Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

On 10/04/2025 at 12:22, Split_Pin said:

Made in China means it's post 1989 and I didn't know they were made as late as that.

Resurrected 1994 under Mattel management as this ‘City Police’ effort, yet still apparently wore ‘Corgi Juniors’ on base (initially)

Never seen one of those either

The steel stealing gits

 

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

must have a good few of those Zylmex Bubbles now, big and small?

Nah

I have been eyeing up the bigger (Brute) version on eBay for possible customs 

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

Dibs on the green Camaro if you get rid plz...

 

No worries. I don't need a second one!

 

[bunglebus]

Capri roof pushed up nicely after a hot bath

Hadn't clocked the 2.3 Ghia wing badges before

[ambassador84]

5 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

Pretty poor show again around the local haunts, Stock seems to have stalled after the uncharacteristic flood of new stock from a couple of months ago. Local B&M have got another premium range in stock to go with all the unsold World Tour ones they have. Which is flipping Terra Trek! Which judging by all the unsold ones in Entertainer, Tescotainer and Smyth's, must be the most unpopular premium range since Jay Leno's Garage and all of the 1472 Fast and Furious ranges.

Went to Poundland, nothing special on the Hot Wheels front, and a few newish Matchboxes, of course with all the Fiestas, Merc and BMW wagons gone.

I did pick this up as I think it's the only RS2 I havent found yet. Nice, almost brown, colour scheme. And one of those factory fresh castings that thankfully gets normal sized wheels and no shite along the flanks which allows for better front and rear detailing.

So, while on that particular retail park, I had a quick nip into TK Maxx. I have to say, its not very often I strike gold in there, but when I do...

"Woop Woop! That's the sound of da Politia"

As an idiot ageing boy racer, this one's my favourite out of these, probably the only one that suits those wheels!

This one still just edges it though, bought from the same place a couple of years ago,

Which Matchbox Mercedes are you still looking for?

[FakeConcern]

5 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

Pretty poor show again around the local haunts, Stock seems to have stalled after the uncharacteristic flood of new stock from a couple of months ago. Local B&M have got another premium range in stock to go with all the unsold World Tour ones they have. Which is flipping Terra Trek! Which judging by all the unsold ones in Entertainer, Tescotainer and Smyth's, must be the most unpopular premium range since Jay Leno's Garage and all of the 1472 Fast and Furious ranges.

Went to Poundland, nothing special on the Hot Wheels front, and a few newish Matchboxes, of course with all the Fiestas, Merc and BMW wagons gone.

I did pick this up as I think it's the only RS2 I havent found yet. Nice, almost brown, colour scheme. And one of those factory fresh castings that thankfully gets normal sized wheels and no shite along the flanks which allows for better front and rear detailing.

So, while on that particular retail park, I had a quick nip into TK Maxx. I have to say, its not very often I strike gold in there, but when I do...

"Woop Woop! That's the sound of da Politia"

As an idiot ageing boy racer, this one's my favourite out of these, probably the only one that suits those wheels!

This one still just edges it though, bought from the same place a couple of years ago,

I really like the gawky shape of the Renault 12 and those Majorette Dacias you've got are lovely!

It gave me an excuse to play with the five 1/43 toys I have of it

They usually live on Corgi Transporters and I've been intending to make up more appropriate tractor units for them from some cabs I got from Dan, but haven't got around to it yet.

The Brown and blue ones are Norev plastic with opening everything, the orange one with opening everything is also Norev, but die cast and was missing the bonnet and a door and the grille.

I still need to try and make a better grill for it.

I want more so I can do a Gordini version

Having not bought anything at last weeks toy fair, I was suffering withdrawal symptoms and had high hopes for the first boot fair of the season.

Yesterday I spotted this Dinky P1800 in a junk shop

Not bad at all...

Until you turn it around, but for 50p...

So the boot fair today was a disappointment, I saw a Corgi Citroen Safari and a few Metros, but at £3 each I didn't bother. However I did get three parts cars for a £1 .

Caper Cart with poor decals and in need of a bath.

Squashed Dinky rozzer Mini

and Corgi Mini Marcos complete apart from wheels and paint

[flat4alfa]

Crikey that Volvo 

A fiver of aftermarket parts, some deft door colour match and that’s a £30 model

[AndyW201]

3 hours ago, ambassador84 said:

Which Matchbox Mercedes are you still looking for?

Sorry, I wasn't being clear there. I was just referring to the sought after castings there being all gone. I was after the Merc CLA shooting brake for a while but finally tracked one down recently. At the moment, there's only that new Hot Wheels Model A and the yellow BMW 2002 that I'm really after, but I'm sure they'll hit the shops around here in 6 months time or so... 🤣

[Datsuncog]

10 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Resurrected 1994 under Mattel management as this ‘City Police’ effort, yet still apparently wore ‘Corgi Juniors’ on base (initially)

Never seen one of those either

The steel stealing gits

Oh, I had that one from new - it came in an Auto City twin pack along with the even more unlikely 'Custom US Van' done up in a SWAT livery. I picked them up from the local branch of Woolworths around 1995, when I was probably a bit too old for the target market but I have a real soft spot for this casting too.

Don't think I have the van anymore, but 95% sure I still have the Regal.

EDIT: I'm wrong, I don't have either of them anymore. Two other Regals in police outfits, but not those two. Ah well.

[ambassador84]

7 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

Sorry, I wasn't being clear there. I was just referring to the sought after castings there being all gone. I was after the Merc CLA shooting brake for a while but finally tracked one down recently. At the moment, there's only that new Hot Wheels Model A and the yellow BMW 2002 that I'm really after, but I'm sure they'll hit the shops around here in 6 months time or so... 🤣

Glad you found the blue Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake as its proved ridiculously elusive though I did notice several in B&M last week. I'm still after the above too despite that batch appearing at scores of retailers. Just none near me! 

I've read some Aldi stores are getting that batch in as well as Homo Bargains, Smyths and B&M. 

[bunglebus]

I found out why one of my Majorette VW T2s doesn't have MAJORETTE on the base

https://majorette-model-cars.fandom.com/wiki/Globe_Toys

 

[sierraman]

20 minutes ago, ambassador84 said:

Glad you found the blue Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake as its proved ridiculously elusive though I did notice several in B&M last week. I'm still after the above too despite that batch appearing at scores of retailers. Just none near me! 

I've read some Aldi stores are getting that batch in as well as Homo Bargains, Smyths and B&M. 

What Matchbox at Aldi? 

[flat4alfa]

7 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Oh, I had that one from new - it came in an Auto City twin pack along with the even more unlikely 'Custom US Van' done up in a SWAT livery. I picked them up from the local branch of Woolworths around 1995, when I was probably a bit too old for the target market but I have a real soft spot for this casting too.

Don't think I have the van anymore, but 95% sure I still have the Regal.

EDIT: I'm wrong, I don't have either of them anymore. Two other Regals in police outfits, but not those two. Ah well.

More investigations…

Corgi Auto-City 1993

Hot Wheels Auto-City 1995

CONES AND FIGURE BONUS !!

Got to find one now…

Do you still have the cones and Yankee Plod somewhere?

[Datsuncog]

12 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Do you still have the cones and Yankee Plod somewhere?

No, those would have been the first to go missing/ mixed up with my brother's GI Joe and Zero Hour stuff - all the wrong sizes for the vehicles provided.

I was never much of a one for accessories like that, it was really just about the cars for me.

[eddyramrod]

Entertainer is closing branches, and mine is one of them.  It's only been open eight years.

[ambassador84]

2 hours ago, sierraman said:

What Matchbox at Aldi? 

Sorry. I meant the latest Case G Hot Wheels at Aldi though I do wish they would sell Matchbox there too alongside HW at the tills. I'm sure they'd sell LOTS!

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, eddyramrod said:

Entertainer is closing branches, and mine is one of them.  It's only been open eight years.

It's only closing the Barrow-in-Furness shop because it's not profitable. No indication of other shops closing or that the business is in trouble.

[flat4alfa]

Entertainer? I’m not surprised

Weekend trading would be their highest footfall days

Remaining closed on Sundays must have affected their returns HUGELY.  Yes, we known their reason, but this is the modern world

Its been a long time since I’ve been into one of their stores because they always seem be closed when I get a moment away from work

And when I did, there was nothing there that B&M didn’t have already

[flat4alfa]

40 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

It's only closing the Barrow-in-Furness shop because it's not profitable. No indication of other shops closing or that the business is in trouble.

Oh it’s wider than that - they’ve been closing one a month for two years now

Last month was Croydon, Luton previous month, then East Kilbride, Dundee, Birmingham Fort, High Wycombe, Huddersfield, Sutton Coldfield…

There has been a recruitment freeze in force since November

[Split_Pin]

Ah no 😞

[Datsuncog]

 

10 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Don't think I have the van anymore, but 95% sure I still have the Regal.

I can see the roof of the SWAT van on the left between the black Zakspeed Capri and orange widebody E30, so presumably the Regal cop car from the pack was in the Corgi shoebox as well. All sold on as a job lot back in 2018.

To my shame, I didn't even photograph these individually before sending them on their way to the wide blue yonder.

Same with my childhood Matchbox - just punted on without a backwards glance.

Ah, regrets...

[Tenmil Socket]

I was thinking... I wonder why very few models are made with an actual 'driver' sat at the wheel?

[Datsuncog]

32 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Oh it’s wider than that - they’ve been closing one a month for two years now

Last month was Croydon, Luton previous month, then East Kilbride, Dundee, Birmingham Fort, High Wycombe, Huddersfield, Sutton Coldfield…

There has been a recruitment freeze in force since November

Perhaps they're leaving the big-box experience to Smyths, and pivoting to corner the toy market in convenience locations - I think that's been a big shift for The Entertainer over the past year.

Could be their business model is now focusing on growing sales through the Tesco concessions and online business, rather than operating separate retail stores?

While it's never good to see toy shops shutting, their Belfast store has been selling less and less of the stuff I'm interested in for a while now. Unhelpful opening hours and stale stock means it's hard to justify going out of my way to visit them lately.

[Datsuncog]

29 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

 

If you're feeling particularly bored, there are six Corgi Juniors Buick Regals in the above pic, three of which are fairly unusual colours - can you spot all six?

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Entertainer is closing branches, and mine is one of them.  It's only been open eight years.

I don’t think they help themselves with this closed on Sundays bollocks 

[Split_Pin]

38 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I don’t think they help themselves with this closed on Sundays bollocks 

Yep, nobody does that any more.

Everyone who works in retail knows that working some weekends is part of the job and (should) get the appropriate rest days. 

[Datsuncog]

They're closed on Good Friday too, so all their standalone stores will be shut at the end of the week - and possibly on Easter Monday as well? Can't be good for business, especially over the school holidays.

I'm not a fan of the massive over commercialisation of everything, but as someone who worked in retail for years too, I'm not sure I would have appreciated forced 'days off' to fit with the owners' religious beliefs.

Of course, if staff are being fully paid for these days when the stores are shut then that's a different matter, but I'm not sure that's the case.

[bunglebus]

It seems both my local charity shops have been given a load of old diecast, the one open Sundays had them in the annoying bags for £1.99, which netted me the Rolls and Rover yesterday. The other one, which is always expensive, want £4.99 for their bags. There is a Max Wax Corgi Beetle in one but most are junk with a smattering of tired Matchbox 

[bunglebus]

Monday is usually a bad day to go car hunting, as the shops have been cleared out over the weekend. However Smyths had some goodies, starting with one of the new F&F premiums I missed the other day

Is that an Alfa?

I also found the other Villains casting I wanted

That's an F-Bomb in all but name isn't it?

The Mrs plucked the Track Fleet Porsche off the peg for me

Casting doesn't look as altered as the 240 estate was for this series, just a tow hook on the back

Lastly, a new Color Shifter caught my eye

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Of course, if staff are being fully paid for these days when the stores are shut then that's a different matter, but I'm not sure that's the case.

Had a look, they are. Also paid leave on their birthday. Well I never