Shite in Miniature II

[155V6]

I had a delivery today,a bundle of Realtoy/Fast Lane DTM cars

These are something I've been collecting for a while,& are surprisingly hard to find.Most have generic liveries although some of the actual colour schemes are based on real ones The cars with real sponsors were marketed as Track Stars & came in metal tins,I think they were mainly sold in Australia.

I do have quite a few of these already,& most have had wheel swaps to more realistic wheels.I'm also still looking for more,particularly a plain grey Mercedes

 

[bunglebus]

13 hours ago, 155V6 said:

I had a delivery today,a bundle of Realtoy/Fast Lane DTM cars

https://ebay.us/m/5KXrHj

[bunglebus]

Mmm, shiny

[danthecapriman]

Does anyone know anything about Corgi Detail Cars?

I recently got myself a nice Capri mk1 but never had one until now. It actually looks very much like an early version of a Vanguard’s model to me.

[bunglebus]

Just back from Tesco, and a rummage through the Q case!

Bentley is cool in a bad taste way

Another T3 ready for some swapsies

There's a lot of yellow in this case, including two Ferraris

A Land Rover

And a Motocompo 

Alfa looks really good in white

Particularly because of the green base

Keyring

Cheeky phone

Audi in black

Then we move into a sea of grey

Tiny wheels on the Silverado 

The upside down car

And a Polestar, reminds me of the Deora with those 'boards on the back 

Heisenberg's Aztek

The treasure hunt TR6

And definitely the best of the lot, Gulf RS200

[bunglebus]

Got home to some VW themed arrivals . Rolamatics Beach Hopper, with a yellow interior 

Lucky Toys Police MK1 Golf, with the faintest whiff of UV damage 

And this, which I stumbled across on eBay in Germany. After some negotiations about postage cost, it was mine. Funny enough, someone's just listed another on eBay UK, for a lot of money!

It's another Welly Lupo, but a code two promo. This thing's excellent 

Can't seem to find much online other than pictures of other toy ones, main prize being the real car in this livery, I would have hoped to find at least a picture

[warch]

Popped into my local toyshop with Mrs W and the girls and was unable to resist adding two more partwork tractors to the clutter on my Welsh dresser. 

They came in a sort of yellow tinted plastic packaging so I was quite surprised when I removed the crawler and discovered it was grey not yellow. Its a pre war FIAT 40 designed for use by the Italian army, but also used by their chums in the Wehrmacht. Obviously they also saw agricultural use long after WW2 had ended. Small tracklayers were and are very popular in Italy which has a lot of farms in very hilly areas. They also have an extremely long service life with many examples only being superseded when it was decided that bigger more modern machinery was required during the 80s and 90s. One modern feature that contemporaries didn't have until well into the post war era is a steering wheel instead of levers or a tiller. It's a nice and rather hefty model, albeit with no moving parts but a bargain for 4 quid. 

The other tractor is another specialist model aimed at fruit growers, this one by the German manufacturer Claas. They're basically a full size tractor in terms of engine, transmission and lift capacity, but fitted with narrow axles and undersized wheels for working down gaps between and under fruit trees. You do see them in parts of the UK like Herefordshire and Kent when fruit and hop farms are common, but they are presumably much more popular in the Mediterranean. I drove the Massey Ferguson version of one of these on a farm (which was the badge engineered version of a tractor made by SDF in Italy). Most tractors sold in the UK come with a cab for obvious reasons but they did offer the open platform version as an option. As a fan of horticultural tractors I've been after one of these since they came out 20 odd years ago so it was nice to pick one up for a fiver. 

[bunglebus]

The Mrs found this online

A definitely-not-Hot-Wheels advent calendar 

Looking on eBay, they're available much cheaper, and Hot Wheels branded too!

Junior looks happy

Even though his hand is caught inside the box

Junior II is definitely playing with those cars

Hmm...

They're for girls too! Mum and daughter are absolutely enjoying those cars, no fakery here

I might get one, just for fun

[sheffcortinacentre]

What in d hell is d world coming to! They'll be letting them vote next.

[bunglebus]

I meant to say earlier, Mattel deciding the card text needing to be in French as well as English has lead to some tiny font being needed on the Land Rover packaging

Quite how they'll fit "Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo" or "LB-Silhouette Works GT Nissan 35GT-RR Ver.2" on, I'm not sure

[matt79]

This Vinted seller has found a novel use for unloved Lledo's - as packaging materials 😆. 

That is how they were sent - in an A4 envelope, wrapped in a carrier bag and parcel tapped up. At least these are just for hacking about, there's nothing valuable in there.

[MAF260]

British & German Matchbox purchases today from B&M. I’m delighted to finally have the XJ6C in my collection.

I was surprised to find the Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars in about 5 different places inside the store today. The other B&Ms I’ve been to have always had them in one place. Made it feel like more of a treasure hunt as I came across a new section!

[Lord Sterling]

Popped into Evesham today, I wish I hadn't. Myself and some work colleagues could barely get a couple of pool games in for the bar being busy and full of people 😤 (I usually have people and can barely stand busy places)

Anyway, before that, after parking the car, I came across a shop called 'Georgian House' that seemed to specialise in brick-a-brack anantiques. Of course, there were loads of cars, unfortunately, a vast majority of them were cheap 1/64 chinese tat that barely looks like the real thing. There were some heavily worn old Corgi 1/43s etc...

Behind the counter was more interesting but unfortunately, they weren't near enough to inspect properly and tbf I was a little overwhelmed by them all.

My small haul:

Not exactly cheap but certainly a LOT cheaper than eBay.

[ambassador84]

The last Matchbox mix of the year is a good one with the new Range Rover and Subaru in particular. These just arrived in the post this evening from America but UK collectors might be shocked to hear this batch has been spotted in Poundland!! Barely a batch missed this year which must be a record!

[ambassador84]

Latest and probably the last Moving Parts mix this year. Have the UK importers stopped bringing this wide appealing line to the UK one wonders?

[Datsuncog]

After all my tedious bellyaching recently, I was pleased to finally encounter some of the contents from a freshly opened Hot Wheels P-Case in the Tescotainer aisle yesterday lunchtime:

Boom! That'll do nicely.

The 928S is one I've been eagerly anticipating, and I was surprised and delighted to find this little lot just nonchalantly sitting atop all the usual old dross they can't shift. The dump bin must only have been replenished earlier in the day.

A peg of Hot Ones had been freshly stocked out too:

Not the full set of eight, and some duplicates from this lot, but a goodly selection anyway. Didn't buy any from this range - I like them, though not quite enough start collecting another line - but nice to see some fresh stock arriving.

Speaking of arrivals - a Bunglebox™ touched down on Thursday, containing these delights:

Matchbox Super Chase releases aren't something I generally collect, though I've been happy to pick them up on behalf of others on the rare occasion I've found one in the wild - but this Cobra in orange and black actually looks pretty darn good.

Chances of finding one myself seemed slim, as Matchbox stockists have really shrunk back this year, so this was mightily appreciated.

The Corgi C1001 HCB Angus Firestreak is a belter.

Introduced to the Corgi range in 1980, this is a chunky rendering of a big US Dodge D-Series cab and chassis mated to a fire tender body by Southampton coachbuilders HCB-Angus, which wasn't all that uncommon once upon a time when specialist firefighting gear needed something rather more potent than a Transit or Bedford TK to propel it.

It's such a hefty big thing, weighing in at nearly 400g.

The silver back section lifts off...

To reveal wires and stuff inside.

Because this toy really rocks and rolls, with light and sound activation via a 9V battery and the switch on the base.

It's quite an involved construction, with a siren speaker on the base and a single bulb set into a plastic housing lighting up the roof beacons, in the same manner as their proprietary Trans-o-lite system from nearly 20 years earlier.

This is accessed via a hatch in the roof:

There's a lot of bits to it:

A moving foam lance, twin horns, rotating searchlight and hose reel all add to the realism, plus originally this would have been supplied with two firefighters in silver thermal protection suits, and various bits of breathing apparatus kit which could be stowed in the drop-down side lockers.

There should be a roof-mounted ladder too, but it's gone walkies from this example.

Despite being such a show-stopper that it graced the cover of the 1980 Corgi catalogue, the Firestreak was withdrawn from the range in 1982 after shifting a fairly impressive 60,000 or so units.

Possibly it was just too detailed and too complex to turn enough of a profit for Corgi?

Either way, it's a joy to have one back again in the collection - I had one that I picked up at a Scout jumble sale in the late 1980s, and paid quite a lot for it - at least a pound, maybe two, back when 10p - 25p was the going rate for donated toy cars. Sadly mine was dropped and damaged by a cackhanded classmate when I brought it in for a show-and-tell on electronics, and it was never the same again, with the siren reduced to a distorted groan and no lights.

Mine also wasn't as tidy, paint-wise...

And it was missing the silver cover to the battery compartment.

This one was sold on in 2018 during the big clear out, as it brought back less than happy memories of its demise.

But! Great to have one again, and in better nick too.

I haven't yet tested the light and sound function of my new one, but maybe I should...

[bunglebus]

So your replacement cost the same in 2025 as the original, not bad eh?

I had a package land on the mat today, with some Lone Star buggies within - still in their original boxes with leaflets

Lone Star say six versions were available, three different bodies combined with three roofs I think, but when you take into account the different colours that each bit is made from, you can go on for a long time trying to find two exactly the same

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

So your replacement cost the same in 2025 as the original, not bad eh?

Pretty much. 😁

Cheers for picking that one up for me Rich, much appreciated!

Just realised that my original had red beacons on the roof, but the new arrival has amber ones. Wonder what other variants are out there?

[bunglebus]

A bit nippy at the boot sale, picked up a bagful of cars though

[bunglebus]

Despite the cold, I found stuff

[bunglebus]

Taking a bit of inspiration from this

Starting with a tatty Matchbox Rolls Royce 

plus a set of wheels out of a big box I bought at the last toy fair, used some Vauxhall pearlescent paint from those Graff City bulk buys and got this

There was a fair bit of Dremel action needed to get those big rims underneath and get it on the floor, there is still clearance, and it rolls, just - no pun intended.

Interior in the real thing is pretty nasty

Hence going for the dark red with some matt over the top to lose the shine. 

One other trick that may not be immediately obvious is getting rid of the registration letters, as the original "HJ 71D" isn't a correct UK plate, and it annoyed me. Yes I painted the rear plate in matt black even though you can't tell.

Thing is, if you're building a custom Rolls-Royce saloon, you might as well do the cabriolet to match, right?

That one started of as one of many identical beaters from the project box

Build was similar to the tin top but with the tow bar and associated hole removed, and a cut down clear windscreen from an unknown donor, probably the bit I'm least convinced about - my only other option is to take one from a saloon instead. One way or another the orange tint needed to go. Same treatment on the number plates, same Dremel action under the arches and base mods, being a Superfast I had to file the bumps flatter for clearance, and again there is some, about 1mm. I'm off for a lay down...

 

[matt79]

As I alluded to a page or two back, my midlife crisis is manifesting in a desire to one again mess about with shite old diecasts, and not, as I maybe would have hoped, chasing after young women and buying an expensive sports car. Maybe I need to sit down and have a word with myself......I digress

I have been buying job lots of diecast, and with a grim inevitability these often contain Lledo Days Gone models or their close cousin, the Matchbox MB38 Ford Model A van. So today I had a spare half hour or so and decided to see if I could hack one of these into something fit for display.....here is the progress so far-

How it started -

Progress so far -

 

its far from finished - I need to build a chassis and weather it down at the very least, but so far I'm quite liking it. The wheels might change as well, these were just what I had to immediate hand. 

Feels good to finally get started.....🙂

 

 

[MVX11V]

I myself today managed to get a light and sound MB sierra alive again. I bought it recently and freed it from it's plastic and cardboard tomb where it had expired.

Now it can be an thing.

[AndyW201]

There's currently a real drought of new Hot Wheels around here at the moment. We had a bit of new stuff like the case with the red 928 and the Broadspeed Jag at Poundland and Aldi a few weeks ago, but everything worth having was soon hoovered up. Hopefully Aldi should have some of that Q case stuff in the next few weeks if its appearing elsewhere.

Matchbox-wise however, it's been a bit of a weekend...

Tescotainer had a few new-to-them but not quite brand-new releases in amongst the old unwanted stock,

Never found a Lexus LS actually in a shop, apart from the not very nice 70th anniversary version ( a collection from which several examples of can still be found in branches of B&M around here...,). This version looks really nice in the green. (Maybe the wheels not so much...) 

And it's a good thing I like yellow cars,

I'm not normally a big fan of huge electric SUV's but this one looks unusual enough in eye-searing yellow. It's quite the eyeful...

The previous two-tone grey version seems to have been done with a metal light grey upper half and plastic darker lower half, which works well, but in this all-over yellow, the difference between the metal and plastic can be seen.

In B&M, there was a restock, but with an even older case. Which was good as none of it was ever seen around here when it came out, so I picked up a few I missed out on,

I like the Matchbox RX-8, and this metallic blue looks good on it.

I've never seen this Camaro in the wild. Seems to be a 2021 reboot of the '90s version. Some clever treatment of the front and rear, with the dark grey interior casting forming the front and rear light panels and a lighter grey for the baseplate and bumpers,

Was chuffed to get the Land Cruiser, I've had my eye on this since it came out,

Complete with some junk in the tru... er, bed

[danthecapriman]

3 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

&4:, oneA real drought of new Hot Wheels around here at the moment. We had a bit of new stuff like the case with the red 928 and the Broadspeed Jag at Poundland and Aldi a few weeks ago, but everything worth having was soon hoovered up. Hopefully Aldi should have some of that Q case stuff in the next few weeks if its appearing elsewhere.

Matchbox-wise however, it's been a bit of a weekend...

Tescotainer had a few new-to-them but not quite brand-new releases in amongst the old unwanted stock,

Never founf a Lexus LS actually in a shop, apart from the not very nice 70th anniversary version ( a collection from which several examples of can still be found in branches of B&M around here...,). This version looks really nice in the green. (Maybe the wheels not so much...) 

And it's a good thing I like yellow cars,

I'm not normally a big fan of huge electric SUV's but this one looks unusual enough in eye-searing yellow. It's quite the eyeful...

The previous two-tone grey version seems to have been done with a metal light grey upper half and plastic darker lower half, which works well, but in this all-over yellow, the difference between the metal and plastic can be seen.

In B&M, there was a restock, but with an even older case. Which was good as none of it was ever seen around here when it came out,, so I  picked up a few I misse out on,

I like the Matchbox RX-8, and this metallic blue looks good on it.

I've never seen this Camaro in the wild. Seems to be a 2021 reboot of the '90s version. Some clever treatment of the front and rear, with the dark grey interior casting forming the front and rear light panels and a lighter grey for the baseplate and bumpers,

Was chuffed to get the Land Cruiser, I've had my eye on this since it came out,

Complete with some junk in the tru... er, bed

That Camaro is a nice one. Lovely shade of blue which works well. That’s one that’d definitely benefit massively from a light bit of customisation with chrome on the bumpers, door handles etc and the grill etc detail painting.

@bunglebus and @matt79 nice work on those👍

I was actually wondering the other day about what the old Days Gone and Yesteryear’s stuff would come up like being used for customs! 

[danthecapriman]

I’ve been dicking around with woodwork between all the wind & rain lately making… a shelf!😄

But, it’ll become a nice diorama base on the lower shelf with some extra storage above on the top shelf. 12mm ply cut down to two 4’ long boards. 400mm wide gives plenty of space for making some roads and buildings etc to display my vehicles with. I’ve reinforced the ply with strips of 2x1 to stop any sagging or warping too. I was going to just use a single 4’ shelf for the diorama but 8’ is better yes!?😆

Being on a shelf it means the height of the diorama will be roughly chest height so you can look into it rather than down on it. 
It’s not as heavily built as my model railway boards but should be easily good enough for what it’s for.

[Snake Charmer]

5 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

nice diorama

I like that, 😎. My first thought was Coronation Street! 

[AndyW201]

And then I hit Poundland. Boom!

I've always liked the slightly awkward looking Durango. Kinds of reminds me of a Discovery 5 from Temu!

Nice to see a rarely-seen clunky towbar on a toy car nowadays.

Another new for '25 casting I believe. It's a nice rendering of the 'Stang fastback. Nicer than the HW one I reckon.

After taking an age to get a Moving Parts HP Anglia, it's nice to have the basic one. As mentioned before on here, the front window treatment is much nicer.

It's a good casting this one. Would look great as a factory standard 1200 Super.

Haven't seen this casting for a while,

Not sure whether this beigey-yellow works as well on the Ovlov as the previous colours, but it's still a favourite casting of mine.

And another new casting.

And another! Love this new Scooby, although I don't think we get this shape Impreza over here now, do we?

Possibly the star of this case?

And I had to leave it there...

Hopefully then, rumours of the death of Matchbox in this country will prove to be unfounded.

[Zie]

On 27/09/2025 at 19:18, bunglebus said:

While I think about that, someone on Facebook had a brilliantly simple idea:

Yep, both versions of the Espace F1 with the tops swapped.

I really want to do this but can't find the alt coloured Espace anywhere around here. Anyone got any spare? 

My Otto 1:18 scale version. 

[AndyW201]

Another arrival was a sleeve for the recently purchased Corgi Screen Stars Minder set.

With Corgi having to skirt the licensing issues with this set, meaning that there can be no mentions of the series on the packaging, Tony at Professionalmania had some special sleeves made, as he did for the Profesionals themed ones. No mistaking what's inside now...