Shite in Miniature II

[bunglebus]

Lidl finally have Hot Wheels - looks like N or P case, red Alfa, Trouble Decker etc

[andrew e]

My niece bought me some birthday Hotwheels, but 2 went home with her and imprezza was a change of mind once out of the packet 🤣

[andrew e]

Side note a 9 year old picked these because they looked like ‘real’ cars, so I guess kids are no different to how we were years ago! My own daughters used to pick cars from the street too - though deny it now their cool adults 😉

[danthecapriman]

Cogbox arrived the other day.

Lovely!!

Never had the Thames camper before. It’s a really nice little thing. I’m amazed it’s kept its rear doors too.

Thanks Tim!👍

[Jon]

My folks have taken a bit of a road trip, which means I had some time spare to crack open the big box of recently imported diecasts and take a few snaps.

Let's start things off with another Cogbox item - a very hefty Siku!

I'm reliably informed by my folks that this alone made up 400g of international luggage allowance.

 

The heft relates to the fact that it's an all metal body and chassis, with the tanker body representing much of that weight.

 

There's a ladder at the rear which is thankfully complete. One filler cap is missing up top and there's clips on the side, presumably stowing a hose. Google tells me that the clip on top should house a big Aral hoarding, which frankly I can live without:

Thinking about it, I don't think Siku sold a racing car to go with this racing themed tanker, so it's a bit of an oddity.

 

The side hatch reveals a couple of hoses, with knotted ends emulating a nozzle.

 

Assuming the knotted ends related to the hoses being retractable (and the fancy retracting mechanism being the reason for the tanker body weight), I pulled one out to test. Turns out I was wrong! It seems I now have one permanently retracted hose. Fortunately it still stows away but it seems bizarre that there's a single use play element to this. And that it took about a half century for a middle aged man laid on his kitchen floor to activate it...

 

But for all of Siku's misgivings, they left in a couple of play value features. I guessed the cab tilted as it's very much a Siku feature but the canopy tolerances are fine enough for me to have totally overlooked it. Turns out the notches are to pull it out with and not to wrap hose round, as assumed!

I do feel a little sad that one of the hoses is now forever pulled out but I think this shows that if it was ever played with, it was done so extremely carefully.

Anyway, big thanks to @Datsuncog for sourcing!

[Split_Pin]

Wow that's lovely! I have quite a few Siku trucks but they're all a bit later than that and don't have the tilting cab which is a shame.

[sierraman]

Siku trucks were a thing of absolute craftsmanship, far far beyond what we could afford as a kid but I’ve picked a few up over the years and they’re really well made. 

[Jon]

We joined my Dad in 1987, when he'd been posted to Germany, so that's where my love of Sikus emerged. We left in late '88 but in that short time, Christmas and birthday were Siku orientated for me, which explains the trucks I still have now. It also helped that both sets of grandparents came to visit for Christmas, so '87 must've been an absolute bumper treat year!

Sikus also seemed on a par with the cost of a Matchbox Superfast. Plus every last pfennig of pocket money went towards them!

[sierraman]

40 minutes ago, Jon said:

We joined my Dad in 1987, when he'd been posted to Germany, so that's where my love of Sikus emerged. We left in late '88 but in that short time, Christmas and birthday were Siku orientated for me, which explains the trucks I still have now. It also helped that both sets of grandparents came to visit for Christmas, so '87 must've been an absolute bumper treat year!

Sikus also seemed on a par with the cost of a Matchbox Superfast. Plus every last pfennig of pocket money went towards them!

We did have Siku at our local shops for a really brief time, I got the XJ40, Suzuki Santana and the 7 series from there, a little later they did Tomica. The cheapest on the pecking order were either Matchbox Super GT or Corgi Juniors, a little bit above that would be Hot Wheels and regular Matchbox. A Motorcity set or a Superkings would be well into birthday money, though I can remember being in hospital overnight and getting a Superkings ERF Fire Tender which at the time was probably worth having the horrific stomach cramps and the industrial grade laxatives I had to take. 🤣

[bunglebus]

Went in Lidl looking for Hot Wheels, found MB 5 packs - £3.50 on their current offer!

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Went in Lidl looking for Hot Wheels, found MB 5 packs - £3.50 on their current offer!

Which ones they got? I’m passing Lidl tomorrow for work. 

[bunglebus]

28 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Which ones they got? I’m passing Lidl tomorrow for work. 

Well they had this one

[bunglebus]

Keeping the doormat warm when I got in was the latest offering from CMC

With some old chums

As ever a great replica, I'd say the wipers are more slender on the original and the base rivets are different 

@Datsuncog was yours missing the clear cover under the mechanism?  Mine has it so I'd get onto them if I were you

[sierraman]

Wonder if when the market is flooded with them how many will have old bases riveted onto new bodies and be passed off as originals? 

[Datsuncog]

11 hours ago, Jon said:

Let's start things off with another Cogbox item - a very hefty Siku!

It's certainly a weighty big thing, isn't it? Honestly, the heft of this has to be felt to be believed - it's like a housebrick!

Glad you feel it was worth the shipping - it really is such a gorgeous model, and no, I don't know whether I much care for the big Aral sign on the roof either.

I also had no idea there was a pull-out canopy - it's been so well designed and built that I honestly couldn't see any gaps that suggested moving parts. That's some fine engineering.

With regard to the pull-out hoses, I did have a bit of a play with those myself, I'll confess, and was also perplexed that there was no retraction mechanism - but I think if you find a set of tweezers, you should be able to gently push the tubing back into the body a few millimetres at a time.

The tiny jewelled headlights are also one of those touches that elevates the model into more than just a toy - it really does feel very special, in the same way my Kirk Mercedes O coach just has that certain something extra about it...

Loving the pics!

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Datsuncog was yours missing the clear cover under the mechanism?  Mine has it so I'd get onto them if I were you

 Nope - mine was there okay, it was just my crappy pics which made it look like it was missing.

Good to see the CMC effort profiled against an original - always fun to play 'spot the difference'...

[ETCHY]

15 hours ago, Jon said:

My folks have taken a bit of a road trip, which means I had some time spare to crack open the big box of recently imported diecasts and take a few snaps.

Let's start things off with another Cogbox item - a very hefty Siku!

I'm reliably informed by my folks that this alone made up 400g of international luggage allowance.

 

The heft relates to the fact that it's an all metal body and chassis, with the tanker body representing much of that weight.

 

There's a ladder at the rear which is thankfully complete. One filler cap is missing up top and there's clips on the side, presumably stowing a hose. Google tells me that the clip on top should house a big Aral hoarding, which frankly I can live without:

Thinking about it, I don't think Siku sold a racing car to go with this racing themed tanker, so it's a bit of an oddity.

 

The side hatch reveals a couple of hoses, with knotted ends emulating a nozzle.

 

Assuming the knotted ends related to the hoses being retractable (and the fancy retracting mechanism being the reason for the tanker body weight), I pulled one out to test. Turns out I was wrong! It seems I now have one permanently retracted hose. Fortunately it still stows away but it seems bizarre that there's a single use play element to this. And that it took about a half century for a middle aged man laid on his kitchen floor to activate it...

 

But for all of Siku's misgivings, they left in a couple of play value features. I guessed the cab tilted as it's very much a Siku feature but the canopy tolerances are fine enough for me to have totally overlooked it. Turns out the notches are to pull it out with and not to wrap hose round, as assumed!

I do feel a little sad that one of the hoses is now forever pulled out but I think this shows that if it was ever played with, it was done so extremely carefully.

Anyway, big thanks to @Datsuncog for sourcing!

Nice thing that, I liked Siku as a kid, always a cut above somehow.
I find that hose thing bizarre, they're not reeled back in by the rotation of that sign that should have been on the top are they ? 

[flat4alfa]

4 hours ago, bunglebus said:

They do like resurrecting that Datsun 510 Rally casting and having fun with the tampo

[flat4alfa]

Get yourself kitted-out

[Noel Tidybeard]

i did a buy and got theses

yes the purple ones are different shades

but the one that made it worth it...

no i've never seen a beige interior or green paint either!

so the rogues line up with 2 existing chaps

with bonus p6 & tinacorner attractions!

 

(green p6 is on huntr minilites!😁)

[FakeConcern]

Minilites FTW!

 

[danthecapriman]

You guys must have ticked more of the options list than me!

[Jon]

1 hour ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

 

no i've never seen a beige interior or green paint either!

Yeah, I've never seen one of those, either! Looking at the rather generic livery without sponsors, I'm guessing this is either a last gasp effort to sell remaining castings in later years, or perhaps a Tesco version (again, sold in later years). Certainly, I remember a yellow SD1 with similar racing numbers and stripes.

[Noel Tidybeard]

OMG they did it in blue with no 1 on it!

[Jon]

7 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

It's certainly a weighty big thing, isn't it? Honestly, the heft of this has to be felt to be believed - it's like a housebrick!

Glad you feel it was worth the shipping - it really is such a gorgeous model, and no, I don't know whether I much care for the big Aral sign on the roof either.

I also had no idea there was a pull-out canopy - it's been so well designed and built that I honestly couldn't see any gaps that suggested moving parts. That's some fine engineering.

With regard to the pull-out hoses, I did have a bit of a play with those myself, I'll confess, and was also perplexed that there was no retraction mechanism - but I think if you find a set of tweezers, you should be able to gently push the tubing back into the body a few millimetres at a time.

The tiny jewelled headlights are also one of those touches that elevates the model into more than just a toy - it really does feel very special, in the same way my Kirk Mercedes O coach just has that certain something extra about it...

Loving the pics!

Good info (and execution!) regarding hose stowage. A toothpick was deployed!

And yes, it's a very worthy candidate for hauling across the globe. Thanks again for sourcing!

3 hours ago, ETCHY said:

Nice thing that, I liked Siku as a kid, always a cut above somehow.
I find that hose thing bizarre, they're not reeled back in by the rotation of that sign that should have been on the top are they ? 

Armed with your suggestion and Tim's enlightenment on how to put a rubber hose back, I did some further investigating:

The sign mount is square, so no spinning to reel in. Pressing it showed a bit of play but rather than movement of a mechanism, it just felt like a slightly rattly piece of plastic.

 

Let's look at the canopy again. This angle doesnt make it too apparent but this mostly covers up the space below the locating hole for the sign, when stowed away. So any ideas that the missing sign had a long rod that activated a reel are again dismissed.

Note also the painted casting hole in the canopy, from the factory. Presumably the Siku QC staff were unaware of this very stealth feature!

 

And then finally, whilst housing the hose using the toothpick method, I noticed the hose backing up above the pump panel, which revealed the other end to be knotted, also. Therefore, despite the needless bulk, there's no party tricks for the hoses, which is quite un-Siku like.

Case closed!

[Noel Tidybeard]

12 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

OMG they did it in blue with no 1 on it!

and red with 3

[Split_Pin]

You could only get Siku in Christie's in St Andrews back in the 1980s so I went only when I was on holiday in nearby Crail, so less than once a year. I then discovered Leisuretime in Bank Street in Falkirk who had a comprehensive range of trucks so the next 2 Christmases, 1992 and 1993, featured the ADAC Ford Cargo low loader with helicopter and a Parcel Force Iveco Turbostar (with a MAN F2000 on the box). These were both fitted with the later style of wheels with separate white centres. I liked these less than the earlier balloon wheels with tampo printed detailing.

Over the years, at swapmeets and even from St Georges I collected:

Mack C Series

MAN (similar to Jon's cab but non tilting and less detailed)

Volvo F7

Renault Turboliner

Mercedes SK

So still not that easy to come by.

I likes Siku trucks because they made recogniseable trucks you could see every day.

[sierraman]

I liked the features like the lockable fifth wheel by a lever. Very 1980’s Germany.

[sierraman]

Checked Lidl out, seven fecking quid so I left them on the shelf. 

[danthecapriman]

Just had (another!) large delivery. Postman laughed at me again when I opened the door…

Heres a tiny sample of what came until I can open everything. But, there’s some beauties here! All 1:43 again.

Vauxhall Shove-it. 
I love this, odd they did a Vauxhall. It’s came in the tiny blister pack the partwork models come in but I can’t see anything on the cardboard base to tell what the collection was?

Taunus TC3/Cortina mk5.

Fiat 127.

All lovely little models. As are the rest that came.

Unfortunately this delivery didn’t go unnoticed and I’m now officially banned from buying!😆      
Luckily though I’ve already got more on the way which it’s too late to do anything about.