Shite in Miniature II

[Lord Sterling]

I've not bid or bought any model recently, I just haven't been overly bothered, nothing sprang out at me and it's helped me save a little more to put towards fettling the Vectra.

I have, though, had a little flutter on a couple of pieces. 

Firstly, the Schabak Transit van inspired by the one here @Nibbler displayed recently.

Unfortunately it arrived with the base unclipped at the front and a couple of front seats rattling about the inside. 

I'd managed to re-seat the seats and base back into place and it looks all the better for it. The seller apologised and offered me a 20% discount on the next purchase.

1/24 Facel Vega:

I was quite intrigued by this model, never seen one before. They are a nice looking thing. I stuck in a small starting bid and eventually won it. 

For a nice looking model, it is sadly quite cheap, almost a play thing rather than a display model. The wheels don't steer and nothing opens, it's a very light model and intriguingly there is no makers name or even where it was made stamped underneath. The outer detail seems quite nice, as is the shiny paintwork, inside is nice but lacking in detail, I may need to carefully rectify this.

Here it is with my 1/24 Aston:

[Tenmil Socket]

13 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

More recent(ish) finds!!!

Corgi juniors Torino and Mercedes. 

Really nice regular wheels Land rover.

Majorette Escrote. 

Nice opening door Dinky Roadsweeper.

Corgi Sierra,I like this as it has my Dad's name on it although it's spelt differently. 

Dinky Mercedes with working brake lights.

Dinky Mk2 Transit.

Mk1 Kenwood.

Hotwheels Supra.

Corgi Capri.

Matchbox Mk1 Golf. 

Guiloy Renault 14!!

Lastly this Majorette Volvo,a recent repaint.

Smoll Eddy wants it to go dogging!

"I ment would my Labrador get in itM8"

 

Nice finds!

[bunglebus]

3 hours ago, ambassador84 said:

Bloody hell I thought I was upto date with Case G!!! Has anyone found the new Ferrari yet which I believe has been showing up at The Entertainer?

It was in the K case and got nabbed by another collector who visits my local store

[Christine]

Jada  1 32 Civic  found in Morrisons !

Can never have enough    ek  - ej  9s eh?  

 

[bunglebus]

This morning's boot sale haul 

[Tenmil Socket]

The 2 buggy’s look interesting!

[quicksilver]

14 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Hot Wheels now, a previously rummaged K case still had plenty of goodies inside. Stepdaughter took a shine to the Cone Shaker, quite a fun little thing that will stack if you have several

Was carefully removed from the card so she could keep that and the car

Warning triangles front and rear

Motocompo is another new casting

Recoloured Vespa

And Shamal

Mini van hasn't been in the mainline for years. Nice Union Jack theme

Recolour Corvette - where have I seen this paint scheme before?

RX7

Li'l white express 

Mooneyes Cruise Bruiser 

Crew cab Landie

Espace is entirely mad

Alan Mann colour Lotus

Another new casting, Decidedly Go

Working Magic 8 Ball function

Lastly a Steamboat Willy that the Mrs wanted

You need a Routemaster and a Pete and his Bus figure to go with that Motocompo now 😀

[quicksilver]

Had a wander round the local flea market this morning. A few gems were to be found among the usual infestation of Days Gone and Yesteryears.

Scania T-cab is a recent release that is still available from Oxford Diecast for double what I paid.

Dinky Atlantean I think is one of the thousands that were sold in unpainted kit form by the Model Bus Federation in the 1970s.

Smaller stuff is all from a 50p rummage box:

Oxford Transit missing mirrors and tyres but still well worth 50p.

Matchbox Bedford ambulance is intriguing - looks like someone dismantled it, repainted the shell and lost the rest. I plan to graft the cab to a catering trailer like Marty's Matchbox Makeovers did.

Another of those little Kinder Surprise Smart cars that are always worth picking up.

Cararama - Vito and X5 are European releases and very good. C-class is pretty much scrap but was a freebie. Z3 is a bit battered and missing a couple of wheel centres but I didn't have one with the hood up so it'll be restored.

Yank tanks - Thunderbird is Kinsmart and labelled 1:64 but actually spot on 1:72. Chevy I think is also Kinsmart but unbranded and again 1:72.

A Dublo Dinky Land Rover also caught my eye but the chap wanted a fiver claiming it was mint. It was good but quite scuffed/chipped around the edges so I left it.

Not a bad haul I think.

[Datsuncog]

Had a mildly haphazard diecast hunt myself yesterday.

The Corolla's MOT retest over in Newtownards brought me close to the shopping centre with a branch of Toytown, so I thought I may as well...

Most of their Mattel stuff is on the older side, with Matchbox mainlines going back as far as 2019 in some cases, but they're one of the few toyshops I know that still stock lines like Moving Parts, Collector Series and Working Rigs.

There wasn't much there that I didn't already have, though. The Power Grab mainlines with the blue Golf, red Lotus Europa and orange Holden Commodore were a mix I haven't seen before, but £3 each seemed unnecessarily spendy. The Off-road Rally peg was, predictably, missing the Golf Country and was pretty dear at £7 a go.

Hot Wheels were mostly displayed on a bulky spinner, and also had some quite atypical pricing - most of the Silverline range were £4 like you'd find in Smyth's, The Entertainer and B&M, but the Neon Speeders were all £8 and the Ultra Hots £5 for some reason.

So, long story short, I didn't buy anything.

Later that afternoon, I happened to be ambling through St George's with a couple of colleagues - not very much to be seen on any of the usual stalls, though Alan's 50p Tray Of Dreams was looking pretty chocka:

I didn't have much time to poke, but I lifted a pair of Matchbox in the form of a slightly chipped modern VW T1 decorated with a callback to the early Lesney livery, plus a Ford Crown Victoria taxi:

Erm, what's that on the seat of the taxi?

I'm not sure that I'd much want to get in a cab with handcuffs on the driver's seat...

Guess this is what happens when you use the same casting interchangeably for police and taxi versions of the Crown Vic...

[bunglebus]

35 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

If you happen upon the Ultra Hots again, I'd welcome them - especially the Porsche

 The Car Tuned ones look interesting too

[bunglebus]

Okey dokey, didn't score quite so much good stuff today as last week, and some people were clearly smoking crack when they decided on their prices, but I still picked up a few orphaned toys

Lido Gun of a Car Datsun. For some reason all the different cars in the range are numbered 601

Penny Lola Climax

The Corgi Hot Rod van

Lesser spotted Mercedes

And Capri

No wonky gutter line for this Majorette

Yellow Volvo 240 estate with coloured windows, I'm sure I've seen something like it before...

Guisval - but what's it supposed to be?

Zylmex Datsun wagon

Lesney Minx has had a long life but it's not dead yet

Picked up this Road Blasters Quasar just for the gun

Another short lived Matchbox series, Mega Blasters version of the venerable Mini Pickup which has to be one of the most adapted castings

Doesn't look like many caps have gone off inside it either 

Yet another unusual one, Power Track Corvette is fairly battered 

Don't find too many Super Chargers either

Twin pack Field Car is yet another uncommon find

Nothing to see here

Knickerbocker Toy Co General Lee was just too unusual to leave behind 

Super Kings Pug was a nice find at 50p

I like these crude Dinky SD1s, not entirely sure why

The Mrs wanted the Saico Minor. It is at least complete, unlike most I see

The buggies! What a pair of oddballs, made by Clim apparently, a simple motor drives the rear wheels and a cable from the remote steers the fronts. One is quite rusty and incomplete, the other is mostly there other than headlights

[MiniMinorMk3]

6 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

 

Guisval - but what's it supposed to be?

 

 

6 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Nothing to see here

 

 

I'm after a yellow one of these.

[andrew e]

30 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

If you happen upon the Ultra Hots again, I'd welcome them - especially the Porsche

 The Car Tuned ones look interesting too

Snap on the 356!

[Tenmil Socket]

14 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Okey dokey, didn't score quite so much good stuff today as last week, and some people were clearly smoking crack when they decided on their prices, but I still picked up a few orphaned toys

Lido Gun of a Car Datsun. For some reason all the different cars in the range are numbered 601

Penny Lola Climax

The Corgi Hot Rod van

Lesser spotted Mercedes

And Capri

No wonky gutter line for this Majorette

Yellow Volvo 240 estate with coloured windows, I'm sure I've seen something like it before...

Guisval - but what's it supposed to be?

Zylmex Datsun wagon

Lesney Minx has had a long life but it's not dead yet

Picked up this Road Blasters Quasar just for the gun

Another short lived Matchbox series, Mega Blasters version of the venerable Mini Pickup which has to be one of the most adapted castings

Doesn't look like many caps have gone off inside it either 

Yet another unusual one, Power Track Corvette is fairly battered 

Don't find too many Super Chargers either

Twin pack Field Car is yet another uncommon find

Nothing to see here

Knickerbocker Toy Co General Lee was just too unusual to leave behind 

Super Kings Pug was a nice find at 50p

I like these crude Dinky SD1s, not entirely sure why

The Mrs wanted the Saico Minor. It is at least complete, unlike most I see

The buggies! What a pair of oddballs, made by Clim apparently, a simple motor drives the rear wheels and a cable from the remote steers the fronts. One is quite rusty and incomplete, the other is mostly there other than headlights

I was going to spell it as buggies in my earlier post but wasn’t sure if it should be spelt buggy’s?
Anyway, what an unusual pair of buggers.

Is the SK Pug available?

[Christine]

Lucky toys  charity shop find 

 

[Lord Sterling]

On 28/04/2025 at 17:54, bunglebus said:

Do you know the seller of these 3? (The Aston Martin, Mini Clubman and Ford Corsair) I'd be interested.

[bunglebus]

The guy with the Corsair is a regular at the park and ride, I'll be at the toy fair tomorrow though.

Saw another one in red at Sadler’s Farm this morning.

Not seen the other seller before 

[bunglebus]

18 hours ago, Christine said:

Lucky toys  charity shop find 

That's nice, they did a few VWs and some are quite tricky to find. Does it have a number on the base?

[Christine]

No. 3120 made i  Hong Kong  .. friction motor,  works ,  roof top  blue beacon  missing  otherwise all good

[bunglebus]

Awesome 

Here's mine

 

[bunglebus]

Two boot sales and the toy fair somehow achieved today

[barrett]

Managed to grab afew more boxed Pilens recently, none of which look to have ever been out the boxes before. First up the Fiat 127 from 1973 with fossilised elastic band

The colour doesn't really show up too well for some reason - it's a really nice turquoise rather than blue

Opening bits, engine. Lovely stuff.

Next the ex-Dinky Scirroco

Bit more basic than some, which is the case with these late Dinky castings, but very nicely proportioned and I really love the colour scheme

Last but definitely not least, the one I've been after for a long time and very rarely comes up...

Not many period toys of facelifted DSs in this scale. It might not be the most accurate thing in the world, but it's charming and I love it. And I could never afford a Dinky version...

Opening bits both extremely fragile. Won't be touching them again.

That's all for now

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, barrett said:

Managed to grab afew more boxed Pilens recently, none of which look to have ever been out the boxes before. First up the Fiat 127 from 1973 with fossilised elastic band

 

The colour doesn't really show up too well for some reason - it's a really nice turquoise rather than blue

 

Here's a later AR-GEE version of the Seat 127. Much more basic than the original Pilen with closed bonnet and boot and cast, instead of separate lighting. Also has generic wheels.

[Zie]

On 02/05/2025 at 23:13, bunglebus said:

Espace is entirely mad

Need to find one to got with my 1/18 version. 

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, barrett said:

Managed to grab afew more boxed Pilens recently, none of which look to have ever been out the boxes before. First up the Fiat 127 from 1973 with fossilised elastic band

The colour doesn't really show up too well for some reason - it's a really nice turquoise rather than blue

Opening bits, engine. Lovely stuff.

Next the ex-Dinky Scirroco

Bit more basic than some, which is the case with these late Dinky castings, but very nicely proportioned and I really love the colour scheme

Last but definitely not least, the one I've been after for a long time and very rarely comes up...

Not many period toys of facelifted DSs in this scale. It might not be the most accurate thing in the world, but it's charming and I love it. And I could never afford a Dinky version...

Opening bits both extremely fragile. Won't be touching them again.

That's all for now

I wonder why so many of these models with the plastic bases seem to get that weird mark from the tyres into the base? It’s like the rubber/plastic is reacting against each other. Quite a few of my partwork and modern models have it too.

[bunglebus]

28 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I wonder why so many of these models with the plastic bases seem to get that weird mark from the tyres into the base? It’s like the rubber/plastic is reacting against each other. Quite a few of my partwork and modern models have it too.

All my customs with rubber tyres stick to the silver paint in my display cabinet, the plastic wheeled ones don't. Some odd chemical reaction I suppose 

[bunglebus]

Here's an update on the cars I found today, I had a master plan of getting up early, steaming around the early boot sale at Boreham, then going to the toy fair while the Mrs went to the late boot sale. 1st boot sale was massive but I didn't pick up very much, dropped 'er off at home and shot off to Raleigh - only to get a call to say her car keys were in my car! Thankfully the toy fair was not at all busy, probably as much as anything because it's only a fortnight since the last one, and there there are other things on this weekend. Did a record time lap of the hall, grabbed a few bits and whizzed back up the A130 just in time to pick her up and get to the late boot sale for 10, where I acquired a few more tatty toys.

These few new ones were from the fair

Moving onto bigger stuff, this looks like the usual cheap pull back fare, but that hood looks a bit odd?

And what does this lever do?

Turns out it's a cigarette lighter operated by pressing down on the hood - I did try filling it but it burst into flames when I tried to use it, turns out the gas tank is faulty. Not quite sure how the LED headlights are turned on

Fiat 126 is a Welly, 1:43 or so

And a late Dinky Alfa

[bunglebus]

Small scale stuff next, starting with another Welly. I think this is white plastic bodied, so it looks odd where the paint has worn off

I picked up quite a nice bunch of tidy Maistos

Unbranded E30

And another of these charmingly crap Toyotas(?)

Don't know who made this one either, Google brings up images of a Hot Wheels without the interesting side window treatment 

This is definitely a Hot Wheels though, with a previous attempt at restoration - was gold originally I think

More Hot Wheels 

A couple of nice vans, a theme which would continue this morning 

Growlers Can Am

I was pleased to pick up this Majorette Motor 911 for £1.00

Along with a trailer for 50% less

Boxed Model A. Probably got one but I do like the original saloon sedan version 

Having sold all my Matchbox tractors, I now need to buy more to go with the Big MX set I found

This looked good but closer inspection reveals a careful brush paint job

Ah well, I'll always be happy finding a red Superfast Mustang 

Hondarora is in lovely condition 

As is this Camper, other than severe yellowing to the plastic part

Two more very nice vans

And this - hoiked it out of a box of junk, white paint, white base, no decals, permanent marker scribble...

Oh yes, another Graffic Traffic. Here it is in a set

Picked up these three TCR slot cars with @flat4alfa in mind, as I know he wanted the one in my roffle recently 

[danthecapriman]

39 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Small scale stuff next, starting with another Welly. I think this is white plastic bodied, so it looks odd where the paint has worn off

I picked up quite a nice bunch of tidy Maistos

Unbranded E30

And another of these charmingly crap Toyotas(?)

Don't know who made this one either, Google brings up images of a Hot Wheels without the interesting side window treatment 

This is definitely a Hot Wheels though, with a previous attempt at restoration - was gold originally I think

More Hot Wheels 

A couple of nice vans, a theme which would continue this morning 

Growlers Can Am

I was pleased to pick up this Majorette Motor 911 for £1.00

Along with a trailer for 50% less

Boxed Model A. Probably got one but I do like the original saloon sedan version 

Having sold all my Matchbox tractors, I now need to buy more to go with the Big MX set I found

This looked good but closer inspection reveals a careful brush paint job

Ah well, I'll always be happy finding a red Superfast Mustang 

Hondarora is in lovely condition 

As is this Camper, other than severe yellowing to the plastic part

Two more very nice vans

And this - hoiked it out of a box of junk, white paint, white base, no decals, permanent marker scribble...

Oh yes, another Graffic Traffic. Here it is in a set

Picked up these three TCR slot cars with @flat4alfa in mind, as I know he wanted the one in my roffle recently 

That’s a graffic traffic set I had! I remember that TV van now you’ve posted it.

[bunglebus]

4 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

That’s a graffic traffic set I had! I remember that TV van now you’ve posted it.

Lucky boy! What's the chances of it still being in your parents attic? 😁