Shite in Miniature II

[Split_Pin]

  On 08/04/2025 at 14:52, danthecapriman said:

Definitely this. It’s annoying if they’re overpriced but still great places to see still going and a real shame when they go. 
What really pisses me off though over and above what you said is when some filthy greedy little scum bag developer snags the place up for a song and transforms it into yet another vile ugly trumpy overpriced block of flats! 
All the unique quirky little places like that seem to end up being changed into shit like flats and it totally ruins and sterilises the areas they’re in.
 

Expand  

Either that or a vape shop!

Don't forget the developers that set fire to properties to try and circumvent the red tape of their listed status. I'd like to tar and feather the lot of them.

[MiniMinorMk3]

  On 08/04/2025 at 14:47, danthecapriman said:

Those Mini Magnifique’s are absolutely brilliant little things. Controversial comment, maybe?! - but I reckon they are definitely one of Corgi’s best ever. 
Once again though, they didn’t use the casting nearly enough! It looks fantastic in that metallic green & blue, granted. But why not give it some other equally cool colours!? Metallic or flat red, purple (like @eddyramrod did), yellow even!? It’s frustrating they only did two then ditched it.

Expand  

 

  On 08/04/2025 at 14:14, Split_Pin said:

They are fantastic wee things though. They're the only Mini model that I like more than the 1/36 Corgi, although the latter has a massive range of versions to collect.

Expand  

If you want more versions of the Magnifique the check out the Pilen copy.

It comes in many many colours.

And in Chrome

Artec version

Both my Artecs have factory error SEAT wheels from teh SEAT 600 model.

 

[Split_Pin]

Wow those are great! Never knew about them!

[eddyramrod]

I did a spot of painting this afternoon, and the primer just-about lasted!

I've also completed a Dinky 1957 Packard Clipper...

...dressed as a taxi; fairly generic but representing a notional Chicago cab.  It refers to a song by Caro Emerald, "No Charge" in which a Packard taxi makes an appearance.

[Hertz]

  On 08/04/2025 at 07:15, sierraman said:

Is it full of overpriced stuff? 

Expand  

It wasn't cheap but not horrific either. I think it's mostly his own collection which he prices up as if someone is willing to pay that then I'll let it go sort of thing. I didn't buy anything put it that way lol

[bunglebus]

Bonjour mes amis

Just back from the smelly, conjested dump that is Paris, and as my boss is a soft touch, he diverted off our route home to to follow a tip from @Spottedlaurel to locate one of these

Despite being in a fairly small town, it was an Aladdin's cave of toys, so I think I was fairly restrained in just buying two Maistos

My only other purchase was a Hot Wheels 3 pack on the ferry for the exclusive colour Beetle 

I'm actually looking for the new 10 packs which have a 32 Ford, 911 and the Beetle in but I still couldn't resist this one

[bunglebus]

Once home, I pulled the Majorette K70 and Matchbox RS200 out of the stripper

As you can see, there are some problems with the body, sill has a strange upward kink at the front. Using a tip from YouTube, I put the shell in hot water before attempting to tweak it back straight 

The other side was a bit better

However the doors didn't shut due to the sills being bent in a different direction 

Improved 

Not perfect but I'll take it, at least nothing snapped as the blue shell has its roof bent to one side

There's something odd about the left A pillar too but I may leave that alone.

The RS200 isn't damaged, just had the usual Chinese quality finish

[sierraman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 08:39, bunglebus said:

Once home, I pulled the Majorette K70 and Matchbox RS200 out of the stripper

As you can see, there are some problems with the body, sill has a strange upward kink at the front. Using a tip from YouTube, I put the shell in hot water before attempting to tweak it back straight 

The other side was a bit better

However the doors didn't shut due to the sills being bent in a different direction 

Improved 

Not perfect but I'll take it, at least nothing snapped as the blue shell has its roof bent to one side

There's something odd about the left A pillar too but I may leave that alone.

The RS200 isn't damaged, just had the usual Chinese quality finish

Expand  

Something I didn’t know what that in the Specials range which were a sort of cheaper Superkings, they’d planned an RS2000 in about 1986ish but for whatever reason they decided to make it 1/64 instead. Proposals go no further than a prototype. Would have been quite good I think?

[bunglebus]

Another Spanish oddity just arrived, Mira Bora looking like a Matchbox copy

However the back and base are very strange

What's this one about? Meant to fit in a launcher maybe?

[Volksy]

  On 09/04/2025 at 08:39, bunglebus said:

Once home, I pulled the Majorette K70 and Matchbox RS200 out of the stripper

Expand  

Did he/she mind?

[bunglebus]

  On 09/04/2025 at 09:43, Volksy said:

Did he/she mind?

Expand  

Not really. Might want to see a doctor going by what happened to the paint 

[MiniMinorMk3]

  On 09/04/2025 at 09:35, bunglebus said:

Another Spanish oddity just arrived, Mira Bora looking like a Matchbox copy

However the back and base are very strange

What's this one about? Meant to fit in a launcher maybe?

Expand  

Mira Slalom

[ambassador84]

As I'm a true spendthrift Yorkshire man I can no longer stomach paying £9 for Hot Wheels premiums as for me they represent poor value. Quite often a basic Mainline casting given smarter wheels and a metal baseplate just doesn't cut it anymore!

I now look East for a bit of budget premium glamour and I'm really loving the products of MSZ are putting out in 1:64 scale. Just £4 each from China gets you some very impressive budget models which do include working suspension and metal baseplates.

BMW X5 M

VW T1 Microbus 

1967 VW Beetle.

[Datsuncog]

Not just a Classic Beetle, a Classical Beetle!

Those do look very nicely finished, to be fair, and a great price.

[sierraman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 13:50, ambassador84 said:

As I'm a true spendthrift Yorkshire man I can no longer stomach paying £9 for Hot Wheels premiums as for me they represent poor value. Quite often a basic Mainline casting given smarter wheels and a metal baseplate just doesn't cut it anymore!

I now look East for a bit of budget premium glamour and I'm really loving the products of MSZ are putting out in 1:64 scale. Just £4 each from China gets you some very impressive budget models which do include working suspension and metal baseplates.

BMW X5 M

VW T1 Microbus 

1967 VW Beetle.

Expand  

I know, £9 would gall me as well. Especially when £10 gets an exceptionally tidy 1/36 Corgi on fleabay. 

[ambassador84]

  On 09/04/2025 at 14:02, Datsuncog said:

Not just a Classic Beetle, a Classical Beetle!

Those do look very nicely finished, to be fair, and a great price.

Expand  

😅😅😅😅

Whether we like it or not the Chinese diecast industry are really hitting hard with impressive low cost premium diecasts as well as the usual cheapo unlicensed knock offs. I'm still very much a "bricks and mortar shop" kind of guy but sadly I'm really finding it hard not to buy so many of my models online from abroad now.

[ambassador84]

  On 09/04/2025 at 14:46, sierraman said:

I know, £9 would gall me as well. Especially when £10 gets an exceptionally tidy 1/36 Corgi on fleabay. 

Expand  

You can buy much nicer Greenlight and Autoworld for less and not much more for superior MiniGT stuff which really makes these HW overpriced. They are expensive in most parts of Europe too so can only assume Mattel charge them/the importers quite a high unit price?

[sierraman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 15:38, ambassador84 said:

You can buy much nicer Greenlight and Autoworld for less and not much more for superior MiniGT stuff which really makes these HW overpriced. They are expensive in most parts of Europe too so can only assume Mattel charge them/the importers quite a high unit price?

Expand  

In light of recent events how long until Thailand get a Tariff applied when sent to USA. I don’t know what stuff is made in China, if a sizeable majority is and the US is the main market it could very easily see the downfall of comparatively expensive items like that. Could realistically see brands folding as demand goes off a cliff edge in their main market. 

[bunglebus]

Went into town earlier, and encountered a father and son team who scalp all the Hot Wheels, senior had a notebook with a list of "desirable" castings to find. Unfortunately, junior had beaten me to a new set of Fast and Furious premiums, and most of a new series of silverlines

The only other I'd quite like is the Camaro

Picked up the Morgan from Entertainer that I missed last week

And opened a box full of Playarts when I got home. Rover looks just like the Corgi Juniors to me

[sierraman]

Do these that patrol every toy aisle in the land scalping have jobs etc? It can’t be that profitable once they’ve researched it, took the time and driven 100 miles to clear every peg in the county? I’m I missing something here going to work five days a week? 😂

[danthecapriman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 15:50, sierraman said:

Do these that patrol every toy aisle in the land scalping have jobs etc? It can’t be that profitable once they’ve researched it, took the time and driven 100 miles to clear every peg in the county? I’m I missing something here going to work five days a week? 😂

Expand  

I was thinking that too. 
Is it really worth it!? I’m not sure I could be arsed really. I buy what I like because I like it, that’s what makes it enjoyable. But to sit researching things like toy cars to find out what’s hot and what’s not then bugger off driving to every god awful shopping centre in the county trying to hoover up all the ones you think are desirable just to sit and try to make a couple of quid on top on eBay just seems a total waste of time and effort. There’s no way doing that can make a living surely?

[ambassador84]

  On 09/04/2025 at 15:42, sierraman said:

In light of recent events how long until Thailand get a Tariff applied when sent to USA. I don’t know what stuff is made in China, if a sizeable majority is and the US is the main market it could very easily see the downfall of comparatively expensive items like that. Could realistically see brands folding as demand goes off a cliff edge in their main market. 

Expand  

I think in the short term that could be a distinct possibility though I sense Mr Trump will probably end up abandoning all these restrictive tariffs when he realises it isn't good for the very people who voted him in.

[sierraman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 16:59, danthecapriman said:

I was thinking that too. 
Is it really worth it!? I’m not sure I could be arsed really. I buy what I like because I like it, that’s what makes it enjoyable. But to sit researching things like toy cars to find out what’s hot and what’s not then bugger off driving to every god awful shopping centre in the county trying to hoover up all the ones you think are desirable just to sit and try to make a couple of quid on top on eBay just seems a total waste of time and effort. There’s no way doing that can make a living surely?

Expand  

It’s also quite a volatile market, you could buy a load of XR2’s then discover Poundland is full of them and you’ve the devils own work selling them.

[Lord Sterling]

  On 09/04/2025 at 16:59, danthecapriman said:

I was thinking that too. 
Is it really worth it!? I’m not sure I could be arsed really. I buy what I like because I like it, that’s what makes it enjoyable. But to sit researching things like toy cars to find out what’s hot and what’s not then bugger off driving to every god awful shopping centre in the county trying to hoover up all the ones you think are desirable just to sit and try to make a couple of quid on top on eBay just seems a total waste of time and effort. There’s no way doing that can make a living surely?

Expand  

I dont think so much of a living, but I'm guessing more of a 'pin money' / side hustle thing. 

There are a lot of people out there that see anything as potential profit or something to make returns on. It doesn't need to be high profit, an extra few 20s in the bank always helps.

We've had this in classic car circles where an old car is bought to be sold on for a high mark-up (only for it to disappear when no one turns up with £asking). These days it spreads to anything people can get their hands on, even if it makes pennies which is sad really as it deprives a lot of genuine enthusiasts of whatever it is from being able to purchase said items at the original price.

Bear in mind also that because ( certainly for toy cars) we have such a poor selection here in the UK thanks to the poor purchasers clerks, the good stuff gets vacuumed uo very quickly because there aren't many of them in the first place.

[egg]

Is this worth a fiver posted to anyone? Downside massive Norev Rhodialite cracks on the bonnet and roof, aerial long since lost.

Upside is this is a late 1950s early metal base Norev in 'jaune d'oeuf [egg yolk] and noir' with 'type 1' (original wheels Norev used)

Let me know.

[sierraman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 17:36, Lord Sterling said:

I dont think so much of a living, but I'm guessing more of a 'pin money' / side hustle thing. 

There are a lot of people out there that see anything as potential profit or something to make returns on. It doesn't need to be high profit, an extra few 20s in the bank always helps.

We've had this in classic car circles where an old car is bought to be sold on for a high mark-up (only for it to disappear when no one turns up with £asking). These days it spreads to anything people can get their hands on, even if it makes pennies which is sad really as it deprives a lot of genuine enthusiasts of whatever it is from being able to purchase said items at the original price.

Bear in mind also that because ( certainly for toy cars) we have such a poor selection here in the UK thanks to the poor purchasers clerks, the good stuff gets vacuumed uo very quickly because there aren't many of them in the first place.

Expand  

I get where it’s something you do to supplement a hobby, buying and selling the surplus on to pay for the others, we all do that to a greater or lesser extent but scouring the land to basically control the market is a bit odd. But that’s up to them I guess. 

[Lord Sterling]

  On 09/04/2025 at 18:31, sierraman said:

I get where it’s something you do to supplement a hobby, buying and selling the surplus on to pay for the others, we all do that to a greater or lesser extent but scouring the land to basically control the market is a bit odd. But that’s up to them I guess. 

Expand  

It is indeed and it does contribute to stopping us from buying the models we want because they've all been vacuumed up. But that's how these scalpers work. And remember, there's probably two or three of them working in a similar area, and they'll be happy to sit on the stocks they buy for years. 

I've seen these scalpers stocks on eBay and there's stuff there that's probably a few years old still in box. Their idea is that the prices will only go up.

[sierraman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 18:56, Lord Sterling said:

It is indeed and it does contribute to stopping us from buying the models we want because they've all been vacuumed up. But that's how these scalpers work. And remember, there's probably two or three of them working in a similar area, and they'll be happy to sit on the stocks they buy for years. 

I've seen these scalpers stocks on eBay and there's stuff there that's probably a few years old still in box. Their idea is that the prices will only go up.

Expand  

It’s hardly sitting on some Nvidia shares since 2023 is it though! 😂

[danthecapriman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 17:36, Lord Sterling said:

I dont think so much of a living, but I'm guessing more of a 'pin money' / side hustle thing. 

There are a lot of people out there that see anything as potential profit or something to make returns on. It doesn't need to be high profit, an extra few 20s in the bank always helps.

We've had this in classic car circles where an old car is bought to be sold on for a high mark-up (only for it to disappear when no one turns up with £asking). These days it spreads to anything people can get their hands on, even if it makes pennies which is sad really as it deprives a lot of genuine enthusiasts of whatever it is from being able to purchase said items at the original price.

Bear in mind also that because ( certainly for toy cars) we have such a poor selection here in the UK thanks to the poor purchasers clerks, the good stuff gets vacuumed uo very quickly because there aren't many of them in the first place.

Expand  

Absolutely true. 
The UK market for pretty much anything diecast is terrible compared to most other countries. It’s no secret on here I and plenty of others tend to go to European sellers for our ‘fix’ simply because you just can’t get things here or if you can the mark up compared to European sellers is enormous (for reasons unknown!). 

It certainly bugs me too that certain things (be it 1:1 cars or models of them) end up unavailable or unaffordable to many genuine buyers and enthusiasts because of people hoovering them up quick just to flip for a quick buck. 
Case in point:

 Last year, I was poking around on the web looking for weird and obscure 1:43 stuff from the partwork collections I’d not seen before. I ended up stumbling upon this, BMW E21 from the Argentinian collection. 
I love this model, but try as I might, I couldn’t find them anywhere. Eventually I found this one but it was in Argentina so postage was a bit pricey. Eventually after dithering I decided to buy it and just lump the postage. 

 
Since then it’s been packed into a big box for when I moved house and still not been unpacked. But I’ve never seen another one anywhere. 
Until yesterday when I was doing the same thing again, scanning the web for oddities! 
This one is a US seller and apparently this is a rare model for some reason. Be sure to be sitting down when you look at the listing!!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/365094530388?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20230823115209%26meid%3D7f5812043b5e43bab409e55abc23d947%26pid%3D101800%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26itm%3D365094530388%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2SignedOut%26brand%3DMINICHAMPS&_trksid=p4375194.c101800.m5481&_trkparms=parentrq%3A1bda86bf1960ad897b22a0ccfffff9e8|pageci%3A1bb9ed3f-1572-11f0-8afb-36656cca6bf4|iid%3A1|vlpname%3Avlp_homepage

WTF!!?? This is a modern 1:43 remember! 
But this sort of shite is why certain things become absolutely unattainable for most people. Ok, fine, it might be a hard to find one but FFS is it really worth that!? 
 

[danthecapriman]

  On 09/04/2025 at 18:31, sierraman said:

I get where it’s something you do to supplement a hobby, buying and selling the surplus on to pay for the others, we all do that to a greater or lesser extent but scouring the land to basically control the market is a bit odd. But that’s up to them I guess. 

Expand  

I’m still convinced some stores have a funny deal going on where certain items come into the delivery bays but never see the shelves and go straight into the scalpers stocks for eBay etc. Probably not an official situation, but I’m sure it’s going on. Or even staff members at it, rifling the new store deliveries when they come in then removing the ones that are desirable and shoving the rest out on the shelves.