Shite in Miniature II

[RoadworkUK]

Quite saddened that nobody (as far as I'm aware) has ever 1:18d an E39.

[Split_Pin]

18 minutes ago, RoadworkUK said:

Quite saddened that nobody (as far as I'm aware) has ever 1:18d an E39.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006613944452.html?src=google

[RoadworkUK]

 

8 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006613944452.html?src=google

As if by magic.

Ta for that. I don't think it looks very good, though. Shame.

[Tenmil Socket]

Not familiar with this yellow 205

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/405019743545?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=iyrdaka0se-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=nycNSMACRVm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 

 

[IronStar]

Did anyone do Pre-facelift mk1 Saxo VTR? Alldiecast says no, but maybe someone knows something else?

[Jon]

39 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Not familiar with this yellow 205

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/405019743545?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=iyrdaka0se-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=nycNSMACRVm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 

 

If you have good eyesight (and can visualise the various potato shapes in the image below), you'll see one residing on my garage floor yesterday:

I'm currently tidying up my garage, which basically consists of moving loads of worthless tut about the place, rather than biffing it out, like I should be doing.

But what it did actually achieve was to FINALLY get all my diecasts in one place, rather than squirreled away in various nooks in the house. The only ones in the domestic space are a select few on the living room book shelf, but I have a long term plan for a (secret) diecast display in the garage at some point.

I did manage to repatriate some 1/43s with their boxes in the process:

Again, sorry for crappy phone pic. Have I mentioned I hate it's image quality?

This one's a but better, admittedly. Incidentally, that Gama 411 LE is my joint favourite 1/43, along with my Novoexport Volga airport control car, seen at bottom right of the above image. The green Lada wagon is a close contender, too.

[Tenmil Socket]

What’s the white one with the sunroof in the round glass bowl? 

[Jon]

33 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

What’s the white one with the sunroof in the round glass bowl? 

Good spotting!

It's one of these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285222144497

Or one very similar. Mine has a black plate up front, not yellow.

I didn't pay much for it and I bought it as a (sort of) homage to my Mariner blue 1.4LX I owned 20 years ago, bought with t&t for £220. Halcyon Days!

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, IronStar said:

Did anyone do Pre-facelift mk1 Saxo VTR? Alldiecast says no, but maybe someone knows something else?

Universal Hobbies did one, I think as some kind of part work.

CITROEN SAXO VTR 1996 Blue UNIVERSAL HOBBIES 1:43 in a blister pack (43miniauto.fr)

Good list of Saxo models here

Saxo - My Citroën Diecast Model Collection (weebly.com)

[MiniMinorMk3]

Here's a couple of French Resin cast 1/43rds that have been and gone from here.

Mk1 VSX by R R Miniatures

Mk2 VTS 16v by Paradcar

 

 

[IronStar]

4 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Universal Hobbies did one, I think as some kind of part work.

CITROEN SAXO VTR 1996 Blue UNIVERSAL HOBBIES 1:43 in a blister pack (43miniauto.fr)

Good list of Saxo models here

Saxo - My Citroën Diecast Model Collection (weebly.com)

Same color as mine as well!

The price is a bit step though, I’ll have a think about it. Thank you!

[Datsuncog]

Took a mid-morning amble through the market today, but there was nothing particularly old or interesting on offer in terms of diecast.

Except for Alan, keepin' it real with his 50p tray of assorted knackered Lesney, Corgi and chinesium confections which may be better off being put out of their misery with a blowtorch...

I was almost leaning towards some of the mint 70s/ 80s £2 MoYs on the General Tat stall from last week...

...but all the ones I had a vague interest in (MG TC, Riley MPH, Blower Bentley, Vauxhall Prince Henry) were already goneski.

Phew. Crisis averted.

But what did  strike me were the number of Asian tourists, presumably here on some of the many cruise liners currently docked in Belfast, hoovering up as many £2 Days Gone as they could manage - especially the horsedrawn vehicles and buses.

If I were cleverer I could probably draw some incisive parallel about European collectors going nuts for modern far-eastern made toys and models, while people from that part of the world gladly scoop up all the unwanted British-made diecast to take home, but I'll probably just leave it there.

I guess the DGs/ MoYs make very inexpensive souvenir gifts, and depict something unusual and obviously 'foreign' to the buyer.

Maybe that's what the future holds for many of them?

 

For what it's worth, I owned a fair few Lledo Days Gone when I was a kid, and a handful of Models of Yesteryear too, and generally I got a lot of enjoyment from them - as others have said, they seemed a bit more grown-up than Matchbox or Corgis, and a bit special somehow.

True, they didn't always have niceties like windows, but they were generally affordable and, along with Bburago, kinda acted as that bridge between toys and models.

Lledo's incursion into 1940s and 50s models ultimately gave us the seeds of the Vanguards range, and while the Matchbox Dinky range did get confusingly mixed up with Models of Yesteryear under Tyco's management (some planned M-Ds like the Citroen H-Type were pinched from the range to be labelled as MoYs instead), the subsequent woes were more to do with management and marketing than the quality of the models themselves.

My gripe is really more about their eventual ubiquity in all the Sunday supplement ads, and the delusional/ cynical belief encouraged by the manufacturers that they were inevitably going to become valuable heirloom pieces - so hurry hurry hurry, fill in that coupon and reserve your exclusive, limited edition set TODAY.

I feel a bit sad that old boys like my uncle's father squirreled away 100 or so Days Gone, unopened, in the belief he was assembling a nice little nest egg to leave behind for his family (mostly Model T vans in assorted distressingly anachronistic liveries) - in the end I think they were disposed of at auction for about £30. I'm sure his son spent more than that on petrol, driving around antiques dealers over the course of several months trying to find anyone even remotely interested in taking them.

Like any collectible, it's all in the eye of the beholder - my 1994 Model Collector Guide contained listings for Days Gone, and some of them were indeed considered rare and valuable. So maybe they'll experience something of a renaissance yet?

The bashed-up, roofless, tyreless, Kelloggs Cornflakes promo Model Ts that always seem to wind up in boxes of assorted diecast tat are probably only really landfill, mind...

[sierraman]

And all the while there’s bastards squashing survivors with garden rollers. 🤣

[bunglebus]

My boss found these in an antique shop in Cirencester. Sone interesting ones among them and not the most ridiculous prices I've ever seen either

[sierraman]

Hmm not sure I’d give £8 on broken MGRV8 freebie from the petrol station! 

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

My boss found these in an antique shop in Cirencester. Sone interesting ones among them and not the most ridiculous prices I've ever seen either

Looks like most of the 'Century of Cars' collection there.

[bramz7]

Those £5 Hot Wheels are very fairly priced, that Ambulance is the casting that got used by Maisto isn't it? 

[bunglebus]

4 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

Those £5 Hot Wheels are very fairly priced, that Ambulance is the casting that got used by Maisto isn't it? 

No idea. The casting is called "ambulance" which must have taken ages to think up

Maisto certainly looks similar 

[Tenmil Socket]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

My boss found these in an antique shop in Cirencester. Sone interesting ones among them and not the most ridiculous prices I've ever seen either

I like the blue xr4i

[danthecapriman]

Another one off the bench and finished. Back in its case and into a big box ready to move so it probably won’t see the light of day again for a while!

Ex Bond AMC Hornet.

  
And one onto the bench!

Ex Bond Austin A55.

  

In hindsight I shouldn’t have started any more. Got a call this afternoon saying the twat messing around delaying things further down the house sale chain has removed his thumb from his arse and is now ready to go! 
Anticipating contract exchange next week now so it shouldn’t be long now. At long last! 
Means I need to start getting these vehicles on my bench packed away. Not easy with some as they don’t have boxes to protect them being custom jobbies.

 

 

[sheffcortinacentre]

4 hours ago, sierraman said:

And all the while there’s bastards squashing survivors with garden rollers. 🤣

Pictures or it didn't happen 

[Spottedlaurel]

10 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

In hindsight I shouldn’t have started any more. Got a call this afternoon saying the twat messing around delaying things further down the house sale chain has removed his thumb from his arse and is now ready to go! 
Anticipating contract exchange next week now so it shouldn’t be long now. At long last! 
Means I need to start getting these vehicles on my bench packed away. Not easy with some as they don’t have boxes to protect them being custom jobbies.

Lovely work as ever!

About the move, when we last did this I kept all the models out of the hands of the removals people. I packed them myself and they either went to my office (which fortunately I don't share with anyone, it looked like a stock room at Beatties for a month or two) or into a storage container which I then emptied out after the move.

If nothing else might be worth you stashing them in one of your 1:1 cars?

[bunglebus]

13 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I like the blue xr4i

£6 - he's going back today

[bramz7]

If that Hot Wheels Nissan Hardbody is there, can I request that and the orphan ambulance casting? 

[bunglebus]

41 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

If that Hot Wheels Nissan Hardbody is there, can I request that and the orphan ambulance casting? 

Done - with a couple of others that were behind on the pegs

[danthecapriman]

3 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Lovely work as ever!

About the move, when we last did this I kept all the models out of the hands of the removals people. I packed them myself and they either went to my office (which fortunately I don't share with anyone, it looked like a stock room at Beatties for a month or two) or into a storage container which I then emptied out after the move.

If nothing else might be worth you stashing them in one of your 1:1 cars?

Ta!

I must admit, it is a worry having them all being moved. So far I’ve got all the ones that have cases or still in blister packs either in a big sturdy box or inside a couple of smallish cabinets with the doors tied shut. Everything’s got extra packing (bubble wrap or scrunched up newspaper) to stop it moving around. 
The biggest problem though are the ones like my custom trucks that don’t have boxes. They’re all just loose models with lots of breakable bits. 
I might well have to wrap them as best I can in bubble wrap or similar (even towels!?) and put them in one of the cars. There’s loads of space in the Mercury so I might do that.

The real cars are another pain though! 
We’re not moving local which means I’ve got three of my own cars to get 120 odd miles to the new place. Obviously I can only drive one! The Mercury and Capri are most likely going to have to be transported by someone. 
It’s a real undertaking this move, but once it’s done it’s done.

[Spottedlaurel]

36 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Ta!

I must admit, it is a worry having them all being moved. So far I’ve got all the ones that have cases or still in blister packs either in a big sturdy box or inside a couple of smallish cabinets with the doors tied shut. Everything’s got extra packing (bubble wrap or scrunched up newspaper) to stop it moving around. 
The biggest problem though are the ones like my custom trucks that don’t have boxes. They’re all just loose models with lots of breakable bits. 
I might well have to wrap them as best I can in bubble wrap or similar (even towels!?) and put them in one of the cars. There’s loads of space in the Mercury so I might do that.

The real cars are another pain though! 
We’re not moving local which means I’ve got three of my own cars to get 120 odd miles to the new place. Obviously I can only drive one! The Mercury and Capri are most likely going to have to be transported by someone. 
It’s a real undertaking this move, but once it’s done it’s done.

Do you have a garage or friend's driveway where you are now where you can temporarily store the 1:1s? I appreciate security is a big concern, but then you could get the train back down and keep ferrying them to the new place.

Or any trusted local shiters? Whereabouts roughly are you moving to?

[Tenmil Socket]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

£6 - he's going back today

Yes please if that’s okay?

[MiniMinorMk3]

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

The biggest problem though are the ones like my custom trucks that don’t have boxes. They’re all just loose models with lots of breakable bits. 
I might well have to wrap them as best I can in bubble wrap or similar (even towels!?) and put them in one of the cars. There’s loads of space in the Mercury so I might do that.

 

When I have to pack loose models with protruding parts I place some packing peanuts near the parts before wrapping in kitchen paper, then use bubble wrap. The best are the soft biodegradable ones like these.

[eddyramrod]

@danthecapriman would you like some assorted packaging?  I've got plenty of bubblewrap and the peanut things, I can easily post them down to you in a box.