Shite in Miniature II

[sierraman]

53 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Ooh

Lol

My wife always goes ‘but it’s for charity’ like that’s a justification for ripping people off. 🤣

[quicksilver]

Just now, sierraman said:

My wife always goes ‘but it’s for charity’ like that’s a justification for ripping people off. 🤣

Exactly. Stuff in charity shops is all donated so the charity got it for free and whatever they sell it for is 100% profit. Charities ripping people off is worse than businesses doing it because you know they paid nothing for that stuff and they're supposed to be non-profit organisations.

[Jon]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Lol

That's a very apt LOL, there.

I picked this one up at a car boot sale at York Racecourse in 2022:

In amongst a load of uninteresting (to me) 1980's issued Corgi Routemasters, this was much more to my tastes.

Lovely lustre still, after a half century of existing.

 

Present was the (presumably quite bawdy) clippy.

 

Better still, it was boxed:

And even better still, it cost £4. Lovely stuff.

[bunglebus]

Well it seems not all charity shops are created equally. Not only did I get loads of old Matchbox and Corgis for £5, in the next shop I spotted the track set, in the mintest box I've ever seen. Not gone through it but I think it's all in there, and WAY below eBay prices...

There's even a little guy hiding in the back of the lorry

[junkyarddog]

Track set looks mint!!

[Jon]

Is that a Corvette Flip Top?! That's an impressive haul!

[RoadworkUK]

Serious chazza shop envy right here.

[neil72]

Great find, charity shops are patchy in my area, the 'chain' ones sell most of their good stuff on ebay, the local ones such as the Hospice shop have some good stuff in and a bargain can be found!

[MiniMinorMk3]

40 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

It annoys me too when I see things like that Escort van that would be worth more because they're boxed, except they've ruined the box by sticking the price label on it.

New sticky labels are not good. Hopefully who ever buys it will know about the lighter fluid method that I use to remove them. Also, at £12, the price seems quite reasonable.

[bunglebus]

Well the contents have definitely been played with, and there's not a nice boxed Superfast hiding inside! Still very pleased

 

[Spottedlaurel]

Very nice!

It was only when I got the 1970 catalogue on Saturday that I realised the track sets went back that far, for some reason I imagined them being launched around 1973/74.

[bramz7]

12 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

I've got a few of these too. Peugeot 407s, Citroens including the Xsara Picasso I also now have a C4 estate as recently purchased in Belgium. 

A very slippery slope, the only saving grace is their moderate rarity in the UK. 

 

Here's a clue as to how quickly things get out of hand 

This box is 4 deep. I did say I'd keep my collection contained within it, but alas it's already filling up another.....

 

If anyone ever sees any, please do not let me know 

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, Jon said:

Is that a Corvette Flip Top?! That's an impressive haul!

So it is!

[MiniMinorMk3]

3 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Exactly. Stuff in charity shops is all donated so the charity got it for free and whatever they sell it for is 100% profit. Charities ripping people off is worse than businesses doing it because you know they paid nothing for that stuff and they're supposed to be non-profit organisations.

Charity shops still have to pay rent, rates, utilities and salaries for managers and and others who run them, so it is not 100% profit from donations. however £40 non negotiable is just wrong for a play worn 50 year old Corgi bus. Unfortunately the charity shops are only as good as the volunteers that price them and run them.

[Remspoor]

 

1 hour ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Charity shops still have to pay rent, rates, utilities and salaries for managers and and others who run them, so it is not 100% profit from donations. however £40 non negotiable is just wrong for a play worn 50 year old Corgi bus. Unfortunately the charity shops are only as good as the volunteers that price them and run them.

 

The full story. It is a bit one sided.

https://www.charityretail.org.uk/how-charity-shops-work/

Can you haggle?

https://skintdad.co.uk/haggling-in-charity-shops/

[flat4alfa]

5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Zylmex Chaparral !

[flat4alfa]

YIKES !

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Charity shops still have to pay rent, rates, utilities and salaries for managers and and others who run them, so it is not 100% profit from donations. however £40 non negotiable is just wrong for a play worn 50 year old Corgi bus. Unfortunately the charity shops are only as good as the volunteers that price them and run them.

Like a lot of things going under the guise of 'charity’ it’s the middle management having a hand in that pushes the price up. 

[sierraman]

White ‘Broomstick’ Porsche 910! 

[bunglebus]

Just seen Corgi Model Club are doing a gloss black Batmobile as a limited special order, as well as the matt one all subscribers will get. I'm in two minds about these extra releases, they need to ensure a profit but it's a frustrating decision for those of us with completionist tendencies!

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Just seen Corgi Model Club are doing a gloss black Batmobile as a limited special order, as well as the gloss one all subscribers will get

I thought subscribers were getting the Matt black one?

[Dick Longbridge]

Saw this.

Thought of this thread.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

I thought subscribers were getting the Matt black one?

Yes slight typo there...subs are getting a matt bat blackmobile

[bunglebus]

5 hours ago, sierraman said:

White ‘Broomstick’ Porsche 910! 

Yes..and I have a nicer one too.

Didn't think to look for the broomstick in the box

[quicksilver]

16 hours ago, Remspoor said:

 

 

The full story. It is a bit one sided.

https://www.charityretail.org.uk/how-charity-shops-work/

Can you haggle?

https://skintdad.co.uk/haggling-in-charity-shops/

Interesting stuff and it seems charity shops get an awful lot of concessions to maximise the amount of income available for their cause so their overheads are significantly lower. Selling new stuff doesn't seem fair as they're competing directly with businesses but have much lower operating costs. It's been going on for years though; I remember when my mum did some volunteering at the local shop she was shocked at how often they'd receive boxes of brand new stock from the warehouse that had been bought by the charity, basically the same model as a private retailer but with the tax breaks of a charity.

[bunglebus]

21 hours ago, Jon said:

Is that a Corvette Flip Top?! That's an impressive haul!

Does anyone know about these? Can't seem to find anything online 

[Jon]

4 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Does anyone know about these? Can't seem to find anything online 

Sorry, called Swop Tops, my mistake.

I've got the Mercedes SL, bought new in York around the time these were new, from a shop that regularly had random stuff in. Sort of prototype Home Bargains, I guess.

https://matchbox.fandom.com/wiki/Swop_Tops

[sierraman]

7 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Does anyone know about these? Can't seem to find anything online 

Called Swop Tops, from round about 1992-3ish. Some were regular castings adapted, others like the Mustang and the 968 were new castings - not even entirely sure they were even released. 

[quicksilver]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Does anyone know about these? Can't seem to find anything online 

There was some discussion of them on this very thread not long ago. I couldn't find anything online either then as I was under the impression they were called Flip Tops.

[bunglebus]

Found this pic but even in the eBay listing they didn't seem to realise it did anything