Shite in Miniature II

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, Jon said:

I've been thinking of @Datsuncog's dilemma re: Matchbox Airport enjoyment at age 40+, and wonder if it's a context of the age ratio of consumer/product? Would it be more acceptable to enjoy a set from our own childhood, or perhaps even earlier, so it's seen as a collectible?

On this point, I took a look at the Mattel range of play sets and noticed a distinct difference between some form of realism (Matchbox) and pure shite whimsy (Hotwheels), such as a fire station with integrated loop the loop.

That said Hotwheels do have this on offer:

Which handily stows into a very adult looking briefcase, for the man about town.

 

The colours may be garish, but thankfully 1979 era Hotwheels has that issue sorted:

I've many a memory playing with this Caramac effort (which was my brother's - I had the much less interesting construction site version), which probably answers why I like the aesthetic and colour tones of this time. And look how pared back the layout is! Excellent space for single-digit-aged me to stuff with cars - again, a similar theme played for real on my driveway...

That's brilliant - and good to see Mattel have reworked the classic 'Sto & Go' set (I had the construction site version as well!) for a new generation.

But yeah, I think you're right - there's maybe a cultural difference between an actual plaything from your childhood, and a modern toy that's kinda like the stuff you enjoyed as a child, only even better.

One is pure nostalgia, which is kinda understood and tolerated, and the other's maybe seen as a bit odd...

I think I come down on the odd side.

But it doesn't stop me wanting to carry that set into a meeting and act like it's the most natural thing in the world as I set it up...

[junkyarddog]

4 hours ago, Hertz said:

Had this set as a kid and remember my Dad standing on the Dodge van when he came into my bedroom. I was gutted as loved this set. He tried to buy anther one but couldn't find it. Roll on 41 years and I found one on Ebay Dad! Fits nicely with the other larger scale Porsches in the collection.

 

Slightly different,but very close.

Will have to dig out the van now🤦‍♂️

[danthecapriman]

15 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

I remember the Intercom City sets alright, but I don't seem to remember the advert - it's possible they weren't shown in Northern Ireland though, we probably got 'Big Jim' Megaw telling us about all the offers available at Super Crazy Prices instead...

Pricey enough, mind - the ad says the set is '£59 or less':

Cor! I don't think I'd be spending £125 on a Matchbox set these days, no matter how tempting!

Christ!! That would be why I never had one as a kid then! Not worth spending £59 on!😆

I remember it clear as anything, that advert. For some reason that catchy ‘Intercom city’ in an American accent stuck. Me any my sister used to take the piss out of it every five minutes yelling it at each other in a really overblown fake American accent.

I never have been a big fan of Hot Wheels at all if I’m honest. The play sets were always waaay to fantasy and unrealistic for me, along with many of the HW cars. I was very selective when it came to HW stuff. 
Matchbox and Corgi, on the other hand seemed to make their play sets and vehicles much more life like and believable, but still managing to make it a fun toy. There were exceptions of course but HW were always the opposite, the normal believable stuff being the exception for them. 
People obviously liked them though as they’re so popular.

@Datsuncog I wouldn’t worry about liking those play sets! It’s a nice little thing to set up and display your cars on if nowt else, but there’s nothing wrong with having them because it reminds you of childhood toys, wether you had the original ones or just wanted them (but your parents thought you unworthy of a £59 present!). People collect all kinds of things for whatever reasons so I wouldn’t worry about it. If you like them and it makes you happy bollocks to what anyone else thinks. 

[sierraman]

3 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

@Datsuncog buying the new style Matchbox road/building sets made me think back to this,

Anyone else remember that advert!? 
I never had one but remember the advert perfectly for some stupid reason!

I wanted one as a kid but it was waaayyy too expensive for my parents. Matchbox seemed to go through a phase in the early 90’s (worst possible time!) with a few ranges that were sheer indulgence one being this, the other being the model railway sets they did around 1991/92

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, Jon said:

I've been thinking of @Datsuncog's dilemma re: Matchbox Airport enjoyment at age 40+, and wonder if it's a context of the age ratio of consumer/product? Would it be more acceptable to enjoy a set from our own childhood, or perhaps even earlier, so it's seen as a collectible?

On this point, I took a look at the Mattel range of play sets and noticed a distinct difference between some form of realism (Matchbox) and pure shite whimsy (Hotwheels), such as a fire station with integrated loop the loop.

That said Hotwheels do have this on offer:

Which handily stows into a very adult looking briefcase, for the man about town.

 

The colours may be garish, but thankfully 1979 era Hotwheels has that issue sorted:

I've many a memory playing with this Caramac effort (which was my brother's - I had the much less interesting construction site version), which probably answers why I like the aesthetic and colour tones of this time. And look how pared back the layout is! Excellent space for single-digit-aged me to stuff with cars - again, a similar theme played for real on my driveway...

I still have mine, my mum got it from a jumble sale, I used to keep a blue Corgi Metro in the top garage - Larry’s Towing 🤣

[bunglebus]

5 hours ago, Hertz said:

Had this set as a kid and remember my Dad standing on the Dodge van when he came into my bedroom. I was gutted as loved this set. He tried to buy anther one but couldn't find it. Roll on 41 years and I found one on Ebay Dad! Fits nicely with the other larger scale Porsches in the collection.

 

 

 

I bought that set off a guy I worked with, along with a load of others in various scales, all in lovely condition. Sadly all lost when I split with my wife 

[RoadworkUK]

It seems to be a tradition now that my wife and I celebrate our anniversary in Glastonbury, and that's just what we did last weekend. This time, I was determined to visit an establishment that I spotted last year. Current Google Streetview image depict it in its slightly unpromising former state...

Nevertheless. Inside, part of it looks like this:

Basically, Mecca.

Its name is Jadlam, and it's an all-under-one-roof wonderland for anybody who's into Airfix/Tamiya-etc. scale modelling, die-cast of any flavour, Hornby, Scalextric, Radio Control, you name it. Absolutely astonishing place.

Having kind of gone off the boil with Hot Wheels,  I didn't even look at the Jadlam assortment, but I did spend quite a while in front of the Mini GT display:

Much, much amazingness.

So, did I buy?

Well, yes. But I was quite restrained. Remarkably so, in fact. I had actually browsed their website the night before, and I had a particular goal for visiting the shop. Alas, it was out of stock.

Happily, one of the staff suggested that I might as well order via the website, because they (pretty astonishingly, these days) offer free postage. So I left the store empty-handed, but full-hearted, and four days later, this arrived:

My phone camera is disappointingly crap these days, but at least that graininess makes the pics look like screen-grabs from an old VHS cassette. But anyway. 1:64 scale A-Team (of course) GMC Vandura by Greenlight, weathered edition, and I think absolutely lovely.

Yes, the bull-bar is on the wonk; I haven't yet decided on whether to attempt to fix that or leave it looking as if it's just been driven at speed through a suspiciously flimsy outbuilding in true gung-ho "can't go to the toilet until the commercial break" mid-'80s saturday ITV action fashion.

It's excellent, anyway. Really weighty and substantial feeling. It was a tenner. That's a lot for a 1:64, but Hot Wheels Premiums are heading in that direction, and I find them a bit tiring. Every casting that turns up representing the kind of subject matter that interests generally has daft out-of-proportion wheels. The TurboVecs here look brilliant.

I also ordered something else. A bit bigger, and something of a bargain by today's standards, I think. It was a pre-order, though, so it won't be arriving until mid-July. 

Jadlam. https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/. They're good.

[danthecapriman]

26 minutes ago, RoadworkUK said:

It seems to be a tradition now that my wife and I celebrate our anniversary in Glastonbury, and that's just what we did last weekend. This time, I was determined to visit an establishment that I spotted last year. Current Google Streetview image depict it in its slightly unpromising former state...

Nevertheless. Inside, part of it looks like this:

Basically, Mecca.

Its name is Jadlam, and it's an all-under-one-roof wonderland for anybody who's into Airfix/Tamiya-etc. scale modelling, die-cast of any flavour, Hornby, Scalextric, Radio Control, you name it. Absolutely astonishing place.

Having kind of gone off the boil with Hot Wheels,  I didn't even look at the Jadlam assortment, but I did spend quite a while in front of the Mini GT display:

Much, much amazingness.

So, did I buy?

Well, yes. But I was quite restrained. Remarkably so, in fact. I had actually browsed their website the night before, and I had a particular goal for visiting the shop. Alas, it was out of stock.

Happily, one of the staff suggested that I might as well order via the website, because they (pretty astonishingly, these days) offer free postage. So I left the store empty-handed, but full-hearted, and four days later, this arrived:

My phone camera is disappointingly crap these days, but at least that graininess makes the pics look like screen-grabs from an old VHS cassette. But anyway. 1:64 scale A-Team (of course) GMC Vandura by Greenlight, weathered edition, and I think absolutely lovely.

Yes, the bull-bar is on the wonk; I haven't yet decided on whether to attempt to fix that or leave it looking as if it's just been driven at speed through a suspiciously flimsy outbuilding in true gung-ho "can't go to the toilet until the commercial break" mid-'80s saturday ITV action fashion.

It's excellent, anyway. Really weighty and substantial feeling. It was a tenner. That's a lot for a 1:64, but Hot Wheels Premiums are heading in that direction, and I find them a bit tiring. Every casting that turns up representing the kind of subject matter that interests generally has daft out-of-proportion wheels. The TurboVecs here look brilliant.

I also ordered something else. A bit bigger, and something of a bargain by today's standards, I think. It was a pre-order, though, so it won't be arriving until mid-July. 

Jadlam. https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/. They're good.

That Vandura looks fantastic. Even more so given it’s a small scale one. 
I’ve got a few of those Greenlight 1:64 sized models now and they are brilliant little things. Great detail and, as you say, no oversized wheels etc.

Jadlam sell on eBay too. Funnily enough I got a parcel from them today with some glues I ordered from them.

[bunglebus]

I've been in Jadlam a couple of times. There's certainly a lot to look at in there

[bunglebus]

I don't often re-visit my old customs, but it's always bugged me that the windscreen was really scratched on my Mini Ha Ha/Racing Mini creation, so I raided one out of a donor and modified it a bit better than the first time. It's certainly nice and shiny

Put a bit of detail on the blower belt etc too while I had it apart 

[danthecapriman]

That’s absolutely brilliant @bunglebus! Really cool mix of the two Mini’s style and paint jobs. The rear tyres look fantastic on it too.

[bunglebus]

Think I pinched then off either an F1 car or a dragster. Certainly haven't ever found any others, more's the pity!

It's not especially easy trying to put proper windows and interior in these style castings, thankfully there were only ever the Mini Ha Ha and Flying Bug

 

[bunglebus]

Boot sale bits 

All the carded ones were a pre-arranged pick up from the young lad who buys and sells, he got the rest of the Matchbox I had to get them out of my way

[sierraman]

1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

Boot sale bits 

All the carded ones were a pre-arranged pick up from the young lad who buys and sells, he got the rest of the Matchbox I had to get them out of my way

Never seen a red Javelin? 

[bunglebus]

16 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Never seen a red Javelin? 

I have, I drove all the way to the wrong side of Southend to pick up a tatty one off Facebook, last year I think. 50p for a really nice one made my day - twin pack only colour 

Just taking pics of today's finds

[bunglebus]

Got this off Hayden the boot sale lad, I think it was once part of a garage or set? I knew there were Corgi and Crescent ones but not Matchbox 

Kinda thinning out my commercial vehicles but this Dodge caught my eye

Always buying pink Crapis then selling them to you lot later!

Was a morning or unusual colour Matchbox. Twin pack AMX is definitely a good score

No boat or trailer to go with it though

Had to buy one of those annoying bags of cars to get this purple window Countach - I've got yellow and green glass versions already

928 is just a nice thing. Probably already got one

Same goes for this

Don't recall finding a white Trans Am before though

SEC is one of the less-seen later cars I find

Now this really is weird. A version of the ex-Kenner Mustang GT I had no idea existed. Got to do some research on this one

Why do I buy My First Matchbox? I'm really not sure

Hot Wheels donor car, unless it's worth a billion pounds on eBay

Majorette 260Z

Finally, I can't think of many 1:64 recreations of Ford's oddball EXP, but Zee Toys had a go

[155V6]

I've got one of those Matchbox ramps,it goes with the Service Station @Datsuncog got for me a few years back.There's also a plastic copy

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285874984772?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=LWVAXW8CQnq&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=UdnbkHTuRz6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[bunglebus]

1995 Hot Rod 5 pack release apparently 

The last time this casting was used

[junkyarddog]

Matchbox service ramp is always worth picking up. 

Smoll Eddy loves his.

That's an impressive length of hose you've got there Eddy. 

"No complaints so far M8"

[Datsuncog]

Squarely laying the blame at @155V6's door for tipping me off that Toytown branches have restocked their Matchbox Action Drivers sets...

Mostly stuff I've previously bought, including more of those wonderful Airport Adventure sets, BUT a Pizza Hut set (from 2022) and FedEx set (from 2023) were most definitely not there a few weeks ago.

Not exactly cheap-cheap, but significantly less than online scalpers have them priced at - so, I couldn't bring myself to leave without them...

[sierraman]

Went in Toytown but no Pizza Huts. 

[morrisoxide]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned on here before but, the Entertainer in Tescos has this lot in for £15.20 a pop.

I got this cool 131 but unfortunately no Rover P6.

Edit I've just seen in the background of @junkyarddog's post above the very same Lorry. 🙃

[AndyW201]

 

6 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

 @155V6

Not exactly cheap-cheap, but significantly less than online scalpers have them priced at - so, I couldn't bring myself to leave without them...

The missus had to nip into town before work today. She came home tonight with this...

... after me mentioning seeing it last week! Only the one on the shelf though sadly.

Im looking forward to playing with this one, but the choice of car was the attraction too, Ive already got the grey GTi, mint and carded, so it will be nice to have a loose one to play with.

It would appear that bringing the car forward into the space then pressing down opens the door and brings the server out.

I'll leave Mr Cog to do an unbox & reveal thread though as he'll do a more interesting job of it than I can.

[AndyW201]

Other arrivals,

Including a couple from Ana's Facebook site,

Since getting another (real) W202 C Class, I've been looking out for miniature ones. Last time, I managed to get a couple of Minichamps ones for non piss-take prices. In smaller scales though, you're pretty tied to DTM race versions. Some road cars are available in 1/87 scale, (Herpa even do a signal red facelift version thats a pretty good match for my car), but they're so tiny, old clumsy-arse here would probably lose them when I did the hoovering...

So, from Hot Wheels, its DTM or nothing. I got the silver Dekra-liveried one in the Deutschland Design box set,

Which I was impressed with, as its a pretty complicated livery, done really well by Hot Wheels.

This is the other livery that I liked on the real DTM cars, simpler in this case, but still nicely done.

I like the rims on this one too,

I was happy to get this too, I've seen this series online, but never in the shops,

Always been one of my favourite castings, this one, and I love these new Fuchs-lookalike rims,

Being a semi-premium, we get tampo stripes, AND decent front and rear detail too,

And going round a couple of shops, I found this first, alone on a clipstrip in the small Asda,

I was gutted to miss out on this recently.  Lidl recently had the case which had this in, and I found quite a few I'd been after, but the Quattro was nowhere to be seen.

Its a little sweetie,, reminding me of the mid '80s Matchbox version. The brightwork on the door handles and the tampo printed rear quarter vents lift the exterior on this.

Great front end detail too,

Disappointingly bare at the rear though,

At Tesco, I found the last knockings of a Matchbox case, including oddly enough, three of the green Audi TTs the same as the one I found in Toy Town last week, and never previously  heard of. Right at the bottom, I spotted this,

I was slightly disappointed as I thought it was a C63 AMG at first, but a toy Merc is a toy Merc, and this is another one I was unaware of,

Matchbox are really going for it with the detailing lately,

[sheffcortinacentre]

Fire up the quattro!

[Spottedlaurel]

Local big stores still pretty barren when it comes to HW and Matchbox.

Found the Dodge and Corvette when I went to a Tesco that's had their toy aisle taken over by The Entertainer. They only had HW, and not a very exciting selection left at that.

I popped into The Entertainer 'proper' in Ipswich, quite a small branch and again not much to choose from.

But, I had much better luck in a small, independent toyshop in Framlingham:

He would normally have them at £2.30 each, and five for £10, but then had them on sale at £1.84 each. He said that he gets them from three different suppliers, the best one is in Cardiff as they make sure he gets the new cases.

[egg]

Local toy fair today, I mean mostly it's overpriced nonsense really, it's fine, but I didn't see many people emptying their wallets. I picked up some resto projects at toy fair prices, £1 each (the Volvo is very good apart from a couple of nicks) and £2 for the Morestone police car - they restore well, done one before. £5 spent + door fee!

At least it meant I took the Mondeo out for a short trip.

[FakeConcern]

43 minutes ago, egg said:

Local toy fair today, I mean mostly it's overpriced nonsense really, it's fine, but I didn't see many people emptying their wallets. I picked up some resto projects at toy fair prices, £1 each (the Volvo is very good apart from a couple of nicks) and £2 for the Morestone police car - they restore well, done one before. £5 spent + door fee!

At least it meant I took the Mondeo out for a short trip.

I "toyed" with going to the Herne Bay toy fair today, but decided it was a bit too far.

Some nice purchases there!

[egg]

20 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

I "toyed" with going to the Herne Bay toy fair today, but decided it was a bit too far.

Seems to get a bit smoller each time, wouldn't have been worth the trip I don't think!

I almost went for a Citrine Minichamps Mondeo at £20, which is about online prices - but I kept my money.

[FakeConcern]

3 hours ago, egg said:

Seems to get a bit smoller each time, wouldn't have been worth the trip I don't think!

I almost went for a Citrine Minichamps Mondeo at £20, which is about online prices - but I kept my money.

I'm glad I didn't go then, thanks. Some of the other kent ones have been pretty good, the one at Ditton springs to mind as extra good, but Maidstone and Tenterden weren't bad.

I've found the newer and less toy like models have been pricey at toy fairs, often similar to ebay but of course you can look at them properly and no postage or waiting for it to arrive!