Shite in Miniature II

[bunglebus]

Loads more to look at still, a whistle stop tour of Wales (well Barry Island and Cardiff) netted me some new 'uns from Entertainer 

I didn't fancy the later Camaro or the poo brown Humvee. Other online buys include a carded Kidco Dinky Corvette, seen here after removing 76% of the Condor pipe tabacco residue

Latest CMC effort arrived, having skipped the last two recolours. I never had one of these as a kid and never saw/read The Green Hornet either, but this is deeply cool

Can confirm, the little spinny helicopter things fly very well!

I do have an original, but it is a battered husk and not worthy of comparison.

@Tenmil Socket recommended I buy this Majorette Golf

Split blister means we can look more closely - this will be a recurring theme

Not even any junk in the trunk on this most unloved of Golfs 

Moving on, very tatty box has successfully protected the mint SuperKings Roller within

Carded Midnights, seller had twice as many but I got sniped on various others including Golfs. This might explain why we find these Alme castings with the name removed here

This one had the card cut at the back - interesting to see the blister is designed to show the doors open...

... whereas this taxi version has the closed - broken blister means we can check it out

Lastly the very Majorette like Volvo, once again the blister broke in transit so I could get it out

Sticking with the 200 estate, Dinky popped up looking tidier than my current example 

A job lot of Corgi Juniors appeared, with something definitely different lurking - Siku Beetle

Talking of Beetles, I also netted this plastic effort, I have a green one already but the brand is a mystery, just made in Hong Kong 

Now this got me excited. Five years ago I was bidding on one of these plastic copies of the Matchbox Foamite Crash Tender, and got sniped. It really annoyed me, so when this one popped up, I didn't even bother sending an offer

Brand is Infic, not Lucky as you might assume

I found two Mebetoys Opel Monzas, one having a pretty good repaint

One standard

And that's it, for now

[bunglebus]

Ah I lie. One more! You may remember the epic, half way around the world mission involving a very helpful forum member and a complete stranger on Reddit in New Zealand, which ended up with me eventually owning the Track Car version of the Corgi Buick Regal. 

Well this one was a little more straightforward, I happened to spot a Facebook post from someone asking about a strange Corgi Jaguar XJS they'd found - the Track Car. I messaged them and offered far more than a tatty Juniors is really worth, sent another stranger some money, and here it is

There's a slight twist in this tale too, but that's going to have to wait for another day...

[Datsuncog]

2 hours ago, matt79 said:

@Datsuncog How much was being asked for the purple Mercury & the yellow Willys? 

I'd be interested if they still there when you next visit 

They were £2 each - will keep an eye out on your behalf next time I'm in! 

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Brand is Infic, not Lucky as you might assume

Good grab!

Not INFIC, that ‘I’ is just a scratch

Manufacturer was National Plastic, the brand achronym is NFIC 

Apparently ‘National Factory Industrial Company’.  Quite likely moulded only a few streets away from the Lucky Toys building in Kowloon, anyhow

[eddyramrod]

6 hours ago, Christine said:

Try Chichester Sunday market!  

I'd love to!

It's a bit more than a Sunday morning coffee run though, from here.  I'll have to rely on my Snatch Squad of Shiters.

[bunglebus]

56 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Good grab!

I think it's great. I did have a look at the pics I kept from the eBay listing that I was still sulking about, but it's not the same one. My god I was annoyed missing out last time!

[bunglebus]

On 11/12/2021 at 07:53, bunglebus said:

*edit* looks like it was a Telsada

Or this

Either way I'm gutted I missed it

Here it was

[flat4alfa]

59 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Here it was

The bottom one with the whitewall tyres actually is a Lucky. Packaged for US market as a JR21 (Jack Rosenthal Toys)

I’ve never seen any of them in the flesh close enough to compare, but the Lucky is apparently larger than the TAT (Telsalda) effort

For some reason in the hierarchy of honk konk plastics, a TAT is always valued higher than anything else. No idea why.

[bunglebus]

On 10/07/2021 at 16:58, bunglebus said:

Arsecakes. I've had the only bid on a lot including this giant plastic version of the Matchbox Foamite Fire Tender, and someone sniped me so late it said I was winning even after the auction ended

Here we go, the original eBay pics

[bunglebus]

Ye gods

https://ebay.us/m/LPJgK4

[flat4alfa]

That will never sell

The usual "yes Love, I've listed them on eBay" with no intent to actually sell.  Unless to a wealthy American OCD fanatic, by mail order.

[bunglebus]

It didn't start off well today, but the second boot sale had lots of everyday people with boxes full of toy cars under the table

[flat4alfa]

Went Dorchester car boot

I shouldn't be allowed out on my own

The highlight was a certain redline I've never been able to find before, for the heady sum of 75p.

The lowlight was a  cellophane wrapped copy of Paul Hardcastle N-n-n-n-n-n-Nineteen on 12" for a fiver. It must have been the heat.

[bunglebus]

Nothing too weird or unusual today, although this headless horseman Playart slot car might be up @flat4alfa's street? I'm not keeping it

Here's today's oddball, BMW with a mystery spring loaded lever underneath 

I'm still not collecting Galanite, but I did buy two Tomte Laerdals. Pininfarina Alfa P33 is the more interesting IMO

Trailer

Spot-On for a fiver can't be bad, this and the rubber ones were my only pricey buys, who knows what I missed as some geezer was shovelling die casts into a carrier bag as I got to this table 

Can't beat a Fun Ho, only the third I've ever come across, if you'll excuse the expression 

Dodgy plastic not-a-Hot-Wheels 55 Chevy monster truck with "Red Flame" decals

Majorette tried to make the vinyl roof on their MK2 look right, but it just doesn't. Reminds me of a home brewed cabriolet 

I did get another complete Jeep CJ though

Corgi really put minimal effort into the Growlers Can Am Racer, even the louvres are part of the sticker, and the exposed rivet post is awful too. I still bought it though!

Another unusual Corgi Junior Jag XJS

Not my usual thing, but I was rummaging in a box of toys that was clearly owned by someone my age, and I found this Rocket Transporter, then the bottom of the rocket, and amazingly the top as well. For 50p I had to have it

Impressive length

There were also loads of MFM

Lastly, on an everything's 50p table. Amazes me that you can buy a 70 year old child's plaything for such a tiny amount of money 

[WillCarter]

Very fruitful car boot this morning, but I think I might have nearly given myself sun stroke today so this is all you're getting for now. How could I leave this behind? £20 which I didn't think was too bad for such a novelty.

[bunglebus]

Yay mystery partly solved, now I know it was sold as a Midnight

Weird that I've found three greys but no reds though.

If it makes you feel any better, it looks like I still have a top on when I take my top off, lovely and sunny today

[FakeConcern]

Toy fair this morning and no good cheap tat boxes at all

Mrs Concern bought a Corgi Noddy car for her sister's birthday as they had been looking at it earlier and thinking it was like the one she had as a kid, however looking at Marcel's book we found out it was introduced in 1969 which was definitely later than hers. A bit of research showed that she probably had a Morestone one. 

I somehow managed buy a load of model vintage cars, which aren't usually my thing, starting with a Dinky Beats is incomplete condition as my daughter has at least one of the figures

Soon after I saw this pretty complete Dinky Bull Nose Morris I can take parts from

Sticking with the theme, a nice Corgi Model T in black and a spares Rolls as I need the spare wheel for a MIB one I have

Solidos

Opening doors

Lastly Corgi Whizzwheels Rover in ok condition and a spares Pug 505

[Datsuncog]

On 23/05/2026 at 08:50, Datsuncog said:

What might tomorrow morning bring, though? 

Spoiler alert: it brought sod-all. 

Managed to get up and out to Cityside early doors, so as to maximise opportunities. 

Tescotainer had nothing there, just a tub of very stale mainlines (albeit one that was already in the process of being hoked through by a grown man in his mid-40s with apparently nothing better to do on a Saturday morning and who should probably know better, to my utterly hypocritical disgust/ consternation). 

Asda Home had an enormous box stuffed full of mainlines, which gave me a flip of excitement:

Better yet, they were reduced to a mere £1.35 each, making them the cheapest I've seen for a long time. 

But once again, they were the same G-case assortment of which The Entertainer had so many on Friday - you know, the one with the yellow custom Corvair and the pink 8-Crate and the red Toronado. That one. 

I can only presume this glut (and price reduction) means that Mattel have been offering incentives to retailers to take more than they usually would; good for shifting stock out of manufacturer warehouses and good for retailer profit margins, but less good for the collector who may end up missing a few of the subsequent mixes because stores are jam-packed with stale stock for the next few months. 😕 

The other downside with big rummage boxes like this is that, well, they get rummaged through. Most of the cards were badly creased or torn, and you'd think this wouldn't matter since I unbox nearly all the diecast I buy, but we've also established that I'm deeply hypocritical so... the black '98 Prelude and orange RX7 FC were dithered over, then put back. 

I've seen a preview of the next release of the Prelude, and I think it looks better in dark metallic blue. 

Onwards then to Home Bargains, who had about eight pegs full of those HW 80th Anniversary Dream Mobiles, and about five regular mainlines (all fantasy castings). 

I think this is another retailer that's not gonna be making any of my diecast dreams come true for a good long while.

But the memories of £6 Action Drivers sets still live on... 

B&M had not much in the way of diecast: a couple of ancient overpriced HW Premium Lancia from the Hammer Drop series (2024?), yet more of the same mainline G-case, and some Matchbox on clip strips including the pistachio green 1960s Ford Bronco which I hadn't seen before (2025 K-mix), but couldn't get overly excited about as I've already got the same casting in pale blue. 

Poundland actually had their pegs well stocked, but oddly it's not really shifting - that red Lotus Cortina on the top row was sitting there over three weeks ago, and it's still there. I'd have bet my boots that would have been quickly snapped up, but apparently not. Another branch has several prominently placed green Mini Coopers just peg-warming. 

Are we reaching the point where wicked scalpers have turned instead to jelly dumplings and square stress toys as their price-inflated targets, and not diecast? 

Hopefully. 

They did also have the latest Matchbox mix, featuring the Ford F100 Ranger and the Chevy K1500 with those 90s graphics up the side, but I think I've got all I want from that case now. 

Smyths had a woeful lack of up-to-date HW mainlines, which surprised me as I've seen some other forum members find H-case releases in their local stores. 

They did have some of the Vintage Racing Premiums, though:

Obviously the Porsche and Ferraris were long gone, leaving many many Corvettes, four or five XJSs, and just the one Stratos. 

I was highly tempted, but somehow I just couldn't get my diecast mojo working. 

I will, no doubt, regret this in due course.

The other set of interest was that F&F desert race-off set, which is an interesting idea with the brown wheels and mud/ dust effect tampo - and one is a T230 generation Toyota Celica, which I don't think I've encountered before in diecast form... 

... but nah, despite my unnatural interest in Y2K era Toyoyos I somehow just couldn't bring myself to go for it - I just don't think it looks quite the right shape, plus the 'mud effect' looks a bit naff. 

Ultimately, a coffee and some groceries were the best I could manage. 

But! There'll be other days. Hey, collecting's marathon, not a sprint... 😉 

[bunglebus]

8 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Are we reaching the point where wicked scalpers have turned instead to jelly dumplings and square stress toys as their price-inflated targets, and not diecast?

Pokémon cards. Smyths in Cardiff had a queue of about 40 people outside all waiting for their allowance of cards, while us non weirdos were allowed in to hunt for valuable collectors items

[Tenmil Socket]

Some recent arrivals, refreshingly well packed.

 

[Tenmil Socket]

I bought a job lot for £1 purely for the Golf. Anyone care to guess the make?

The Beetle opens up on impact of the front bumper but something is missing from the roof. All will be going except the Golf.

 

[AndyW201]

Slim pickings round here too.

As Tim mentions above, that Hot Wheels G case has proliferated round here too. Smyths, Poundland, Tescotainer, Asda and Aldi are all groaning with it, all six tills in Aldi had full display boxes of it. Which, as said, doesn't bode well for stocks of newer cases any time soon. Shame because L case looks like a belter...

Tescotainer though had sprinkled a few more of the recent Matchbox in.

Even as a kid, I was a bit weird and my favourite MB superfast/Corgi Juniors were the boring, everyday cars. Fantasy and supercars generally left me a bit cold. and the Mk4 Cortina remains my favourite childhood Matchbox. Stuff like this Astra is the modern day equivalent, and I'm glad Mattel are still knocking out stuff like this.

The current generation Astra is, though, at least one of the more interesting looking family trolleys out there. And it's nice that in this day and age you can still get a normal, non jacked-up, non-faux SUV 5 door hatch.

And they've still given it some nice detailing.

Pretty much the same could be said for this Citroën, although a bit of faux-SUVness seems to have crept in there (says the hypocrite whose wife has a Dacia Stepway and secretly quite likes it...)

A new casting for '26, the open top Camaro looks mean in matt grey (and is a bastard to photograph in bright sunshine...)

I've admired this wrecker a lot when other forum members have showed it on here. 

Front end detail is brilliant.

I'm dying to unpack this and put that towing mechanism to use. I've got a few opened Power Grabs in the loft... It's nice to see one that looks like a real spec lift rather than a hook. Sadly I had to pay full price for this one as there weren't enough I liked this time to make up the usual 3 for 2 offers. But it's worth it.

Had a complete fail trying to find a Sprinter though, which is a shame as I've been wanting to give one a splash of not-primer grey to look like one of my steeds at work.

They also had another price reduction on the premium peg warmers.

Meaning this PowerTrips 'Stang was down to £6. I've been umming and ahhing over getting it anyway so I grabbed it.

It's a nice version of this casting, with all the added detail and Real Riders. Only annoyance is them fitting it with different diameter wheels, with what looks like 24' rims on the back. It's not a Pro-Street car...

[junkyarddog]

I don't normally bother with these cheaper type castings,but this Welly Van was quite clean,so decided to give it a makeover. 

Before.

After.

Slightly more appealing. 

[bunglebus]

3 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I bought a job lot for £1 purely for the Golf. Anyone care to guess the make?

The Beetle opens up on impact of the front bumper but something is missing from the roof

 

I had one of those Beetles, boxed. Think it's a sunroof that's missing. Cool Golf!

Edit

Must be different to mine

[bunglebus]

Went to two bank holiday boot sales, first one I only bought two boxes of nitrile gloves. The second one saw a huge plastic tub of cars, which I helpfully suggested would sell better poured out on a mat. Having done so, I netted a massive haul:

Plus a Hot Wheels Beetle and a knackered Matchbox Ambulance, as they were 5 for a pound. I did feel a bit guilty leaving them to tidy up but there were kids swarming over the pile of cars like wasps on jam when I left, so I think it helped...

[Tenmil Socket]

5 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I had one of those Beetles, boxed. Think it's a sunroof that's missing. Cool Golf!

 

[bunglebus]

 

[bunglebus]

7 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

 

Ah one of the Corgis that blatantly isn't a Corgi, like the Realtoy Beetle etc. Very interesting that one, needs further investigation 

One here on a Japanese website 

https://8speed.net/vw/17223241

[Tenmil Socket]

14 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I had one of those Beetles, boxed. Think it's a sunroof that's missing. Cool Golf!

Edit

Must be different to mine

It looks the same?

[bunglebus]

Just now, Tenmil Socket said:

It looks the same?

The one I had was different, I found that pic via Google Lens