Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

The one here was made up to be United Counties

I had a donor base that had the lighting circuit, so fitted that to it instead

 

It was a tenner at local boot sale, so couldn’t walk away from it.  Because all Counties should be United in their love of Bedford Duple Vegas, after all

[Lord Sterling]

18 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Ooh, memory unlocked. I had a model of this car when I was a kid, exactly the same. Sadly, I believe the front A-pillars broke off owing to my rough handling of it at the time.

[ETCHY]

6 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Who was asking about my Dinky Vega Major coaches?  Here's the fleet as it currently stands...

There's another one coming.  As I said about a fleet?

One is complete, and pretty damn good overall.  One is missing its bootlid, but I can probably buy that from Steve Flowers; I haven't checked.  And one looks like it's been stolen and burnt out!  I believe the next one is pretty good, but that remains to be seen.

Now because I'd got these out to show someone, I thought I'd do some before-and-afters...

Blue Commer is as-found in my recent Roffle win; black one is my take on the police van.

Red Jag is as-found in a job lot a while ago; white one is my resto commemorating the white Jag that died many fiery deaths in the Monty Berman spy shows of the 60s, such as The Saint.

 

It was me asking, thanks for the pics.

Cool toy the Vega.

[sierraman]

10 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Makes me wonder if it was ever possible to make a Graffic Traffic car look good using only the materials in the set. Every one I have ever seen (my own childhood efforts included) is hideous.

I think the issue was most people such as myself were about 10 when they ‘customised’ them. Surfeit of enthusiasm over skill. 

[bunglebus]

Got 98% of the silver paint off the wheels, now got to try and rechrome them as original 

Like this one

 

[quicksilver]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

I think the issue was most people such as myself were about 10 when they ‘customised’ them. Surfeit of enthusiasm over skill. 

Sounds like a challenge for @bunglebus or anyone else who fancies it. If you can find some Graffic Traffic pens and stickers that still work, use them and your skills as an adult modeller to see if you can make something decent.

[quicksilver]

7 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

Ooh, memory unlocked. I had a model of this car when I was a kid, exactly the same. Sadly, I believe the front A-pillars broke off owing to my rough handling of it at the time.

Same here. I was never particularly rough with mine but still managed to break the windscreen frame off. It's obviously a weak point, which makes it all the more surprising that such fragile models were left unboxed.

[MiniMinorMk3]

12 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Quick look at the Jaguars XJ-Ss I have....

 

 

Shame about the stripes on the later one.

 

I think the side stripes are what you would of seen on the XJ-S at the time

[sierraman]

I’d be interested to see what other Matchbox would have lent themselves to the Graffic Traffic treatment. 

[eddyramrod]

Bit of painting this morning.

That's the primer, now for some colour...

...or at least, Polar White!  Also, Arum White...

...And, as you can see, yellow.  Some of these can go upstairs later for detailing.  At least two need masking and a second colour sprayed.

 

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

I’d be interested to see what other Matchbox would have lent themselves to the Graffic Traffic treatment. 

Almost all the 80s and 90s ones really, at least you could start with the non-Chinese ones which should be better quality. Ideally they need to have coloured windows but I think that might be possible with clear paint? Depends if it attacks the plastic or not

[bunglebus]

Blue windows

Green

Red

There are quite a few, food for thought certainly

[MiniMinorMk3]

Just won at auction again. £35 plus commission.

[bunglebus]

Red hub Chevy Astro?

[sierraman]

Do these all come from deceased estates do you reckon? 

[eddyramrod]

5 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Do these all come from deceased estates do you reckon? 

Seems likely, doesn't it?  None of us are getting any younger, and I can't be the only collector with a roomful of playworns that my beneficiaries won't care about.

[bunglebus]

Help me out here, what on earth did I take these wheels off of? I know I used the other pair on my custom Adams Probe, now I could do with another pair for something else 

Thought they were Dinky but I can't find any the same

[Lord Sterling]

Some new arrivals for me;

The Jags both came from the same seller who was selling them as a pair.

I already had the White XJR from many years ago when AutoArt wasn't at the silly prices they are now. At least I have one to display. 

The green S2 appears to have wheels from something else. It should be wearing these:

But alas doesn't. It doesn't offend me, I'm sure I can procure some originals from somewhere.  What its currently wearing are not bad.

I missed out on a Kenwood Transit van that was being sold here, the thread was getting silly so I decided to procure one myself elsewhere. I got this at a fairly good price. It appears to have been boxed for most of its life and I'll continue that tradition. I have saved the box from any further deterioration by taping up the edges of the box where it's beginning to come apart. 

The motorway services van is a little more playworn, but nevertheless all still there. A easy majority of these vans have broken glass shells so it was good find one I'm with good suspension and intact glass.

Also, the plates on the motorway services van have seen better days. If anyone has some spare plates, please let me know. I don't have a working printer.

From the seller of the Jags, I also shot in a last minute bid and will be getting these soon:

The E-class Merc is a Herpa 1/43 and appears to have had its alloys changed, they don't look offensive either but at some point I'd like original alloys if I can get some. The W123 is a Minichamps model. Both procured for extremely £cheaps.

[sierraman]

24 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Seems likely, doesn't it?  None of us are getting any younger, and I can't be the only collector with a roomful of playworns that my beneficiaries won't care about.

Yes, quite sad really. You spend your life building it up then it just gets chucked in a box and took to the nearest auction/car boot/charity shop. My philosophy is enjoy it for what it is now, when you are dead you are… well… dead.
 

Whatever happens happens. I wouldn’t expect the wife to know what was what (or if she’d give a shit for that matter…) so it’ll likely just get took down the auctions or most likely get totally bummed over by someone giving her £50 for the lot. 😂

Either way I’d be pushing daisies up by then so I wouldn’t give a shit. That said I’d like to think someone would pick it up and take as much enjoyment as I have from it. 

[sierraman]

On a more cheerful note. My Alpine restoration has concluded, this is a replica of the car I came home from hospital in during the summer of 1986. Quite pleased with this. 

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Red hub Chevy Astro?

Times 2

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Do these all come from deceased estates do you reckon? 

Yes they come from house clearances. There were a couple of lots of Days Gone and MoYs in boxes. Also a lot of Eddie Stobbart trucks which I passed on. 

1 hour ago, eddyramrod said:

Seems likely, doesn't it?  None of us are getting any younger, and I can't be the only collector with a roomful of playworns that my beneficiaries won't care about.

These ones have a heavy smell of oil so I think they've been stored in a shed or garage for a while. Some might be from collectors, but I think most are from grannies and grandads that let the grand kids play with them.

Here's the rest of what I got today. Average cost approximately £1 each.

I'll do some more detailed pictures once they have been through the car wash.

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Help me out here, what on earth did I take these wheels off of? I know I used the other pair on my custom Adams Probe, now I could do with another pair for something else 

Thought they were Dinky but I can't find any the same

They look like the wheels from a Lamborghini Miura

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

On a more cheerful note. My Alpine restoration has concluded, this is a replica of the car I came home from hospital in during the summer of 1986. Quite pleased with this. 

Looks so much better on the modern Matchbox wheels than the Majorette originals!

Nice work.

[sierraman]

3 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Times 2

Yes they come from house clearances. 

These ones have a heavy smell of oil so I think they've been stored in a shed or garage for a while. Some might be from collectors, but I think most are from grannies and grandads that let the grand kids play with them.

Here's the rest of what I got today. Average cost approximately £1 each.

I'll do some more detailed pictures once they have been through the car wash.

Somewhere someone will have gone ‘remember those old cars we used to play with at grandma whoevers house, what ever happened to them!’ 🤣

Near my old work there was a market and there was a stall holder that used to do house clearances, so you’d get things like that crop up. It’s quite a sensitive tactful thing parting out someone’s possessions once they’ve passed away and the guy that ran the stall was a complete wanker. I can therefore see why people send things to auction as it just takes that element out of it, once it’s gone it’s gone - you’ve not to deal with folks like the market stall guy at a time when you just want to draw a close on things. 

[Datsuncog]

6 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Same here. I was never particularly rough with mine but still managed to break the windscreen frame off. It's obviously a weak point, which makes it all the more surprising that such fragile models were left unboxed.

Their structural integrity leaves something to be desired, agreed...

[flat4alfa]

21 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Shame about the stripes on the later one.

The stripey Jaguar XJ-S was a good buy, as it is one of the least common finds; a marketing type of special for 1981.   It's the Corgi Supercat Jaguar XJS-H.E. release, modelled on the Jaguar relaunch edition with the twin side stripe graphic along with the improved 'High Efficiency' V12 engine.

The real thing was a metallic black (and others), costing £18,950.  Which is £106k today...

If you squint a bit on the advert, you can just about make out the matching side graphic. 

There was also a larger plastic Corgi R/C car, in the deep red

Looks to be a adaption of The Saint XJS 1:20 scale plastic body, which was simply sonic controlled.  Now upgraded to proper control 

Never seen one of these, if you do, even a loose broken, please pick it up if just a tenner 

[bunglebus]

25 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

They look like the wheels from a Lamborghini Miura

They do!

Close...

 

[ETCHY]

18 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Quick look at the Jaguars XJ-Ss I have....

 

Shame about the stripes on the later one.

Different rear lights, and the Supercat has gained an aerial in a rather unlikely position on the bootlid.

XJ-S always appears to have had the later style "corgi" branding, matching the box art.

The satin black areas and rich paintwork give the early version a more appealing look overall (to me at least). Just a shame they didn't give it an opening bonnet and use the V12 engine from the XJ-C.

I recall having a Corgi catalogue as a kid & it showing what I assume was a pre-production Saint XJS & it not only had flat silver painted headlights (it was like they painted the metal somehow if I think) but it also mentioned it having an opening bonnet & doors.

My 8 year old self was slightly pissed that it didn't have an opening bonnet when I got the toy.

Nice Jags, I do wish Corgi had tried harder with the wheels, it always needed cooler wheels imo.

[andrew e]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Help me out here, what on earth did I take these wheels off of? I know I used the other pair on my custom Adams Probe, now I could do with another pair for something else 

Thought they were Dinky but I can't find any the same

Lambo Miura?

Edit: beaten too it!

[Datsuncog]

OMG many Hot Wheels in Lidl's rummage bins for cheaps:

Shame they're all mid-2024 releases though - the case with the yellow Chevelle SS and red BMW E30 wagon in it.

Oh well, I'm sure there'll be loads of happy kids with these, even if the collectorati will already have them.

One thing I've noticed is that places like Poundland, Home Bargains and Poundstretcher tend to have their Hot Wheels pegs arranged way up at adult eye level - which is fine for quasi-geriatics with bad backs like myself, but pretty rubbish for kiddiwinks.

If kids can't reach them, then they're never going to buy all those unwanted pegwarmer Rink Racers and Deora IIIs to allow a restock with fresh cases!

There really does seem to be a glut of unsellable toys clogging up local stores right now.

I'd say the jump from 99p just a few years ago to as much as £2.40 for a Mattel mainline hasn't exactly helped matters.