Shite in Miniature II

[Tenmil Socket]

Who did this go to? The thing of nightmares...

[Datsuncog]

November brought some more nice finds of the older persuasion:

Which, in turn, yielded one of the year's top finds...

Yup, this beauteous little Fiat 850 by Mercury.

Y'know what, this gets my vote for Find Of The Year.

I surprised myself be becoming actually quite enamoured with this little Corgi Jeep FC150, a casting I previously felt very little affection for.

Though the good stuff dried up towards the end of the month...

Yet even then, The Nemesis sold me a few Spot-On, so there was still fun to be had.

Other stalls had some interesting stuff, too.

But there was still some bounty to be had - the month's purchases looked like this:

And finally, to the year's end...

[Datsuncog]

December!

Cold 'n' frosty... but there were Tat Boxes to warm us (even if the market was bloody freezing).

Plus some absolute dross.

But this spinny Norev Laguna was surely a pretty good find, for a mere £3.

I should have picked this up, though.

And this.

This massive motorised Rolls Royce really tickled me, despite being not the sort of thing I'd generally want...

But it was amazing. I'm sure I'll never see another.

Regrets, hey?

And a delivery of the more recent Hot Wheels cases finally dropped, locally.

And to see the old year out, purchasing looked like this:

And so went the year... thanks to you all for sharing it with me! Great to see these little toys go on, and spread a bit of happiness and fun throughout this cold ol' world...

Until next time, kids - Happy Friday. And Happy 2024 to us all.

[Tenmil Socket]

An Instagram post I've just spotted says there's a double page spread in the centre of todays Daily Mirror about Matchbox.

[MiniMinorMk3]

39 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Yup, this beauteous little Fiat 850 by Mercury.

Y'know what, this gets my vote for Find Of The Year.

 

That Fiat gets my vote to.

[Split_Pin]

47 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Great to see these little toys go on, and spread a bit of happiness and fun throughout this cold ol' world...

I couldn't agree more. Thanks as always for being the broadcaster of this ray of light every Friday. I appreciate you are also juggling work commitments that day (remembering again the Kirk Mercedes bus occurrence 😂)  and home renovations at the weekend. Yet the wee motors always get through. You have definitely made a difference to most of the regulars in this thread via Tat Friday. Thanks Tim. I hope you have a happy New Year.

As a side note, I'd just like to highlight, in case anyone was wondering, you can fit TWO Lesneys inside a 1/18 X Type Jaguar. Ingenious efficiency in surreptitious packaging. 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Here's the last in the short series of catalogues scans. I might discover others in the next few months that I have forgotten about, but most of the ctalogues I have relate to 1/43rd scale stuff from teh 1980s, 1990s and the Naughties.

This is going to be a bit of a comparison  as it is the British issue 1977 Solido Catalogue.

First thing we notice is this one has a date.

Then we see pictures of the actual models, and there were 55 car models in the 1977 collection.

But Solido seem to have changed what they model. Back in'67 it was mostly prestige sports cars and racing cars with generalised liveries.

No it's mostly every day French chod and models of actual race cars from actual events.

New issues are still seen as artists impressions.

And there's a few that I don't think actually escaped the factory, like the driving school 104 and the R5 Alpine.

The truck range has expanded but the cost cutting is evident from the generic wheels.

A lot of European makes are included, which we did not get from Dinky or Corgi

They still persisted with the L'age d'or for the giffer collectors'

The military collection has expanded and it looks like you could re-enact all the fronts on the lounge carpet.

Look at that Berliet transported and trailer. Imagine that loaded up with a selection including an R5, R12, R14, R17, R18, and R30.

Small gift sets with various trailers

Military Gift Sets

And finally those 1/32nd scale construction sets with some 1/43 caravanning sets

This catalogue was issued by Modeltime in the UK. They were based in Croydon and were one of teh biggest wholesalers of imported diecast. They were based in Croydon and used to have a retail shop that I visited in the early 1990's. I remember seeing practically the whole of the Brumm range there, including some odd colour variations.

I do not know anything of teh retail Seagull Model of 18 Exhibition Road SW7.

Modeltime commissioned models from the likes of Brumm, Bang/Box/Best and Vitesse for the UK market.

[Split_Pin]

Lovely, I do like these catalogue scans. It's an absolute tragedy that Solidos of this era are not popular with collectors. I used to have quite a few 1970s mint and boxed items but I had to give them away in the end, such a shame. I'm glad I kept 3 of them though, especially the Renault 12 estate.

The Century of Cars range I was given (that has to be the occurrence of the year, diecast-wise for me!) has some nice 1970s reissues such as the Fiat X1/9, Porsche 928 and Alpine Renault. Even their L'age D'or range are detailed and have interesting subjects that you could at least find in books rather than yet another generic beer or tea-liveried Model T.

[barrett]

Amazing they still had stocks of Maxicars they were trying to flog in 1977! Pretty sure the range came out in 1972, maybe even a bit earlier, and by all accounts they sold terribly. Still looking for the Opel if anyone ever sees one...

[bunglebus]

Delivery just arrived, containing a job lot I wanted, really for just one car - a Majorette Jaguar E type. I had one but it was somewhat playworn

This one's much nicer - bonus leaping cat on the bonnet 

[Split_Pin]

That's a new one on me!

[bunglebus]

On 28/10/2023 at 13:12, bunglebus said:

A while back I was on a bit of a mission trying to find all the different Corgi Mazda B1600s. Don't ask me why cos I don't know.

Anyway I only had one version to track down, and a good one appeared for sale

Ah foolish child. Yet again I think I've found every single possible version of the B1600, and another rears its head - so of course I have to have it

I'm working on the theory that this particular livery only came in this set?

I already have the Porsche in both green and orange, but mint in box is always a nice thing

[andrew e]

@Datsuncog Thats a fantastic review of the year, and its nice to see I scored on quite a few months! Interesting to see that on Fridays I missed where actual real life got in the way (!) there were quite a few “I wish I’d got in first” moments - jealous moi - of course not 😉

I would add for those of you who love a tat Friday, scan this calendar and pencil in some day outs for yourself, maybe pick somewhere close your other half wouldn’t mind visiting after too 😇 you will be allowed to spend more 😂

https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/eventSMT/y2024/m1

[Spottedlaurel]

11 hours ago, andrew e said:

I would add for those of you who love a tat Friday, scan this calendar and pencil in some day outs for yourself, maybe pick somewhere close your other half wouldn’t mind visiting after too 😇 you will be allowed to spend more 😂

https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/eventSMT/y2024/m1

I had a look just yesterday and was surprised and also pleased to find there's one up in Norwich today, so I shall be tootling up there soon in the Carina E (it feels right to be in that, just the sort of thing I'd hope to see in the car park there).

[eddyramrod]

There was one at Bolton yesterday, my nearest of any worthwhile size.  I didn't go.  Real life got in the way, as so often.

[cms206]

Finally managed to turn up a Saga (or 3... and half a dozen Matchbox 240s... ) at The Entertainer in Buchanan Galleries!!!

[bunglebus]

@NorfolkNWeigh talking about the Café Hag Majorette VW van prompted me to scuttle off to eBay and see if there were any interesting ones available.

Found a better "Service Autoroute" version

I also bid on this mint in sealed blister Alme Peugeot 

Unfortunately it decided to unseal itself from the very thin, brittle blister in transit - can't blame the seller, it would have happened however it was packed I think.

Allows me to get it out without feeling guilty at least

[Tenmil Socket]

Can anyone tell me the best place to search for upcoming local toy fairs?

[junkyarddog]

Picked up a couple of these Kadett C  Coupes,decided to let Smoll Eddy wheels swap one.

Do you like orange Smoll Eddy?

"Only a Chocolate orange M8"

 

[Spottedlaurel]

/\ That orange Kadett looks excellent! I got an extra one a little while ago to do something similar, and I've now got spare copies of the Alfa GTV and puple Datsun estate with the nice 4-spoke wheels.

Toy fair reportage to come. Not big but managed to get quite a bit for not much.

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

@NorfolkNWeigh talking about the Café Hag Majorette VW van prompted me to scuttle off to eBay and see if there were any interesting ones available.

Found a better "Service Autoroute" version

I also bid on this mint in sealed blister Alme Peugeot 

Unfortunately it decided to unseal itself from the very thin, brittle blister in transit - can't blame the seller, it would have happened however it was packed I think.

Allows me to get it out without feeling guilty at least

Cor that Peugeot is a cracker.

[bunglebus]

Proton progress

This one has been a pain in the trousers, masking up the black strip on the rear bumper especially. Tried to go for maximum detail including painting the cast-in washer jets and third brake light. 

Had a mare with the first can of paint as the spray pattern was similar to putting your thumb over a hose, and it went all bubbly after drying the second coat. Luckily the base was OK as it wouldn't have been easy to strip off plastic.

Only thing I'd like to change is the oversize steel wheels, hopefully I can find some more realistic aftermarket versions

[MiniMinorMk3]

20 hours ago, andrew e said:

@Datsuncog Thats a fantastic review of the year, and its nice to see I scored on quite a few months! Interesting to see that on Fridays I missed where actual real life got in the way (!) there were quite a few “I wish I’d got in first” moments - jealous moi - of course not 😉

I would add for those of you who love a tat Friday, scan this calendar and pencil in some day outs for yourself, maybe pick somewhere close your other half wouldn’t mind visiting after too 😇 you will be allowed to spend more 😂

https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/eventSMT/y2024/m1

 

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Can anyone tell me the best place to search for upcoming local toy fairs?

andrew e posted an excellent yesterday.

If you click this link it takes you to the events title page

Swapmeets and Toyfairs on The UK Model Shop Directory (ukmodelshops.co.uk)

[Datsuncog]

2 hours ago, cms206 said:

Finally managed to turn up a Saga (or 3... and half a dozen Matchbox 240s... ) at The Entertainer in Buchanan Galleries!!!

Clearly there's some sort of distribution error! I carried out a dawn raid on The Entertainer in Belfast yesterday, and their pegs are still laden with the same 2023 Matchbox and Hot Wheels mix that we've been seeing for months past... No Protons, no Volvo's, no nuthin'.

Did manage to score myself this quite nice Chevrolet racing rig, though.

They had the Rover P6 on a trailer in there last week, which I took a shine to, but the queues were nuts so I just left it. They were all gone by the time I returned, though.

I snoozed, so I losed.

I've popped it from the blister pack now; they're really quite a nice duo. Pics later.

Also noticed that Poundland are now offering out Hot Wheels mainlines for a quid, with something called Poundland Perks - which I'll assume is a loyalty card or app or something, like the increasingly infamous Tesco Clubcard Price or Nectar Prices in supermarkets.

There was no additional info to be found about the Perks in store, and there was nothing I really wanted off the pegs, but if anyone's planning bulk-buys, it's something to be aware of! Cheapest in town, for sure.

[MiniMinorMk3]

The Transfer Window has opened again. As promised the next subject was a Record Porsche.

This is just a reboxed Solido with a set of decals for a livery that Solido did not issue.

The car in question is the 2nd placed class winning Joest Racing Porsche 908/80 Turbo, chassis number 936/80-004, that was driven by Jochen Mass and Reinhold Jöst.

Unlike the Luso BMW I did a few weeks ago finding pictures of the car was fairly easy. 

This will help with placing the decals that are not on the little picture that came with the model.

First thing to do was the usual wash using a bit of detergent and a brush.

Then we had the problem of the mirrors to sort. These get in the way of the big stripe decals that go over the top of the wheel arch, so need to be removed.

I find the best way to remove the mirrors is to dismantle the model and then push them out from the inside. It is a good way to preserve the stubs on the ends of the mirrors and thus make them easier to reattach when the decals are done. Also it gives me a chance to get rid of the yellowed glue from to ends of the mirrors and the body.

I use some of those small screw drivers to get the mirrors out. Also notice how basic this model is, a body, a two pieces base with seat and a couple of axles with wheels.

Well that's those out.

Now on with the decals. Three done, only another thirty to go.

There's some more on the front and the rear wing.

There's one stripe done and the big front decal.

These old decals are very fragile. I have already broken six of the, including the big stripe, the big front decals and a couple of the smaller ones. It's a right pain having not only to align the decal, but to make sure the breaks are not that visible.

Well that's it for today, time to let those dry for now. More tommorrow. Also spot the error, I soaked the Bosch/Bilstein/Shell/Sachs decal but it would not shift easily. After the problems with the breakages I did not try to hard so I left it slightly obscured by the stripe.

[bunglebus]

24 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

They had the Rover P6 on a trailer in there last week, which I took a shine to, but the queues were nuts so I just left it. They were all gone by the time I returned, though.

I snoozed, so I losed.

I've popped it from the blister pack now; they're really quite a nice duo. Pics later.

Also noticed that Poundland are now offering out Hot Wheels mainlines for a quid, with something called Poundland Perks - which I'll assume is a loyalty card or app or something,

I see the P6 still from time to time if you want one - Perks is an app just for NI and IOW apparently!

[bunglebus]

Another delivery, job lot from the big three. 1st up, everyone's favourite Corvette from Dinky 

A rather tidy MGA from earlier in Corgi history

A couple of Matchbox, KP-1 Caper Cart and Merc SLC

And the best one in my eyes, a lovely Rover 2000 with Trans-o-Lite

[Nibbler]

Today’s haul is most likely the last for this year. XR4i from Solido, Bburago Citroen C1, a Corgi 3,0S and a couple of VW T3s. All from a couple of charity shops in Sweden’s own Jerusalem: Jönköping.

[flat4alfa]

On 29/12/2023 at 15:56, Tenmil Socket said:

Who did this go to? The thing of nightmares...

It’s here with me

I’d lost my job just days earlier

I think I was emotional

[andrew e]

You must really be emotional being reminded of it again!