Shite in Miniature II

[Datsuncog]

1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

That Matchbox camper is worth a fiver to me if it's still sealed

It's not sealed, annoyingly - but I bought it for a fiver anyway.

Paintwork is minty, though on extracting it from the blister there's quite a lot of UV darkening to one side and part of the rear of the plastic camper body - the side I couldn't see, of course.

Might respond to some peroxide and sunlight, maybe?

I'd planned on keeping this one for myself, as I'm unlikely to turn up a cleaner example without resorting to megabucks, but as ever... these things are kinda fluid. It's not like I don't have enough Matchbox!

[MiniMinorMk3]

15 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Are they all Wicker ones then?

Does that mean this was a Wicker?

If so, Alan is pleased

Yes all those on the transporter are Alans.

 

 

15 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Ok I looked up Catalogues.  First appeared catalogue 1967

Appeared again still carrying the decal in 1969

Not in 1970 catalogue.

Didn't see any without the decal in any catalogue.  So can I assume I have answered my own question?  A black one with a red roof was never sold naked.

The Wicker Mini started life with the spun wheels and finished on the cast wheels.

 

 

14 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

The photo was from a Hatton auction page.  That actual Pop Art 'Mostest' Mini sold for £3k.

All Mostests have cast wheels.

By the way, £3k for a Mostest is way over the top. It would have to be mint in a mint box to fetch that much.

SEARCH RESULTS (vectis.co.uk)

[MiniMinorMk3]

21 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Unusual wheel type fitted here

I think some one has been messing about. Those Range Rovers had screw in bases so it would be easy to swop them.

However, there are at least 3 other wheel types with tyres.

[Split_Pin]

Fiver each is good with me!

[junkyarddog]

I'm curious about this illuminating conversation with The Nemesis?

[andrew e]

I reckon he’s agent for the government building up a “Strategic Miniature Tat Reserve” so in the event of Putin pressing the button we can have smol shite in our post-apocalyptic lives. Possibly. He might just be as weird as us 😂

[sierraman]

It looks as if Poundland are sellingbthe current range now? Or is it a one off? 

[Datsuncog]

20 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Do you want me to just deal with the nemesis!? If you see what I’m saying…🤣 

Lots of people on here would be much happier!

Ah, it's all about the cut 'n' thrust - where would Peter Pan be without Captain Hook? Batman without The Joker? Spongebob without Squidward?

Everyone needs a Nemesis...

11 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

I'm curious about this illuminating conversation with The Nemesis?

Ah now...

Well, interestingly, he didn't show up until well after 8 today - by which time I'd already taken a load of pics, made a few purchases, taken a turn round the rest of the market (nothing of interest), got a coffee and was busy resizing pics and tapping away at my screen.

Then I saw the message about the Kelvin RM and Dinky Vanguard S1 come through, so trotted back over to see what was what - and there he was, handing over a wodge of cash for a box of about 15 models; mostly Dinky stuff but some Corgi and other items too.

Initially he seemed a smidge taken aback, and asked if I was in late today too? 

I assured him that no, I'd already had a good look through everything earlier on, and had got all I personally wanted.

He then told me that he'd actually left it a bit later to come in today - because he didn't want me to think that he was in competition with me, and wanted to head off any potential conflict.

Which was jolly thoughtful of him, and gave me a twinge of regret at some of my previous rather huffy postings.

I'll not lie, I began to worry that he'd found this thread online...

So then we got onto the whys and wherefores of why we collect stuff, and yes - he says he is buying this stuff for himself, not for flipping.

He was over the moon at finding the Dinky Commer DECCA unit, and the other Dinky items. And rightly so.

And then he explained why he was here every week.

Like so many of us, he amassed a lot of toy cars as a kid. LOTS. Bags and bags of them throughout the '60s and early '70s.

He told me that his mother worked at the Spot-On factory on the Castlereagh Rd, and staff had the opportunity to buy up imperfect seconds in bags of five for £not that much.

Which was great, until he reached his early teens... and, as he told it, he started getting stick from his mates for being into toy cars.

So, seemingly to prove he wasn't still a wee kid playing with wee cars, he said that he lined them all up... and put a hammer through every one of them.

Then threw them all in the bin, where his father later found them.

Oooft.

Now that's the sort of nightmare scenario which absolutely gives me the cold sweats. I can't even imagine how he feels about that.

So years passed, and then towards the late '80s he found himself at a toy fair... and a lot of those memories came back. And he's been collecting ever since.

He must have a helluva collection by now.

And, rather like me, it's the thrill of the unexpected which brings him along to the market each week. Sure, anyone can go online and buy some diecast, but there's no surprises that way (or no good ones, anyway). With the market, you never know what you're gonna get.

I've said here before that, as a kid, two of the highlights of my year were a toy & model fair at the local leisure centre around Easter time, and my primary school's May Festival which involved secondhand stalls in the assembly hall - including a toy stall. I knew that both of them would have diecast, and plenty of them. But which ones? What would I find that I didn't even know existed before?

The excitement came from the not-knowing, from the potential for an utterly thrilling find. I would nearly make myself sick with nervous anticipation the night before either of those once-a-year events.

While I don't quite struggle with involuntary emeticism in advance of the Friday market these days, I do get a bit of a flutter on a Thursday night. A low-level sensation of latency. What's gonna be in the boxes? A load of ratty Days Gone? Or some minty Spot-On?

It's a helluva dopamine rush, going through those market doors each Friday. I'm a lazy shite, so it takes a lot to turf me out of bed before I absolutely have to be up. But, the way I feel it, it is a lot. And when something of interest is suddenly spied on the stall, it totally feels worth it.

And today, I think he got that thrill from the Dinky Commer. A few months ago, I got it from that amazing Gamda Koor Impala (and also the Siku Transit the other week). Just the feeling of connecting with a toy, and a certain sensation of plucking diamonds from the rough.

He does seem like a genuinely nice fella, and I kinda feel bad for playing him up as a cartoon villain for the LOLs. He's no different from any of us; a collector with a deep and abiding love of old diecast. He just appears to have rather more disposable income than I can muster on any given Friday!

As an additional interesting point, I gave him a bit of my background (including my own very similar regrets at building a 'toy scrapyard' and the bitter shame of putting dozens of my Matchbox and Corgi through my father's bench vice), and I mentioned the model shop where I used to work in the mid-90s.

Yes, it turns out he knows the owner of the shop very well, and often meets up with him for a chinwag. So we had a bit of a catch-up about the people who we knew through that channel, and what they were all doing now.

So - in the end he had to run, as he was parked in a time-limited space and didn't want to be ticketed. And I just about had time to scoop up a couple more purchases, taking up the last of my cash reserves, before I had to scarper too...

10 minutes ago, andrew e said:

He might just be as weird as us 😂

Yeah. I'd say he's very much one of us.

[Split_Pin]

Nice that you finally met him, he does seem like one of us. I'm totally with you on the anticipation of an in-person search. Ebay is just too easy.

[andrew e]

The hammers and vices sound’s oh so familiar. I mean normal kid didn’t want there own scrapyard? 

[Split_Pin]

I didn't even have the decency to be creative and make a scrapyard, I just destroyed a lot of cars. My worst was a Stahlberg  Volvo 340 that I cut up with a hacksaw. I honestly cannot bear thinking about that one. Thankfully I have another now.

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

I think some one has been messing about. Those Range Rovers had screw in bases so it would be easy to swop them.

However, there are at least 3 other wheel types with tyres.

Yeah, I think someone's been tinkering with this one too.

It's not very well focused - but the front wheel on the other side seems to be the same as the ones on the police version below.

Not the worst thing, but a bit confusing! Otherwise, all the bits seemed to be there to complete a restoration.

[Datsuncog]

So, I'm completely out of whack here, as some of my photos from earlier didn't take and then the forum site kept glitching and going blank on me every time I tried to type on my phone, which was frustrating... then I had to hammer back down the road home and log on for a meeting (because, like, work) and then we had Diecast Confidential, and... well, I'll need to rewind a bit here and see where we're at.

Cos we're not done yet. Oh no.

[danthecapriman]

53 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Ah, it's all about the cut 'n' thrust - where would Peter Pan be without Captain Hook? Batman without The Joker? Spongebob without Squidward?

Everyone needs a Nemesis...

Ah now...

Well, interestingly, he didn't show up until well after 8 today - by which time I'd already taken a load of pics, made a few purchases, taken a turn round the rest of the market (nothing of interest), got a coffee and was busy resizing pics and tapping away at my screen.

Then I saw the message about the Kelvin RM and Dinky Vanguard S1 come through, so trotted back over to see what was what - and there he was, handing over a wodge of cash for a box of about 15 models; mostly Dinky stuff but some Corgi and other items too.

Initially he seemed a smidge taken aback, and asked if I was in late today too? 

I assured him that no, I'd already had a good look through everything earlier on, and had got all I personally wanted.

He then told me that he'd actually left it a bit later to come in today - because he didn't want me to think that he was in competition with me, and wanted to head off any potential conflict.

Which was jolly thoughtful of him, and gave me a twinge of regret at some of my previous rather huffy postings.

I'll not lie, I began to worry that he'd found this thread online...

So then we got onto the whys and wherefores of why we collect stuff, and yes - he says he is buying this stuff for himself, not for flipping.

He was over the moon at finding the Dinky Commer DECCA unit, and the other Dinky items. And rightly so.

And then he explained why he was here every week.

Like so many of us, he amassed a lot of toy cars as a kid. LOTS. Bags and bags of them throughout the '60s and early '70s.

He told me that his mother worked at the Spot-On factory on the Castlereagh Rd, and staff had the opportunity to buy up imperfect seconds in bags of five for £not that much.

Which was great, until he reached his early teens... and, as he told it, he started getting stick from his mates for being into toy cars.

So, seemingly to prove he wasn't still a wee kid playing with wee cars, he said that he lined them all up... and put a hammer through every one of them.

Then threw them all in the bin, where his father later found them.

Oooft.

Now that's the sort of nightmare scenario which absolutely gives me the cold sweats. I can't even imagine how he feels about that.

So years passed, and then towards the late '80s he found himself at a toy fair... and a lot of those memories came back. And he's been collecting ever since.

He must have a helluva collection by now.

And, rather like me, it's the thrill of the unexpected which brings him along to the market each week. Sure, anyone can go online and buy some diecast, but there's no surprises that way (or no good ones, anyway). With the market, you never know what you're gonna get.

I've said here before that, as a kid, two of the highlights of my year were a toy & model fair at the local leisure centre around Easter time, and my primary school's May Festival which involved secondhand stalls in the assembly hall - including a toy stall. I knew that both of them would have diecast, and plenty of them. But which ones? What would I find that I didn't even know existed before?

The excitement came from the not-knowing, from the potential for an utterly thrilling find. I would nearly make myself sick with nervous anticipation the night before either of those once-a-year events.

While I don't quite struggle with involuntary emeticism in advance of the Friday market these days, I do get a bit of a flutter on a Thursday night. A low-level sensation of latency. What's gonna be in the boxes? A load of ratty Days Gone? Or some minty Spot-On?

It's a helluva dopamine rush, going through those market doors each Friday. I'm a lazy shite, so it takes a lot to turf me out of bed before I absolutely have to be up. But, the way I feel it, it is a lot. And when something of interest is suddenly spied on the stall, it totally feels worth it.

And today, I think he got that thrill from the Dinky Commer. A few months ago, I got it from that amazing Gamda Koor Impala (and also the Siku Transit the other week). Just the feeling of connecting with a toy, and a certain sensation of plucking diamonds from the rough.

He does seem like a genuinely nice fella, and I kinda feel bad for playing him up as a cartoon villain for the LOLs. He's no different from any of us; a collector with a deep and abiding love of old diecast. He just appears to have rather more disposable income than I can muster on any given Friday!

As an additional interesting point, I gave him a bit of my background (including my own very similar regrets at building a 'toy scrapyard' and the bitter shame of putting dozens of my Matchbox and Corgi through my father's bench vice), and I mentioned the model shop where I used to work in the mid-90s.

Yes, it turns out he knows the owner of the shop very well, and often meets up with him for a chinwag. So we had a bit of a catch-up about the people who we knew through that channel, and what they were all doing now.

So - in the end he had to run, as he was parked in a time-limited space and didn't want to be ticketed. And I just about had time to scoop up a couple more purchases, taking up the last of my cash reserves, before I had to scarper too...

Yeah. I'd say he's very much one of us.

I don’t believe there’s any malice whatsoever in anything directed towards Mr Nemesis from anyone here, it’s just a bit of banter really! Like you say, a cartoon villain! 
Maybe you should tell him about coming on here? 
Id certainly like to see his collection… it must be absolutely immense and have some real rarities in it after that long!

[andrew e]

X100

 

[danthecapriman]

Some more arrivals today, although still waiting on the next job lot(s). Come on Evri, get your finger out!

Rather nice Greenlight Chevy Impala. I really like these Greenlight models.

[RoadworkUK]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Yeah. I'd say he's very much one of us.

Brilliant story. And it seems I must have something in my eye.

[danthecapriman]

Odd Matchbox ones, nothing special, but just ones I like for whatever reason. 
Chevy stock car is a later Macau made one which I’ll probably strip & repaint.

 

Selection of nice China/Macau/Thailand made Matchbox. 
The 480 is one I’ve never had until now, and it’s a really nice looking version of that car.

 

Made in UK Matchbox.

And this one, which I very nearly just discarded…    
It was absolutely filthy. But, it’s actually not bad at all given it’s age and easily broken bits still being there. The wheels are very worn too so I reckon this was someone’s favourite way back whenever. 
The base plate is hanging off too, so I’m going to strip it and repair/repaint it.

[bunglebus]

Kinda reminds me of the time, a few months after finishing a plastic model kit of the General Lee, when I decided it was going to be the subject of a crash and subsequent inferno. So that was the end of that

[bunglebus]

Just now, danthecapriman said:

Sierra is lovely. Cortina looks in good shape too

[quicksilver]

3 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

And this one, which I very nearly just discarded…    

It was absolutely filthy. But, it’s actually not bad at all given it’s age and easily broken bits still being there. The wheels are very worn too so I reckon this was someone’s favourite way back whenever. 
The base plate is hanging off too, so I’m going to strip it and repair/repaint it.

Looks like a good candidate for a replica of the rare green cab/yellow body version.

[quicksilver]

3 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Sure thing - I nabbed that one reasoning that someone here would probably want it!

Great, it's a Bill Day build to his distinctive style. I'm sure you found another one of his a while back.

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Yeah. I'd say he's very much one of us.

And he didn't even ask why you keep taking photos of his trainers?!

[danthecapriman]

3 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Sierra is lovely. Cortina looks in good shape too

They are both very good. Cortina’s stripes are slightly worn at the edges but nothing that detracts. 
That Sierra is really nice, I love the graphics on it. I didn’t actually realise they made that Sierra in UK, I thought they were all foreign made. That one must be quite an early version of it?

[AnnoyingPentium]

As promised, I put stuff up for sale. See below.

 

En français, bonne chance or something like that. Higher French has failed me

[danthecapriman]

4 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

Looks like a good candidate for a replica of the rare green cab/yellow body version.

That is a very good idea actually! Definitely the way to go I think.

[flat4alfa]

8 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

Looks like a good candidate for a replica of the rare green cab/yellow body version.

Had to look that up.  One sold on eBay in 2013 to an anonymous bidder for $8,499

Well that's just silly

This real thing was up for only $1600 at the time

[flat4alfa]

Yellow Mercury Commuter

Quote

Estimated Value: $3,700

[sierraman]

Green Weasel as well that’s not common. 

[danthecapriman]

4 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Green Weasel as well that’s not common. 

Aren’t they all green?