Shite in Miniature II

[sierraman]

27 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Yeah I was more thinking of thinning it down into a more manageable size/chunks. 

Sometimes it’s a good idea to focus on a few things, there’s that much to collect it’d be impossible to do it on all levels. It’d be a full time job searching for them for a start…

[danthecapriman]

47 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Sometimes it’s a good idea to focus on a few things, there’s that much to collect it’d be impossible to do it on all levels. It’d be a full time job searching for them for a start…

That’s why I’m thinning down to try to stick to one main scale. 
There’s just so much out there to collect if you try going for everything and anything! It all takes up space and it’s all heavy too being diecast!   
Sure, I’ve kept some things not in my chosen scale of 1:43, that I’m attached to or like too much to get rid of but the vast majority was collecting the range and they didn’t really mean anything to me other than that so I moved them on.

As far as later life goes. I don’t care! 
Nobody really knows how long they’ve got so I think it’s best to live for the day and enjoy the here and now. Life (particularly in the uk these days!) is pretty grim so I’m going to not make apologies for enjoying the little things in life that I can have now. If that little bit of pleasure can be had from a diecast car then it’s doing a good job having it imho. 
Besides that, once you’re gone there’s nothing you can do about what happens to any of your possessions anyway! My collection of models might well end up in a skip, or it might end up listed on eBay as rare collectibles and fetch a nice sum for whoever inherits my stuff (doubtful I know!😄), or it might get donated to a museum or private collection somewhere? Who knows. My cars might well end up in the crusher as they’re useless old relics of the past legislated out of use by whatever history hating book burning bunch of wankers are in downing street at the time… either way by then I’ll be pushing up daisies (or most likely chucked in a wheelie bin somewhere!😆)… but at least I’ve been able to enjoy those things while I could.

 

[sierraman]

If I’ve enjoyed them then they’ve done their job. Really that’s what it’s all about. 

[bunglebus]

Got a couple of bits in the post yesterday. Another Matchbox Mega Blasters 

I've got a few of these Lesney Beetles, this one's pretty nice 

Sadly missing the decklid

But it's the nicest VOLKSWAGON version I've found yet

It came with this

[sierraman]

It’s amazing how they’ve stayed in such fabulous condition for 60 odd years. 

[andrew e]

Daniel Craig in Casino Royale when he stumbles on a dying friend Mathis sums up my expectations for croaking it!

“He wouldn't care…”

However there is a sort of plan… All my valuable/worthless man cave tat is in my garage so my descendants are not scrabbling through a dusty loft on their knees, my thinking is bundle it one location so its easy to manage. I’m also being choosey by hoarding nice things not completionist things. Signs and posters have a description on the back too. 

But back to the “He wouldn't care”  quote that sums it up! Remember we are here for a good time not a long time folks 😎

[Datsuncog]

Yes, enjoy them - there's really nothing more to it than that.

I have to keep reminding myself that there's no prizes for keeping everything sealed up in their boxes - so I may as well open them and enjoy them fully, cos no-one else ever will.

Fact is, none of these models we love so much (with a few rare exceptions) are ever going to be worth very much more than their original purchase price; and I know quite a few of mine are already depreciating assets.

We've pontificated at length before about how, during the 1980s, the Antiques Roadshow and Lledo Days Gone managed to subtly con a generation of pensioners into believing that a load of garish Model T vans would one day be worth a fortune, based on runaway speculator prices on early Dinky Toys. We know that anything marketed as a 'collectors item' generally isn't.

I've picked up a number of Corgi Classic and Matchbox Dinky models for a fiver or less recently with their original price stickers on them. These models are coming up on 40 years old, and (adjusting for inflation) are effectively selling for less than 50% of their original shelf price - a £5 model in 1988 equates to £13 in today's figures. I suppose that's to be expected, based on what they are.

But mainline toy values aren't much better than collectables, simply because there are such vast numbers produced and so many adults collect and trade them that there will be plenty in general circulation for the foreseeable. There's no mainline toy I could buy now which will ever be all that valuable, and arguably there hasn't been for a while. There's the odd flutter of interest when something new drops, and there's a spike in online prices, but before too long everyone who wants one will have found one.

Mattel likes to game the system with Super Treasure Hunts and Chase Cars to keep the hype going, but the only people who seem to get really excited about these are mostly online resellers (I heard a chap bragging to the cashier in Poundstretcher the other day about how he makes 'two, three, four times his money' back on the Hot Wheels he's buying from them and reselling via eBay). Well, alright - more power to you, if feel that's a good use of your time.

The nostalgia window at any given time seems to be about 40-50 years - and, with the best will in the world, I'm unlikely to see that come round again for today's stuff. Those early 1990s new-old-stock Matchbox Superkings fire engines I picked up from Stewart Millars earlier in the year - both over thirty years old - don't seem to attract anyone's interest yet, and maybe they never will. I've been thinking of just leaving them down in the Christmas charity toy collection box at the leisure centre, so they can be used for what they were built to be.

I agonised over ripping open those Matchbox Action Drivers playsets a few months back, because what if they become super-rare and valuable? I'll have destroyed my investment! I should have bought two of each, so I could keep one mint!

But no.

I'm not storing a load of plastic playsets untouched for forty years, in the off-chance of getting my money back when I'm in my mid-eighties. That's insanity.

So I opened them and have been enjoying them fully, cos no-one else ever will. I did the same with those Convoys I picked up last week. They're mine now. And it doesn't matter what they're worth, they're toys and they're just fun things to have and handle.

In the event of me choking to death on a jam doughnut (my preferred way to go), I've life insurance in place to avoid MrsDC having to somehow make the mortgage payments through traipsing to the Post Office every day with box after box of moderately playworn Superfast. Cos that's not really going to work, long-term.

But it's a bit insidious how resale values and the concept of 'rarity' affect collecting so much. I think it's something I picked up at a nauseatingly early age, buying Collectors Gazette and Model Collector Price Guides from about the age of 12 or 13.

Thinking about it - and having been informed by some work I've been doing on myself - I think this might have been a way for me to validate my ongoing passion for diecast in the eyes of adults around me; it wasn't enough for me just to do something because I liked it. I felt like I had to present a logical, reasoned explanation for it - and because still buying up Matchbox toys by the time I was in secondary school was considered laughably 'babyish' by my peers (who were all into computer games/ football/ Warhammer) I suppose I had to come up with a justification that was more than just 'because I like them'.

What could be more adult than talk of investments, trades, speculation? I guess I fancied myself as the fucking Gordon Gecko of Regent House, giving Mrs Adgey valuations on the mint-boxed Corgi, Dinky and Spot-On models kept in the Physics Store for demonstrations on velocity, based on the latest Model Collector listings. Some sort of high-roller holding dozens of pristine Spot-On figures bought at a low, low price from a joke shop who didn't know what they were (and which I accidentally sold for nearly nothing some twenty five years later).

Jesus. No wonder I had no mates.

So yeah. Open them. Enjoy them in the now, cos we don't know how long we've got.

If toys tell us anything, they tell us to live in the moment, for the sheer fun of it. Enjoy it. The 'collector mindset' is kind of the opposite to that - so maybe I'm not really a collector, maybe I'm just a guy who likes toy cars?

I had more fun messing around in the garden during Covid than I ever had listing stuff on eBay:

[bunglebus]

Found a bag of goodies in the work van from my boss's recently European jaunt

There are also a Majorette Golf in blue, and Dacia 1300 in red which are surplus to requirements, £4 each!

He also grabbed me one of the Bburago sambas, think I've seen these sold as Jada too

Lastly this cute bay window, unbranded (and the base is obscured by a leaflet). Makes nee-naw noises and the light flashes - I'll upload a video later

[bunglebus]

I also finally managed to get contact details for the rather talented 3D print guy, who disappeared from one of the businesses I deal with regularly very suddenly, and no-one seemed to want to discuss it. It seems his business partner was doing lots of PJs off the books, so the partnership was dissolved under a bit of a cloud. No idea if he'll be interested in making replacement parts for obsolete toy cars, or if it's financially viable, but it's worth asking. 

I found a website selling some really interesting 3D custom bases for Hot Wheels as well as plenty of fun things like a 1:64 Little Tykes car(!), all priced in £ - but turned out to be in America and the postage doubled the cost of what I wanted.

[Split_Pin]

Some more pictures of the 2 Polistil Beetles together. Probably the most fun of my 1/25 models!

[bunglebus]

So they knew the cabriolet was a 1303..? Good to see they got the correct taller doors on the cabrio, rather than lopping the roof off a saloon 

[Tenmil Socket]

21 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Found a bag of goodies in the work van from my boss's recently European jaunt

There are also a Majorette Golf in blue, and Dacia 1300 in red which are surplus to requirements, £4 each!

He also grabbed me one of the Bburago sambas, think I've seen these sold as Jada too

Lastly this cute bay window, unbranded (and the base is obscured by a leaflet). Makes nee-naw noises and the light flashes - I'll upload a video later

Interested in the blue Golf please 👍🏻

[bunglebus]

One more arrival from yesterday. Recently Mattel had a sale on, which coincided with a Red Line Club car being launched. They've shipped that separately, but these arrived: a box of Real Riders, which weren't something I knew was available separately until seeing them on the website...

...and this Plymouth Savoy gasser, which is an absolute delight

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Yes, enjoy them - there's really nothing more to it than that.

I have to keep reminding myself that there's no prizes for keeping everything sealed up in their boxes - so I may as well open them and enjoy them fully, cos no-one else ever will.

Fact is, none of these models we love so much (with a few rare exceptions) are ever going to be worth very much more than their original purchase price; and I know quite a few of mine are already depreciating assets.

We've pontificated at length before about how, during the 1980s, the Antiques Roadshow and Lledo Days Gone managed to subtly con a generation of pensioners into believing that a load of garish Model T vans would one day be worth a fortune, based on runaway speculator prices on early Dinky Toys. We know that anything marketed as a 'collectors item' generally isn't.

I've picked up a number of Corgi Classic and Matchbox Dinky models for a fiver or less recently with their original price stickers on them. These models are coming up on 40 years old, and (adjusting for inflation) are effectively selling for less than 50% of their original shelf price - a £5 model in 1988 equates to £13 in today's figures. I suppose that's to be expected, based on what they are.

But mainline toy values aren't much better than collectables, simply because there are such vast numbers produced and so many adults collect and trade them that there will be plenty in general circulation for the foreseeable. There's no mainline toy I could buy now which will ever be all that valuable, and arguably there hasn't been for a while. There's the odd flutter of interest when something new drops, and there's a spike in online prices, but before too long everyone who wants one will have found one.

Mattel likes to game the system with Super Treasure Hunts and Chase Cars to keep the hype going, but the only people who seem to get really excited about these are mostly online resellers (I heard a chap bragging to the cashier in Poundstretcher the other day about how he makes 'two, three, four times his money' back on the Hot Wheels he's buying from them and reselling via eBay). Well, alright - more power to you, if feel that's a good use of your time.

The nostalgia window at any given time seems to be about 40-50 years - and, with the best will in the world, I'm unlikely to see that come round again for today's stuff. Those early 1990s new-old-stock Matchbox Superkings fire engines I picked up from Stewart Millars earlier in the year - both over thirty years old - don't seem to attract anyone's interest yet, and maybe they never will. I've been thinking of just leaving them down in the Christmas charity toy collection box at the leisure centre, so they can be used for what they were built to be.

I agonised over ripping open those Matchbox Action Drivers playsets a few months back, because what if they become super-rare and valuable? I'll have destroyed my investment! I should have bought two of each, so I could keep one mint!

But no.

I'm not storing a load of plastic playsets untouched for forty years, in the off-chance of getting my money back when I'm in my mid-eighties. That's insanity.

So I opened them and have been enjoying them fully, cos no-one else ever will. I did the same with those Convoys I picked up last week. They're mine now. And it doesn't matter what they're worth, they're toys and they're just fun things to have and handle.

In the event of me choking to death on a jam doughnut (my preferred way to go), I've life insurance in place to avoid MrsDC having to somehow make the mortgage payments through traipsing to the Post Office every day with box after box of moderately playworn Superfast. Cos that's not really going to work, long-term.

But it's a bit insidious how resale values and the concept of 'rarity' affect collecting so much. I think it's something I picked up at a nauseatingly early age, buying Collectors Gazette and Model Collector Price Guides from about the age of 12 or 13.

Thinking about it - and having been informed by some work I've been doing on myself - I think this might have been a way for me to validate my ongoing passion for diecast in the eyes of adults around me; it wasn't enough for me just to do something because I liked it. I felt like I had to present a logical, reasoned explanation for it - and because still buying up Matchbox toys by the time I was in secondary school was considered laughably 'babyish' by my peers (who were all into computer games/ football/ Warhammer) I suppose I had to come up with a justification that was more than just 'because I like them'.

What could be more adult than talk of investments, trades, speculation? I guess I fancied myself as the fucking Gordon Gecko of Regent House, giving Mrs Adgey valuations on the mint-boxed Corgi, Dinky and Spot-On models kept in the Physics Store for demonstrations on velocity, based on the latest Model Collector listings. A high-roller with dozens of pristine Spot-On figures bought at a low, low price from a joke shop who didn't know what they were (and which I accidentally sold for nearly nothing some twenty five years later).

Jesus. No wonder I had no mates.

So yeah. Open them. Enjoy them in the now, cos we don't know how long we've got.

If toys tell us anything, they tell us to live in the moment, for the sheer fun of it. Enjoy it. The 'collector mindset' is kind of the opposite to that - so maybe I'm not really a collector, maybe I'm just a guy who likes toy cars?

I had more fun messing around in the garden during Covid than I ever had listing stuff on eBay:

There’s no big cash up when you die I’m afraid. There’s not going to be a spot at the wake where they’re going to tot up the subtotal of your assets and have a round of applause that your final total is £134,557.83, it’s not Monopoly.
 

For me if having that battered old Superkings Peterbilt on the side that you’ve hummed proudly as it was just what you always wanted when you were a kid and you FINALLY got it age 37. That is winning. Or as @Datsuncog you’ve had a very satisfying afternoon recreating a Scammel towing a bus out of a bit of gravel behind the Rhododendron, that’s the prize. I might only venture into the loft once in a blue moon but the sheer unbridled pleasure of seeing you’ve got 15 different varieties of MB46 Mercedes 300SE is priceless. It might only give you half an hours pleasure once in a while but it’s 100% worth it. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Some interesting and thought-provoking chat about why we buy/collect/hoard this stuff and what the heck happens to it when we're gone. The thought of personal possessions being sold to fund care is somewhat saddening - I get it with something substantial like a house or savings beyond a certain point, but let's say they raise two or three thousand out of selling models etc (and that would be hard enough work) that just pays for a couple of weeks' care. If I realised I was getting close to that point I'd rather give it all away to charity and give them the chance to make a few bob out of it.

It'd be nice to think my son plus daughter's BF would be interested in a few bits but I can't expect them to rehome everything I've acquired. Unless some tragic event takes me beforehand, my plan in semi-retirement is to start working out what I've got, what I want to keep and get rid of the remainder. If it raises a bit that'd be great, it can go towards holidays, special events, family stuff etc. Old sales brochures of possible future interest can be scanned before being sold, magazines will probably be read and enjoyed, again with a bit of scanning as need be, then just end up in recycling. The 1970s Superfast collection means something to me, but will it to anyone younger? Values of that have risen significantly since I started buying them in the early '90s, but there will be an eventual decline. As for the current/recent HWs and Matchbox etc, which I do still have in their packs only because I don't have a good way of displaying them, I suppose some will get opened and others sold/given away. Then there are the circa 400 kits, which I'd love to think will all get built. I have sold a few off here and there, but I never quite know what I want to build next, or what parts I want to rob. Eventually I suppose I'll get to a point where I can't build any of them due to general decrepitude and whatever is saleable will get moved on and the remnants given away or binned as appropriate.

Sometimes I think it's finding the stuff and it completes a run or whatever that is as enjoyable as actually having it and enjoying it afterwards.

[sierraman]

6 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Some interesting and thought-provoking chat about why we buy/collect/hoard this stuff and what the heck happens to it when we're gone. The thought of personal possessions being sold to fund care is somewhat saddening - I get it with something substantial like a house or savings beyond a certain point, but let's say they raise two or three thousand out of selling models etc (and that would be hard enough work) that just pays for a couple of weeks' care. If I realised I was getting close to that point I'd rather give it all away to charity and give them the chance to make a few bob out of it.

It'd be nice to think my son plus daughter's BF would be interested in a few bits but I can't expect them to rehome everything I've acquired. Unless some tragic event takes me beforehand, my plan in semi-retirement is to start working out what I've got, what I want to keep and get rid of the remainder. If it raises a bit that'd be great, it can go towards holidays, special events, family stuff etc. Old sales brochures of possible future interest can be scanned before being sold, magazines will probably be read and enjoyed, again with a bit of scanning as need be, then just end up in recycling. The 1970s Superfast collection means something to me, but will it to anyone younger? Values of that have risen significantly since I started buying them in the early '90s, but there will be an eventual decline. As for the current/recent HWs and Matchbox etc, which I do still have in their packs only because I don't have a good way of displaying them, I suppose some will get opened and others sold/given away. Then there are the circa 400 kits, which I'd love to think will all get built. I have sold a few off here and there, but I never quite know what I want to build next, or what parts I want to rob. Eventually I suppose I'll get to a point where I can't build any of them due to general decrepitude and whatever is saleable will get moved on and the remnants given away or binned as appropriate.

Sometimes I think it's finding the stuff and it completes a run or whatever that is as enjoyable as actually having it and enjoying it afterwards.

Chances are they’d have no idea you’d got them. Agree, give them away. 

[MiniMinorMk3]

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Anyone heard of these? https://www.oberonauctions.com/auction/details/5-matchbox-mania-1-and-other-diecast/?au=10&g=1

Supposed to be a lot of nice Matchbox lots, but I can't see any sort of catalogue 

I met Mr Rockertron (Graham Hamilton) at Vectis about 20 years ago. He was one of the biggest dealers in Superfast back then and also had a massive collection, which was featured in episode 2 of the Yesterday TV show Scouting for Toys. 

Stream Scouting for Toys Series 1 Episode 2 | Watch on U

This is the web site

Rockertron Toys. Rockertron Toys

And here is a preview of an on-line auction that Rockertron are holding

Rockertron Toys. JANUARY 2025 MATCHBOX MANIA & SPECIALIST DIECAST AUCTION PREVIEWS

 

For the Oberon auction I guess they have yet to do the catalogue. I would press the reminder tab and sign up for updates.

[MiniMinorMk3]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Some more pictures of the 2 Polistil Beetles together. Probably the most fun of my 1/25 models!

 

When I was on holiday in Italy there were loads of Bug Cabrios about so I went home with a big metallic blue Polistil Cabrio. It had black seats and a black roof. I can not remember what happened to it in the end, I think it got broken and I binned it off or traded it at a toy fair.

I have a few Minis in the collection these days.

[MiniMinorMk3]

11 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Unfortunately he said none of it was really selling. That Beetle was for sale for a year which I believe as I dithered over buying it for that long 😅 

It's made me think, I don't want my family to have to deal with selling all my shit after I die. I suspect my parents must have known for a while that my dad was on his way out as in the space of a couple of years they went from having a metric shit ton of antiques and other stuff up in the loft, to just a train set, some star wars stuff and the Christmas decorations. I'm still dealing with some things to do with my dad passing 9 months later but I can't imagine how long things would have dragged on for if he had more possessions that needed a new home.

My mother passed away back in April this year. She had cabinets full of porcelain, glass, silver plate, paintings and a load of jewellery. Me and my brother just agreed to auction it all off for a quick and easy turn around. What had no value went to a house clearance company that sorted stuff for charity or the skip.

I've already told her in doors that the best way to get rid of all my junk is to auction it off with certain auction houses. It's theeasiest and quickest way to get rid of all the clutter that someone accumulates during their life.

[sierraman]

https://www.rockertron.com/january-2025-matchbox-mania-specialist-diecast-auction-previews?pagenumber=3&orderby=0&pagesize=12&viewmode=grid
 

Rabbit Hole entered… those Chevy Blazers would have sold well I think. 

[MiniMinorMk3]

I used to have a collection of over 300 Ferrari F1 cars. Here's one of the bits of IKEA full of them.

I have two of these cabinets on my stairs. The Ferrari F1 cars have all gone else where now and have been replaced by over 500 Minis. The cabinets have all the unboxed and play worn stuff in them whilst the boxed stuff sits in boxes in the spare room.

I've changed my collecting field a few times over the years from just old VW toys, through every 1/43rd I could find, to now only buying the odd Mini now and again. I've slowed my buying considerable over the last 5 years as there is not much room left to store the stuff that I never look at. And don't mention my huge book collection. After making 5 trips to the recycling centre with my mothers book I'd hate to be the poor sod who's got to sort through my mass of motoring, music and novels.

 

[Split_Pin]

I'd like to think that @Datsuncogs late uncle would be pleased I still have the huge Tamiya Porsche 935 he built on my Porsche shelf and very much still being admired.

I'd hope my burgeoning collection of 1/24 and 1/25 Italian toys will be of interest to someone, even if not of financial value.

I've also a few other curiosities like the 2 huge 1/12 scale Vullierme dealer- only Citroens, I'd hope they find a good home.

I'd actually like my really early childhood (and slightly battered) Corgis and Superfast cremated with me. They'd go in the skip otherwise and would be much better being spirited away with the rest of me. 

[lesapandre]

5 hours ago, andrew e said:

Daniel Craig in Casino Royale when he stumbles on a dying friend Mathis sums up my expectations for croaking it!

“He wouldn't care…”

However there is a sort of plan… All my valuable/worthless man cave tat is in my garage so my descendants are not scrabbling through a dusty loft on their knees, my thinking is bundle it one location so its easy to manage. I’m also being choosey by hoarding nice things not completionist things. Signs and posters have a description on the back too. 

But back to the “He wouldn't care”  quote that sums it up! Remember we are here for a good time not a long time folks 😎

It's Quantum of Solace...🤣

So far as how long we last - look after yourselves folks and we can all go on a long time. Worth working at it.

[flat4alfa]

[flat4alfa]

Get the RED Ford Escort RS2000 you always wanted

[flat4alfa]

THEN STRAIGHT ONTO ANTIQUES ROADSHOW WITH THIS !!

 

[flat4alfa]

Well I never - Corgi 1:36 - Cherokee, Blazer, Golf Mk1 were considered

Cherokee got so far as an interior and glazing, and the proportions look less of a first stab

[flat4alfa]

Corgi Juniors Renault 17

@eddyramrod ideas for Eddy Anderson Dioramas

[sierraman]

44 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Those stickers don’t like right, it looks like they were laid on 5 minutes ago, they wouldn’t be so stiff on the original, normally they’re much more burnished than that? 

[Split_Pin]

14 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Those stickers don’t like right, it looks like they were laid on 5 minutes ago, they wouldn’t be so stiff on the original, normally they’re much more burnished than that? 

It looks like they were inkjet printed on a Windows 2000 version of MS Paint.