Shite in Miniature II

[andrew e]

I’m about to investigate the @bunglebus puzzle, but in the meantime in the name of Karma bought @bunglebus a treat - Shonky, Hong Kong AND a magic tag we all love 😂

[BL Bloke]

I picked up this 9 pack in Sainsbury's yesterday for £8.00. 

Nice to find one with a majority of real cars instead of the fantasy castings.

 

[AndyW201]

12) Welly BMW X5

13) MB Superfast Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

14) Welly Mercedes R230 SL

[bunglebus]

4 hours ago, quicksilver said:

25 = Lledo Days Gone Bedford O-type (came with several bodies, can't tell which this is)

16 is intriguing. Don't recognise it at all, not even what type of truck it's supposed to be. Could be some obscure foreign thing.

Glad you got #25 as I wouldn't have a clue. I also have no idea about #16

[bunglebus]

25 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

12) Welly BMW X5

13) MB Superfast Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

14) Welly Mercedes R230 SL

The X5 is another I wouldn't have known - think you meant #34 no #14 though

[AndyW201]

8 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

The X5 is another I wouldn't have known - think you meant #34 no #14 though

Correct, #34 it is.

[quicksilver]

Recognised another few:

6 = Siku 0826 Flugfeldlöschfahrzeug (or airport fire engine in English)

22 and 33 = both Matchbox 23e Volkswagen T2 camper

23 = Matchbox 48c Dodge dump truck

28 = Matchbox 38 US Mail Jeep

29 = Matchbox MB53 dump truck

37 judging by the wheels is another Lledo but no idea which

[D.E]

Found this at the thrift store... apparently it is a knock off James Bond DB5 (called a "Secret Agent Aston Martin DB5") made by Lincoln International.

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, andrew e said:

I’m about to investigate the @bunglebus puzzle, but in the meantime in the name of Karma bought @bunglebus a treat - Shonky, Hong Kong AND a magic tag we all love 😂

Soma apparently. Quite unusual! 

[bunglebus]

29 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

Recognised another few:

6 = Siku 0826 Flugfeldlöschfahrzeug (or airport fire engine in English)

22 and 33 = both Matchbox 23e Volkswagen T2 camper

23 = Matchbox 48c Dodge dump truck

28 = Matchbox 38 US Mail Jeep

29 = Matchbox MB53 dump truck

37 judging by the wheels is another Lledo but no idea which

I've just been filling a few in myself but I make you right - I think 6 and 16 are the hardest to ID so I'm pleased another challenging one is done!

[Justwatching]

1983 Ford LTD Crown Victoria in 1:64 by Greenlight. 

Uncertain about the livery. It appears in Terminator 2 at the Pescadero State psychiatric prison facility. I assume it's a security vehicle(?) as the livery isn't seen again on any other police car. 

Shame the wheels sit a little wide. Can't have too many Crown Vics though. 

[AndyW201]

#37) Lledo Days Gone '39 Chevrolet panel van.

[sutty2006]

9 hours ago, Justwatching said:

1983 Ford LTD Crown Victoria in 1:64 by Greenlight. 

Uncertain about the livery. It appears in Terminator 2 at the Pescadero State psychiatric prison facility. I assume it's a security vehicle(?) as the livery isn't seen again on any other police car. 

Shame the wheels sit a little wide. Can't have too many Crown Vics though. 

That’s the only thing that would put me off that, the wheels sitting about 4ft (scale) out of the arches. These cars the wheels sit quite far inbound of the arches. 
 

I wish there were more 1/18 versions of the crown vic in this body. I have the green light p71 in Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

[bunglebus]

10 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

#37) Lledo Days Gone '39 Chevrolet panel van.

Pretty close to completion now, 2.5 left to guess (I have the make of one but not the model, unless I'm wrong. Someone must know #14?

[bunglebus]

In the mean time here are a couple of arrivals. I was idly scrolling through eBay under Superkings and found this - I'd no idea there was a transporter for the Road Blasters series, thankfully it was badly listed so no-one else bid. It's not perfect but can't be very common?

Has the working steering too.

Next up is this less than spot-on Spot-On

I didn't actually check that the glass was available as a replacement part - the almost-always broken bumpers certainly aren't so resto will require some head scratching. Still, not an easy thing to find at an affordable price.

Lastly is this K54 AMX Javelin that looks better than my current one

[warch]

That Roadblasters thing is awesome, ten year me would have loved that in 1987 (although tbh 45 year me still quite likes it in 2022). Hadn't realised it was a computer game tie in, Mad Max was hugely influential back in the 80s, so I assumed it was intended to cash in on that.

[sierraman]

Roadblasters with the armaments still on are quite scarce.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Roadblasters with the armaments still on are quite scarce.

Still kicking myself for selling the Supervan, Mercury Commuter and Ruff Trek with all the bits years ago. No idea why I did it

[sutty2006]

The only 1/18 I can find for the panther body crown vic is an estate/wagon/long roof. Someone really needs to make the saloon version. 
 

 

[barrett]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:21 AM, Split_Pin said:

Aah, it looks like Pilen make a 1/64 version as well, another one to add to the list.

It's your lucky day! Don't think these come up very often, or in such nice condition

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374279573028

[Datsuncog]

22 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I sold my facelifted Pilen Talbot Alpine on here only a few years ago - wonder who ended up with it?

 

22 hours ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

That could have been me, I’ve certainly got an Alpine . Not sure of the make but I thought it was badged as a Simca , I think I bought an 1100 and a 1000 at the same time.

Hey, you were right!

Having dragged out the old laptop and booted it up, it seems you kindly bought a fair few Solido and similar 1/43 French tat from me four years ago, as part of the fire-sale clearout of diecast to raise funds for the Forester after my Phase 1 Laguna carked it on the motorway.

Seems that this one was badged as a Talbot 150, going by the bootlid.

And the baseplate.

Welp, looks like there's some in circulation closer than Spain, then - hopefully @Split_Pin can track one down for the collection!

(I bought this one from an antiques shop in Arundel c.2003 - goodness knows how it ended up there...)

[Split_Pin]

Excellent, I have a saved ebay search for all permutations of this model now!

Speaking of which, my smaller scale Mira example landed today. I compared it with the competition* at the time.

Its peak Mira in my opinion and on par with the CX AKA the reference point.

No play in the wheels and axles, crisp detailing, metal base and brown interior. 

The badging is a good effort but it's not in the correct font.

This is where the Majorette wins:

Middle is the Norev Mini Jet and left is the Majorette.

They've covered 75% of all names the car had as far as I know, the exception being the UK 'Chrysler Alpine'. Not counting the MK2 versions which had the same range of names again, and a saloon!

[Datsuncog]

14 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I was idly scrolling through eBay under Superkings and found this - I'd no idea there was a transporter for the Road Blasters series, thankfully it was badly listed so no-one else bid. It's not perfect but can't be very common?

Has the working steering too.

Nope, can't be all that common - I don't think the RoadBlasters range sold very well, and especially not the big sets. From their launch in 1988, they'd already been pulled by the time the 1990 catalogue was published.

13 hours ago, warch said:

That Roadblasters thing is awesome, ten year me would have loved that in 1987 (although tbh 45 year me still quite likes it in 2022). Hadn't realised it was a computer game tie in, Mad Max was hugely influential back in the 80s, so I assumed it was intended to cash in on that.

That's news to me too - I'd no idea the Matchbox range was a tie-in with Atari Games from their 1987 RoadBlasters arcade game. Cool. I can see how the Mad Max films might have influenced both the game and the diecast toys.

Thinking about it, I'm surprised I never encountered this one as a computer game as it seems that the home console/ computer versions appeared around 1989 and 1990, which was the exact time I had my Amstrad CPC - and other chums had Commodore 64s, to my chagrin - both of which boasted versions of the RoadBlasters game.

It would have been right up my street - Chase HQ and Turbo Outrun were two of my favourites at that time, and seem to have similar gameplay.

I spent hours looking through the racks of cassette games in Woolworths and other game stockists on a Saturday, yet it seems totally unfamiliar to me! Weird.

I can see how it might well have appealed to new-ish Matchbox owner Universal Toys to tap into both the video game and action figure segments of the toy market, which had done so much to knock lumps out of traditional diecast vehicle sales since the 1970s - as well as looking a bit like smaller, cheaper Transformers. The goodies/ baddies concept of Turbo Force Vs Motor Lords probably was intended to have wider kiddy play appeal than just pushing nicely detailed models around a Motor City playtrack.

I only ever had one RoadBlaster model - 'Road Razor', a modified MB29 Tractor Shovel, which I believe was a gift from 'Santa' at a Scout Christmas Fair (where you got to queue outside an office in order to sit on someone's dad's knee and pretend you didn't recognise them in a cheapo beard and red 'n' white outfit).

If we're still up for guessing games, then how about a crack at these? What mainline Matchbox castings were these Mad Max-esque toys based on? I've already given you one...

Thunder Gunner = Chevrolet Corvette (Bunglebus)

Carpow = Ruff Trek (Bunglebus)

Barrel Bomber = Kenworth, AKA Tyrone Malone (Bunglebus)

Speedking = Ferrari Testarossa (Bunglebus)

Street Eater = Transit Supervan 3 (AndyW201)

Turbo Special = Mercury Commuter (Bunglebus)

Road Razor = MB29 Tractor Shovel

Road Raider = Mercedes Unimog (Bunglebus)

 

Motor Master = Peugeot Quasar (Bunglebus)

Streaker = Dodge Daytona (AndyW201)

Tow Nailer = Peterbilt recovery truck thing (Bunglebus)

Stick Up Pick Up = Ford Flareside Pick-Up (Bunglebus)

Killer Zee= Datsun 280 ZX (AndyW201)

Rampager = Sauber Group C Racer (Bunglebus)

Backstabber = Ford Bronco II (Bunglebus)

Parasite = 4x4 Jeep (or Jeep 4x4) (Bunglebus)

 

Best of luck!!

[AndyW201]

Killer Zee= Datsun 280 ZX

Streaker = Dodge Daytona

Street Eater = Transit Supervan 3

[barrett]

@Split_Pin do you have the Mebetoys ones? In both 1:43 and 1:24 scale!

The little one in particular looks great, but I don't think I've ever seen one for sale (and I literally search 'Mebetoys' on ebay multiple times a day)

 

[Split_Pin]

3 hours ago, barrett said:

It's your lucky day! Don't think these come up very often, or in such nice condition

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374279573028

Superb man, cheers!

[Split_Pin]

20 minutes ago, barrett said:

@Split_Pin do you have the Mebetoys ones? In both 1:43 and 1:24 scale!

The little one in particular looks great, but I don't think I've ever seen one for sale (and I literally search 'Mebetoys' on ebay multiple times a day)

 

I was trying to picture what a 1:24 scale ine might look like and there were 2 scenarios. A clunky scaled -up Guiloy type effort or a more crisp Bburago-like version. The latter definitely lives up to that! Much want.

[bunglebus]

Motor Master is the Peugeot Quasar

Tow Nailer is the Peterbilt recovery truck thing

Backstabber is the Ford Bronco II

Thunder Gunner is the Chevrolet Corvette

Carpow is the Ruff Trek

Speedking is a Ferrari Testarossa 

Turbo Special is the Mercury Commuter 

 

[sierraman]

The full range is in the ‘87 catalogue. Wasn’t it based on some computer game at the time? All this post apocalyptic theme was all the rage back then. 

[Datsuncog]

7 minutes ago, sierraman said:

The full range is in the ‘87 catalogue

I had a look through my '87 catalogue but didn't see it - and the RoadBlasters range (including sets) is listed as 'New' in my '88 booklet.

Maybe yours is a North American catalogue? As far as I can tell, the arcade video game was launched in June 1987.