Shite in Miniature II

60,382 · November 6, 2022

Anyway, today was toy fair day today, so I jumped in my submarine(!) and headed off. Yet again my nemesis had paid for early entry and showed me a carded Hot Wheels P-911 I would have loved to find

Think it was the rarer version with gold Wheels too goddammit.

I picked up some others though

Doesn't seem to be a lot of love for this era Matchbox, just £1

I always see loads of Matchbox and have to rack my brain as to whether mine are in better/worse condition. Don't think I have this one though

Not sure if this counts as red or orange - either way it can go in the back of a K-6 Pick-up Truck

Toe Joe has its toe hooks

Charger was retrieved from the bottom of a box of junk

Paid a couple of quid for a decent Draguar though

Turbo 2

Crazy fool

Pulled this out of a £1 tub

I sold my last Matchbox Plymouth Trail Duster as it didn't interest me, but for some reason decided I needed this version today

This is cool though, Dinky MK2 Cortina is I think complete other than one mirror - £3

Onto a few oddballs, this is small scale, slightly larger than Matchbox and made by Lucky

Similar scale, Buddy L

Holly

Found another version of the HW Matchbox DeTomaso Pantera

And a Sunny

60,382 · November 6, 2022

Pondered on these but left them behind

33,930 · November 6, 2022

38 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

The #5 car and the beige one are the same car before and after. Mira and Guiloy castings are definitely different

Right enough, I can see that now.

45,048 · November 6, 2022

40 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I always see loads of Matchbox and have to rack my brain as to whether mine are in better/worse condition. Don't think I have this one though

Is that a repaint? I have only seen white on red painted Crestas

5,256 · November 6, 2022

Scored some bargains there @bunglebus was it busy? Looks like I saved myself a few quid having the plague!

2,273 · November 6, 2022

1983 Chevrolet C10 Silverado by Auto World. Nice brown and beige colour scheme.

Pictured next to the '81 model (which I believe was a single year front end).

10,308 · November 6, 2022

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

The #5 car and the beige one are the same car before and after. Mira and Guiloy castings are definitely different

I've got the plastic base version of the GuiloyI never realised it was a Mk5,always thought it was a Mk4 as the roofline looked the same as the Matchbox Cortina

10,308 · November 6, 2022

Some car boot finds from the last couple of weeks

Siku Peugeot? Camper & Matchbox VW T25

Spot-On Taxi & Matchbox Cortina

I nearly left the Taxi,as I thought it was a Corgi at 1st glance.I think it has been repainted,as it's held together with hex head bolts

It's not the most exciting model,but a complete Spot-On for £1.00 isn't something you see every day

I saw this small basket of cars on the floor,& bent down to have a look

The seller said I could have the lot for a pound,so I didn't even bother looking through until I got home.

Here's what I got

Matchbox stuff

Corgis

Hotwheels Sizzlers Backfire & Majorette Mercedes

French Dinky AMX Tank

The rest,shame the Capri is squashed

10,308 · November 6, 2022

I also got another Minichamps Puma this week

It found it on eBay one morning when I couldn't sleep,it was on a buy now for £17.50 posted which is a good price for one of these.It doesn't look like it's ever been out of the sleeve 😁

60,382 · November 6, 2022

1 hour ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Is that a repaint? I have only seen white on red painted Crestas

Yep you can see the red underneath

25,900 · November 6, 2022

That pink base No70 Dodge dragster looks to be in good shape,nice find.

60,382 · November 6, 2022

16 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

That pink base No70 Dodge dragster looks to be in good shape,nice find.

Yeah she had quite a few fairly decent Matchbox of that era, always hard to know what to buy and what to leave as I have almost all of them already. I like the funky base colours on these though

40,661 · November 6, 2022

I’m the worlds worst for knowingly buying things I already have, especially if they are in nice condition. I see myself as some sort of retirement home for diecast. In past few months I’ve bought things like a Corgi AA Escort van, I already have one but this was too nice to fall in to the hands of some kids 🤣.

Theres some ones I just have a weakness for, it’s no exaggeration I probably have nigh on 20 Mercury Fire Chief cars.

60,382 · November 6, 2022

I do the same but I excuse it by keeping the nicest example and selling the others. Or putting them in the box of cars to customise which I won't get done if I live to 150

60,382 · November 6, 2022

2 hours ago, andrew e said:

Scored some bargains there @bunglebus was it busy? Looks like I saved myself a few quid having the plague!

It was rammed but several regular sellers were missing, shame as I made a beeline for the guy that usually has trays of Matchbox Corgi Majorette Siku etc etc and he wasn't there

25,900 · November 6, 2022

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Yeah she had quite a few fairly decent Matchbox of that era, always hard to know what to buy and what to leave as I have almost all of them already. I like the funky base colours on these though

I'm still on the lookout for a green base version,I have the black,pink and yellows far...🤪

28,792 · November 6, 2022

4 hours ago, sierraman said:

I’m the worlds worst for knowingly buying things I already have, especially if they are in nice condition. I see myself as some sort of retirement home for diecast. In past few months I’ve bought things like a Corgi AA Escort van, I already have one but this was too nice to fall in to the hands of some kids 🤣.

Theres some ones I just have a weakness for, it’s no exaggeration I probably have nigh on 20 Mercury Fire Chief cars.

4 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I do the same but I excuse it by keeping the nicest example and selling the others. Or putting them in the box of cars to customise which I won't get done if I live to 150

I'm another one. Drives MrsR bananas. My usual excuse is that I need them for either the personal-history fleet, because we have had (eg) four Marinas and six Ladas, in total; or the TV/film collection, in which I have, for example, three Corgi Junior SD1s in different colours. (Only one is yellow, it doubles up for both Steed and Cowley just as the real car did!)

Incidentally... I've just won another SD1, this time the MB version dressed as a copcar. Regular readers will remember I've been after one to cut the upper rear end off, so I can finally build my MB Rover Sterling to match the 800 mk2 hatchback I had before my operation. Yes I know they're tiny but that just means they'll be a bit forgiving of the odd inaccuracy.

5,572 · November 6, 2022

9 hours ago, bunglebus said:

The #5 car and the beige one are the same car before and after. Mira and Guiloy castings are definitely different

Those are the ones I have plus I think a white & a pink one.

60,382 · November 6, 2022

2 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

I've just won another SD1, this time the MB version dressed as a copcar

I've still got the bronze one put aside for you

28,792 · November 6, 2022

3 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I've still got the bronze one put aside for you

Oh goodness! I clean forgot about that! Well... looks like I've saved it from being chopped up then. Under no circumstances does this mean I no longer want it. We must do some sort of deal so that it can be included in a parcel.

45,048 · November 7, 2022

Minichamps are one of my favourite ranges, I've been buying them for 30 years ever since I first came across them in St. Martins Accessories. Here's some examples.

Amphicar

BMW 2000 CS

BMW 2002 Cabriolet

BMW 700 LS

Jaaaaaaag XJS

1997 C-Class

SD1 Vitesse

1995 Saab 900

TR6

33,930 · November 7, 2022

They are undoubtedly the best in 1/43 scale. I first discovered them under the old 'Paul's Model Art ' name in 1994 when I got my first real pay packet from work experience. I went to Wonderland Models in Edinburgh and bought a Ford Mondeo. I couldn't believe the accuracy and detail and it hasn't been surpassed even now. The Progetto Alfa Romeo Guilia and 2 Corgi Morris Minors that I bought at the same time weren't a patch on the Ford and I no longer have those.

45,048 · November 7, 2022

My first Minichamps was a sky blue VW Karmann Ghia Coupe in the silver PMA type box.

I just happen to have a couple of the Mondeos close to hand, a Citrus Yellow 4-door and a red 5-door.

33,930 · November 7, 2022

Great aren't they? Mine is a blue saloon.

40,661 · November 7, 2022

The name rings a bell from when I was a subscriber to Model Collector.

60,382 · November 7, 2022

I had a bit of grief getting these, ordered them from the same place that I bought the Mooneyes Matchbox Drag Bug from recently. Only one car rather than a set turned up, and I just couldn't get an answer from the shop. I tried email, found them on FB and sent a message, opened a PayPal case - nothing. Eventually I asked on a FB group if anyone had dealt with them before and someone tagged the seller - he was apparently already on the case sending out the rest of the cars, but hadn't replied to me. So frustrating!

Anyway I haven't seen the second series of these blue/pink 54th anniversary cars anywhere else

33,930 · November 7, 2022

I can't believe it was 4 years ago that I was hunting for the 50th anniversary Escort (I found it eventually)

5,537 · November 8, 2022

Man, those Minichamps are awesome. The first ones I got were part of a prize package that I won from Diecast Collector magazine, Toyota Corolla T Sport, Mercedes 500SL and Bentley Arnage in 1/43 and the Escort Mk1 in 1/18. I was already well into my Vanguards collecting by then, but even compared to them, I was blown away by the Minichamps stuff. Sadly I ended up selling the 1/43 ones during a diecast cull, but the big Escort remains with me.

Since then, I've added quite a few more, I've been lucky to grab a load pretty cheaply, second hand. A lot of them have been '80s and '90s Mercs, as they are about the only company to have been really bothered to model them.

As Iain says, for the era, the detail is staggering, Among the favourites in my collection are the Mondeo saloon, I've also got the Citron yellow version,

In fact I've just installed this in the Ford section of the display cabinet as I was reminded of how much I like it!

The Mercedes W124, I like the fact they modelled the turbodiesel version, complete with the slats in the front wing, Models of diesel cars are fairly uncommon.

But it's the interior detail that makes this one for me, with the wood trim, the gearshift panel perfectly reproduced, a Becker radio cassette and even a period carphone. Brilliant!

The C124 is also a lovely looking thing. Opening bonnet and boot on this one too,

Another one I was glad to find was the yellow W202 C Class.

Interior features the Sport spec seat trim, carbon-look dash trim and colour coded gearshift and steering wheel.

A contrast to the red Esprit version. The Esprit was intended by MB to be the 'youthful' version so it was based on the povo Classic spec, but got lowered suspension, carbon look trim instead of wood and some wacky trim combinations, this being one of them,

Still want that blue facelift W202 though as that looks the closest to the two real blue C Classes that I owned.

The Astra OPC/VXR is another fave. The outer box wasn't in the best condition but I wasn't complaining at a tenner!

Sadly there a few of them seem to have suffered with storage under previous ownership, because as can be seen with the yellow C Class, Minichamps can be prone to paint imperfections over time. The red C Class, and the Mondeo also have a couple of spots. But they were cheap and still look decent.