Shite in Miniature II

[egg]

Stage one improvements complete

 

[Amishtat]

Some forgotten promotional specials

Moar Corgis

and despite having had quite a few of these around 1988 or so, this was all I could find of these. Again, looking back they're incredibly shit really.

[Split_Pin]

Those are early Micromachines, I bloody love them.

 

I had loads back around the same time as you and I had a particular fondness for the Deluxe collections with opening features. I managed to bag a boxed set of those a couple of years ago, they are silly money in the UK but cheaper in the US.

[Noel Tidybeard]

it always amazed me that corgi could make an escrote van look completely different from the escrote hunchback they already made

[junkyarddog]

Anyone else here collect the Dinky toys collection magazine?

 

It didn't come into my local newsagent,

Just wondered if anyone on here got it?

Issue 17 Opel Kadett.

[Amishtat]

I'd forgotten all about the Micromachines with opening features, fairly sure I had some but can't really remember which ones. I know I had a couple which had lights, a Tucker Torpedo and a Merkur XR4. Should have a proper look one of these days

[Bren]

My eldest loves micro machines.

[sierraman]

Had loads of them, ended up selling them for decent coin on eBay about a year ago. I remember getting for my birthday when I was a kid the buildings you used to snap together to make a town of sorts. Still got a fair few ‘Worlds Smallest Matchbox’ though I don’t think they have a following.

[Amishtat]

I had a drive-through fish and chip shop, haven't even thought about that for years! It came from Jarrolds in Norwich in 1989. I seem to remember some sort of tune-up kit, all fancy wheels and shit that came in its own box that looked like a toolbox. Sure I had one but fuck knows where it went

[Datsuncog]

New arrival.

Cheers to bramz7 for this wonderful slice of French loveliness! It just looks so right.

[pandamonium]

Here's a bit of a cool one. Check out how many movable parts! 

 

DAF City

[mercrocker]

That's lovely isn't it!   I can remember how much wantage this caused as a kid.   They ran a teaser picture in, I think, the 1967 or 68 catalogue where it was shown in brown with a white roof.   They took so long to actually produce it that they finally appeared only in Whizzwheel flavour and I had almost given up toy cars in favour of Slade records and cheap after-shave as Xmas presents.   I did buy one though which I still have..... Don't know if it was intentional feature but you could lift the back seat out of its slot and fold it forward using the plastic as a hinge.

 

Once on holiday in Rotterdam (yes we went to some funny places) I thought I saw one being used as a driving school car but I later learned it must have been one of those Kalmar things which I think DAF built under licence.

[Datsuncog]

That DAF is fantastic.

I seem to remember they were really expensive when new due to so many opening features - about 2 to 3 times the price of a basic Corgi (I'll check that later against the pricelists in my catalogues). One for the rich kids!

Great to see one on here though.

[pandamonium]

It cost me 50p at a charity shop... 

[Amishtat]

Some more Micromachines, the two on the right have a sort of interior effect if you look through the tiny sunroof and strain your eyes badly. The Tucker had working lights, can't find the Sierra that came with it.

And I forgot ever having this

[Split_Pin]

Those are private eyes MMs. I had the Sierra with the lights and still have the pull back version they did too. I also still have a Chevy van remote control one too.

 

Dors anybody remember 'insiders'?

[sierraman]

I’ve some Hot Wheels that have working lights that are micro machine size.

[egg]

Does anyone know how to take this apart? Remove the front grille from what I can see online, but info is limited.

 

 

 

[Datsuncog]

On 8/11/2018 at 11:05 AM, pandamonium said:

It cost me 50p at a charity shop...

1p more than it cost new!

Ok, so maybe it wasn't as pricey as all that - there's a few that are a fair whack more in the list - but of the small cars in the pic above, the Marina had an rrp of 44p, the Beetle 39p, the Mini 29p and the Heinkel a bargainous 19p.

The number of kids who would have chosen the Daf over a Pontiac Firebird or Ferrari 206 Dino for the same money must have been relatively small...

I know what I would have chosen, mind...

[Datsuncog]

On 8/11/2018 at 12:22 PM, sierraman said:

I’ve some Hot Wheels that have working lights that are micro machine size.

Yes, I had some of those battery-powered mini Hot Wheels too- bought from a toy shop in Weymouth c.1992, if memory serves.

Sold them in 2010, sadly. The shells were proper diecast too, not plastic.

[sierraman]

Thems the ones.

[Junkman]

1p more than it cost new!

 

20180812_095735.jpg

 

20180812_095551.jpg

 

Ok, so maybe it wasn't as pricey as all that - there's a few that are a fair whack more in the list - but of the small cars in the pic above, the Marina had an rrp of 44p, the Beetle 39p, the Mini 29p and the Heinkel a bargainous 19p.

 

The number of kids who would have chosen the Daf over a Pontiac Firebird or Ferrari 206 Dino for the same money must have been relatively small...

 

I know what I would have chosen, mind...

 

Assuming the price list is from 1970, the prices translate into today's money as follows:

 

44p - £ 6.90

39p - £ 6.11

29p - £ 4.54

19p - £ 2.98

 

So not exactly pocket money for a 1970 kid, hence Corgis were the stuff for b'days and x'messes.

Like any other kid I knew/know, I'd have always opted for the DAF over some exotic supercar stuff,

because supercars are tremendously boring to play with, compared with a DAF that has all kinds

of opening features and even a sliding door you could brag about to your friends.

[Jon]

Siku were real rarities round my neck of the woods; usually I could only pick them up on holiday in England. I had a few secondhand ones from a swapmeet and they were some of my favourites (VW Passat B Kombi; VW T2 Bay Crew Cab; Audi 80).

 

I must peruse my 1980s Siku catalogues more closely.

 

If you can find them and if you have the time, I would be much obliged if you could upload some pages from the 1987 and 1988 catalogues, as I lived in Germany at the time and my DM3 pocket money conveniently bought a Siku most weeks (cost: DM2.95) from the local Divi Supermarkt. I still have them all back at my parent's house but I can't work out how many that number actually is...

 

I also have one of those large plastic sweet jars (you used to get in shops that would sell treats by the 1/4lb) filled with Micro Machines of all varieties, including a fair few fake ones, too. School ground rumour at my primary was that you could balance the base of a genuine Micro on your finger tip, whereas the fakes would wobble off. I often wondered why they didn't check the base for Galoob scripture, or better still, use their eyes; fakes were often incredibly sub-par. Saying that, I actually preferred the Chevy van renditions I had to the genuine Micro version. Their knockoff Chevy Blazer wasn't bad, either.

 

I can't believe how embroiled I'm getting in all this nostalgia at the moment. Bought another couple of old Matchboxes today, pretending one was for Mrs_Jon, in memory of her much beloved SAAB 9000. She evidently saw through that ruse straight away but later on, she mulled very heavily over buying a Lego minifig (she didn't, sadly) and only yesterday, mentioned the want to build 'a big Lego boat' or some such. I now have a very clear idea what to buy her for her birthday soon, as surely introducing her to buying Lego as a hobby will help me 'normalise' my shabby diecast collection....

[sierraman]

My wife thinks I’m mad. In fact I have to smuggle my car boot find in the house while she isn’t in until the kids grass me up.

[Burnside]

Some more Micromachines, the two on the right have a sort of interior effect if you look through the tiny sunroof and strain your eyes badly. The Tucker had working lights, can't find the Sierra that came with it. 15339854307847701998697389865893.jpg

And I forgot ever having this 15339857202288321204523212870422.jpg

 

Seeing this brings back some childhood memories! Me and my brother had the Tucker and Sierra with the working lights. Not sure what happened to my Tucker but sure my brother still has the Sierra somewhere. Had that Black Corvette with opening features and the Porsche 911 Convertible too.

 

Also had the Insiders with the even smaller car inside each vehicle. We had the Highways and Byways City plaza, Shell Petrol Station, Jiffy Lube Service Station and the Stockcar Richard Petty Speedway that was inside a foldaway box. 

 

Sadly we sold all the sets years ago when they weren't worth much! I've still got a few Micro Machines left though I'm tempted to start buying some more and the Highways and Byways again reading this.

 

I had a drive-through fish and chip shop, haven't even thought about that for years! It came from Jarrolds in Norwich in 1989. I seem to remember some sort of tune-up kit, all fancy wheels and shit that came in its own box that looked like a toolbox. Sure I had one but fuck knows where it went

 

Have still got the Toolbox set though! Will try and find it and the Micro Machines we have left and get some pictures up.

[quicksilver]

All this talk of Micro Machines reminds me that I used to love them when I were a lad and still have a load of cars and playsets stashed away somewhere. I really ought to sell them I suppose.

 

In other news, here's a real rarity. Some older members might remember the Piccolino range of 1/76 white metal sports, racing and land speed record cars from the eighties. A bit out of character, they were also said to have made a Volkswagen LT van but I'd never even seen a picture of one and wasn't convinced it was ever actually released so I pretty much forgot about it.

 

Then a recent discussion on a model railway forum brought up the subject and I decided to idly see if there was any Piccolino stuff on ebay. What should I find but the elusive VW, so I hit the BIN button and here it is. Not a great model to be honest but no one else has ever done an LT in this scale and it's worth having in my collection as a rare and unusual piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mercrocker]

Jeez, I think I would have had about eight guesses at what that was meant to be before arriving at LT.   Wouldn't have stopped me buying it, though!   I seem to remember having one of their Model A vans or summat and that was a bit crude, too.

[Amishtat]

Normally I wouldn't really bother with Lesney but.. you know.. the guy wasn't asking a lot really..

Also I've had a couple of Studebaker Wagonaires before and never had one that still had the roof section intact

[mercrocker]

(Matchbox) Car Magazine group tests No.94 and 95 - Luxury European Saloons Compared and US Station Wagons - Any Good Over Here?

[Amishtat]

If they were full sized? It'd have to be the Mercury wagon and the Opel Diplomat for me.. I had the same Opel, albeit more fucked about thirty years ago and loved it. Still never actually seen a real one though.