Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

17 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Police is harder to see due to the sticker but I can see it's just as bad

^

[Tenmil Socket]

4 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Chaps, were there ever any orange Dinky 265s made at Binns Road? Because my orange example says 'Made in England' and it doesn't have any of the above mentioned casting defects.

It could be a repaint, as the baseplate has been crudely glued on, but even under the arches and hidden bits is orange.

What does everyone think:

 

I'm thinking that's a re-paint. The bumpers appear to have had a touch of black paint and is that orange on the wheel?

[flat4alfa]

First seen in the 1977 Dinky Catalogue, as a touch-in, blue with white interior

In the 1977 Trade Catalogue, blue with red interior:

No Police version in Catalogue until 1978:

Dinky 1978-7 by Rich Secker, on Flickr

Dinky 1978-9 by Rich Secker, on Flickr

1978 Trade catalogue:

1979 Catalogue:

Then we saw THE ORANGE for the first time on the 1979 Trade leaflet, showing its casting damage clearly. 

No BEIGE seen in a catalogue or leaflet.

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I'm thinking that's a re-paint. The bumpers appear to have had a touch of black paint and is that orange on the wheel?

The glass and tailgate window have also been glued back on so overall, my long- held belief that its a repaint holds true!

It's a shame as the quality of the repaint is good, although it's quite thin.

[danthecapriman]

45 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

First seen in the 1977 Dinky Catalogue, as a touch-in

In the 1977 Trade Catalogue, blue with red interior:

No Police version in Catalogue until 1978:

Dinky 1978-7 by Rich Secker, on Flickr

Dinky 1978-9 by Rich Secker, on Flickr

1978 Trade catalogue:

1979 Catalogue:

Then we saw THE ORANGE for the first time on the 1979 Trade leaflet, showing its casting damage clearly. 

No BEIGE seen.

Hold the fuckin phone!

What am I seeing here. There’s a Granada!? What happened to that!? It looks pretty good too. Was it cancelled or something?

[eddyramrod]

I believe that's exactly what happened, yes.

[sierraman]

26 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Hold the fuckin phone!

What am I seeing here. There’s a Granada!? What happened to that!? It looks pretty good too. Was it cancelled or something?

A few samples were made and it was round about the time they went bust. Sometimes they come up at Vectis, at the point they went bust I’m assuming some got pilfered when the factory closed. They were in the process of launching a space age range at the time as well. @Datsuncog will probably know more but there seemed to be a lot of NOS Dinkies from that era knocking around in the mid 90’s. Presumably sold off en masse by the liquidators. 

[flat4alfa]

Yes there has been Dinky Granada discussion on here, will do a search.

I also have a copy of a magazine with it on front cover and photos inside

[bunglebus]

Resin prototype and pre-production versions

Transit was looking pretty funky too

The Jag XJC also appears in several different colours as well as the stillborn Steed version everyone loves to recreate. As it was we only got the white Big Cat as far as I know. The catalogues also reveal several different alterations to the casting prior to production 

[flat4alfa]

Dinky  Ford Granada Mk2 resin prototype in silver first seen in 1978 Catalogue (but not in Trade Catalogue), page shown above.  Then repeated in 1979 Catalogue, page shown above.

Then alongside a red 'Fire Chief' car missing glazing, die-cast, with black interior, on the 1979 Dinky Trade Leaflet:

Front cover and inside story in this magazine shows gold die-cast with glazing, red interior

Alongside a RED Jaguar

[bunglebus]

Big arches, no boot spoiler

Vents in bootlit

Steed version that never made it to production 

Maybe the vents are actually fuel fillers, from the Broadspeed race car anyway

Yep

[flat4alfa]

First seen 1977 Catalogue as a heavy touch-in

Boot lid fuel fillers and in Leyland colours on next page

1978 Trade Catalogue boot lid filler body with the release colours

From Toy Car Wars (Giles Chapman)

[bunglebus]

So they were planning a Broadspeed and an Avengers version, that would explain some of the casting differences.  Shame.

[danthecapriman]

34 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Dinky  Ford Granada Mk2 resin prototype in silver first seen in 1978 Catalogue (but not in Trade Catalogue), page shown above.  Then repeated in 1979 Catalogue, page shown above.

Then alongside a red 'Fire Chief' car missing glazing, die-cast, with black interior, on the 1979 Dinky Trade Leaflet:

Front cover and inside story in this magazine shows gold die-cast with glazing, red interior

What a shame it didn’t get released. It’s actually a shame they managed to release those weird little convoy trucks instead! They should have done the Granada first!

[bunglebus]

Anyhow. I got myself a bit of an oddity via eBay

I think I read somewhere that the original Budgie moulds were used to create a number of newer versions at some point but I'd never seen one. 

[sierraman]

As I understand it the announcement they’d close was pretty terse, I expect it was ‘get your coat and clear your locker’ at 1pm. The machines would have gone silent, stock piled up unsold then the liquidators would have come in and things would have sat for years while the mess was unpicked. It’s a bit like the Arabic Corgis you see on eBay, probably the result of a deal gone bad and they’ll have sat in a bonded warehouse for umpteen years until someone buys the stock. 

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

I think I read somewhere that the original Budgie moulds were used to create a number of newer versions at some point but I'd never seen one. 

Yes Promod in Stafford acquired some of the Budgie tooling.

https://promod-diecast.com/product-category/promod-originals-from-budgie-toy-castings/

They no longer produce the VW Pickup, probably wore it out

[bunglebus]

I've got a couple of the little ones too

 

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Steed version that never made it to production 

Thing is, they must have produced a short bulk run, to have distributed like this

A pre-prod wouldn't be sent out to clients like this?  It would be packed in a sturdy box alongside the other 'new to range' examples to lay out on a table together

https://www.vectis.co.uk/593-lot-645162-dinky-pre-production-the-avengers-john-steed-s-jaguar?el=645162

[flat4alfa]

So there were at least two resin Granadas in silver

2003, silver with small nick in the front side window, air bubble at top of same door, bodged rear arch; sold for £410  https://www.vectis.co.uk/207-lot-216681

2008, air bubble in that window, tidy rear arch, headlamp detail; sold for £260  https://www.vectis.co.uk/38-lot-25902

2015, the same one with the nick in the front side window resurfaced and sold for £180 (disastrous investment!)  https://www.vectis.co.uk/544-lot-589645-dinky-pre-production-ford-granada-mk-ii-resin-prototype

So out there is also the diecast:

Unpainted, red interior, with glazing

Unpainted, white interior, with glazing

Red Fire Chief diecast without glazing

Gold diecast with glazing.

 

SEVEN (7) GRANADAS TO LOOSE SLEEP OVER

[Split_Pin]

I glad they released the Princess, just a shame it had the later wheels and no opening features. It was well-proportioned though and I can't recall any other manufacturer making a model of it until Vanguards and Oxford.

[flat4alfa]

9 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I glad they released the Princess, just a shame it had the later wheels and no opening features. It was well-proportioned though and I can't recall any other manufacturer making a model of it until Vanguards and Oxford.

Ah but there was pre-production Princesses with opening features easily lost features: their roof light bar!

See what I mean about a specific box for pre-productions to be carried about?  Not a shrink-wrapping on card, from the factory

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

It’s actually a shame they managed to release those weird little convoy trucks instead! They should have done the Granada first!

At a guess, Dinky probably hoped the weird little Convoy range would be a runaway success with the kiddies, generate plenty of profit (one basic generic casting spun out into five different models using various plastic backs, plus colour/ livery variations), and enable them to tool up for the more complex and expensive Granada to be launched.

Didn't happen.

Chezbois,com summarises it pretty well:

Quote

These trucks were made from 1977 to 1980. They are not modelled on any real truck but are a cheap de-specced toy designed to create volume sales in a declining market, Corgi tried some similar tricks with the same lack of success.

There were a range of trucks offered including a skip truck, Fire, Royal Mail and a number of famous name businesses - Harrods, Pickfords etc. None of them memorable or of any value.

Convoy Series Truck 103106 (chezbois.com)

Guessing that the Corgi reference is in relation to the Cubs range, which I have a sneaking affection for - or possibly the much earlier Corgi Qualitoys sub-brand that never really took off (Turbine Trucks...)

I've zero affection for the Convoy range, mind - one of those things I'm sad to say I wouldn't even rescue from a 50p tub.

[Split_Pin]

Me neither, such things always made my teeth itch as a wean.

Shall we file them with Days Gone?

[bunglebus]

35 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

So there were at least two resin Granadas in silver

2003, silver with small nick in the front side window, air bubble at top of same door, bodged rear arch; sold for £410  https://www.vectis.co.uk/207-lot-216681

2008, air bubble in that window, tidy rear arch, headlamp detail; sold for £260  https://www.vectis.co.uk/38-lot-25902

2015, the same one with the nick in the front side window resurfaced and sold for £180 (disastrous investment!)  https://www.vectis.co.uk/544-lot-589645-dinky-pre-production-ford-granada-mk-ii-resin-prototype

So out there is also the bare-metal diecast with glazing, the red Fire Chief diecast without glazing, the gold diecast with glazing.

SIX (6) GRANADAS TO LOOSE SLEEP OVER

Two bare metal versions with windows - different interiors 

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Two bare metal versions with windows - different interiors 

Ah yes of course - staring me in face too

I'd better edit the post!

[danthecapriman]

36 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Me neither, such things always made my teeth itch as a wean.

Shall we file them with Days Gone?

I dislike them more than Days Gone tbh! 
At least the Days Gone were modelled on a real prototype, it’s these generic or fantasy vehicles that I really can not stand tbh. Never did as a kid either. 
They’ve all tried it though - Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Corgi… they’re all awful too!

The only reason I might get one, assuming it was cheap or free would be to donate the load body for a project. The tipper body looks ok for instance.

[flat4alfa]

Funny you should mention, as a Convoy was seen out and about earlier, picking up a load

[danthecapriman]

5 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Funny you should mention, as a Convoy was seen out and about earlier, picking up a load

Her ladyship would do her nut if she caught you using her car as a skip!

[flat4alfa]

PLEASE LOVE US

WE LOVE YOU LONG TIME

2 Dollar