Shite in Miniature II

[quicksilver]

On 16/04/2025 at 11:22, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Some more operatives

 

I remember that weird skinny guy in the bucket of the fire engine and was always a bit unsettled by him as a child. He's way too thin to have ever passed fire brigade training.

[sierraman]

3 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Nice car, shame about the wheels.

Here's the actual car.

If you'd like to see the actual car then next time you near the Scottish Borders then visit the Jim Clark Museum at Duns. There's some great roads near by.

Jim Clark Motorsport Museum - The Jim Clark Trust

Everything now has to have 20 inch alloys on don’t you know?! 😂

[Tenmil Socket]

I’m in Southport and visited this collectibles shop again. There was far too much to photograph! I did buy something but I’ve put it in the car and I’m back in the hotel room.

 

[Tenmil Socket]

[Tenmil Socket]

Just noticed this whilst looking through my pics… is it an Escort!?

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

 

 

Black Slam Bam Sam! Awesome. I paid about a third of that for my set though

[155V6]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Just noticed this whilst looking through my pics… is it an Escort!?

Majorette XR3

[FakeConcern]

8 hours ago, Dick Cheeseburger said:

What's the Renault garage front? 

I don't know what it is as no makers name on it and it should clip into some sort of base. We bought it at a toy fair from the same seller I got one of the Corgi Citroens and a couple of Norevs from. I've seen him a few times and he always has lots of French stuff at reasonable prices.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Just noticed this whilst looking through my pics… is it an Escort!?

Yep Majorette XR3

[bunglebus]

Popped into Smyths earlier, who had restocked F+F stuff. I'm sure people in the US were finding these last year

Still, they're here now. Also saw some Neon Speeders, decals are a bit far-out but I like the castings

Got a free track set for my troubles too

[bunglebus]

A box of old junk was waiting for me at home. This was the one that caught my eye

I thought it was one of the Roman Numerals series but it has the original base

Some other bits were included, never really found these Plymouths especially exciting 

Boxed Aston

Tidy Husky Ferrari 

A better two horse than my current Corgi

One for the drivers series

Unusual Majorette trailer, they never seem to put any info under them

Big Corgi Sierra looks pretty good from the front

But it's obviously sat on a very hot sunny shelf for years

Citroen DS break is cool

Folding seat test

Lastly, a different Rice trailer to others I've seen

[Datsuncog]

On 16/04/2025 at 14:05, RayMK said:

I nearly didn't buy the Rolls either because it was in a blister pack, not a proper box.

This 'un?

Not really my preferred packaging either - in fact, no-one much seems to like it, which I think is why not many models appeared in it before it was dropped. 

I can see what the idea was, though - Corgi believed their products were the best modelled miniatures available, but they were reliant on their box art to sell the models in smaller general goods stores which didn't have the space for stock display cabinets, and also in pile-'em-high self-serve retailers like Woolworths.

Plenty of kids must have been stung by those products from manufacturers who were better at commissioning illustrations than they were at toymaking - so allowing prospective purchasers to inspect all the fine detail before handing over their hard-earned seemed like a winning idea.

Even though this sort of blister pack eventually became ubiquitous, it's funny how most folks seem to prefer a cardboard box - myself included!

[RayMK]

4 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

This 'un?

 

Not really my preferred packaging either - in fact, no-one much seems to like it, which I think is why not many models appeared in it before it was dropped. 

I can see what the idea was, though - Corgi believed their products were the best modelled miniatures available, but they were reliant on their box art to sell the models in smaller general goods stores which didn't have the space for stock display cabinets, and also in pile-'em-high self-serve retailers like Woolworths.

Plenty of kids must have been stung by those products from manufacturers who were better at commissioning illustrations than they were at toymaking - so allowing prospective purchasers to inspect all the fine detail before handing over their hard-earned seemed like a winning idea.

Even though this sort of blister pack eventually became ubiquitous, it's funny how most folks seem to prefer a cardboard box - myself included!

Yes, that's the one.  I'm the same with Matchbox cars regarding boxes. It could be why I find Hot Wheels and similar offerings easy to resist despite some of them being of some interest, although anything with cartoon oversized wheels leaves me cold.  We all have different preferences 😀.  Obviously, blister packs fit marketing techniques suitable for modern people.    

[eddyramrod]

4 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I’m in Southport and visited this collectibles shop again. There was far too much to photograph! I did buy something but I’ve put it in the car and I’m back in the hotel room.

That wasn't there when I left Southport 16 years ago!  Some ambitious pricing going on though, so I'm not encouraged to make another visit.

[Split_Pin]

I found one of the new MB 2CVs tonight. 

It's a bit small and I prefer the Corgi until I noticed the junk in the trunk:

At first I thought it was a wean in an old fashioned carry cot but on closer inspection it's a basket of eggs. I love this excellent wee touch as it's a nod to one of the original design requirements of the TPV which, as I'm sure most folk know, was to be able to drive the car across a ploughed field whilst carrying a basket of eggs in the back seat without breaking any.

[Datsuncog]

Found the dregs of a Matchbox Mix E case in a branch of Poundland today:

All-new, but sadly the 2CVs, Morgans, Golfs, Autozams, Camaros and rally Porsches had all been spirited away already.

Further along the same shopping centre, the sole standalone branch of The Entertainer also appeared to have got in a Matchbox Mix E case too - although they only had four models remaining, none of which I was all that bothered about (a Blaze Blaster III, a red Tesla Model 3, a white and blue road roller, and a Coast 2 Coast boat).

Still, good to see that there are some fresh cases coming through, even if only slowly! I'd been certain that The Entertainer wouldn't be getting any more in, so it was nice to be proved wrong.

[ambassador84]

7 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Found the dregs of a Matchbox Mix E case in a branch of Poundland today:

All-new, but sadly the 2CVs, Morgans, Golfs, Autozams, Camaros and rally Porsches had all been spirited away already.

Further along the same shopping centre, the sole standalone branch of The Entertainer also appeared to have got in a Matchbox Mix E case too - although they only had four models remaining, none of which I was all that bothered about (a Blaze Blaster III, a red Tesla Model 3, a white and blue road roller, and a Coast 2 Coast boat).

Still, good to see that there are some fresh cases coming through, even if only slowly! I'd been certain that The Entertainer wouldn't be getting any more in, so it was nice to be proved wrong.

And yet strangely my three nearest Poundland stores have stopped selling Matchbox altogether! Good to see they've finally replaced 2025 Case B which have been on their pegs since November last year but it still annoys me why they sell MBX for £2 and Hot Wheels for just £1.50! It makes them one of the most expensive UK Matchbox retailers!

[Datsuncog]

3 hours ago, ambassador84 said:

it still annoys me why they sell MBX for £2 and Hot Wheels for just £1.50! It makes them one of the most expensive UK Matchbox retailers!

The price disparity in Poundland is frustrating - B&M also charge more, but I think it's only a difference of 10p (£1.79 vs £1.69). My thinking is that Matchbox sells more slowly than Hot Wheels nowadays as there seems to have been a switchover in brand awareness (possibly due to Mattel advertising Hot Wheels on YouTube and Netflix, but not Matchbox - and hardly helped by the five wilderness years when Tesco held the UK Matchbox monopoly), so retailers probably can't get the same bulk purchase discounts from the distributor.

The only silver lining with Poundland is that sometimes they have offers through their Perks loyalty app which knocks 50p off - Hot Wheels at £1 and Matchbox at £1.50 are a bit more palatable, though I did kinda lose the run of myself last year with Hot Wheels when they were on special offer... the app terms and conditions have since been updated to say you can only buy a maximum of three items on offer in any one transaction; that's probably my fault they've had to add that!

And this time two years ago one of the Belfast branches of Poundland got themselves very confused and accidentally put out a load of then-new releases on clearance:

It took them a few days to realise their mistake, and I did quite well out of it...

So did a few other folks on here who were happy to take the duplicates!

[Datsuncog]

15 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Got a free track set for my troubles too

Nice one! 👍

Special offer, or an acknowledgement that you're their favourite customer?

[MiniMinorMk3]

17 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

 

That's a poor attempt by Solido to recreate the Beaubourg Mini, especially as it is in 1/16th scale.

Vitesse did a much better job with their 1/43rd version. The model has a Paris number plate because it was made to celebrate the Pompidou Centre, which is some times called the Beaubourg as it was built on the Beaubourg Plateau

Polistil did one in 1/25th. I've never seen on of these so I guess it is probably a rare thing.

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

16 hours ago, bunglebus said:

A box of old junk was waiting for me at home. This was the one that caught my eye

 

 

Stretcha Fetcha had been dropped from the 1-75 range in 1980. The Viper Van was one of ten models produced for the US market in 1980.

Quote

The following un-numbered models were released for the U.S.A. market only. Six utilized existing castings with fresh tampo decorations. The other four castings were new to the U.S.A. market after appearing (in solid colors) in Japan and Australia. These four JDM models appeared later with different decorations in the USA 1-75 series.

List of 1980 Matchbox | Matchbox Cars Wiki | Fandom

[bunglebus]

32 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Nice one! 👍

Special offer, or an acknowledgement that you're their favourite customer?

Free if you spend over £20 on Hot Wheels I think, I didn't but the woman got annoyed with the till reminding her every time she scanned a car so gave it to me anyway.

The amount I spend in there I don't feel too bad!

She was the same woman that sold me one of the premium sets for the (incorrect) price on the shelf after I mentioned it too. Didn't mind paying full price, I was just letting her know

[Datsuncog]

10 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

That's a poor attempt by Solido to recreate the Beaubourg Mini, especially as it is in 1/16th scale.

Vitesse did a much better job with their 1/43rd version. The model has a Paris number plate because it was made to celebrate the Pompidou Centre, which is some times called the Beaubourg as it was built on the Beaubourg Plateau

Polistil did one in 1/25th. I've never seen on of these so I guess it is probably a rare thing.

 

Nice, never knew about that one!

Seems that the Beaubourg was a special edition of 100 offered in France in 1977, but the decals were an optional extra at FF1700 more, so not all of them came stickered up.

Appears there's only one known running survivor; here's some bonus terrible photos of this rough example that cropped up on LeBonCoin about ten years ago from at an estate disposal sale, which I just stole from a French Mini enthusiast forum:

https://minisaddict.superforum.fr/t13929-une-mini-beaubourg-de-77-sur-lbc

(I know you know all this already MMM3, just thought others here might be interested too!)

I don't even remember seeing the inferior Solido 1/16 version, let alone the Vitesse or Polistil renderings, so it seems to be a real rarity every which way.

[bunglebus]

Got the Golf from the new Matchbox set, by buying a complete set online for the same price people are asking for the Golf. I'll be selling the rest if anyone wants any

[ambassador84]

2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

The price disparity in Poundland is frustrating - B&M also charge more, but I think it's only a difference of 10p (£1.79 vs £1.69). My thinking is that Matchbox sells more slowly than Hot Wheels nowadays as there seems to have been a switchover in brand awareness (possibly due to Mattel advertising Hot Wheels on YouTube and Netflix, but not Matchbox - and hardly helped by the five wilderness years when Tesco held the UK Matchbox monopoly), so retailers probably can't get the same bulk purchase discounts from the distributor.

The only silver lining with Poundland is that sometimes they have offers through their Perks loyalty app which knocks 50p off - Hot Wheels at £1 and Matchbox at £1.50 are a bit more palatable, though I did kinda lose the run of myself last year with Hot Wheels when they were on special offer... the app terms and conditions have since been updated to say you can only buy a maximum of three items on offer in any one transaction; that's probably my fault they've had to add that!

And this time two years ago one of the Belfast branches of Poundland got themselves very confused and accidentally put out a load of then-new releases on clearance:

It took them a few days to realise their mistake, and I did quite well out of it...

So did a few other folks on here who were happy to take the duplicates!

I Remember a few of the Poundland in my area offering Matchbox for just 50p for nearly a week before they realised their mistake so must have been a widespread issue! I don't mind 10 of 20p differences in price between retailers but 50p an item soon adds up. Tis the reason I walked out of a Morrisons yesterday which had two unopened cases of 2025 Case H Hot Wheels empty handed. I could have filled my basket but the Yorkshire in me stood firm at not paying £2.15 each for the privilege when they are so much cheaper elsewhere. If it costs more than £2 I don't buy it! 😅😅

[MiniMinorMk3]

34 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Appears there's only one known running survivor; here's some bonus terrible photos of this rough example that cropped up on LeBonCoin about ten years ago from at an estate disposal sale, which I just stole from a French Mini enthusiast forum:

 

https://minisaddict.superforum.fr/t13929-une-mini-beaubourg-de-77-sur-lbc

(I know you know all this already MMM3, just thought others here might be interested too!)

I don't even remember seeing the inferior Solido 1/16 version, let alone the Vitesse or Polistil renderings, so it seems to be a real rarity every which way.

Thanks for finding a picture of an actual car. I searched for about 15 minutes and nothing turned up.

I've had a couple of the Vitesse versions. 

[Tenmil Socket]

18 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Yep Majorette XR3

Didn’t pick one of these up recently?

I went back for it but at a fiver it wasn’t in the best condition but in hindsight I should have just bought it… I spent far more than that on beer and in the arcade!

It's only 30 minutes away and I want to return anyway because I discovered there’s another floor!

 

[Tenmil Socket]

Here’s what I bought:

 

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

 

That Majorette CTi with trailer looks good, as do the Matchbox Convoys. Looks like the kind of place I could spend hours in!

I did indeed find a Majo XR3, and very nice it is too

A definite improvement on my other two

 

[Tenmil Socket]

30 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

That Majorette CTi with trailer looks good, as do the Matchbox Convoys. Looks like the kind of place I could spend hours in!

I did indeed find a Majo XR3, and very nice it is too

A definite improvement on my other two

 

I prefer the wheels on red one. I should of just bought it but I couldn’t bring myself to pay a fiver for it, plus the seller had labelled the cabinet as ‘barn finds’.