Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

On 1/4/2023 at 6:34 PM, sierraman said:

It’s about time another brand stepped in, the quality of some of the latest diecast presumably from China knocks  Vanguards into a hat. I don’t really rate them, fine when they were ten quid but now they’re £40 odd quid, I think not. 

The irony there is that all Vanguards have been made in China since Lledo's bankruptcy in 1999.  There was some cross-over for year, you can find examples of 'Made in China' on a post-Corgi acquisition box and the model's underside still stamped 'Made in England by Lledo PLC', presumably using up the liquidated stock.  The reality is the England production period only lasted the three years 1996-99

New release pricing is currently £35.99 as a base price, which in 1996 was nearer £17.50

Not advocating for Hornby Hobbies, who thankfully are still headquartered at Margate, but trying to get my head around it too

[sheffcortinacentre]

6 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

I wonder why Hot Wheels played poetic licence with the Hay Thunderbird.   The colour scheme was actually this, which HW produced originally:

It was their earlier Olds Cutlass Sierra race car that had that colour and graphics:

It would still be wrong, but more fitting perhaps, to do a redress of the 2012-2016 retool casting of the 1984 Hurst / Olds 442...

...or the 2012 retool of 'Flat Out 442'

But that would probably send old men in Connecticut into having hernias, so maybe they played safe.

 

Oh well never mind, it does provide the opportunity* to get out this original HW 'Flat Out 442' from 1982 and take a look again.  Was a car boot sale 50p special, so not perfect but reasonably tidy:

Often wonder if the tampos reflects a real car, unlikely though this time

Wonder how they realised the sponsorship for the logos.  This one has Goodyear, STP, Bell, GT and Western Wheels

Interesting that the head lamps are part of the base casting.

The casting was from 1979, but 1982 was the first year for this wheel style, it seems.

And how do we know?  Well, this fella seems a little obsessed:

But he is Canadian.

The first version of the thunderbird was in the pink livery.

[sheffcortinacentre]

9 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Talking of modern diescats, one of my favourite ranges is by NEO. They are resin cast and feature photo-etch details. They can be price but they do look good.

A couple of Opels

And a selection of SAABs

 

The do the MK4 taunus as a 2dr Ghia & S.

[sheffcortinacentre]

11 hours ago, sierraman said:

Did you go to the one at Donny? I was the one trying to placate a 6 year old whilst I’d got my head in a £1 box of diecast. 🤣

Yes there from 11.30 till 2ish.

You'd have to be a bit more specific on that score!

[Spottedlaurel]

22 hours ago, RoadworkUK said:

Alas, I'm afraid not. The US Escort / EXP cloverleafs were somehow rather more hideous and gormless-looking than those we got here:

Another pointless change between the American and European Escorts - great work Ford! I doubt that at 1:25 scale the difference will be that noticeable (and I might find something else anyway).

P.S. Glad I'm not the only one who isn't too keen on the Mk3 XR3 alloys.

[sierraman]

47 minutes ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

Yes there from 11.30 till 2ish.

You'd have to be a bit more specific on that score!

I was there bang on 10:15 for about an hour as young ‘un was chomping at the bit for a McDonald’s. 🤣

[flat4alfa]

Went to charity shop at lunch

Came back with a Bean, a Shaggy, a Daphne, a Majorette Nissan 300 ZX Turbo, Matchbox Lotus Europa and Ford Capri Super GT, also a Matchbox Rover Sterling in silver with a blue base but no Rover Sterling tampo at door bottoms

I shouldn't be allowed out on my own.

[Richard_FM]

I've got one of those Mr Bean figures, which I picked up at a comic con when I bought a Blu-Ray box set.

[flat4alfa]

Bean was really for my young daughter, who finds the character hilarious.  Will leave it around the house in daft poses, to surprise her

Shaggy was for a body/head donor, as near 1:32 and I have an open-top slot car conversion idea for him

Daphne will just stand on the sideboard and glare at my wife.

[junkyarddog]

3 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Daphne will just stand on the sideboard and I'll be  glared at by my wife.

FTFY.

[flat4alfa]

That happens already.

Hence the need to bolster defences.

[flat4alfa]

This week some more Lone Star models appeared after a Post Lady visit.  Yes, she is still around and as friendly as ever.

One is the seemingly uncommon Alfa Romeo [Giulietta] Spider.  Uncommon, in that it still has all its opening things and it does retain both its headlamp jewels, being an early Impy with the steering chassis.  Pleasingly, the paint is reasonably unscathed.  Steering wheel has escaped, have a similar Lone Star donor.  Will need to do something about fabricating/donating a screen though, as I hoped (assumed!) it was the same as fitted to the Rolls Royce that Steve Flowers recently introduced and the eBay trigger finger was applied.  Never mind, it was bid to just £4, a surprise!

Also separately was the Jaguar MK X, a Flyers range car with the wheels I prefer.  It has more chipping, but also complete with all its opening things and nothing missing.  It is also much nicer than either the Matchbox or Husky offerings.  Even better than that it was BIN £1.99 !

Scaling is a bit off though.  The Jaguar states 1:64 scale, but measures to 1:67.  The Alfa just states 'scale model' and measures to approx 1:51, so perhaps it was intended for the larger Roadmasters range rather than Impy?  Perhaps they worried the American market would find it too weedy.

Tiny Tom wonders why I am buying Lone Star examples when I told myself I would clear out the small cars and concentrate on 1:48, or not at all.  I blame you lot.

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

I shouldn't be allowed out on my own.

Some decent finds there, this is the only GT Capri I've got my hands on

That 300ZX looks great too, much better than the two tatty white ones I've acquired

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Some more examples of NEOs

Something Vanguards never did, a Farina Estate

A couple of Ford Taunus Wagons

And something a bit exotic, De Tomaso Deauville (the Italian XJ-6)

[flat4alfa]

I don't know how to follow-up that gorgeous De Tomaso with just 50p charity shop efforts!

So will leave this screen grab from Shoestring on BBC1 in 1979

In other news:  Has anyone heard from Mr Cog?

[bunglebus]

15 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

This week some more Lone Star models appeared

Funny enough I also bid on a Lone Star after the recent discussion of them

Chrysler Imperial looks like it should be parked on a New York side street in about 1980

Also landing on the mat was this Polfi Toys Mercedes 

This is only the second offering I've found from this company, and I'm going to say quality control was not the greatest, check out the flash on the casting around the windows

Next up, some older Matchbox efforts, both ambulances. I had the Lomas one but the rear doors had gone AWOL

Did a little repair to the recently acquired Cadillac too, thanks to an unfortunate Zodiac that donated a pair of wheels

I did try to re-rivet the base using a centre punch but had to glue it in the end

Lastly, I found an error car from Hot Wheels. Unfortunately I only noticed as I was taking it apart to steal the slot mags off it

[Datsuncog]

Since I'm currently hacking and spluttering with a dose of lurgy like half the country, I felt that dragging myself out into a cold, dark, wet Friday morning to the first market of 2023 today would be a smidge unwise - tempted though I was at the thought of some smokin' hot St George's action.

My ardour was further chilled by waking to a lovely text message from my bank to say I was now using my overdraft, which was nice. I'd been hoping not to receive that message for at least another week. Oh dear.

So that kinda puts the mockers on further tat-acquisition for a while. 

However, due to a heady mix of illness, busyness and general can't-be-arsedness at the tail end of the year, I never quite got around to posting up the pics from the last Friday market of 2022, on 23rd December - so, perhaps you'd draw some scant winter comfort from a belated load of tat photos...

 

Winter mornings suck.

But there's usually quite a nice aroma by the entrances, from the various coffee and cake vendors.

(As long as you don't come in via the May Street doors, which have the fish stalls right alongside. It's a bit less fragrant.)

The final market of the year proved mildly frustrating. Although I was in well before the official opening hour of 8am, while most of the antiques/tat stalls were unattended and still a-slumber beneath their dustsheets, The Nemesis was already there, energetically hoking through a large cardboard box behind the Tat Stall while Market Blokey attempted to set his wares up.

Torture.

I circuited the market; I got myself a coffee; I circuited some more. Still the hoking continued. I helped Blokey empty out a few boxes of books and ceramics, and straightened up the stall for him using my decades of professional* merchandising experience. Hoke, hoke, hoke.

There were more £5 buses/ lorries/ steam freight this week - but not many that I felt would be of significant interest to regulars here:

The £1 Hot Wheels/ Matchbox tubs had now been combined - but it's really just down to the dregs now:

There was some Mamod steam stuff on offer, for those of us who like our modelling to smell faintly of paraffin and carry a mild risk of burns...

There was a large box of 00 scale rolling stock...

And even something for the 8-track fans (whoever they may be).

And still the infuriating box-hoking continued from my tracksuit-topped adversary, and now I could see that all manner of diecast delights had been extracted and set to one side... a mint-looking 1970s Corgi Mercedes articulated truck in Michelin colours; a chipped but complete Corgi Major Scammell Handyman in Ferrymasters livery... sundry tidy Matchbox regular wheels and King Size, including that Leyland Ergomatic tipper in maroon with the regular wheels that I've been looking out for ages... argh.

Eventually, The Nemesis finished up, handed over some banknotes, and dumped a tragically large number of 1960s and 70s commercial vehicles into a carrier bag (with a noise that made me wince) before heading off into the grey morning.

The box was then passed over to me, and yes... anything of interest was now gone.

*Sigh*

I thought I'd taken a pic of the inside of the box, but it doesn't appear to have saved - so here's the emptied-out contents, once I'd neatly grouped them together on the stall:

The SIII Land Rover was, I think, one of those Heller click-kits from the early 90s. Missing a few small bits but broadly complete.

Plastic HO tractor units were mostly unbranded, though a couple were apparently by Wiking:

Orange and green Ford Transcontinental was an unusual one. Mercedes, Volvo and Iveco were nice enough but not really my bag.

Dinky Hudson was one of the few oldies not snapped up by You-Know-Who.

MoYs can GTF.

These three buses were all by Tomica, and seemed to be colour variations of the same casting:

Unusual, but not all that tempting to me.

This plastic bus was branded as Jouef, I think - as was the diecast Daimler SP250 behind, missing its windshield plus a wheel or two.

The unknown orange truck in the middle was broken into two pieces and heavily mangled - some sort of crane truck?

The MB Super Kings Scammell crane truck was dusty and a bit sun-faded but otherwise in ok condition - I might have considered nabbing it, only I've already got a yellow version with regular wheels, so couldn't really find a justification.

Oh, and there were buses in the box too. Lots of Dinky buses, most of them repaints or else repaint candidates.

Again, nice - but not really for me.

And there was this vintage card game, which looked kinda interesting:

Likely along the lines of 'Your Sunbeam-Talbot has broken a conrod on the Col de Turini - miss a turn while you refill your pipe and your navigator whittles a new one with his trusty penknife.'

Ah, the good ol' days.

And that was that, really... a bit of an anticlimax, I'm afraid, which I why I couldn't quite muster up the enthusiasm for a same-day writeup.

I'd fervently hoped that the Guisval Skoda buggy or the Playcraft Jag XK140 from the previous week might still be around, but apparently not.

I pottered about the rest of the stalls - Alan's Emporium was a bit slow on the setup, with a box of £10 EFE buses visible but the 50p tray still empty.

One of the other giffer stalls had a few 1940s and 50s Dinky offered, but I didn't dare read the Dreaded Labels to find out how much was being asked.

Probably £Lots.

And the once-mighty Charity Stall, which since COVID has been mostly purveying ratty DVDs for 20p and past-date dog food, surprisingly had some large-format tinplate tat on offer:

However, due to the presence of an ever-increasing number of chattering old biddies in front of the stall I wasn't able to get any closer to these.

So, no diecast purchases were made, sadly - and it may be a wee while before finances permit much in the way of market expeditions. 

But! New Year, new opportunities. Here's hoping.

Happy Friday, everyone.

[flat4alfa]

37 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Cor.. a Marx 'Powerhouse' searchlight truck.  Cab being a Ford C-series, mid-1960s.  Never seen one of those before.

Not sure what is going on in the background though.  Is that a Santa bend double?  Never seen one of those before either

[Split_Pin]

53 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Since I'm currently hacking and spluttering with a dose of lurgy like half the country, I felt that dragging myself out into a cold, dark, wet Friday morning to the first market of 2023 today would be a smidge unwise - tempted though I was at the thought of some smokin' hot St George's action.

My ardour was further chilled by waking to a lovely text message from my bank to say I was now using my overdraft, which was nice. I'd been hoping not to receive that message for at least another week. Oh dear.

So that kinda puts the mockers on further tat-acquisition for a while. 

However, due to a heady mix of illness, busyness and general can't-be-arsedness at the tail end of the year, I never quite got around to posting up the pics from the last Friday market of 2022, on 23rd December - so, perhaps you'd draw some scant winter comfort from a belated load of tat photos...

 

Winter mornings suck.

But there's usually quite a nice aroma by the entrances, from the various coffee and cake vendors.

(As long as you don't come in via the May Street doors, which have the fish stalls right alongside. It's a bit less fragrant.)

The final market of the year proved mildly frustrating. Although I was in well before the official opening hour of 8am, while most of the antiques/tat stalls were unattended and still a-slumber beneath their dustsheets, The Nemesis was already there, energetically hoking through a large cardboard box behind the Tat Stall while Market Blokey attempted to set his wares up.

Torture.

I circuited the market; I got myself a coffee; I circuited some more. Still the hoking continued. I helped Blokey empty out a few boxes of books and ceramics, and straightened up the stall for him using my decades of professional* merchandising experience. Hoke, hoke, hoke.

There were more £5 buses/ lorries/ steam freight this week - but not many that I felt would be of significant interest to regulars here:

The £1 Hot Wheels/ Matchbox tubs had now been combined - but it's really just down to the dregs now:

There was some Mamod steam stuff on offer, for those of us who like their modelling to smell faintly of paraffin and carry a mild risk of burns...

There was a large box of 00 scale rolling stock...

And even something for the 8-track fans (whoever they may be).

And still the infuriating box-hoking continued from my tracksuit-topped adversary, and now I could see that all manner of diecast delights had been extracted and set to one side... a mint-looking 1970s Corgi Mercedes articulated truck in Michelin colours; a chipped but complete Corgi Major Scammell Handyman in Ferrymasters livery... sundry tidy Matchbox regular wheels and King Size, including that Leyland Ergomatic tipper in maroon with the regular wheels that I've been looking out for ages... argh.

Eventually, The Nemesis finished up, handed over some banknotes, and dumped a tragically large number of 1960s and 70s commercial vehicles into a carrier bag (with a noise that made me wince) before heading off into the grey morning.

The box was then passed over to me, and yes... anything of interest was now gone.

*Sigh*

I thought I'd taken a pic of the inside of the box, but it doesn't appear to have saved - so here's the emptied-out contents, once I'd neatly grouped them together on the stall:

The SIII Land Rover was, I think, one of those Heller click-kits from the early 90s. Missing a few small bits but broadly complete.

Plastic HO tractor units were mostly unbranded, though a couple were apparently by Wiking:

Orange and green Ford Transcontinental was an unusual one. Mercedes, Volvo and Iveco were nice enough but not really my bag.

Dinky Hudson was one of the few oldies not snapped up by You-Know-Who.

MoYs can GTF.

These three buses were all by Tomica, and seemed to be colour variations of the same casting:

Unusual, but not all that tempting to me.

This plastic bus was branded as Jouef, I think - as was the diecast Daimler SP250 behind, missing its windshield plus a wheel or two.

The unknown orange truck in the middle was broken into two pieces and heavily mangled - some sort of crane truck?

The MB Super Kings Scammell crane truck was dusty and a bit sun-faded but otherwise in ok condition - I might have considered nabbing it, only I've already got a yellow version with regular wheels, so couldn't really find a justification.

Oh, and there were buses in the box too. Lots of Dinky buses, most of them repaints or else repaint candidates.

Again, nice - but not really for me.

And there was this vintage card game, which looked kinda interesting:

Likely along the lines of 'Your Sunbeam-Talbot has broken a conrod on the Col de Turini - miss a turn while you refill your pipe and whittle a new one with your trusty penknife.'

Ah, the good ol' days.

And that was that, really... a bit of an anticlimax, I'm afraid, which I why I couldn't quite muster up the enthusiasm for a same-day writeup.

I'd fervently hoped that the Guisval Skoda buggy or the Playcraft Jag XK140 from the previous week might still be around, but apparently not.

I pottered about the rest of the stalls - Alan's Emporium was a bit slow on the setup, with a box of £10 EFE buses visible but the 50p tray still empty.

One of the other giffer stalls had a few 1940s and 50s Dinky offered, but I didn't dare read the Dreaded Labels to find out how much was being asked.

Probably £Lots.

And the once-mighty Charity Stall, which since COVID has been mostly purveying ratty DVDs for 20p and past-date dog food, surprisingly had some large-format tinplate tat on offer:

However, due to the presence of an ever-increasing number of chattering old biddies in front of the stall I wasn't able to get any closer to these.

So, no diecast purchases were made, sadly - and it may be a wee while before finances permit much in the way of market expeditions. 

But! New Year, new opportunities. Here's hoping.

Happy Friday, everyone.

Hope you get better soon chap!

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Winter mornings suck.

And even something for the 8-track fans (whoever they may be).

The SIII Land Rover was, I think, one of those Heller click-kits from the early 90s. Missing a few small bits but broadly complete.

Congrats on that atmospheric street photo.  It really captures the angst and strife of a dedicated die-cast warrior.  With lurgy.

Bill Lear 8-track fans?  Well they will be me.  I have a 1970s Akai 'lo-fi' deck here and plenty of tapes of the greats from the Moodies, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, etc.  Probably Perry Como too, if that is your thing.

Heller 1:32 CLICLAC, yes.  That Fire Appliance is not one I recognise, but I only had the Police Land Rover LWB and a good few of the Renault Master Vans.  Funnily enough a few of them sold recently for well over a tenner each...

Thanks for the exemplary effort Mr Cog !   I'm send you a PM shortly.

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Also landing on the mat was this Polfi Toys Mercedes 

This is only the second offering I've found from this company, and I'm going to say quality control was not the greatest, check out the flash on the casting around the windows

To be fair, Greek building control of the period wasn't that much better!  The observations during family holiday visit to Athens confirmed that in the mid-eighties.

[danthecapriman]

Another big box of assorted diecast tat arrived for me today… 

I’ve already had a quick gander in there and early signs are quite promising!

Theres some of the obligatory rubbish but some good stuff too. Some stuff I’ve never seen & am unfamiliar with too. But first things first, that Corgi Jag on top is absolutely gorgeous and has two suitcases still in the boot!

Oh and also there’s a complete and working Corgi Man From Uncle car there too… @sutty2006

[sierraman]

6 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Another big box of assorted diecast tat arrived for me today… 

I’ve already had a quick gander in there and early signs are quite promising!

Theres some of the obligatory rubbish but some good stuff too. Some stuff I’ve never seen & am unfamiliar with too. But first things first, that Corgi Jag on top is absolutely gorgeous and has two suitcases still in the boot!

Oh and also there’s a complete and working Corgi Man From Uncle car there too… @sutty2006

Where do you find all this stuff? 🤣

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

 

And there was this vintage card game, which looked kinda interesting:

Likely along the lines of 'Your Sunbeam-Talbot has broken a conrod on the Col de Turini - miss a turn while you refill your pipe and your navigator whittles a new one with his trusty penknife.'

Ah, the good ol' days.

 

You might want to snap that up if you get the chance as some value it quite highly

1954 Stirling Moss' Monte Carlo Rally Game by Pepys - tomsk3000

 

[RoadworkUK]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

.... smokin' hot St George's action.

For what it's worth (£0, probably), your expedition has been the undoubted highlight of my day. For context, I'm currently subbing a first drive of the Mercedes-Benz EQE. Make of that what you will.

[danthecapriman]

13 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Where do you find all this stuff? 🤣

😆

The important thing is that I do find this stuff, then I can drip feed it to the Autoshite diecast community!

Have you done anything with that Lesney Mini I sent you? I only ask as there’s a pretty good one in this box that’s missing it’s glazing if your interested!? It’s a much nicer casting & paint than that other one.

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Funny enough I also bid on a Lone Star after the recent discussion of them

Chrysler Imperial looks like it should be parked on a New York side street in about 1980

Good to see the headlamp jewel pairs are intact...

* dashes off to check the example here has them *

* returns *

Phew!  Yes.

Glad you picked that one up, did have it watch-listed as an axle donor for this one, picked up a couple of weeks ago. 

But then I had a brain-storm* and bought the Corvette instead as a 'Flyer' wheel style axle donor, for £1.99 (posted!).  Only to then realise that the track is much wider on the Corvette!  Well of course it would be, the Imperial is nearer 1:73.  So the possible donor Rolls Royce might have to do, not that I wanted it to be.

What it does have though is a similar hood-prop!

 

'They've got everything!', including : 'Non-scratch tyres'

[flat4alfa]

33 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Oh no!  MAHOOSIVE PHOTO UPLOAD SESSION COMING UP

My phone is going to fry.

[danthecapriman]

There’s a few odd ones in this box. Some plastic cars from Sweden & Norway, a few Tonka’s, some form of Triang military thingy… definitely something for everyone this box.

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

The unknown orange truck in the middle was broken into two pieces and heavily mangled - some sort of crane truck?

Thought for a while there, that would the remains of the Dinky Coles Crane

But no.  I was swayed by the teasing of orange.