Shite in Miniature II

[barrett]

New(ish) Autocult release

Ouch. I love this brand - they make exactly the sort of weird old shit I'm interested, but I've never been tempted to actually buy one before (they're c.£100) but that's one for my sheld of 'cars wot I've owned' which I never thought would exist. Alright, it's a Monteverdi, but for all intents and purposes it's near-identical to the Heron. Better start saving.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

 Best advice is to keep it that way and avoid the blighters!

Well I hope you at least want the orange/blue anniversary one I have for you

How about some of these temptations coming later in the year?

This is very cool

This was a strange co-incidence. I gave my mate the black tooned Fast and Furious Dodge Charger that came out recently, and he said it would be good of they did a whole series of them including his favourite, the orange Supra. The next day I saw a pic of this

Recolour but such a great casting

787B is back

Recolour

New, or just hasn't been out for years?

Recolour

Is the Poppa Wheelie the only Hot Wheels shown from the back on the card art? It's a dragster with the body mounted backwards...

This I didn't expect as a Hot Wheels and it looks great

Recoloured Ain't No Saint - we haven't seen the 240 Drift Wagon for a while, I think that will appear soon

I don't care if it's pink, I want one

Recolours

Very awesome Gasser is also the Super Treasure Hunt if you're lucky

This is brand new, and looks fab. The wheels are also a new release and will definitely be appearing on some customs 

I think a few of you will be wanting this one too

[Spottedlaurel]

5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Well I hope you at least want the orange/blue anniversary one I have for you

How about some of these temptations coming later in the year?..........

The Alfa is very nice definitely one to watch for. I'm sure I could make room for the Civic and Land Cruiser as well.

Only just started seeing the BMW 507 in white quite recently, a recolour already?

I am starting to struggle finding much locally, all I got yesterday was the "Mud Studs" '70 Dodge Power Wagon (blue with brown tyres).

[flat4alfa]

Fell off chair when I saw ALFA GTV6

[flat4alfa]

Trouble Decker !

That must have come from a request this side of the pond…

It’s even got a lowered upper deck and we know where that idea came from

In fact I wouldn't be surprised if that tampo variation has been considered

[RoadworkUK]

12 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I forgot to get dishwasher tablets today, so I'll be back down in the general vicinity of Poundland tomorrow... could see if the Camaro's still kicking around?

If you happen to chance upon a 560SEC....

[AndyW201]

Not forgetting the upcoming '82 Supra...

[Datsuncog]

Some good news for @AndyW201...

Lightly dog-eared in the packaging department, but the elusive Then And Now 2018 Camaro was still on the shelf at Poundland this morning. So I nabbed it.

Not much else of interest - a Range Rover Classic and the Volvo 240 drift wagon were about the only other items of potential desire, but I think most of us already have those...

I also called into Tesco, but there wasn't very much of note in the toy aisle:

No new selections from the last time I looked, and mostly only the more lurid stuff remaining.

I do kinda like the reworked Jeep Wagoneer with the darker paint and lighter base/grille, but it's very similar to the earlier version I picked up a few months back.

No new Matchbox to be seen either - just a handful of not-Mustangs and Sheriff's Impound motorbike trailers remaining, with Hot Wheels overspill crowding them out.

Some tea-leaf's been at the motorbikes too:

Tut tut. No wonder they're hard to find.

(Though I do have a spare Honda CB750, if anyone's desperate for one.)

Possibly this is what's led Sainsburys to adopt their novel 'one model only in the Hot Wheels bin' policy:

Makes it easier to spot when something's been shoplifted, I guess?

No further 560SECs yet - though if I happen across any more, I'll be sure to scoop them.

Poundland does seem to be the best place to find newish Mattel stock right now - and, helpfully, they're also the cheapest by quite a margin...

[flat4alfa]

On 5/10/2023 at 9:44 AM, flat4alfa said:

Trouble Decker !  That must have come from a request this side of the pond…  It’s even got a lowered upper deck and we know where that idea came from

In fact I wouldn't be surprised if that tampo variation has been considered

Ah yes of course I answered my own question

Designer Fraser Campell from Manchester UK, now lives at Pasadena

Who gave the Hot Wheels world these

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

12 hours ago, barrett said:

New(ish) Autocult release

Ouch. I love this brand - they make exactly the sort of weird old shit I'm interested, but I've never been tempted to actually buy one before (they're c.£100) but that's one for my sheld of 'cars wot I've owned' which I never thought would exist. Alright, it's a Monteverdi, but for all intents and purposes it's near-identical to the Heron. Better start saving.

I've not had many Autocults pass through here. Here's their TVR Tasmin.

They have captured the wedge shape very well.

Good detail with just a single door mirror, but the rear lights are a bit wonky on this example.

Like Silas models, they are made in low numbers, and each has a numbered certificate.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Another of my favourite modern resin cast producers is Matrix. They make the stuff that does not get made by the diecast producers.

Here's there Avon XJ6 Series 3 Estate

The slope at the front panel looks a bit off.

And the roof looks a little tall at the rear.

They do come on a leather lined numbered base

[bunglebus]

Mooching around Smyths, B&M and Poundland - not a lot to write home about despite rummaging to the bottom of this

[Zie]

Nothing for me today. 

Was tempted by this glorious mug though. 

[bunglebus]

I just got these two, motorbike is not for me but is a treasure hunt 

[Datsuncog]

Now here's a little Matchbox-adjacent head-scratcher from a few months back...

Remember those FedEx stickers on the packaging of some of the 2023 releases?

On 2/13/2023 at 7:26 PM, Spottedlaurel said:

BTW, what's with the FedEx stickers on the new Matchbox packs? Didn't realise until I got home they're just stickers on both the front and rear of the card. They were on everything, not related to a livery on the diecast itself.

 

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

 

On 2/13/2023 at 9:51 PM, bunglebus said:

I'm a bit stumped on the FedEx label on the card - your Ranchero has it too and it seems to be a sticker rather than printed on

I had a bit of a peel earlier on the sticker on my actual FedEx branded MB56 Express Delivery:

And beneath is... another FedEx logo. But a different colour.

Huh.

I wonder if there was some ding-dong with FedEx's corporate Intellectual Property bods, over the exact appearance and composition of the logo?

It seems that the official FedEx colour logo is white for the 'Fed' element, and orange for the 'Ex' element, on a purple background.

An alternative seems to be a purple 'Fed' and orange 'Ex' whenever it appears on a white background - as it does on their white mailer boxes, their vehicles, and on the toy van here.

But of course the background colour of Matchbox packaging is also orange.

So early examples of the packaging for this release have the 'Fed' in purple and the 'Ex' in white - which seems a reasonable adjustment, right?

But I know that trademark holders can get very shirty about any deviations from an extremely rigid way of depicting their logos - including font, lettering aspect and the exact Pantone shade of colours.

So I wonder whether FedEx demands that its logo is only ever white and orange against a dark background, or purple and orange against a light background. But never purple and white, as the original packaging card shows it.

And to correct this error, Mattel had to add stickers to their stock of card backings to keep it consistent with FedEx's logo requirements.

And there's a sticker on the back of the card, too - reinforcing the protected nature of the logo:

Nothing beneath it, though.

Mind you, that still doesn't explain why the same sticker was applied to other models in the range with nothing to do with FedEx... factory error?

[MiniMinorMk3]

19 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Mind you, that still doesn't explain why the same sticker was applied to other models in the range with nothing to do with FedEx... factory error?

Or part of the licencing agreement included some extra advertising on other products.

[sierraman]

Another XR4i delivered. The rarer plum coloured one. 

[eddyramrod]

I got a Sierra yesterday too!

A job lot of Corgi Fords arrived from ebay.  Transit Milk Van, and Sierra...

Transit ambulance, and Escort van.

The Milk Van is the one I really wanted.  If I can replace the windscreen and clean off the datestamps it's good enough to go straight into my 1/36 collection.  I have a provisional sale on the Sierra, and a Plan B if that falls through.  Ambulance: well I have a sub-collection of them so I'll probably try and find a blue light to replace the one that's missing.  Escort is, as you probably noticed, short of a rear door, which is a shame because condition is otherwise good.  I think I'd rather like to find a decent Radio Rentals door for it, but if I can't, then I would probably sell.  It's not as if I have a gap in my collection for a Radio Rentals van.

[sierraman]

The Sierra looks like it would make a great minicab

[paulplom]

Anyone want these?

[bunglebus]

Got two days kicking my heels around Leeds, die cast hunting is not going well. Several One Belows just had a few unloved Matchbox 

Found some Majorettes in Home Sense but no VWs

[bunglebus]

Smyths 

The Range had fairly new cars but not much choice

[MiniMinorMk3]

A Schabak Sierra yesterday

[bunglebus]

Biggest BuM I've ever seen! Of course I entered it immediately, but despite going up and down repeatedly, I left unsatisfied 

[bunglebus]

Asda next door had a huge toy dept - all Majorettes gone, just a solitary Merc SEC for my troubles if anyone needs it?

[barrett]

Hello men. I've been very broke recently so went a while without picking up anything new, but I have had a couple of post-payday packages arrive this week. First up, I struggled to resist this lovely AMT Ford Torino dealer model that @bunglebus found recently, which he very kindly sold me for what it cost him despite it almost certainly being worth quite a bit more on the open market.

It's big!

Not sure why, really, but it's found a shelf space to sit on for now.

More on-brand for me are these

I already have the Indra, but I couldn't resist a couple of boxed Pilens. The Mangusta is something I've been looking for for a while.

I've always been curious about the origins of this one. According to my source, Pilen No 313 was launched in 1970 in this bronze and a chrome-plated version. Having never seen one up close, I've never been able to figure out if it's based on an existing casting or if it's a 'unique' Pilen before

It's probably most closely related to the Dinky version, which also has the opening engine cover, and has a base which forms the front and rear valances like this does

However, after studying photos of al the other 1:43 Mangustas online I reckon this is actually a unique casting, as none of the details match up. Obviously the main difference is this one has opening doors, but that means the entire construction of the roof and pillars is quite different. The inclusion of the glass roof is an oddity for a model launched in 1970 (only the 1967 prototype had this feature) but only Solido built a production-type version with a solid roof.

I think the jury is still out here, but there's enough different to make me think this is a Pilen original, and as such I've added it to my list.

sidebar - what's the origin of the Nacoral Mangusta?

Fixed engine cover, but opening bonnet and doors. Glass roof, but valances are part of the body casting. Is this another original?

The 'new' Indra is a bit more complete than my old one

This is one of my favourites - the opening boot in particular (and this is difficult to describe) just fits so nicely (the one on the left is actually slightly open) - there's a lip in the body casting and another lip in the bootlid so the shutlines are miniscule. Unneccessary and expensive and very satisfying.

Time for a group shot I guess

That's nine (I think) 'originals' and a couple of re-casts. Really glad I don't collect these things or else it could get out of hand.

[RoadworkUK]

40 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Asda next door had a huge toy dept - all Majorettes gone, just a solitary Merc SEC for my troubles if anyone needs it?

I'd love the SEC if you're up for posting it to my corner of Essex... I can't imagine when I'll get a chance to go diecast-hunting myself.

[morrisoxide]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Got two days kicking my heels around Leeds, die cast hunting is not going well.

Leeds City Center is pants for miniature tat.

If your out Otley way, there is a very good shop at the top of the Kirkgate Arcade on the main street, maybe worth a stop by if your close. The chap who owns it has a MGZT V8 and a 60's Ford Fairlane.

Every time I go there it's like a meeting place for blokes who like to chinwag about smoll tat.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, barrett said:

 a couple of boxed Pilens.

Did you notice the ones on the toy fair stall I posted? Didn't ask prices but he was fair if not cheap

[bunglebus]

Final stop for today, fed up getting rained on. Success in Entertainer, already opened boxes still had lots of goodies inside

Nothing in this dump bin despite digging all the way through it. These things are murder on the cards