

[Datsuncog]

Thought I'd struck lucky in Tesco the other night, as a fresh Matchbox case had appeared...

But, despite the lower layer appearing undisturbed, it had already been pretty well rifled through.

No Volvo 240s in there, anyway.

I think I need to sort through my recent acquisitions, as it's starting to reach that point where I'm not quite sure what I've got and what I haven't...

[flat4alfa]

The Italian Mattel production didn’t stop at 1:43

Example being this Hot Wheels 1971 Ferrari 312-PB in 1:28 scale.  Also stated Made in Italy on base.

 

Sold it on a while back, during a Can-Am and Formula car purge

Liked this particular one as the 1972 season was a great year for Ferrari, the 312 PB had been very reliable and very fast. It came powered by Ferrari’s (then new) flat-12 Formula 1 engine.  Even in de-tuned long-distance specification, it gave 440bhp and reliable to 12,500rpm which was way beyond the reach of any competitor engine including the Cosworth DFV.  Each titanium conrod cost £1000, which is around £15k today.  And there were a dozen in each engine.  

The most notable achievement that year was Jacky Ickx recording what will stand for all time as the fastest ever lap of the old Spa-Francorchamps - over 163mph in a 3-litre car - 52 years ago.  And, yes, that does include F1 cars.

[flat4alfa]

6 hours ago, Reluctant Adult said:

 

Interesting throw-back to the 1976 Majorette branding blue and pink polka dots

For the 60th Anniversary there is this gift set

[flat4alfa]

The anniversary 'by decade' range:

• 1960-1970: Citroën HY (1968)
• 1970-1980: Mercedes-Benz 450SEL (1975)
• 1980-1990: Volvo 240 GL (1985)
• 1990-2000: Chevrolet Corvette 1990 ZR-1 (1990)
• 2000-2010: Toyota FJ Cruiser (2000)
• 2010-2020: Alfa Romeo Giulia (2015)

I thought the Mercedes would be a resurrection of the tooling, but no it’s a new casting, which might mean they all are, apart from the current Giulia I guess

60th anniversary 'premiums'

And these special BRM in homage to the first release for 1964 

The first two models were the BRM and the Porsche F1, distributed as 'Majorette' range under Rail-Route branding

[flat4alfa]

Majorette 2024 Citroën HY van on mainline

 

Wait… it took them 60 years to do the iconic Citroen van ?!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The only Majorette I recall as a kid was a Cafe Hag VW Van , can’t remember where it came from but was always in the box of my Dad’s old Dinkys at my Grandma’s house , consequently never got played with as it was the wrong scale.

[sheffcortinacentre]

2 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

Some great work Ed, I love seeing pics of what you've done.

That Fiat with trailer is great and looks interesting, what's the back story to this? Yes please to pics of even just a simple repaint.

Thanks to everyone who has posted pics of their projects and re paints here I find it very inspiring and just another thing that keep me coming back to this thread (you can check out any time you like etc).

Amber is my  mates daughter in-law in her early 20's  & like Jamie her fella a petrol head she passed her test last year & was determined even before that she was having a fiat Cinquecento .

She got a low owner one with 50k on the clock , we have loads of toys so she wanted one too, so I decided as there all very good friends ( like family to me) Jamie's been on about getting one for spares & making a trailer out of it like my MK3 one.

So I made the model of that too, using the pieces from the 2 that where cut up to make it to form a diorama of a car show stand with parts stash for sale.

I converted it to RHD too, the trailer has a floor & matching blue interior too.

If I could've found one in time it would have had Jamie's part restored MK1 fiesta  ( Inc primer patches etc ) too as now one does a MK2 escort est.

I've not done any for probably well over 10 years due to life in general.

Next will be a 3 sided (making the fourth)  caravan roughly ho scale again acquired on here to be displayed  with one of my cortinas  ( I like to break things up with a  caravan/trailer). Glad people like it.

[bunglebus]

New Majorette Renault 5 looks good too - similar to the Corgi one

[bunglebus]

52 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

The only Majorette I recall as a kid was a Cafe Hag VW Van 

I might have a few of these, even if the lack of swage line on the body annoys me. One day I'll find an early one that still has it

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

New Majorette Renault 5 looks good too - similar to the Corgi one

They actually did a Turbo 2, I remember getting one from the jumble sale at school, it had the bumper broken. Still have it which is a miracle as it was fucked when I bought it 30 odd years ago.

[bunglebus]

8 minutes ago, sierraman said:

They actually did a Turbo 2, I remember getting one from the jumble sale at school, it had the bumper broken. Still have it which is a miracle as it was fucked when I bought it 30 odd years ago.

Oh yeah. Not got one

[Spottedlaurel]

Looks like there'll be some interesting Majorettes to look out for on next year's French holiday.

The Datsun Z is a 2-seater this time, the orinal they did was a 2+2 (which had off-road ride height).