Shite in Miniature II

27,858 · January 3

12 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

It's an awful situation, being Cortina trap

That's awful, I'm going to have to Escort you out....

5,129 · January 3

23 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

That's awful, I'm going to have to Escort you out....

Let's stop this now and Focus back on the main thread...

42,069 · January 3

57 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Let's stop this now and Focus back on the main thread...

I think this needs more of a Probe.

5,094 · January 3

My gran, Ada said not to lower myself to such bad levels of joking.

9,025 · January 3

13 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

My gran, Ada said not to lower myself to such bad levels of joking.

... or she'll refuse to feed you ORION your clothes.

55,815 · January 3

Lone Star Ford Sunliner ConvertAble is one of a few I didn't previously have

The El Camino still evades me

40,580 · January 3

22 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

The El Camino still evades me

How badly do you want one...?

That model shop over at Smithfield still has this orange example on offer for a tenner.

Missing the tailgate, inevitably, but otherwise not too bad.

Might be in the vicinity tomorrow...

25,696 · January 3

Tough to follow those incredibly* good* jokes and puns chaps, but…

A small parcel arrived recently from French France with a few items I shouldn’t have bought but did anyway. Both 1:43.

Argentina partwork Volvo 244.
Unusual because they chose to do a 79 model, which is a changeover year for the 200. Big bumpers and flat bonnet retained. Boot lid, rear lights & panel revised to how the later 240 was. On GL models the round lights were ditched and new rectangular lights with narrower grill fitted. Bright mirrors replaced by black.
Which they’ve got all correct on the model!
It’s actually surprisingly nice with good detail & printing for a partwork model. I have somewhere a premium 244 model but the earlier version of the 244 with original front and rear.

I got a pair of these as I want to repaint one!

Next, something a tad different. Early FSO Polonez.
Very nice model from the cars of Greece partwork. Only gripe really is one headlight has gone missing, but I’ll put a blob of Glue n Glaze in to replace that.

5,094 · January 3

For a change, local Poundland had some recent Matchbox. Only a few though, added to the older peg warmers that they cant shift. Must be a different case from the one that was in Tesco the other week, as I've not seen this Prius before,

Its a sharp looking thing though, I didnt even know they were making Priuses that look like this now,

Only other thing there to take my fancy was the Hot Wheels T3 custom, been looking for one of these for a while. Its weird, but I like it.

Best find was in Smyth's,

As usual, they had the usual hit/miss selection of incomplete cases of premiums, but there was one solitary Metro left, so I grabbed it. Having owned four Metro/R100s in the past, I've been looking forward to getting one of these.

As mentioned previously, it would have been nice to have it in pukka Computervision livery, but it's still a nice looking thing. Only question mark is over the wheels, I think wide steelies are a tiny bit anachronistic for an '80s group B car?

Nice detailing and printing though,

Its also nice that several details inside have been picked out in different colours,

11,352 · January 3

I thought that had a canoe on the roof!

Nice models...

31,917 · January 3

That 244 is great. Being born in 1979 I used to see a lot of these about and always got confused about which models had which front and rear. Especially as my Corgi Model of a DL had round lights but some 240s had small square lights, like the Superkings example, and others had the big rectangular ones! All ironed out for the 1981 model year with the more aerodynamic* front common to all models.

55,815 · January 3

Had a better look at some of the 50p bits off the market. Oddest is perhaps this Corgi plough

Big Bedford tractor unit, from one of the Major Packs?

I had this as a Superfast, but not a regular wheels. They deleted the "Mack" name on the updated base for some reason

Corgi NSU isn't bad

Why do these rockets Porsches sit so high? They're like an off-roader

25,696 · January 3

15 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

That 244 is great. Being born in 1979 I used to see a lot of these about and always got confused about which models had which front and rear. Especially as my Corgi Model of a DL had round lights but some 240s had small square lights, like the Superkings example, and others had the big rectangular ones! All ironed out for the 1981 model year with the more aerodynamic* front common to all models.

It did get confusing with them.
I had a 79 244DL some years back which had the later style revised arse end but the early front with wide grill and small square headlights.
The DL models only received the revised arse end for the 79 model year, they weren’t considered worthy of an upgrade to their front so it remained unchanged.

Heres my old one having some attention to the back end.

It was an odd car that, because it seems to have been some form of weird dealer special with the 50th anniversary edition black & gold stripes, but it wasn’t a 50th anniversary car (all were silver and 77/78 registrations).

Funnily enough I have a can of the same California/Ivory white paint in the garage😁

42,695 · January 3

3 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

FSO Polonez

Quote

cars of Greece partwork

Wut? Assembly of Polonez was never Greek.

Dodgy marketing ploy to fill up towards a collection, I assume

17,404 · January 3

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Lone Star Ford Sunliner ConvertAble is one of a few I didn't previously have

The El Camino still evades me

Funnily enough I just learned of the existence of this last night, and I thought I knew all the toy cars

How cool is that? I have a morbid fascination with those high camp 1950s Daimlers and never imagined there was ever a period toy version. They don't seem very common but I'll be keeping my eyes out for one now...

42,695 · January 3

Good to see another Lone Star Ford Sunliner. With same smashed windshield and oversize steering wheel no less... (Steve Flowers Pops does the screen for £2.50)

Got one last year, after a bit of a wait and search for something cheap. Model is of a 1960 Ford Galaxie Sunliner, although it misses the mark in a few places I think

Very different wheels between them and of course this one has white tyres

42,695 · January 3

11 hours ago, ETCHY said:

Is that a Matchbox one ?

I was a kid in the 1970's how have I not seen a Mk3 Cortina by them??

You might be interested in this sort of thing then 🙂

Careful though, because...

25,696 · January 3

47 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Wut? Assembly of Polonez was never Greek.

Dodgy marketing ploy to fill up towards a collection, I assume

The cars in that collection arent actually Greek or made in Greece, but ones that are well remembered or common in Greece in their day.
It’s the same partwork as that green Austin Montego comes from! I still have my doubts abhow popular the Montego was in Greece mind.

The Argentina partwork is much the same. Many of the vehicles weren’t made there but were popular there.

42,695 · January 3

On 19/12/2024 at 12:49, MiniMinorMk3 said:

The winscreen frame is crushed and a couple of the firemen have gone on the sick.

It was quite an impressive toy, but I think it wouldn't have lasted long without something breaking, so it was probably for the best that I never had one when I was young.

Found! Knew there was one here somewhere. A Corgi American LaFrance donor, if it helps

Good windshield frame on this one, although it has lost the two roadside spotlights

The sicknote crewmen have returned to work !

I remember this in the late-70s catalogues as a boy, but didnt know production went right back to 1968. Pulled from the catalogue 1980, which is one of the longest runs for a complex model I think?

And all this time I never knew two of the fire crew were lovers!

3,291 · January 3

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

You might be interested in this sort of thing then 🙂

Careful though, because...

They're bloody cool !

42,695 · January 3

On 01/01/2025 at 14:44, flat4alfa said:

It says 'Corgi Toys' not 'Corgi Juniors' on the base. Pretty sure all Juniors were titled that way?

Yes its the Whizzwheels release recolour of the Lazy Bones Corvette

on top of a repainted Chrysler Imperial that was in red with the blue interior. There were a few shades of red to be had

There was a deeper blue release

Not the most common find, due to being in the range for just two years. In the boot (trunk) was a set of golf clubs. Recently retooled by CMC

Think I'll go and look to see if any are here, now the throbbing headache has calmed....

Also found... Corgi 'Lazy Bones' Corvette Stingray (Whizzwheels) and Chrysler Imperial

Oh look the very same corner broken away, as experienced by @FakeConcern

Imperial is a repaint, so will do for now

Whizzwheels base to confirm previous post over a few pages back

42,695 · January 3

That Corgi Custom Corvette Stingray. Hadn't spotted until now the inconsistency with the decals

One didn't get LAZY BONES rear decal or side fenders GO-GO-GO and lightning decals ...but did get the door number roudel while another didn't

39,339 · January 3

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

The cars in that collection arent actually Greek or made in Greece, but ones that are well remembered or common in Greece in their day.
It’s the same partwork as that green Austin Montego comes from! I still have my doubts abhow popular the Montego was in Greece mind.

The Argentina partwork is much the same. Many of the vehicles weren’t made there but were popular there.

I’ll have you know Greece was the QC stop for Mahindra Jeeps in the mid 1990’s on their way to the U.K. I’d wager they’re quite familiar with the lower end of the market! 🤣

Greece certainly in the 1990’s was not a wealthy place once you got out of Athens, an FSO or a Daewoo would have been a dream to a lot of people!

25,696 · January 3

2 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I’ll have you know Greece was the QC stop for Mahindra Jeeps in the mid 1990’s on their way to the U.K. I’d wager they’re quite familiar with the lower end of the market! 🤣

Greece certainly in the 1990’s was not a wealthy place once you got out of Athens, an FSO or a Daewoo would have been a dream to a lot of people!

I expect so. Weren’t the government basically incompetent and pissing the country’s money away?
They seemed to be keeping some very old vehicles going well beyond the point everyone else considered them to be classic cars! Out of necessity.
Wasn’t it Greece that ended up in financial shit more recently again too? I’m sure they had to be bailed out. But their government were doing some really odd stupid things and just bleeding money away.

39,339 · January 3

4 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I expect so. Weren’t the government basically incompetent and pissing the country’s money away?
They seemed to be keeping some very old vehicles going well beyond the point everyone else considered them to be classic cars! Out of necessity.
Wasn’t it Greece that ended up in financial shit more recently again too? I’m sure they had to be bailed out. But their government were doing some really odd stupid things and just bleeding money away.

Without getting into the political aspect Greece was traditionally not an especially wealthy country, around about the mid 2000’s a credit was relatively cheap and relaxed, then things for a variety of reasons went, for a better word, tits up. Lending to people that fundamentally didn’t have the robustness to cope with repaying it if things took a turn for the worse. Greece no different to Spain in a lot of senses, cars are relatively expensive, so your 2005 Mondeo wanting an £800 clutch job in the U.K. would be binned, in Greece it would be fiscally worth doing. Obviously the dry weather helps but it ensures things survive because even a really shit car is worth putting money into plus the labour rate there is less than here. Hence a 1988 Sierra there assuming you could find the bits would last as it’s never got to the point it’s worth £150.

55,815 · January 3

Another left field oddity arrived today. Remember the Ideal Toys Guzzlers? I know at least one of you has one, here's my Corvette...

...and Beetle

Well this is a Galoob Speed Guzzler, that seems to work on the same principal of filling it up with "fuel" (water) which makes a connection to allow the motor to run

It's developed a bit further than the Ideal ones, as there's a sliding weight on the base to control if/how much it wheelies

I had to watch a Youtube video to find out where the battery goes though, as it's not immediately obvious! There's also a diaphram/speaker inside, mysterious...

19,986 · January 4

4 hours ago, barrett said:

Funnily enough I just learned of the existence of this last night, and I thought I knew all the toy cars

How cool is that? I have a morbid fascination with those high camp 1950s Daimlers and never imagined there was ever a period toy version. They don't seem very common but I'll be keeping my eyes out for one now...

..."high camp" - I'd never thought of 50's Daimlers like that - but now you've said it I won't be able to not see them like that - great description - there is indeed something very overwrought about most 50's Daimlers.

42,069 · January 4

2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Found! Knew there was one here somewhere. A Corgi American LaFrance donor, if it helps

Good windshield frame on this one, although it has lost the two roadside spotlights

The sicknote crewmen have returned to work !

I remember this in the late-70s catalogues as a boy, but didnt know production went right back to 1968. Pulled from the catalogue 1980, which is one of the longest runs for a complex model I think?

And all this time I never knew two of the fire crew were lovers!

Thanks for the offer but I'm not looking to restore the Le France, even though it was one I wanted as a child but never got.

42,069 · January 4

7 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Tough to follow those incredibly* good* jokes and puns chaps, but…

A small parcel arrived recently from French France with a few items I shouldn’t have bought but did anyway. Both 1:43.

Argentina partwork Volvo 244.
Unusual because they chose to do a 79 model, which is a changeover year for the 200. Big bumpers and flat bonnet retained. Boot lid, rear lights & panel revised to how the later 240 was. On GL models the round lights were ditched and new rectangular lights with narrower grill fitted. Bright mirrors replaced by black.
Which they’ve got all correct on the model!
It’s actually surprisingly nice with good detail & printing for a partwork model. I have somewhere a premium 244 model but the earlier version of the 244 with original front and rear.

I got a pair of these as I want to repaint one!