Shite in Miniature II

[danthecapriman]

10 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

Birthday today, so a bit of diecast to open. Not sure if @danthecapriman had acquired one of these among his impressive recent partwork jamboree, so apologies if it's already been seen.

But I've been after this one for ages! I've got a few of the Vanguards Hillman Avenger saloons, so when I saw the Dodge 1500 Rural from the Argentinian Salvat Inolvidables partwork by Hachette, I've set my sights on one, as it's more or less a Chrysler Avenger estate.

Sadly the only ones seemingly available in this country are the ACA automobile club version

Nice, but I did just want a standard version, so would have to get rid of the signwriting and the stuff on the roof.

Then came this nice plain metallic blue version, but I've only ever seen it previously on eBay from South American based sellers, at around £30 with about another £30 in postage.

Nah!

So I bided my time, and waited to see if that nice Jumajo in France got hold of them. Which they did. 

And I'm pretty chuffed with it, it'll make a nice contrast with the Hillman saloons. Not sure who makes it, (my guess was IXO, but there are normal cross head screws on the base, rather than the weird triangular slot ones). Apart from the tiny Dodge badge on the bonnet, it's just like a UK Chrysler one at the front.

Not bad at the rear, (although the tower for the rear mounting screw on the inside of the tailgate jars slightly).

The flat bit on the roof is a bit odd, probably a hangover from the roof rack of the ACA version. Love the  Rostyles though!

Interior, such as it is, is pretty good for a cheapie partwork model, especially the odd Alpine-style single spoke wheel. Brings back memories of BYG 745T, my Dads old Avenger DL in brown with all-brown  interior  Can still smell that hot vinyl!

I’ve got a pair of the yellow version! 
My plan is to repaint them into standard cars  though so it doesn’t bother me. I’ve never had the blue standard version though, looks lovely. 
Agree with you about the screw pillar in the back too! I might try to grind it down a bit when mines in bits, see if I can’t reduce the size a touch then paint it interior colour to make it less obvious.

They do a few versions of the 1500/Avenger saloon too, including one that kind of resembles a Tiger. And the last of the line VW badged one’s.

Happy Birthday too btw!

[bunglebus]

3 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Agree with you about the screw pillar in the back too! I might try to grind it down a bit when mines in bits, see if I can’t reduce the size a touch then paint it interior colour to make it less obvious

A bit of matt black works wonders for disguising stuff like that

[Tenmil Socket]

10 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

Birthday today, so a bit of diecast to open. Not sure if @danthecapriman had acquired one of these among his impressive recent partwork jamboree, so apologies if it's already been seen.

But I've been after this one for ages! I've got a few of the Vanguards Hillman Avenger saloons, so when I saw the Dodge 1500 Rural from the Argentinian Salvat Inolvidables partwork by Hachette, I've set my sights on one, as it's more or less a Chrysler Avenger estate.

Sadly the only ones seemingly available in this country are the ACA automobile club version

Nice, but I did just want a standard version, so would have to get rid of the signwriting and the stuff on the roof.

Then came this nice plain metallic blue version, but I've only ever seen it previously on eBay from South American based sellers, at around £30 with about another £30 in postage.

Nah!

So I bided my time, and waited to see if that nice Jumajo in France got hold of them. Which they did. 

And I'm pretty chuffed with it, it'll make a nice contrast with the Hillman saloons. Not sure who makes it, (my guess was IXO, but there are normal cross head screws on the base, rather than the weird triangular slot ones). Apart from the tiny Dodge badge on the bonnet, it's just like a UK Chrysler one at the front.

Not bad at the rear, (although the tower for the rear mounting screw on the inside of the tailgate jars slightly).

The flat bit on the roof is a bit odd, probably a hangover from the roof rack of the ACA version. Love the  Rostyles though!

Interior, such as it is, is pretty good for a cheapie partwork model, especially the odd Alpine-style single spoke wheel. Brings back memories of BYG 745T, my Dads old Avenger DL in brown with all-brown  interior  Can still smell that hot vinyl!

Nice model although it amazes me how manufacturers can go to so much effort capturing the finer details and then stick on wipers like this:

The best effort I found was on this Opel Monza model I have (it even has seatbelts):

 

[bunglebus]

Hot Wheels Volvo has a pillar in an annoying place

As if by magic

64 Nova Wagon has one just like the Revenger estate 

Didn't do the greatest job with the black but you get the idea

 

[FakeConcern]

I thought that pillar was meant to be the wiper motor housing!

Great attention to detail, I thought to myself...

[AndyW201]

4 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Nice model although it amazes me how manufacturers can go to so much effort capturing the finer details and then stick on wipers like this:

The best effort I found was on this Opel Monza model I have (it even has seatbelts):

 

Completely agree there. I did think the wipers looked a bit clunky, but that angle really shows it. I suppose being a cheapie partwork job (I think they cost the equivalent of a tenner or less where they're sold, complete with magazine), costs have to be saved somewhere. Other than the wipers, it can't really be faulted.

Those Schuco Monzas, though, are something else altogether. I've got that, and the Senator, and they're about the best detailed models I've got, better than Minichamps even.

2 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

I thought that pillar was meant to be the wiper motor housing!

Great attention to detail, I thought to myself...

No... No! You're correct actually. That definitely IS the wiper motor housing 

(And it can stop bothering me now... 🤣)

[AndyW201]

5 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

 

They do a few versions of the 1500/Avenger saloon too, including one that kind of resembles a Tiger. And the last of the line VW badged one’s.

Happy Birthday too btw!

It's amazing how many variants there are of those Avenger/1500 part work models there are, along with all the Chevette/Kadett ones.

I've had my eye on those Dodge 1500 GT 90/100 ones too, they're pretty cheap from Jumajo. I think they're the Tiger-style ones. They've got slightly different front and rear  light treatments to our UK Avengers, but I reckon they'd make a good base for some boy-racer style Avenger models.

[danthecapriman]

11 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

Completely agree there. I did think the wipers looked a bit clunky, but that angle really shows it. I suppose being a cheapie partwork job (I think they cost the equivalent of a tenner or less where they're sold, complete with magazine), costs have to be saved somewhere. Other than the wipers, it can't really be faulted.

Those Schuco Monzas, though, are something else altogether. I've got that, and the Senator, and they're about the best detailed models I've got, better than Minichamps even.

No... No! You're correct actually. That definitely IS the wiper motor housing 

(And it can stop bothering me now... 🤣)

That’s exactly it. 
Lots of them are actually shared with other brand names but you pay much more for them - IXO, Triple9, etc etc. but the end model must get some cost cutting done for the magazine editions so you often get much simpler paint jobs, slightly less detailing, more chunky basic parts etc. 

I was on eBay a while back looking at them and the Mexico cars partwork Ford Econoline mini bus in red…

 

Is a casting shared with Triple9 and PremiumX, who do a more detailed version of it with two tone paint for going on four times what that Mexico mag one cost me!

The Volvo 343 from a Polish cars partwork…

Is also shared with Triple9, who do/did a yellow one for considerably more than that one cost me. 
I’ve got a Triple9 one and two of the blue partwork ones and even a pair of the blue ones wasn’t as much as the Triple9!

 

Theres loads of them if you can be arsed looking for the various different brands.

[andrew e]

Is this good news or bad news?

https://www.theretailbulletin.com/general-merchandise/hornby-acquires-the-corgi-model-club-11-03-2024/

[danthecapriman]

5 minutes ago, andrew e said:

Is this good news or bad news?

https://www.theretailbulletin.com/general-merchandise/hornby-acquires-the-corgi-model-club-11-03-2024/

Hard to tell tbh! 
I suppose on one hand it means a bigger parent company can take them on and potentially provide more backup and funding for their products. 
But, on the other hand it could also mean some stripping back of the range and cost cutting might end up happening?

I thought Hornby themselves were in the financial shit though?

[sierraman]

Bburago was notable for having telegraph poles for wipers on the Rolls Royce camargue. 

[danthecapriman]

Some of them you can paint black to make them less obvious, but others are terrible and you just can’t do much with them other than remove or replace them. 
Some of the really bad ones, I wish they hadn’t bothered fitting them at all really. Or gone old skool and done them as moulded into the windscreen unit, maybe with a bit of paint on them instead of separate parts.

[andy18s]

Missed out on this 3 pack today.

Seller wanted too much though and wouldn't take any offers.

[bunglebus]

I've had a day touring around picking up cars. Decided to go into Basildon, and realised I'd cocked up. Last week the Mrs called while I was driving and told me Entertainer had a premium set with a white/blue stripes Yenko Corvair. 

Nah, that's an old one

Well it wasn't, it was this

And of course the others had now gone bar the van

Bah. 

Oh well, I went off to pick up a bag of cars from the young lad who normally sells at the boot sale (plus a couple from the charity shop)

Like most Hot Wheels of the era, no name on the base - I think this may be a promotional release 

Easily identifiable Peugeot 505 has the info on the base of course

Charity shop find, and another I need to find the name of

The other charity shop find is a bit of a rabbit hole too, bearing the name "Chevrolet SS" on the base. Looking this up on Wiki suggests it's a Chevrolet Opala  - no not Impala, a Brazilian car based on the Opel Rekord/Commodore. Huh.

Moving onto Matchbox, my bag of goodies contained a fairly decent RS2000

A twin pack (I think) AMX

And a pretty nice Holden but sans bikes as usual

Last but no means least, @andrew e spotted a Studebaker Wagonaire with the cameraman intact

and it's yet another variation, being a Corgi Whizzwheels rather than a Husky, and having those large... hinges? at the base of the tailgate. It also has the much lighter, fluted blue glass in the rear. Both my Husky...

...and Corgi...

...have darker glass and no hinges or whatever they are on the tailgate.

There are so many variations of this casting!

[danthecapriman]

12 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I've had a day touring around picking up cars. Decided to go into Basildon, and realised I'd cocked up. Last week the Mrs called while I was driving and told me Entertainer had a premium set with a white/blue stripes Yenko Corvair. 

Nah, that's an old one

Well it wasn't, it was this

And of course the others had now gone bar the van

Bah. 

Oh well, I went off to pick up a bag of cars from the young lad who normally sells at the boot sale (plus a couple from the charity shop)

Like most Hot Wheels of the era, no name on the base - I think this may be a promotional release 

Easily identifiable Peugeot 505 has the info on the base of course

Charity shop find, and another I need to find the name of

The other charity shop find is a bit of a rabbit hole too, bearing the name "Chevrolet SS" on the base. Looking this up on Wiki suggests it's a Chevrolet Opala  - no not Impala, a Brazilian car based on the Opel Rekord/Commodore. Huh.

Moving onto Matchbox, my bag of goodies contained a fairly decent RS2000

A twin pack (I think) AMX

And a pretty nice Holden but sans bikes as usual

Last but no means least, @andrew e spotted a Studebaker Wagonaire with the cameraman intact

and it's yet another variation, being a Corgi Whizzwheels rather than a Husky, and having those large... hinges? at the base of the tailgate. It also has the much lighter, fluted blue glass in the rear. Both my Husky...

...and Corgi...

...have darker glass and no hinges or whatever they are on the tailgate.

There are so many variations of this casting!

I think that’s probably the first time I’ve seen one of those Studabakers with the cameraman still attached!

[andrew e]

Thats why I got @bunglebus on the horn!

[junkyarddog]

Picked up these two today.

Skyline looks good in black.

 

[Spottedlaurel]

Phew, finally at the end of a long day. Had a meeting up in Nottingham and managed to find a bit of time before/after to do a bit of shopping.

First up a little haul from Mark's Diecast Models in Stapleford:

These were all £5 each. He had others, like the jacked-up Dodge Challenger which I'm already wondering why I didn't get...

Cararama Lexus GS and RX, 007 partwork Toyota Crown and this rather nice Skyline C211, which was a bit of an indulgence but my fuel expenses for the day should cover it.

Haven't yet tried the lights function, but it's a great looking model.

Then from various branches of Poundstretcher, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and The Entertainer:

It's possible there may be the odd duplicate, but there were others I was very pleased to find so it all evens out. By coincidence I found that Yenko Corvair today, but unfortunately it was the only one in the series with no sign of the black Skyline. There were Whatsapp communications with @bunglebus at this point......

Having received the Moving Parts Land Cruiser from Tim just yesterday, I then found one myself in The Entertainer but I managed to resist it. I was tempted by a Matchbox "Retro Cars" 5-pack there, as it had a nice metallic blue version of the '70s Honda Civic, but there weren't enough others in there to justify it.

[bunglebus]

5 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I was tempted by a Matchbox "Retro Cars" 5-pack there, as it had a nice metallic blue version of the '70s Honda Civic

Oh I've not seen that yet

Still hoping to see the VW set

[Spottedlaurel]

That's the one.

Saw a lot of 5-packs today, but not that one with the VWs.

[FakeConcern]

@danthecapriman I've kind of lost track of what's happening with the Corgi Porsche you sold on your sale, but if the original people who wanted parts ( @bunglebus & @eddyramrod) are getting the bits they need then if @andrew e sends me a PM I'll send the interior as I've now popped it apart and got the boot/bonnet/trunk/hood/engine cover/whatever that I want off.

[sierraman]

I’m sure the Field car is a tribute to the twin pack orange original. 

[danthecapriman]

12 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

@danthecapriman I've kind of lost track of what's happening with the Corgi Porsche you sold on your sale, but if the original people who wanted parts ( @bunglebus & @eddyramrod) are getting the bits they need then if @andrew e sends me a PM I'll send the interior as I've now popped it apart and got the boot/bonnet/trunk/hood/engine cover/whatever that I want off.

The one I have here is now open. The interior is in @eddyramrod box for him. 
The rest I’ve taped back together to keep it in one piece and put it in @bunglebus & @andrew e box ready to send.

Its basically complete apart from the interior.

[bunglebus]

22 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I’m sure the Field car is a tribute to the twin pack orange original. 

Could be

But one of the previous ones was orange too

 

[sierraman]

No the later Bushwacker US edition?

[Datsuncog]

Carried out another lunchtime raid today, in my ever-widening quest to slake my apparently insatiable thirst for Matchbox.

Tesco, B&M, Poundstretcher, Smyths and The Entertainer seems to have given up entirely on stocking any new Matchbox mainlines these days; Sainsbury's and Asda never stocked them locally to the best of my knowledge, and stores like Morrisons or One Below simply don't operate here.

So really it's a choice of either Poundland or the few-and-far-between local independent toy shops to try to find any late-2023/ early 2024 mainlines, with the indies sometimes also carrying lines like Moving Parts, Convoys, Skybusters, Working Rigs, Collectors Editions and my current weird obsession, the Action Drivers play sets.

No, I don't know why either.

Having exhausted the eight or so branches of Poundland in my general vicinity, and stripped the sole surviving Stewart Miller branches of anything worth having, it was time to go further afield.

So today took me over the Craigantlet Hills to Toytown, in Ards Shopping Centre.

There's been a toy shop here for years. I can recall coming here fairly often with my grandparents when I was little, but I'm sure I haven't been near it in thirty years now.

It's also moved a little bit further down the shopping mall from where it used to be, but it's otherwise broadly familiar. Strangely underlit, which didn't make for good pics, but still familiar.

Running the usual gauntlet of those irritating Fart Ninja things brought me down to the back of the store, and oh yes - paydirt.

Orange paydirt.

DING DING DING

Okay, so the mainlines aren't very new - or indeed very cheap, at £2.30 a go, but they were there. And quite a lot of them, too. Mostly short card, but also some long card and a couple of Power Grab boxed models too (just the Nissan Terrano in silver and the Polaris RAZR left in that format, for £2).

Also a couple of Collector Series with an olde-tyme Lesney style box - just a few examples of the TR6 and a Camaro left, for a hefty £9.

Some 'National Flag' not-really-premiums were reduced from £4 to £2.75, but they were mostly featuring those legends of French motoring, the Fiat 500 and Jeep Renegade.

I flicked through the pegs to see if there were any more VW T3 crew cabs or red Mk1 Golfs, but there weren't.

Moving Parts were also priced at £4 a go, and the vast majority of the models offered were that metallic red 1980s Buick convertible and the yellow version of the Nissan X-Terra, with a few of the 1940s delivery van sprinkled through.

Convoys sets were mostly the International tanker with Mustang, and the fire ladder with an ambulance (I think), plus the Tesla truck and a Tesla something-or-other lurking right at the back. Not too awful for £7, but that wasn't why I was here...

There were a fair few Skybusters on the pegs, but I regret to confess I didn't really look at those.

But further on down, we had...

Aha. Now we're sucking diesel.

Quite a few Mattel playsets and other, large-format toys. Including, to my inexplicable delight, some Action Drivers sets I have on my 'want' list.

Some 5-packs too, though steep enough at £11.50.

Quite a few familiar looking castings in that one.

And even more sets on the shelves opposite, though mainly racing track bits.

Mostly they weren't super cheap - some claimed to be reduced, but they were still the same sort of price they're listed for at various online retailers. A few were quite a bit more expensive, but hey.

Plenty of Hot Wheels mainlines, but pretty much all were 2023 releases. Towards the top of the price range at £2.30 a throw.

Some Hot Wheels premiums and special releases were also kicking about, but none which could dissuade me from my quest.

Time was not on my side, regrettably, so I wasn't able to dilly-dally for too long. Decisions had to be made...

[Datsuncog]

And decisions were made.

I know. 

What am I even doing with my life?The Park & Play Garage was one I've been trying to find for a while - it's a cracking big set.

Not wildly cheap at £27, and that's apparently a reduced price, but it's no cheaper anywhere online that I could find; and hey, I'd sooner support an independent business than give Jeff Bezos more of my hard-earned.

He don't need it.

The Helicopter Rescue set wasn't one I was as mad keen on, but at £14 it was also a good bit less than I've seen it anywhere else. More toy-like, it's true, but still - this is one of the first Action Drivers releases from 2020, so I suspect it'll become harder to track down before long.

I haven't opened either of them yet - it's something to look forward to.

And there was more...

The Chevette drag racer came from the same toy shop; I had the opportunity to buy this several times last year, for a good bit less in Home Bargains, but for some reason I baulked. Time to make good on that.

And I didn't really have time to swing by Poundland on my way out, but I did anyway - and lo, there were recent-case mainlines on a couple of pegs. Not many, and some I had seen already - a couple of green Mk1 Golfs, a lot of green '33 Ford coupes, a solitary blue '70 Ranchero - but the Ford Interceptor Utility and Toyota Hilux were worth bagging in exchange for some loose coins in my pocket, I felt.

So I did.

And with that, it was definitely time to run.

What I'm going to do with these is anyone's guess, but I feel kinda giddy and excited by them - and, leaving aside whether that's age-appropriate, isn't that meant to be what toys are all about?

I didn't buy the Canyon Adventure playset - not today, anyway. I previously saw this set in TK Maxx just before Christmas last year for £22, and I wouldn't say that I won't, at some stage.

But I kinda like the architectural sets, for preference.

Similarly, I didn't bother with the Bus Station as I already have it - at only £4.99 from Home Bargains last summer.

Although mine turned out to have incorrect pieces in the box, so the roadway bits won't fit together. You gets what you pays for, maybe.

More to come on these, doubtless!

[bunglebus]

7 hours ago, sierraman said:

No the later Bushwacker US edition?

Wow never seen that one!

[sierraman]

5 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Wow never seen that one!

USA only though some will likely have made it to U.K. in those 3 packs in Tesco or through various sources. 

[bunglebus]

5 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Running the usual gauntlet of those irritating Fart Ninja things

They are very annoying aren't they? I meant to post pretty much your words the other day after getting guffed at while on my way through yet another toy department.

I mean...farts are funny but it must be awful working in Entertainer and having them go off all day, while listening to the music from Frozen for the 28th time that week