Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

  On 18/08/2023 at 10:17, quicksilver said:

That's a peculiar choice of livery for a code 3. United Counties never had anything that looked even remotely like that and were a committed Bristol operator.

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Reeling from the disappointment of owning a counterfeit, I went off to do some researching.

It seems United Counties ran a Bedford SB Duple Vega Coach from the previous era, here modelled by EFE

Looking up the history of ODL 51: was new to Southern Vectis in 1957 and sold to United Counties in 1967, although they only ran it for a year or so.

This 1965 AEC Reliance with Duple Northern Continental body was hired from Jeffs of Helmdon during the period 1972-73 

So, I can at least try to pretend there was a Duple Vega VAL, even if on hire!

I think I'll leave it as it is.

Also looking through the glazing, I can see the seating moulding still has the inset area for the battery cell carrier.  Maybe I'll keep a lookout for the different earlier baseplate, to retrofit the lighting circuit

[andrew e]

Cracking Tat escapade @Datsuncog I’m so pleased @flat4alfa buckled on that snow plough first 😂 It’s missed me by too!

[quicksilver]

Fair enough, there were some Northants operators who had Vega Majors so at least one probably ended up on hire to United Counties at some point. I have that model of the SB; there were two of them (ODL 48 was the other IIRC) that as you say only made a brief appearance and were very much oddballs that didn't see much use. Also good to see a Jeffs coach as they were my local operator until twice finding themselves part of groups that collapsed spectacularly, first Bowens and then an ill-fated 'rescue' by the notorious King Long.

[Zie]

  On 18/08/2023 at 10:43, bunglebus said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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😟 Oh my!

If you find another could you get it for me please, no place I go does the premiums. 

[flat4alfa]

  On 18/08/2023 at 15:33, quicksilver said:

King Long

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I don't think I'll go off and google that in case I get in trouble...!

 

Found out these two oddballs.  A pair of Bedford YRQ with Willowbrook bodies

And also this pair of later Leyland Leopard also with Willowbrook, but by now well into National rebranding so likely didn't have the preference/control they had before

Bonus FIAT Supermirafiori content.

[bunglebus]

  On 18/08/2023 at 15:53, Zie said:

😟 Oh my!

If you find another could you get it for me please, no place I go does the premiums. 

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I'll be keeping an eye out in Smyths/Entertainer/Sainsbury's but that's going to be the first one to sell out for sure. Mind you there were a couple of Escort Cosworths on the pegs in Entertainer for about a week after I bought mine elsewhere 

I don't even like them that much, the 3 door Sierra is definitely original and best.

Today's jaunt around Basildump didn't turn up much of interest, two apparently unmolested M cases in Entertainer and dribs and drabs everywhere else. Asda had more Tune-Ups but still series two, so I've got all I want out of those

They also have various transporters

Singles had been refilled, the Golfs were gone already but I did get this

The card isn't torn - it's somehow got part of another card stuck to it.

Lastly something I've been seeing a lot of on FB recently - someone is buying 5 packs and somehow opening them, swapping cars and resealing well enough to fool most people, including me if I hadn't seen 3 or 4 others people had found (white Corvette in place of Supra).

My Mrs found another one! 

[sierraman]

What are these Super Chasers that are supposedly in the basics?

[bunglebus]

Of course, Smyths have had the Car Culture set, and the Cosworths are all gone

[Dick Cheeseburger]

  On 18/08/2023 at 14:51, flat4alfa said:

Reeling from the disappointment of owning a counterfeit, I went off to do some researching.

It seems United Counties ran a Bedford SB Duple Vega Coach from the previous era, here modelled by EFE

Looking up the history of ODL 51: was new to Southern Vectis in 1957 and sold to United Counties in 1967, although they only ran it for a year or so.

This 1965 AEC Reliance with Duple Northern Continental body was hired from Jeffs of Helmdon during the period 1972-73 

So, I can at least try to pretend there was a Duple Vega VAL, even if on hire!

I think I'll leave it as it is.

Also looking through the glazing, I can see the seating moulding still has the inset area for the battery cell carrier.  Maybe I'll keep a lookout for the different earlier baseplate, to retrofit the lighting circuit

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Dinky's Vega Major is a fantastic model. Mine almost came a cropper a few years back.

 

[bunglebus]

  On 18/08/2023 at 17:32, sierraman said:

What are these Super Chasers that are supposedly in the basics?

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Hot Wheels or Matchbox? 

[sierraman]

  On 18/08/2023 at 18:38, bunglebus said:

Hot Wheels or Matchbox? 

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Matchbox 

[Datsuncog]

  On 18/08/2023 at 14:32, sierraman said:

Is it one of those places where they’re convinced you are trying to steal from them?

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It's one of those places where the owner seems to detest customers and can't bear them to browse his wares, or handle them, or look at them, so I can't for the life of me understand why he doesn't just sack off the retail shop and sell everything online instead.

I mean, I'm fairly placid, but he still manages to wind me right up every so often - and then I don't go near him for a couple of years.

And then I go back.

I always go back...

[Zie]

I gave in and bought this... 

[bunglebus]

  On 18/08/2023 at 18:43, sierraman said:

Matchbox 

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Yes there's one for each mix - never seen any, other than pictures. I suspect that short card cases have far fewer chases, in the same way I'm convinced there are way less short card HW Super Treasure Hunts

 

[FakeConcern]

  On 18/08/2023 at 10:32, bunglebus said:

While Mr. Cog is cataloging today's finds, I'll jump in with a few updates of my own. 

Lone Star Taunus got a revamp and is the first custom to receive the lovely new wheels off the Hot Wheels Alfa.

My intention was to pretty much restore this and change the wheels, I had a can of lilac at the ready but it's just such a wrong colour for this car. Most of them seemed to be white or light blue, with the odd red etc so I went with Olympic Blue. Other than getting rid of the fairly bad casting lines I haven't modified it at all, so if someone really wanted to restore it they could 

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I love that! I skimmed over it while trying to follow Tat Friday escapades! I had a red/orange Taunus free from cereal packet tokens as a kid and loved it, but no longer have it. Anyway love the resto mod look.

  On 18/08/2023 at 13:24, Datsuncog said:

 

 

Blam!

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That's fab, thank you so much for picking it up! Another one that I had as a kid no longer have and have wanted to replace since I came out as a toy collector. Not seen one to get for a good price and not won one on ebay either.

Would you like me to pay now inc postage or start me another box? I'd be happy to pay as I go as I appreciate £5 a pop does add up.

[w00dy]

  On 18/08/2023 at 18:05, bunglebus said:

Of course, Smyths have had the Car Culture set, and the Cosworths are all gone

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The Sierra is one of the few models I'd pay the Premium premium for, it looks like great whereas the mainline ones don't really do it for me. Very much doubt I'll ever find one though.

[AndyW201]

Well, I've not been able to get on the site at all, after the downtime finished, until a few minutes ago. So that's pissed on my Tat Friday chips somewhat!

Found some M case Hot Wheels in Morrisons yesterday. Filled a few gaps, but still can't get hold of an Alfa or AMG Merc.

Suppose I had a result finding this, it still seems to be a sought after one, judging by them selling for about £4 on the Facebook sites...

It's a nice thing though.

[bunglebus]

  On 18/08/2023 at 21:00, AndyW201 said:

Still can't get hold of an Alfa or AMG Merc.

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Shame, I've been seeing loads lately. I'll be hunting again so I'll keep an eye out

[bunglebus]

Facebook

[bunglebus]

Mattel creations have created a Roadkill Stubby Bob...

[bunglebus]

There's also a rather nice set of mail-ins I don't think we can get in the UK 

[Zie]

  On 18/08/2023 at 21:27, bunglebus said:

Mattel creations have created a Roadkill Stubby Bob...

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Is that the 3rd Roadkill car they've done? 

[bunglebus]

There's the Rotsun and General Mayhem - plus Blasphemi if that counts 

[sheffcortinacentre]

Possibly as they did the mazdaratti picup

[bunglebus]

Forgot that one!

Maybe I'll do Blasphemi if I can find a source of decals. These were easier to make

[Zie]

I do like Roadkill but defo not going after the cars no matter how much I Love Blasphemi. 

*Twitches* 

[Bren]

  On 18/08/2023 at 21:23, bunglebus said:

Facebook

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The blue and yellow cars are worth considerably more than the others.

[Bren]

Reminds me of something......

[eddyramrod]

I had a little re-organise in my 1/18 Screen Collection.  This now means there's space for some new additions...

Not one, not even two, but three (count 'em) Mustangs, all from different generations.  L-R: Eleanor, the proper one not the grey imposter; the Charlie's Angels Cobra as driven by Farrah Fawcett-Majors; and of course Lt Frank Bullitt's hobby car, that famously takes such a beating from Bill Hickman.

[Jon]

Rather like @Datsuncog, today was certainly a bloody good day off and proved quite fruitful.

Might be time to grab a cuppa - here goes...

An early start, coaxing Mrs_Jon out of bed to go to a retro fair in The Big Town, about 45 mins away. Pickings seemed slim initially, so I 'made do' with a Hot Wheels Beetle dune buggy.

 

I had a white version of this casting (with flames I think), bought from Tesco circa 1993. That one had the superior black wall wheels.

 

But this was of mild interest, as it was made in India.

Now, I can't remember if these are at all sought after but like I say, at this juncture things were looking desperate. Mrs_Jon found a large Hornse Bronte flour canister but we couldn't remember whether we had one already (turns out we do!) and it certainly wasn't a price that wouldn't matter either way.

 

A second look at the guy with the diecast stall revealed that among all the carded Hotwheels, 20 year old Matchbox, US stock cars and numerous other things of uninterest, I found this....

 

A flipping Gamda Koor Sabra Corvair!!!

 

It's a given that I covet heftily the examples that I've seen posted up here but I didn't expect that one would be found quite easily in NZ.

 

It's certainly playworn but intact - just how I'm happy to recieve them. And indeed, with something so unusual, you don't pass up the opportunity.

 

Impressions are that it's not a heavy item, especially with a plastic base but I'm guessing these were marketed heavily in the US, so with shipping costs in mind, it was likely built to a price.

 

Regardless, I now have an Isreali casting, to another to add to the international element of my 1/43 (ish) collection. I also think it was very fairly priced at £6.

 

Then we headed off to a few charity shops but Mrs_Jon took me off course to look at in intersting building we'd passed over, whilst traversing a bridge. After looking at an admittedly very nice (and closed) cafe at the arse end of a very ugly industrial estate, I was now suitably disorientated, so proceeded to drive around for several minutes and kilometers, despite being mere metres from our proposed destination.

Luckily though, during our unexpected diversion, we drove past a car boot sale, a concept very much in its infancy in NZ (they much prefer garage sales). Despite there being less than a dozen punters, I managed to find this:

A quick glance appeared to show it intact - or at least intact enough to make a recognisable Jeep, so £2.50 duly handed over.

 

Arriving at the main event charity shop I had in mind, it didn't disappoint, with this lovely Ro80:

Never seen one of these Rockets before, so it had to come home with me.

The colour is very suited to this iteration, I reckon.

 

It's fair to say that the Husky version is much more accurate but these Whizzwheels certainly represent a significant turning point in Corgi's history.

 

There was also this very pleasant Dinky Conveyancer forklift truck. Comes with bonus period string, too. None of that nylon toss here.

 

Taking a good look at it when I got home, I was surprised to see the seat lifted, to reveal the engine. Nice touch!

 

Even nicer to discover was that it has working rear steering, activated by the steering wheel!

It's missing whatever cranks the forks up and down by poking into the hole on the other side but I'm sure I could cobble something up. It also has no roll over cage but then it looks quite period correct without it, so I'm not overly fussed (unless anyone has a spare..).

 

Then it was on to a second hand shop, which seems to stock a small amount of intersting diecasts, now and again.

 

I ended up paying a quid for this Yatming Chevy Citation, especially since I'd mentioned my enthusiasm for the eclectic casting choices of Zylmex and PlayArt, which also applies to Yatming.

 

Not the pinnacle of excellence in real life design or miniature reproduction but it's undeniably crisp on both accounts.

They're likely a bit crap but I've always liked Citations.

 

Admittedly, I could happily forego the nonsensical graphics but they do at least add a bit of period charm. Possibly. They might also rub off easily, perhaps..

 

This MADE IN CHINA sticker however, represented a whisp of nostalgia, as I'd totally forgotten about these prejudiced little gold stickers of yore, warning as much as informing punters that such items were from forrin Asian climes.

 

Fortuitously, the shop had a copy of Motor Trend, featuring a couple of Citations (or manufacturer variants - I need to brush up on my US Malaise era models).

 

They had a few other mags of interest, so I picked one or two others up:

...erm, 237 others, to be exact! Paid just over 10p each and got 81 issues of 1980's MT, as well as 19 x 1970's & 80's issues of CAR, amongst many others.

 

Stuck my find up on the socials and one guy immediately went and bought a boot full, too:

Proper gave me the warm fuzzies, that did. Even if I can spy at least one issue of CAR I don't have...

 

Then as a little bonus to many on here, I took a quick snap in the local equivalent of Wilko (except for the closing down bit), so you could eye what's available here:

Full size image, so you can zoom in on the prices. Judging by the batshit crazy $18 being asked for a Jetson car, I'm wondering if prices might be catching up with the UK somewhat - or stuff is just put on the wrong pegs.

There were also these:

Not at all my cup of tea but if anyone sees anything they absolutely can't live without, then let me know.

Anyway, if you've somehow made it to the end of this absolute wall of text, then I think you'll agree that today was A GOOD DAY.

Happy weekend, shiters!