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Another H.W. Corgi Marcos copy

H.W. 305 Corgi Marcos XP copy

This one came from across the Irish Sea, it's a TF

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I haven't ID'd this one yet, wheels look familiar though

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Some of the stuff that turns up in these job lots is quite amusing

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If I get Datsuncog in the secret santa I know what to send him. Yet another Shinsei copy

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These two Zee Toys were worth finding

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Don't know who made this Ferrari BB 512

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These were what actually caught my eye - larger than the usual 1:64 High Speeds, Cobra Mustang

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and Capri. I'll find the normal size ones for comparison at some point

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Very shiny Jaguar from the same maker 

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I wish I had the van that this Impulse 300 ZX originally lived inside (hence the sticky-out wheels). It's a copy of the Matchbox one

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I have spare decals for this to make it nice again

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Hot Wheels Land Lord (among others) from @danthecapriman

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A few Matchbox from various sources

Matchbox 16d Dodge Wreck TruckMatchbox Porsche 944 TurboMatchbox Porsche 944 Turbo

Including the previously discussed monster trucks

Matchbox Superchargers SC-15 Big PeteMatchbox Super Chargers SC-6 Awesome Kong IIMatchbox Super Chargers SC-1 Bigfoot

I got one of these Corgi Corollas years ago that someone had repainted - this standard one is in great condition

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Very pleased with this pair of Trans-O-Lite Corgis. The P SIX has been on my hit list for a good while to go with the Golden Jacks one

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Mrs. BB spotted these two BBuragos in a charity shop with the dreaded paper price tags - thankfully they said £1.99.

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Merc is missing the rear lights and seat backs, but this one

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...is complete and very lovely. Not normally my cup of tea but this will stay

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On 2/13/2023 at 8:05 PM, flat4alfa said:

I wondered why they decided on CYCLE

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rather than DESERT on the real thing

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Nissan built 1000 of them to commemorate success on Baja 1000 for 1998.

There is no cycling on the Baja 1000.  Fighting the sand would do your knees in.

I think I may be able to shed a little bit of light on this conundrum... Not completely, but another piece of the puzzle. Read on...

So I was out yesterday morning doing a spot of light grocery-gathering, as you might do of a Saturday.

And I had one eye out for any interesting diecast, as you also might do.

Home Bargains had nothing of interest. The same went for Poundland, and Poundstretcher (still with a forlornly empty Matchbox Working Rigs peg, but no stock).

Lidl indicated that they would have some Hot Wheels in on Monday - though they look like quite old releases, and only a little cheaper than the other retailers.

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Sainsbury's had no Matchbox, though did have some 2023 Hot Wheels:

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Salty enough at £2.30, and difficult to rummage through.

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I find it hard to believe anyone's paying triple for a novelty paint finish, though.

Tesco was where things got a little more interesting.

Hot Wheels remain sorely neglected.

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The dump bin's just full of literal rubbish, for the most part.

However, the latest 2023 Matchbox case seemed to have arrived, finally.

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Though it appeared to have been already filleted of anything interesting like the AMC Eagle or Dodge Charger. Loads of Renault Méganes, though.

But that's okay - B&M had sated my desire here a few weeks ago.

But it was nice to see there's still somewhere to buy Matchbox locally.

Methodically sifting through the contents revealed there were a lot of unloved motorbike trailers in there, still.

Two different kinds, in fact.

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The version with the silver bike and the dished custom-style wheels is from the previous case assortment, and has Sheriff's Department tampo print on it.

The version with the black bike and the disc wheels is from the latest selection, and looks set to win the 'least wanted' prize this time round too.

Only, looking a bit closer... 

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Now, that printed red and blue graphic over the wheels looks a bit familiar...

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Aha.

Well, there was only one thing for it...

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(as an aside, I can still never manage to use the old brushed-on acetone trick to remove these from their blister packs - I always seem to wind up with a soggy, coggled cardboard back that still rips when I try to coax the plastic away)

Yeah... that looks about right.

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And in fact, looking at the back...

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Well, that seems fairly conclusive.

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So for some reason the 'Cycle Runner' Nissan Hardbody seems to match up with the motorcycle trailer in the same case assortment.

Now, I still dunno quite where the term 'Cycle Runner' on a Nissan Desert Runner comes from, unless someone out there in Mattel's design team intended it as an in-joke, but it's an explanation of sorts as to why the pick-up's lettering ain't factory standard.

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Still, might be the easiest (and cheapest!) way to obtain a Hitch 'N Haul two-set?

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15 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

I have an answer too.  To get hold of a Ben Franklin, make your own.  The Pepsi-Cola base was used, so get hold of one of them, rub off the tampo, fire up the inkjet printer and wham, money saved.

Who has a Vectis account (silly question) who can look up the hammer price on this bundle from last month?

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https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/vectisauctionsltd/catalogue-id-vectis10011/lot-2bb01475-b0f5-4371-9c9f-afa100aa2f92

Original or counterfeit?  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134409352016  US $99.99

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-MB-38-Ford-Model-A-Van-Ben-Franklin-RARE-USA-Code-1-Promo-/294076755556  £69.99

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Add 30% for commission and VAT and the buyer paid almost £60.

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Bayer Aspirin and Tiger Balm versions of the Model A Van - last seen being bashed around in a 50p Tat Box earlier in the month.

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Or you could pay £75 for this rare* assortment at the Blytheswood Hospice shop.

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I've two Kellogg's promo versions - my original bashed-up cereal freebie from the 1980s, and a near-mint version acquired more recently which didn't spend several years getting zoomed up a slide to land in the flowerbeds...

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Yesterday, Post Lady and Delivery Man provided a Polistil Alfasud in 1:43 scale.

And an overflowing! box from Carrickfergus.

Along with a heavier box from Waterlooville.

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Waited for wife to go to bed and then the boxes were unwrapped surrepticiously.

 

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1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Buy a bottle of Wilko's own brand "clean up" thinner. Works a treat

No Wilko branches in NI!

😩

Whenever I've seen YouToobers demonstrating the 'approved' technique for extracting a diecast from a blister pack without tearing it all to hell, all they seem to do is dab some acetone (or other solvent) onto the back of the pack, then cut away for an unspecified amount of time before simply applying a little force to pop the plastic away from the cardboard with no damage to the card.

In my cackhanded experience, what happens is that I dab some on - and it then just evaporates off the back of the card without doing anything. So I add a bit more - same. Then I add quite a lot, and notice it's starting to soak through to the front. So I add a bit more, then a bit more, then notice the card's starting to coggle, so leave it for a while for the solvent to dissolve the glue.

Then I give it an experimental wiggle, which invariably results in the sodden front of the card tearing away along with the plastic blister.

Then I decide it's a stupid waste of time trying to get it off cleanly, and also a stupid waste of time buying small cars at all, and then remember that everything is stupid and pointless and we're all stuck on a rock in an empty uncaring universe tipping slowly towards entropy and heat death, and nothing matters anyway. Following this minor existential crisis I usually just go to bed.

Clearly I'm doing something wrong, but I can't quite pinpoint if it's the solvent, the technique, or the cold terror of doomed infinity that's causing the issue.

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I used to piss about unsealing the blister packs but honestly I don’t bother now, just open them along the packets and enjoy them. I’m not planning on flogging them and they’ll probably end up in a skip when I cark it anyway! There’s some older stuff I have that’s still boxed, by now chucking the package would be sacrilege but the new stuff should be out and enjoyed. 

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I'm an opener by habit - I don't much like keeping sealed models, and I'm aware this era of Matchbox will never be worth megabucks since there are already so many unopened examples in circulation amongst collectors.

I only try to remove them neatly because I'd kinda like to keep the artwork! Something like @bunglebus'setup would be ideal, with the cards acting as a backdrop to the display.

Also, until I get better storage/ display sorted out I feel bad throwing them loose into a shoebox under the bed, so tend to just pop them back into the opened boxes once I'm done messing around with them...

The secret subterranean stash. Welcome to the Tatcave.

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Recent Mattel products:

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Nnnngh. Messy.

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But after years of generic packaging, I really dig the current illustrations.

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I'd far rather see more of the cardboard boxes versions than the blister packs - easier to open, and easier to store too.

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But that's just me...

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Hit both local B&Ms today. Not a lot of difference to previous weeks. Still loads of older Matchbox but no 2023 yet which is a shame as I really want that AMC Eagle.

In the branch I don't normally go in, there was partial Flying Customs success, 

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I was pleased to get the Plymouth, one of my favourite Hot Wheels castings, as well as one of my favourite yank cars.

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Ah well, that's 75% of the Flying Customs got now!

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I've not heard of these mainline based Crass & Spurious editions though. There was one solitary Escort there, so being a sucker for the Hot Wheels Mk1, I grabbed it.

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This one was a thoroughly decadent £2.99 but the card art is, IMO, fabulous. I've already got the mainline blue/white stripes edition, and this one does have more detail, especially on the front and rear, which does justify it a little...

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My chosen fluid for removing price labels and other sticky stuff from models and their boxes is lighter fluid.

So I have just done a test with a bubble Matchbox I have lying about to see what would happen.

2007 Thailand produced VW T2 Bus. Probably worth twenty-seventy million pounds on Ebay.

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Drop a bit of fluid all round the bubble.

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Because I am impatient I waited about 20 seconds for it to do its work and with a little pull the bus was free and in fresh air for the first time in over 15 years.

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Maybe if I had waited a bit longer he surface might not have come away with the bubble, but never mind. I just got out my favourite model and box repair glue and stuck the bubble back on. I have deliberately stuck the model in the wrong way to increase the Ebay value as it must be a factory error. 

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2 minutes latter I did a gravity test and all is fine, apart from the slight whiff of lighter fluid and glue.

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2 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

I've not heard of these mainline based Crass & Spurious editions though. There was one solitary Escort there, so being a sucker for the Hot Wheels Mk1, I grabbed it.

IMG_20230326_172738.thumb.jpg.dea9ed74897d4a7b54636ed703b80834.jpg

This one was a thoroughly decadent £2.99 but the card art is, IMO, fabulous. I've already got the mainline blue/white stripes edition, and this one does have more detail, especially on the front and rear, which does justify it a little...

You found that in B&M? I've been trying to find one but Smyths got a solitary box in which of course got raided 3 seconds after it was put out

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6 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

I probably would have watched Fast & Furious 6 if it had starred a Marina Coupe... 

Marina 1.3 Coupe GOL564L.jpg

I'd quite like to see Vin Diesel understeering all over the place on lever-arm dampers while trying to wring the full 57bhp out of that A-series lump.

Would it have been thrown out the back of a plane with a piano?

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9 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

I probably would have watched Fast & Furious 6 if it had starred a Marina Coupe... 

Marina 1.3 Coupe GOL564L.jpg

I'd quite like to see Vin Diesel understeering all over the place on lever-arm dampers while trying to wring the full 57bhp out of that A-series lump.

Something I've done!  Except mine was the 1.8 SC...

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