Shite in Miniature II

[Junkman]

  On 08/02/2017 at 21:06, Mr Lobster said:

Was talking to a manufacturer of 1:18 models a few years back and they reckoned that they needed 15,000 pieces to make a casting viable. So if you are waiting for a diecast Maxi, Montego or similar then you'll have a very long wait.

 

About the same figure is mentioned in plastic kit circles and merely as the break even point.

Consequently if they don't get pre orders in that ballpark, they don't bother.

To put this into perspective, during the heydays of the hobby in the 1960s, they chucked them out by the millions!

The risk of one of them bombing in the market was thus much less severe back then.

 

The figure usually mentioned in regards to tooling cost is c. $150,000.00 for a kit, which is strangely about the same

it cost in the 1960s, although then of course in 1960s Dollars.

So with all that computer shiz, the relative tooling cost has significantly decreased, effectively by factor 10, however,

the produced quantities have decreased by factor 100.

 

Hence I fully understand the dilemma the industry finds itself in, but I don't fully understand how they try to make up for it.

Instead of competing against each other by tooling up the same Porsches and Lamborghinis, I'd go completely bonkers.

And I bet it would pay off.

 

The frightening bit (at least for me) is, that evidently it's not a problem to sell 15,000 kits of yet another war crime device,

whereas with cars it's a struggle.

[alcyonecorporation]

Stupid bargain find from Retromobile 2017:

 

 

The Aura's numberplate is upside down. Weirdly crude and detailed at the same time.

Fuck me, Paris is dear. Scraped together £80 and spent almost all of it on food and cab fares.

[Split_Pin]

That's very nice indeed, love the box.

[Split_Pin]

Finished my 1/25 Revell Golf GTI that my son gave me in September past. I had nowhere to spray paint it this time so I had to resort to brush paint, otherwise it would never be finished. The finish is OK.

 

Still it's a nice model and certainly better than some other Revells that au have done. The red grille surrounds are all separate decals and were a twat to apply.

[eddyramrod]

I do like the Blackburn number plate!  Your doing, or was it part of the decal sheet?

[Split_Pin]

It was part of the decal sheet but I liked that too. Funnily enough, my Matchbox Superfast Golf is JBV 149R.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Been eyeing these up for a while. Finally bagged myself an original Vega Major Val twin steer. Took it out on a journey earlier, and had a bit of a mishap with the back end. 24cm of pure luxury.

[junkyarddog]

They are fantastic,

I was lucky enough to find one at a car boot for the sum of £5.00.

not as nice as yours though,it's missing the rear luggage compartment cover.

 

Have you tried a battery in it yet?

The side indicators should flash as it's pushed and steered.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

  On 18/02/2017 at 21:14, junkyarddog said:

They are fantastic,

I was lucky enough to find one at a car boot for the sum of £5.00.

not as nice as yours though,it's missing the rear luggage compartment cover.

 

Have you tried a battery in it yet?

The side indicators should flash as it's pushed and steered.

I'm really pleased with mine for sure. Reckon I need another to add to the collection. I've tried a battery in it, but nothing happened. The base unscrews, so I'll take it apart and see if the connections are corroded.

[mercrocker]

Often with this era of Dinky and Corgi battery stuff you will find that the modern metal-cased cells are a fraction too short.   Try  pushing a screwdriver blade in between the + terminal and that end of the holder to "bridge" the gap and generally tighten up the fit.   Nearly all of my die-cast boot sale purchases have responded to this and worked well.   Except, I have to say, for the Vega Major.   So far....

[Split_Pin]

I have a BMW 2000 TI Lux with the indicators but so far I have failed to make it work. Tried everything but to no avail. I'll try the screwdriver trick.

[RoadworkUK]

  On 19/02/2017 at 10:59, IainL said:

I have a BMW 2000 TI Lux with the indicators but so far I have failed to make it work. Tried everything but to no avail. I'll try the screwdriver trick.

 

A 2000 BMW? That'll need £129+VAT worth of diagnosis, and they're fully booked until Monday week.

[DVee8]

I picked these up today,for a whole £2.00

[eddyramrod]

We're positively drowning in bargain* Rolls Royce resto projects!

[sierraman]

Bought a Matchbox Nissan Skyline (the original type from the early 70's) today in the Poundland. The stuff they are bringing out is immense, better than the stupid shouty advertised nonsense from Hot Wheels. Fortunately I'd steered Sierra jr in the direction of Matchbox...

 

On a side note I found Matchbox Smash and Crash in my parents loft the other week. Probably the reason a great deal of my stuff I had when I was a kid was chipped to fuck!

[Split_Pin]

I don't have any new MB stuff but they have some nice releases. There's a blue Volvo that I'm after.

[sierraman]

The V60?

[Split_Pin]

Yes that's the one! It's a cracker.

[155V6]

There's a (59?)Chevy Station wagon to look out for as well 

[Junkman]

I think the Chevy is an ASDA exclusive.

Which means I have to venture to one of those temples of consumerism.

I fucking hate that.

[sierraman]

  On 21/02/2017 at 17:51, IainL said:

Yes that's the one! It's a cracker.

Yes, they'd got one in Poundland today. A polestar blue one.

 

They Asda only Ines could be worth a trip, the Tesco only MB38 Mercedes 300SE in silver in the 80's was similar offer. A good one is worth £30-50 these days.

[sierraman]

Car boot haul from Sunday. 20p for the bin lorry and it's immaculate!!

 

Galaxies was 20p as well.

[Split_Pin]

I've got that bin lorry, had it since I was a kid. Berliet cab and Jack Allen Collectomatic body, it's ace.

[RoadworkUK]

I have it too, in blue and orange.

 

In other news, this finishes on eBay in an hour:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/391704965259?roken=cUgayN

 

 

Although I have the Solido 1:18 XM and it would make a great bedfellow, I don't reckon I'll be bidding.

 

Less than £20 posted at the moment, though.

 

EDIT: A mild bidding frenzy appears to be breaking out,

[junkyarddog]

Sunday find.

 

 

 

 

A few chips in the paint,but otherwise in good shape.

[Spottedlaurel]

I have the bin lorry too, in that maroon and yellow. It's survived the years in my toybox and then my son's very well.

[Split_Pin]

  On 21/02/2017 at 20:24, RoadworkUK said:

I have it too, in blue and orange.

 

In other news, this finishes on eBay in an hour:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/391704965259?roken=cUgayN

 

 

Although I have the Solido 1:18 XM and it would make a great bedfellow, I don't reckon I'll be bidding.

 

Less than £20 posted at the moment, though.

 

EDIT: A mild bidding frenzy appears to be breaking out,

Well worth a punt IMO especially boxed. Mine sits very well with my XM, in fact one can't really be without the other.

[RoadworkUK]

It finished at just less than £26 posted. To be honest that example deserved to go to somebody who really wanted it. It's too good an example for me. If one comes up sans box I'll jump at it. I bought my XM in Trago Mills of all places while on a Cornish Holiday when I was 12. I ditched the packaging while I was down there.

[sierraman]

  On 21/02/2017 at 20:30, junkyarddog said:

Sunday find.

 

 

 

 

A few chips in the paint,but otherwise in good shape.

They used to do an variant of this in a short lived range called 'Big MX' where they all had a feature that could be worked by a drill type thing. The Ford tractor unit like you have was sold with a little factory type thing and you winded the tractors on to the back of the trailer.

[junkyarddog]

Picked up this little french fancy too.