Shite in Miniature II

[MiniMinorMk3]

19 hours ago, bunglebus said:

This was incomplete so it stayed under the table

How to turn your shiney new Matchbox into 50p box Tat.

2 hours ago, egg said:

I really ought to get one and paint it Rimini Blue, but I'm holding out for finding a 1:43 Gama one at some point, which is also non-sunroof like mine...

I've had a red version pass through. I thought it was a Schabak, but no, it's a Gama Mini

It's not bad for a mid-nineties budget model

Detailing is a bit lacking

The Minichamps versions a far better cast and detailed, but then cost double when new. I think the Gama was about £7-10 and the Minichamps about £15-20 in 1994.

They did 4-door versions as well, here's a couple of cop cars

Mansell BTCC

And finally a Ford Dealership model.

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

What were they thinking?

[egg]

21 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

The Minichamps versions a far better cast and detailed, but then cost double when new. I think the Gama was about £7-10 and the Minichamps about £15-20 in 1994.

yes the Mini champs are probably better, but most have sunroofs, the limited edition dealer models go for £££

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394560491104

[sierraman]

To say I’ve had many many Mondeos I’ve only got the Matchbox one and a Majorette. 

[bunglebus]

I've had a couple of the Majo ones, passed on to others on here I think

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

What were they thinking?

Fantastic, a bit of a holy grail set from 1964 over the water they are.  Never seen one, perhaps not worth exporting to British households with tiny lounge floors as that layout is 10 feet long.  What I do know is Marx fitted a bridge rectifier into the cars, that way the turnabout line swap could be made, so the transformer produced AC.  They used trademark Electro-Matic for the technology, seen on the power pack in the ad

The sound box was connected to the controller throttles so the pitch would raise and lower.  Again, never heard one, but Scalextric and other manufactures attempted a similar gimmick.  The throttles I assume had set notches across the throttle range to simulate gear up-shifts.  All good fun for the typical US rev-head household!  While we in Blighty apparently sat back and ate coal.

Marx were a keen producer of 1:32 slot sets, although the scene in the US has been 1:25 scale in the main for dragways

Clubs still doing this sort of thing in UK too

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

18 hours ago, egg said:

yes the Mini champs are probably better, but most have sunroofs, the limited edition dealer models go for £££

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394560491104

That's a 1/18th, and it did not sell for £249. Re-listed as an auction now, but still over £100.

1:18 1 of 500 *MEGA RARE* FORD MONDEO MK1 1994 European Car Of The Year MODEL! | eBay

 

PS My dealer edition was a 1/43rd.

[Volksy]

14 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Fantastic, a bit of a holy grail set from 1964 over the water they are.  Never seen one, perhaps not worth exporting to British households with tiny lounge floors as that layout is 10 feet long.  What I do know is Marx fitted a bridge rectifier into the cars, that way the turnabout line swap could be made, so the transformer produced AC.  They used trademark Electro-Matic for the technology, seen on the power pack in the ad

The sound box was connected to the controller throttles so the pitch would raise and lower.  Again, never heard one, but Scalextric and other manufactures attempted a similar gimmick.  The throttles I assume had set notches across the throttle range to simulate gear up-shifts.  All good fun for the typical US rev-head household!  While we in Blighty apparently sat back and ate coal.

Marx were a keen producer of 1:32 slot sets, although the scene in the US has been 1:25 scale in the main for dragways

Clubs still doing this sort of thing in UK too

 

What happens at the other end of the track? 

I assume they have a run off, rather than a massive accident.....

[MiniMinorMk3]

Here's some more 1/43rd Minichamps Mondeos.

A couple of Mk2 versions, one a regular Minichamps

The other a Dealer Edition

Minichamps Mk3 Estate

Dealer mk3 Estate

Dealer Mk3 4-Door

 

 

 

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, Volksy said:

What happens at the other end of the track? 

I assume they have a run off, rather than a massive accident.....

The fence …is the run-off 

Tactic must be to decelerate better than your opponent

Must be something special about those ‘Allstate Guardsman Tires’ mentioned in the ad !

The set was $245 in today's money

[AndyW201]

Been traipsing the usual haunts lately, with few results. There are just NO new case Hot Wheels to be found anywhere on Teesside. B&M, Morrisons, Entertainer, Smyth's, Range, loads of restocks but round here we seem to be stuck at the case with the black Merc SEC / Silver CRX etc. Meanwhile people on the FB Hot Wheels pages are showing off the '82 Supras and Alfa GTVs that they've found at their local shops, and M case unboxing videos are already on You Tube 😡... At B&M, we've even gone back to the case with the blue Toyota Space Cruiser! However it did give me a chance to catch up on a couple I missed out on,

The mainline GT3 I don't think I've got yet, love the rear detail,

Finally found the 'Then & Now' '20 Supra,

That finally completes the Then & Now Supra pair with the '90s version I got aeons ago,

(Not that these things bother me of course...)

As mentioned on here, Matchbox supply has also stalled, although our local B&M has finally caught up with the rest of the country, so this is the first time I've found the Ranchero with the smooth wheel variation,

Got a few more I haven't seen previously. Mattel are really on it at the moment with the detailing on their cars,

 

I was pleased to get this one. Utterly disposable street furniture, which is the sort of stuff I love to see modelled, even though it's not a car we got over here. Judging by the front end styling and previous Nissan nomenclature, I'm guessing this is more or less the sedan version of the Pulsar hatchback that we got briefly over here,

A final look in at Poundland at least netted a couple of more recent Hot Wheels, love this Firebird,

I'm a little bit peeved with Mattel now! Thought I had just about completed the '80's' collection apart from the Supra, but it seems they're bringing out alternative colours of them all, as with the Wagoneer, as I've seen the DeLorean in a darker blue too. Wouldn't mind if the supply situation was better, Mattel!

Not necessarily the sort of thing I'd be interested in, real car wise, but it does make a nice miniature version...

[Split_Pin]

20 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

How to turn your shiney new Matchbox into 50p box Tat.

I've had a red version pass through. I thought it was a Schabak, but no, it's a Gama Mini

It's not bad for a mid-nineties budget model

Detailing is a bit lacking

The Minichamps versions a far better cast and detailed, but then cost double when new. I think the Gama was about £7-10 and the Minichamps about £15-20 in 1994.

They did 4-door versions as well, here's a couple of cop cars

Mansell BTCC

And finally a Ford Dealership model.

 

I bought a 4 door saloon Paul's Model Art example with my first ever paypacket from Wonderland Models in Edunburgh in 1994. I'd never really had many 'proper' model cars as up until then I only had pocket money from my parents. I was really impressed with the quality and detail of it which is probably why I still own it today. It's a solid blue colour that a lot of Mondeos seemed to come in back then. I bought a Gama example from someone on here a few years ago, I think it was 64A60. It's in the above noted metallic blue and compared to earlier Gama models it's still quite nicely made, especially the complex-shaped opening tailgate.

[danthecapriman]

Todays junk shop find. Slim pickin’s today unfortunately! But the postman hasn’t been yet so things may yet improve!

Majorette Jeep.

Actually a really nice casting of the 3 door Cherokee version, still has the fold down tailgate and dawg. The grill is a nice casting too. Doesn’t seem to be one you see much, usually in radioactive green or a gold-ish colour. Not sure if there’s any others?

[sierraman]

I have that one, those wheels are unusual for a Majorette?

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

I have that one, those wheels are unusual for a Majorette?

Yeah, they don’t look like normal Majorette wheels. Maybe from a different supplier when they were made or something? It’s still got the factory rivet on the base so they must be original to it.

 

Postie has just been!

Some D series action! 
Whizzwheels army version.

 

And this early Husky car transporter. Which is absolutely fantastic, really good condition and I love the colour choices for it too.

The later ones of these are the same colours but with the Husky marking’s replaced for Corgi ones, and with Whizzwheels instead of these nice separate tyre type. 
I’ve got quite a few Husky cars now so this will do very nicely to display some of them on.

Although Majorette are slightly too wide for it!

 

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

Not sure if there’s any others?

As the standard road car, gold is the only one I have

The ambulance comes in a few versions

And the 4x4 has loads of different ones to chose from 

[sutty2006]

On 6/16/2023 at 4:58 PM, Datsuncog said:

And finally - finally - this:

Hoo boy.

Yes - the big  1/43 scale Oxford Diecast Disco 1.

It's pricey, but oh it's nice.

Really good detail inside and out. I like this. I'm not sure I can honestly justify it, especially after buying the small version a few weeks ago but... I'm an impetuous fool.

And that's it!

Heatwaves and forum crashes notwithstanding, Tat Friday always gets through.

Well, most of the time.

Happy Friday, kids!

You could own the real thing! (Probably not that one, but very close!)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/195789885346?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=KLYfb35gRta&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=oSyz5_rPQeO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Actually a really nice casting of the 3 door Cherokee version, still has the fold down tailgate and dawg. The grill is a nice casting too. Doesn’t seem to be one you see much, usually in radioactive green or a gold-ish colour. Not sure if there’s any others?

Two shades of a green and two shades of a gold, it seems

Glad you like the grille.  I mean, we wouldn't want to let you know about the TWO DIFFERENT GRILLES TO COLLECT on the Majorette Cherokees.  Three if you need an ambulance too.

Not only that, this later (the black 4x4 one) had the gas cap, rear deck 'Chief' badge, turn-signals and door shut lines removed, along with a roof that was no longer ribbed for your pleasure.

DAG was culled on the latter, but strange they left its feet and bed still in the mould...

Mind you, his eyes are demonic, so not surprising.

[AndyW201]

Had to drop off 201_jnr off at a party at Jump 360° on Saturday, luckily it's right next to the retail park in Stockton that has a Smyth's! Missus had asked if there was anything else  I wanted for Father's Day as she had got me a couple of things already. I said I'd check Smyth's while I was in the area.

(Cue slight eye rolling  and a gentle reminder that we still have a couple of months to go until the mortgage is paid off...)

Not a lot there of interest TBH. HW Mainlines as usual, were a waste of time. Older case stuff, and the majority was fantasy shit.

No Boulevard stuff apart from about a dozen Air Sculptz, the one no one wants! Only other Premiums were Speed Machines and Supercar Envy, which aren't really my thing. The Nissan Skyline sets as shown by bunglebus were in stock though and by crikey, was I tempted? But that truck though...

However, they did have the nice container sets in, with a tenner off, with American Muscle, Jay Leno and Deutschland Design sets. I've been eyeing up the Deutschland one for a while so despite the fact that the thought of paying for Hot Wheels Premiums makes me cry inside a little, I grabbed one. Hell, it was for Father's Day and daughter_201 talked me into it...

This one appealed because most of the castings have never been released as Mainlines (not sure if the Porsche is the same casting), and over half of them are Mercs! And despite having driven Sprinters for a living for over 20 years, I've never had one in miniature...

I do like the container box that these come in. And as most of the cars in this set seem to be going for £9 or £10 individually, then less than £4 each for the set doesn't seem too bad.

Can't believe I've actually opened this, but I had to have a look/fondle. The Sprinter is a bit Lifestyle, I'd have preferred a standard panel Van, but I do like the wide steelies on this one at least. Pity about the paint blebs on this one. Sprinter heritage...

Nice to see the early shape  S4 modelled. It's amazing how much difference the metal bases on the premiums make to the feel of the model. (One of the reasons I prefer Vanguards to the other 1/43 makers)

Pretty good interior detail, the winged seats look nice.

The Porsche is a fantastic colour IMO. Open windows mean you get to see inside a bit too. Nice seat and cage detail

Smile!

Rear light tampo seems to have gone a bit wonky round the corners sadly,

Nice to see this shape of C Class modelled. My boss at work had the C63 AMG saloon, it was a monster!

Possibly the nicest one in the set is the DTM C Class. The paint, tampos and detailing for such a small model are first class.

Fortunately this is a newer casting, not the 90s C Class DTM one that they did. This one captures the shape a lot better.

[bunglebus]

23 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

Smile!

Looks a lot like the 'tache that funny little German fella had, his name escapes me...?

[Split_Pin]

Now that S4 is really nice. Damn your great close up pictures making me want to buy stuff!

I didn't know you were from Stockton either, my wife's family are from there and also Billingham.

[Zie]

55 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Looks a lot like the 'tache that funny little German fella had, his name escapes me...?

Don't worry, it'll hit ya......

[AndyW201]

49 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Now that S4 is really nice. Damn your great close up pictures making me want to buy stuff!

I didn't know you were from Stockton either, my wife's family are from there and also Billingham.

Really? I'm in Middlesbrough, not too far down. Only about 15 mins from Stockton/Billingham.

[MiniMinorMk3]

On 6/19/2023 at 9:54 AM, AndyW201 said:

 

 

I thought this was a Muntz Jet until I spotted the name on the front. I learnt something new today that the Muntz Jet was a development of the Kurtis after the original company was sold.

Brooklin did a couple of nice white metal Muntz Jets a few years ago.

This is the regular issue model.

The Muntz has double over riders on the front

and rear.

Full tuck and roll interior.

When the model was deleted (I don't think it was a good seller) Brooklin issued a limited version with the top up.

Very much the same model with an added roof

and underneath a small addition to show it was limited to 170 pieces.

Here's the original issue base

[flat4alfa]

On 2/13/2023 at 5:49 PM, flat4alfa said:

Did anyone find one of these?  Was in the Matchbox 2022 list

 

I remember the real thing on one of the TV shows.  Well, the Muntz Jet that was developed from the Kurtis, that Wayne Carini had for a while

Muntz-jetting ^

[AndyW201]

17 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Looks a lot like the 'tache that funny little German fella had, his name escapes me...?

I was thinking of Ron Mael off of Sparks... 🤣

[AndyW201]

TBH I was all for packing this lark in recently.

I had emptied the display cabinet to clean the occupants. Problem is the gap either side of the shelves, which is enough for the shelf to tip and fall if they're moved to the side, as happened a few years ago, when the two middle shelves gave way. Amazingly not much major damage occurred then, apart from a few cars with a couple of paint chips and I spent a good full day matching up mirrors and bumpers, and re attaching!

It happened again the other day.

This time the top shelf went, it only had three cars on but two of them, two of my favourites in the collection, (and one of them being the rarest and most valuable), are a bit ruined.

The Graphite Granada 2.8i sport suffered fairly badly. 

Both mirrors snapped off, but in an awkward spot, not clean off at the base like they normally do. Despite taking care to match them up to the right sides, they've gone back at a weird angle and don't look right. Possibly they bent upwards before snapping off.

With the mirrors back on, I then noticed that the rear spoiler had come off.

Exhaustive searches have failed to find it. Only place it could now be is under the unit itself and I CBA right now to empty it again and shift it...

Obviously because Vanguards, cheap spares donor cars don't exist and enquiries to Corgi's so-called spares department drew a blank too...

Still a lovely looking model though, and at least the front splitter didn't break off. And in the cabinet you can't tell the spoiler is missing...

The Vista orange Capri Mk1 special didn't fare well either, with a split the full height of the windscreen. I got the car apart and tried to gently push the screen back together, but to no avail, and then I lost the screw that holds the baseplate on. It was then that I ripped the screen out completely then threw the dismantled car in a drawer and forgot about it before I took a hammer to it!

Yesterday, on my day off, I had another look at it. Miraculously there is no paint damage, and the important bits to this version, like the rear spoiler and window louvre survived. So I had a look around for something suitable to fashion another screen from. (Fortunately the glass on these Capris are in four separate sections, front, sides and rear, and the other sections were undamaged, so I only had to sort the windscreen.)

A fairly suitable source was found in the shape of a ready to eat pasta salad container, after a good wash. The plastic is more or less as thick as the old screen and could be made to bend fairly easily. So a shape was cut out, with a tab cut out and bent at the top to attach it to the inside of the roof, then fitted at the bottom behind the dash.

The results wouldn't fool anyone, it's a bit gappy, but it fills the hole and it's see through! So at least it can display again, a screw was borrowed from a plinth off a cheapo Cararama model that just about secures the baseplate, so I don't have to take the hammer to it just yet!

Still on the lookout for a cheap screen donor to repair it properly. I've got a tatty Detail Cars/Solido Capri that I had a look at, but despite both being 1/43, they are hugely different in size and proportions. I may get a cheap Cararama one and see if I can use the screen from that.

[flat4alfa]

Has anyone a spare one of these Lone Star six wheelers?

[eddyramrod]

On 6/17/2023 at 6:21 AM, bunglebus said:

You did see one before - in Poundland but the queue was too big IIRC!

I'd like one of those if you happen to spot any more

Chevy Achieved

[flat4alfa]

On 6/16/2023 at 10:11 PM, eddyramrod said:

MB 1979 Chevy Nova, from Poundland.  Haven't seen this one before so I kind of had to.

Never seen one of those, ever.  It was part of the 2021 range but it might as well be a 'super chase car'

Which would probably make the exclusive-to-Target-USA version a 'super super chase'.