Shite in Miniature II

[bunglebus]

This little bestie arrived via Vinted, a Polistil Peugeot 104 that's the latest member of the "all four doors open" club

[bunglebus]

On 01/04/2026 at 12:05, bunglebus said:

What on earth in an N battery?

Well I found out, and I ordered a pair. It still didn't show any signs of life. I bit the bullet and took it apart, probed a few connections and concluded there was no power from the battery compartment. A close look revealed why - a small gap between the +ive terminal and the contact on one of the batteries. No adjustment possible so a tiny bit of foil was employed to bridge the gap

Voila 

[Spottedlaurel]

On 08/04/2026 at 23:13, bunglebus said:

I almost overlooked this one today

I dug mine out:

 

 

I hope this is legible, back in the early '90s they suggested there were five variations of the Superfast version:

Seems like I have #3, with balloon tyres and the braces behind the rear axle:

Spare tyre looks like that fitted to the original Field Car?

Have fun looking out for the other versions!

[bunglebus]

Found Miss BB a set of the Tomy Takara Choro Q Lupos at a price much much lower than the crazy amounts asked on eBay etc for such things

[bunglebus]

7 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Seems like I have #3, with balloon tyres and the braces behind the rear axle:

That's lovely, mine's pretty manky. Has the braces like yours

 

[Spottedlaurel]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

That's lovely, mine's pretty manky. Has the braces like yours

 

Needs a little TLC!

Couldn't immediately remember getting mine, turns out I picked it up at an Ipswich Toy Fair for £18 on 24th January 2026 2016. I don't normally remember or record this level of detail about them, just the price, but I found a photo of my purchases from that day.

Edit: 2016, not 2026! It's my birthday and I'm certainly getting older, but not that senile yet.....

[barrett]

Hhhhhhmmmmmmm. This looks like a secure way to send something small and fragile in the post.

Well, as long as it's not a particularly delicate plastic thing

Oh. Well, miraculously that's actually survived intact

Bought on a whim because I don't recall ever seeing one before, and it was cheap compared to recent sales of similar

Made by Cursor, not a make I was familiar with

Nice, eh? More exciting, though, is what came with it...

Bargain!!!

Except...

Oh. I guess I should have looked more closely at the photos. Normally I'd chalk this up to experience, but because of the awful packaging I'm tempted to be annoying about this and get a refund as it's far from what I was it expecting it to be, and I certainly wouldn't have spent £6.50 on a badly repainted Dinky Beetle. What do you lot reckon?

 

[bunglebus]

5 minutes ago, barrett said:

I certainly wouldn't have spent £6.50 on a badly repainted Dinky Beetle

That's not far off what they go for, even in that condition. Lovely Cursor 411, wish I'd seen that! I have their K70

 

[bunglebus]

Today's boot sale junk mostly all came from one seller. This Mira Chrysler 150 was hoiked off a blanket of mostly overpriced, broken toys that are much more common

There were various bikes rattling around in the bag for life thrust at me from the depths of my seller's van, this was unusual enough for me to grab it - Google says Benbros

Slightly unlikely coloured 2CV6 is from Norev

Trofeu Cosworth has an obvious omission

Two 356s are by Brumm

 One that @andrew e  might appreciate is this, made by NZG who I'd not heard of

One big annoyance for me, is casting the info on the base up two different ways, which makes me twitch

Auto Pilen is a nice heavy thing

Unfortunately missing the tailgate

Last gasp Dinky Rover

Another Dinky Land Rover, but with Whizzwheels this time

Big Corgi FX4 in American Airlines livery

XJ12C is a new version in my collection

Not quite sure what happened here, or where the towbar went

Marina has had a difficult life, but it's all there and ripe for resto - cracked windscreen being the worst part

Another Citroen SM, and possibly the best find today. This Whizzwheels is impressive

Opening doors, tailgate, hinged parcel shelf...

...and never mint tilty seats, these slide back and forth, Very impressive

Another one with this feature is this Golden Jacks Marcos, permanently in hover mode now as the wheels are missing

Quad Gun Tractor appears to be closely related to the Riot Police one I found last year

This one was an online find that I collected on my way home, the early K-6 with exposed engine. Having sold all my spare Milligans Mills, I now need two to donate the hood scoops...

I noticed something really odd about this Matchbox Astra as I was photographing it - there are decals on the inside of the body!

One side has mirrored "POLICE" lettering

The other side is not so clear, looks like a load of Hs - definitely something printed there though

 I got a trio of boxed Model A vans for £2 each, starting with the common Champion Spark Plugs version

Still sealed und unpunched Pepsi version

The most unusual is this code 2 Chester souvenir 

Something went wrong during its manufacture though, no damage so this must have always been missing

Today's oddball is this plastic Beetle with opening front and rear lids

I'm no master mechanic, but I'm fairly sure that's not the mighty air cooled flat four that should be fitted

Original Hasbro Transformer isn't a bad find

Corgi police bug isn't in bad shape, they're always just in a big box or bag and I can't help thinking half the damage comes from how the seller stores them

Not my cup of tea normally, but this Lledo promotional is clean enough to be worth a quid

 

[AndyW201]

Some buys from the past week.

As usual trudged over to Smyths last weekend. There were some Modern Classics there, but as is usual for there, the ones nobody seems to want, namely the Soarer and the 323. I was tempted by the 323 as its a very nice casting, but I've already got the plain white version, which is hard to beat in my eyes.

I have wanted the Car Culture Yaris GR for a while, so got this instead. Current ebay and AliExpress pricing on this suggest that this one is a relatively sought after release.

It's fairly tiny, but a well rendered thing.

In the usual discarded pile at the bottom from where the Thursday morning scalpers go ripping stuff off the pegs, I did find the one Summit  Surge 4WD (😁) Jaaaaag Mk1 that was left,

As already seen on here the black/red paint scheme is a belter, and the new design wheels look great.

Asda had a restock of Thrill Climbers so managed to finally get the brilliant Lancia Delta S4. (The Mitsi Evo continues to evade me though...)

Normally I prefer road cars to race and rally stuff, but this is an absolute beauty.

Very close livery to the original Martini graphics. I suppose booze advertising on a 'kids toy' might be a bit off...

Not great news otherwise though. Morrisons had the 5 pack Matchbox offer on, but all they had in were old packs, not a sniff of the one with the Fiesta.  And unfortunately Tescotainer appear to have done away with Matchbox singles, none in there for months now. Only place to find them now is Poundland and they're stalled on stuff from two cases ago now, with no sign of anything shifting soon.

Ah well...

[AndyW201]

On a slightly more positive note, I've managed to get the Solido Mk1 Fiesta finished. 'Well and truly finished' some might say...

It's this little bugger that's to blame. I've already got the Supersport and XR2 Mk1 and 2 by Vanguards. (Fingers remain crossed for a Mk2 1.4S in the future...) However the Mk1 S is the missing link and, apart from an unobtanium Ixo based S from a Greek partwork, the Detail Cars 1300 S is all there is, and prices are around the £60-£70 mark when they do come up for sale.

So, having found a less wallet-bothering Solido Mk1 which uses more or less the same casting and wheels, I set about making my own. The Solido already had a good start by having the S spec black bumpers and door handles,

So, here is the underwhelming result. It took some deciding whether to do the stripes and S logos in black to go with the vinyl roof, or brown to go with the interior. In the end, it was the fact that I already had a fine tipped black marker and most of a roll of 2mm black pinstripe (from when I darkened the tail lights on my old Mk4 Golf about 15 years ago...) that swung things towards black! The fuel cap and mirrors also got a touch of black.

The stripes are a bit wide and the S logos look bloody terrible close-up as I've had to do them freehand with a marker, but I think it gives a bit of the look of the original.

To give it a bit of the '1990s boy-racer' vibe, I made up a Lombard RAC Rally sunstrip (de riguer with the Ford boys around here back in the day) from various bits of a sheet of waterslide transfers. Some old style  font number plates from a series issued to our local Ford dealer for the W registration were also added,

Along with some smaller rally stickers on the rear side windows, and some transfers for the seats vaguely resembling the chevron trim of the S.

The bootlid really let the car down, with no badging, no number plate, and a strange casting flaw.  So, inspired by a couple of pics of S's with the Supersport tailgate decal on, I used some more of the pinstriping, which covered up most of the mark, along with a rear plate and a period style Motorcraft sticker on the rear screen. 

Not as good as the other resto or custom jobs on here, but it fills a gap  until the unlikely event of a reasonably priced Detail Cars version coming along!

[andy18s]

19 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Parcel this morning from @andy18s

Thank you very much for that sir, your a gentleman!

Please do let me know what to reimburse you and where to…

Not a problem and fairly quick delivery as it was only posted out Tuesday.

[bunglebus]

Just got home lugging a huge haul of cars from the first boot sale 

[bunglebus]

Golf is at least the proper Polistil version 

Looks better after a wash

TURBO script and rear lights aren't found on the copies

Like this

 

[Spottedlaurel]

I'm on the final stages of getting this 1/24 SC400 done:

AK acrylic marker pen is great! My first time of using it, certainly makes doing the window trims etc so much easier.

Hoping to finish it later after a 1:1 car do.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Just bought this lovely Polistil Scirocco on Binted. I've never owned a Scirocco model before. They seem to fetch silly money on ebay. 

My hiatus on not buying diecast continues to do well 😆.

[bunglebus]

Blue seems to be the popular colour 

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

8 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Blue seems to be the popular colour 

 

It's a lovely blue. I also like the 70s metallic green they painted them in. 

[barrett]

13 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Auto Pilen is a nice heavy thing

Unfortunately missing the tailgate

 

I'm pretty sure I sent my 'spares car' SM to somebody on here a year or so back, complete with tailgate (but not glass) so I suspect there is a spare tailgate available on this forum... my terrible memory won't say where though. Equally, there's a chance I still have it and therefore can send it your way if desired! (if I could find it)

[MVX11V]

Sentron9

Years ago when I was into anything and everything MB, I came across the spectacular* Sentron 9 RC carz and came across 2 examples which I shoved in the display cabinet.

 

 

These cars take an enormous amount of battery power, a 9v and 4 AAs in the car and another 9v in the control pad. The car loaded up with these batteries weights several tonnes and doesn't look that exciting to operate... it's a lot of effort for not a lot of gain. What I did do was convert the silver one to a modern RC car utilising a doner RC landrover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is with it's gubbins removed. It came with a proper controller too rather than some sort of 80's tv remote.

 

 

 

 

Out with the old...

 

              ...and in with the new!

 

 

 

 

 

And this gave me a fully functioning RC Porsche which consumed normal battery power and I could retain the cars appearance on top and underneath.

 

 

 

 

 

What bugged me the most though was the box. I find it frustrating when the company picture different variations of the contents which are seemingly not obtainable. In this case, the box pictures a red Porsche (and a yellow one on the other side). All that I could find was Silver and gold and the pictures are images of the real deal, so that means that they must be able to be got from somewhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These Sentrons were sold on when most of my then collection was sold off about 12 years ago. Roll on to recently and another inebriated session on the bay saw another one get bought, but this time it was different!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEHOLD! The red Sentron9!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so pleased with this. I plan to convert it to modern electronics just like the silver one, just got to search out a doner RC car. Of course, the closing of this chapter of want opens another... where's a yellow one?

[Tenmil Socket]

21 minutes ago, MVX11V said:

Sentron9

Years ago when I was into anything and everything MB, I came across the spectacular* Sentron 9 RC carz and came across 2 examples which I shoved in the display cabinet.

 

 

These cars take an enormous amount of battery power, a 9v and 4 AAs in the car and another 9v in the control pad. The car loaded up with these batteries weights several tonnes and doesn't look that exciting to operate... it's a lot of effort for not a lot of gain. What I did do was convert the silver one to a modern RC car utilising a doner RC landrover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is with it's gubbins removed. It came with a proper controller too rather than some sort of 80's tv remote.

 

 

 

 

Out with the old...

 

              ...and in with the new!

 

 

 

 

 

And this gave me a fully functioning RC Porsche which consumed normal battery power and I could retain the cars appearance on top and underneath.

 

 

 

 

 

What bugged me the most though was the box. I find it frustrating when the company picture different variations of the contents which are seemingly not obtainable. In this case, the box pictures a red Porsche (and a yellow one on the other side). All that I could find was Silver and gold and the pictures are images of the real deal, so that means that they must be able to be got from somewhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These Sentrons were sold on when most of my then collection was sold off about 12 years ago. Roll on to recently and another inebriated session on the bay saw another one get bought, but this time it was different!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEHOLD! The red Sentron9!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so pleased with this. I plan to convert it to modern electronics just like the silver one, just got to search out a doner RC car. Of course, the closing of this chapter of want opens another... where's a yellow one?

I’ve got a mint boxed one tucked away, I think it’s silver.

I’ll likely sell it in the future to make room for all the other RC stuff I’m hoarding at work.

[bunglebus]

[bunglebus]

Husky camper turned up recently with no back and broken suspension 

I also had this one with no glass and more paint chips

So like the Spice Girls, said, two become one

I deviated slightly from stock by painting the door too, looks silly in yellow

[bunglebus]

Borrowed from FB, apparently the RAV4 and '97 Integra come in LHD or RHD

[Spottedlaurel]

/\ Different wheels too?

Working my backwards through recent acquisitions, this lot were from the 1:1 Japanese car meet today:

And these from a local meet/autojumble yesterday:

 

Lancia has one replacement (too small tyre) otherwise seemed decent for under a fiver. Happy to rehome it if anyone else is interested? Big SM is a nice companion to the maroon Superfast I already have. Shame about the tape on the Volvo, but peeling it off seems to take the paint with it....

[MVX11V]

19 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I noticed something really odd about this Matchbox Astra as I was photographing it - there are decals on the inside of the body!

One side has mirrored "POLICE" lettering

The other side is not so clear, looks like a load of Hs - definitely something printed there though

Sell 4 $profit$ m8?

[AndyW201]

Another AliExpress delivery. For once, a Vanguards/not a Vanguards that can (possibly) actually be described as WOW! OMG! SUPER RARE! 

One of these turned up a couple of years ago on ebay and it created a bit of excitement on the Facebook Vanguards site.

*Warning!* Boring background preamble follows...

As some of us know, Corgi put out a couple of dirty, weathered Mk1 Transits some years ago. The first (flat front) was packaged as part of the "Hidden Treasures" series, and the second (bullnose diesel front) was more of the same but just in normal Vanguards packaging.

Later, Corgi did a range of Transits called 'Tools Of The Trade' using the Vanguards Mk1 casting, depicting four trades with appropriate 'humourous' liveries,

"Bodgit & Scarper" -  Builders,

"Wood 'n' Leggit" - Carpenters

"Sherlock Ohms" - Electrician, This was the only one with an attempt at weathering, as it had a primered wing.

"Jimmy Riddle's" - Plumbers

They seem to have been marketed as gifts for tradesmen.

When the version like the one pictured at the top appeared on ebay, the pictures were pretty shite and it was thought that someone had mistakenly put one of the Hidden Treasures flat fronts in a Tools of the Trade box. Then someone on the FB site noticed, despite the shite pics, the graffiti written in the dirt was different to that on the previous flat front release. And that it lacked the trademark copy of The Sun on the dashboard,

The 18+ designation on the box raised some questions too.

May be something to do with the design on the back of the box, notice the schedule at 6pm...

Which is slightly different to the schedule on the back of the four production releases,

White Van Man seems to have more luck than the tradies...

One of the more knowledgeable guys on the FB site knows one of Corgi's reps, and it turns out that this version I have here appeared in the 2020 Corgi catalogue as part of the Tools of The Trade range, (and another dirty, weathered release - possibly another diesel front - was planned), but got cancelled at the final production sample stage.

And one of those final samples is apparently what I have got here.

The weathering is a bit more convincing on this one as the dirty effect is a bit more uniform, but the downside is the graffiti is not as clear to read as on the other ones.

Some of it is slightly risque which may also explain the 18+ designation on the box,

Other bits,

Note the 'humourous' related reg number too...

So, having got all the HiddenTreasures in the range, including the previous two Trannys, I'm mega chuffed to have got this one. Being a prototype, hopefully it actually is a bit of a rarity.

[sierraman]

5 hours ago, MVX11V said:

Sentron9

Years ago when I was into anything and everything MB, I came across the spectacular* Sentron 9 RC carz and came across 2 examples which I shoved in the display cabinet.

 

 

These cars take an enormous amount of battery power, a 9v and 4 AAs in the car and another 9v in the control pad. The car loaded up with these batteries weights several tonnes and doesn't look that exciting to operate... it's a lot of effort for not a lot of gain. What I did do was convert the silver one to a modern RC car utilising a doner RC landrover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is with it's gubbins removed. It came with a proper controller too rather than some sort of 80's tv remote.

 

 

 

 

Out with the old...

 

              ...and in with the new!

 

 

 

 

 

And this gave me a fully functioning RC Porsche which consumed normal battery power and I could retain the cars appearance on top and underneath.

 

 

 

 

 

What bugged me the most though was the box. I find it frustrating when the company picture different variations of the contents which are seemingly not obtainable. In this case, the box pictures a red Porsche (and a yellow one on the other side). All that I could find was Silver and gold and the pictures are images of the real deal, so that means that they must be able to be got from somewhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These Sentrons were sold on when most of my then collection was sold off about 12 years ago. Roll on to recently and another inebriated session on the bay saw another one get bought, but this time it was different!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEHOLD! The red Sentron9!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so pleased with this. I plan to convert it to modern electronics just like the silver one, just got to search out a doner RC car. Of course, the closing of this chapter of want opens another... where's a yellow one?

Did they ever actually sell them in the U.K.?

[MVX11V]

11 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Did they ever actually sell them in the U.K.?

I read somewhere long ago that they were in high end shops for about a million pounds. You could get way better toys for less money.

[sierraman]

43 minutes ago, MVX11V said:

I read somewhere long ago that they were in high end shops for about a million pounds. You could get way better toys for less money.

I guess a lot ended up stuck in warehouses unsold when they went bust and got out that way?