Shite in Miniature II

[mercrocker]

Yeah but that's just old Vanguards crap...

[Christine]

Good therefore   Cheap !!  Is the   Husky one worth a packet ..and I've just chopped it up ?

[Junkman]

A few weeks ago, I bought one of these Matchbox Meth Labs...

 

FTFY

[vulgalour]

Bit late to go worrying about things like value now, Christine!  I'd be surprised if the Husky Anglevan is worth much of anything, they don't seem to be particularly desirable and weren't exactly expensive when new.

[egg]

I've not got any husky - and never had any when a kid -  but the base plates look exceptionally fragile - are they ok to drill out?

[Junkman]

Yeah, not a problem. A bit like the Matchbox Fiat.

[mercrocker]

Values in Husky toys are completely in the packaging and completeness.   A mint Husky Anglebox van (with its telly and aerial quotient) should be worth no more than a tatty real one was in 1976 - about a tenner.   Probably I am wrong (I usually am regarding values) but it ain't rare so don't sweat it!

[vulgalour]

I'd say the Husky base plastic is more brittle than the Matchbox offerings.  The spare broken Husky stuff I've been stripping for parts have suffered from particularly brittle bases and you have to be sure you've not left a lip on the rivet post when you drill it out as prying can shatter the base.  With the examples I've got, the better the condition of the vehicle overall, the less brittle the base has seemed to be.  It's to be expected really, they were cheap when new and a good half a century hasn't exactly made them any more durable than they were.

[Christine]

yeah mine had a break out on one rivet hole and half the bumper has gone somewhere   

[Junkman]

Given the tariffs for good ones, I don't mean mint, just orderly, I wouldn't bother with bad ones what bases shatter of.

Huskys are nowhere near Matchbox condition for condition, but some Juniors are quite insanely valued.

[eddyramrod]

Mine aren't

[mercrocker]

Nor mine if I chose to sell.....

[Split_Pin]

Y0 JYD that Cortina is similar to the last MK4 I ever saw on the road in about 1998 and which my friend in the passenger seat noted that it was "quite a rusty one". I have a couple of spare MK4s in the loft, I think I'll try and weather one of them, maybe paint it red like my Uncle Rolland's ex-taxi example that he had in the late 1980s.

[junkyarddog]

 I have a couple of spare MK4s in the loft, I think I'll try and weather one of them, maybe paint it red like my Uncle Rolland's ex-taxi example that he had in the late 1980s.

It's quite good fun doing the weathering,

I haven't mastered it yet,but I do enjoy the results.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Cheers no rush just be nice for mine to finally have some.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

These damned bin lorries. 

 

 

It was my intention to have a little fleet of them in matching liveries, but since the axles, door and tipping bit are all attached with peened bar they are very difficult to strip and paint. So imagine my delight when I botched the first painting (of all three) when the masking ruined the paint it was supposed to protect. They were again stripped and this time sprayed with an unimaginative, albeit municipal, colour. Then I decided I hated them and they were abandoned in a cupboard for six months. 

 

Here they are:

 

[sierraman]

I keep meaning to do something similar and make some replicas of the buses in my area as I remember them as a kid, Mainline, Andrews, Sheffield Omnibus, Don Valley Buses, Tracky etc.

[Datsuncog]

It's Friday.

It's five-to-nine.

We're at a slightly down-at-heel market stall.

It's time to play...

Boom!

Because I am a weak-willed, knock-kneed ninny I just can't halp myself. Blokey with the stall must be rubbing his hands whenever he sees me bobbing along.

Another delivery of miniature tat had plainly arrived during the week and found itself added to the 50p boxes... and today I found myself unable to resist:

A hot pink Matchbox Dodge Charger funny car (MB70), with the stickers removed and some paint-based messing to the underside, but otherwise not bad.

A Rolamatics Range Rover police vehicle (MB20) - not Matchbox's finest casting in terms of proportions (unlike the Impy version found last month, which is pretty much bob-on), and the complexity of the various gearwheels needed to drive the unconvincing 'rotating beacon' definitely isn't worth the candle - but I had one when I was wee and this one's in reasonable nick. One for the nostalgia box.

I'm not a big fan of Rolls Royces in general, but this early Superfast Silver Shadow (MB24) is such a nice casting, especially in that deep metallic red. The later 70s Shadow II version, which featured opening doors and chromed plastic bumpers and grille (but lacked the opening boot) just isn't as nice, somehow.

As I've previously opined, the Matra Rancho baffled me for many years because I had so many model versions of them by Matchbox and Corgi but had never, ever seen one on the road. They were the true automotive unicorns of my young world - depictions everywhere, but never there in reality. This plain red version stood out to me - though there was also an orange one, and a white one with rainbow striping in the box as well.

I put back a Superfast Renault 17, as it was just a little bit too ratty and had a dent to the door. This was one of many models I previously owned and ruined with a Tamiya silver paint pen when I was about ten; and I will find an unmolested version at some point.

I also decided I had no need for another early Superfast Mercury Commuter estate car in police trim, nor a purple Datsun 260Z.

There were quite a few unusual Corgi Junior commercials though - including two flavours of Guy Warrior (I should have taken pics, but forgot - so here's net-sourced depictions)

The red sand truck was in better condition than the above; I only had £2 on me and didn't have time to find a cashpoint. But I may skip back over there at lunchtime, if anyone fancies them... also in there were various Matchbox military vehicles, and what looked like crude plastic 1960s made-in-Hong-Kong cars in approx 1/43 scale - a Chevrolet Camaro, something claiming to be a Cadillac (missing a rear axle) and others...

[sierraman]

How can you only buy 5 things! I’d have spunked a full weeks dinner money on a carrier bag full.

[Datsuncog]

On 2/8/2019 at 11:46 AM, sierraman said:

How can you only buy 5 things! I’d have spunked a full weeks dinner money on a carrier bag full.

Heh, easy... I only had £2!

...but I might go back over in ten minutes and see what's left.

There's an autobank en route.

[sierraman]

You probably have much more discipline with these things than me.

[mercrocker]

These damned bin lorries. 

 

binlorries-01.jpg

 

It was my intention to have a little fleet of them in matching liveries, but since the axles, door and tipping bit are all attached with peened bar they are very difficult to strip and paint. So imagine my delight when I botched the first painting (of all three) when the masking ruined the paint it was supposed to protect. They were again stripped and this time sprayed with an unimaginative, albeit municipal, colour. Then I decided I hated them and they were abandoned in a cupboard for six months. 

 

Here they are:

 

binlorries2.jpg

 

They look bloody brilliant like that!    How about knocking out a few more.....

 

 

[Datsuncog]

Round 2.

Okay, I didn't buy anything else, tempted though I very much was. But it's this mindset of ooh, me like - ooh, cheap that meant that last year I ended up posting out some 80kg of diecast to fellow shiters... and I don't want to be at that again!

Boxes as of 12 noon looked like this:

The more interesting diecast (i.e. the ones that tempted me) were principally these:

Some oddities in there, for sure:

• a yellow Edocar generic truck (mebbe DAF based?);
• a white Guisval Jeep C-15; various Corgi/Husky jobbers;
• a Hot Wheels blackwall tow truck, and
• some Matchbox - including a late rendering of the Mercury Police Car with a lightbar instead of domed lamps, and 'fat' late-70s Superfast wheels - don't think this was part of the MB-75 mainline at this stage, but was maybe included in those two-pack sets along with other castings deleted from the primary range? Though, if memory serves, that casting still appeared into the late 80s as part of the'Laser' and  'Road Blasters' ranges?
• An Impy Lone Star generic tanker (complete with 'Shell' lettering done using a Dymo labeller)
• Corgi Cubs generic fire engine (in a right state)
• Dinky Convoy generic truck (also in a state)

And these were some of the plastic tat:

The yellow thing with the missing axle was marked 'Cadillac' and 'Made in W.Germany'. No other markings. The Camaro simply said 'Made in Japan' on the baseplate. Both very crude. Any love for them on here?

The Guy Warrior tanker was gone, as were both 007 Lotus Esprits in 'underwater' mode. Clearly there's another collector/hoarder acting as my nemesis here...

MORAL OF THE STORY: bring more moneys next week.

[sierraman]

Quite like the Leyland Horse Box!

[Datsuncog]

On 2/8/2019 at 1:45 PM, sierraman said:

Quite like the Leyland Horse Box!

If it hadn't got mega-wonky axles and a crack at the back, I might have nabbed it! Also a flatbed version of the same in there somewhere.

[Datsuncog]

On 2/8/2019 at 1:27 PM, Datsuncog said:

• some Matchbox - including a late rendering of the Mercury Police Car with a lightbar instead of domed lamps, and 'fat' late-70s Superfast wheels - don't think this was part of the MB-75 mainline at this stage, but was maybe included in those two-pack sets along with other castings deleted from the primary range? Though, if memory serves, that casting still appeared into the late 80s as part of the'Laser' and  'Road Blasters' ranges?

A spot of Googling reveals that the old grey matter is still functioning...

Also this interesting Code 2, apparently produced as a commemorative model for Halley's Comet in 1986:

Which made me think of...

Why hadn't I made this connection before??

[sierraman]

Yes, I’ve got one of the late Mercury’s it’s from about 85/86 as part of the roadblasters as well. In the US a ‘Haley’s Comet’ one was released as well.

[junkyarddog]

I would have had those plastic boats,hard to find them,its usually just the trailers.

Those match box caravans too,and the Vw camper with the pop top still intact.....and the Citroen ambulance and the ........well you get the idea

[sierraman]

Just get the lot bought.

[egg]

Been offered this for £20, what do you think?