Shite in Miniature II

[BL Bloke]

I had a trip to West Bromwich as I know there are a few shops there that stock Hot Wheels.

First port of call was Home Bargains where my eye was caught by a purple VW Type 3 sedan delivery. A red Series III Landy was bought too.

DSCF1180 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF1181 by timothy jones, on Flickr

Next stop was The Entertainer where I picked up a trio of Mazdas for the price of two.

DSCF1175 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF1177 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF1176 by timothy jones, on Flickr

Tesco had hardly any single models but I did get a Fast & Furious five pack.

DSCF1182 by timothy jones, on Flickr

Finally on the way back to the car I popped into B&M and came out with another pair of Japanese cars.

DSCF1179 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF1178 by timothy jones, on Flickr

 

 

[155V6]

This morning's car boot finds

Corgi Rockets Aston & HW Red lines AMX are both quite bad,but only cost pence.Fiat 128 is Polistil,Jag XJS is Hot Wheels.Mercedes Ambulance is Norev,Nissan tipper is an old Tomica.Tomte Peugeot 403 was something we had loads of when we were kids,it'll probably end up in the bathroom with a yellow Beetle I found a few years back.

[FakeConcern]

1 hour ago, 155V6 said:

This morning's car boot finds

Corgi Rockets Aston & HW Red lines AMX are both quite bad,but only cost pence.Fiat 128 is Polistil,Jag XJS is Hot Wheels.Mercedes Ambulance is Norev,Nissan tipper is an old Tomica.Tomte Peugeot 403 was something we had loads of when we were kids,it'll probably end up in the bathroom with a yellow Beetle I found a few years back.

What, a car boot fair on now!!! I have to wait until Easter for any around here now the Lewes antique car park market is no more...

On 2/21/2020 at 12:42 PM, Datsuncog said:

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing this reminds me of my first experience of the dishonesty of others. A black & silver Corgi Bentley just like that one was one of my favourite toys when I was young and it always lived in my pocket so when I started school it went with me. One day it didn't get put into the pocket of my shorts, rather it stayed in my rain coat hanging in the cloak room and when I collected my coat at home time, it was gone. When I told the teacher, I was told off for bringing it to school! A harshe life lesson at a young age haha!

What strikes me now is how strange to have just the boot opening and also did it have a spare wheel in there?

[bunglebus]

I was going to go to a car boot this morning but it was blowing a gale, didn't think there'd be much to write home about.

Wouldn't say no to that Hot Wheels XJS up there ^^

[DoctorRetro]

I've decided to try my panel making skills on a Majorette Citroen Visa I have, which had no boot. 

Be nice, it's my first attempt at a boot. 

Currently drying as I've removed the old paint and popped on a coat of matt navy to see how it looks. 

I'll rub it back and do a decent coat of paint on it at some point. 

 

 

 

[DoctorRetro]

Polo is coming along nicely, I will try to resist putting it back together before the paint has gone hard... 

 

Peugeot 604 is dry and on my shelf. Will see what littlun thinks of it this weekend... 

[bramz7]

Some recent buys. The Corvette was one I had as a kid, so seemed apt to buy it, think the play worn one is up in Scotland in a box with my other childhood toys. 

The Hot Wheels were a touch more pricey! 

[flat4alfa]

On 2/22/2020 at 3:44 PM, Spottedlaurel said:

Those projects are coming on nicely.

About the Chrysler/Simca, maybe add one of those camper bodies occasionally fitted onto hatchbacks?

Yes was mentioned on Page 442 but linked photo has gone walkies

This was the photo @Jon posted

[155V6]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I was going to go to a car boot this morning but it was blowing a gale, didn't think there'd be much to write home about.

Wouldn't say no to that Hot Wheels XJS up there ^^

Yours for the cost of postage

[DoctorRetro]

I couldn't wait. Only gingerly put together - its mostly dry, but the boot is still drying and don't want to close the doors as they will stick... 

 

I'm going to do the grille silver and the rear lights red/orange to finish it off. 

[Split_Pin]

6 hours ago, 155V6 said:

This morning's car boot finds

Corgi Rockets Aston & HW Red lines AMX are both quite bad,but only cost pence.Fiat 128 is Polistil,Jag XJS is Hot Wheels.Mercedes Ambulance is Norev,Nissan tipper is an old Tomica.Tomte Peugeot 403 was something we had loads of when we were kids,it'll probably end up in the bathroom with a yellow Beetle I found a few years back.

Polistil 128 is a very good find, rare to see them in this scale even at Swapmeets. Over the years all I found were a MK3 Cortina style Taunus and a Renault 16.

[AndyW201]

Great resto work there Doc! 

Today I finally sold the James Bond partwork collection that has been cluttering up the loft for the last 10 years or so (in doing so I today discovered a veritable Aladdin's cave of diecast only 15 minutes drive from me, but that's another story.)

While getting it all down from the loft, I came across two more candidates for the occasional series "Bloody hell, I forgot that was up here", sub-section "Blooming Nora, was there ever a time when I could afford 1/18 scale stuff like this?"

First up,

The UT Models Escort Cosworth. This model holds particular memories for me . In 1997 myself and the future Mrs_201 had just got together and had gone to Keswick in the Lake district for a week. On a day trip to Bowness in Windermere, we found the big model shop there, and I saw this Cosseh there, I had been wanting this model for a while, so I grabbed it as it was up for reasonable money at the time.

For a model that's getting on for 25 years old, it's aged pretty well. The bumper/splitter is done well, nice little details like the headlight washers, the Ford badge is nice and clear,

Underbonnet detail shows its age maybe, but stuff like the cam cover, the various reservoirs and strut tops look okay.

Please excuse the slight dog-dick pink tinge in the photos, it is actually quite a vibrant red in the metal.

Best angle for an Escort Cosseh? The wings look good, nice details like the Cosworth and Ford badging, tail lights, bootlock and exhaust tailpipe.

Love the dash detail, the white clocks and auxiliary gauges, the heater controls and trip computer are like the real thing. Even the rear seats have belts and buckles added. The only mod I made to it was a dab of Tipp ex on the top of the gear knob to replicate the insert on the real thing.

Definitely a keeper this one, even though 1/18 isn't really my thing any more. Memories of a great week away (yes, you can add as many fnarr fnarrs as you like there...)

Also,

Yes, the boxes on both these models have suffered from years of storage, plastic window boxes were never a favourite of mine anyway.

I got hold of this around about the early 2000s at the once-legendary and much-missed Modelzone at the Metro Centre, Gateshead for something like £19.99 which even back then seemed stupidly cheap for one of these. It took my fancy as I always liked Mantas anyway and this one seemed a bit pimped up (I was in my Max Power phase back then) with its big diameter ATS Cup wheels, Manta 400 style mirrors, Morette style quad lights, bee sting aerial and big bore exhaust.

Under bonnet is much better represented on this one,

Revell really captured the lines of the real thing well, not a line out of place,

Again, interior is really well done, the clocks look great in the factory white on black with orange needles, the good old cranked-over gear lever is there and the shape of the dash brings back memories of the real thing. The Recaros are spot on too.

[bunglebus]

On 2/17/2020 at 4:05 PM, warch said:

Popped into my local B&M and fished this out of the basket O' Hotwheels (along with the lovely Gulf GT40). Apart from the brown wheels this is awesome, never seen a Subaru pickup in miniature form before.... 

 

Just realised I also have

 

20180403_175139 by RS, on Flickr

[DoctorRetro]

More shots of the Polo... 

Not sure whether to try to do the bumpers black?

Way better than how it used to look 

 

[warch]

I have to say, I'd love to have a go at doing a repaint. Especially as this is giving knackered old toys a new lease of life, but also because they look so much like the real life prototype, impressive work from designers 30 or 40 years ago. 

[Jon]

Mooching 'round the shops yesterday on a rare day off with Mrs_Jon, we visited the chain shop that always has loads of Hotwheels, so I took a quick glance. Ignoring yet another Volvo 850 estate (it only seemed fair, though I'll admit I havent checked out the price they go for on Ebay yet..), I did however take a look at these, as I thought their existence was notable, at least:

 

I have a feeling that someone on here wanted one of these, though I think it was the standard model in white, rather than this premium one. I've also a feeling that much like the Mk1 Escort seen recently, this is a new casting, which is slightly bigger and possibly better detailed, although the front end was tampo printed, from memory. Sincerest apologies for poor lighting reflections but the photo was taken with haste at the shop, lest anyone spot a fully grown man taking photos down a busy kids' toys aisle.

 

Likewise was this offering from Matchbox  - I'd wandered to look for Mercedes W123 wagons but have yet to find any and the numbers of packs are far fewer than Hotwheels, so I'm guessing NZ isn't a big market for them. I was drawn to this special edition purely for its seemingly accurate re-use of a previous casting and also the decision to use the same wheels from the 1970's. Can't say that fantasy racing cars were even my bag but interesting wheels, if nowt else. There was also a much more highly detailed version of what looked a bit like an original Superfast Porsche 911 casting and also something modern and lime green - possibly a Camaro. 

Should anyone be desperate to add these to their collections (and be willing to wait until May, when I can post from the UK), the BMW was £4 and the Matchbox £4.50! Not cheap but again, I don't know what the going price is for these in the UK. I also noticed the same shop has now begun selling Tomicas for £4.50 a pop, too.....

[AndyW201]

That Hot Wheels Doorslammer 2002 is cheap at 4 quid, they're going for double that on the FB diecast sites over here. There's a Datsun 510, a Porsche 911 and an Alfa GTV in the series as well. I quite fancy the Datsun.

[flat4alfa]

Yes it was me wanting the white 2002

First dabs please on your premium 2002 that will be travelling the globe

[Jon]

OK, I'll be passing by the same shop tomorrow, so can see if it's still then and then get it bought. I did hide it at the very back of the tallest rack for that very reason, so fingers crossed!

[RoadworkUK]

11 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

The UT Models Escort Cosworth. This model holds particular memories for me . In 1997 myself and the future Mrs_201 had just got together and had gone to Keswick in the Lake district for a week. On a day trip to Bowness in Windermere, we found the big model shop there, and I saw this Cosseh there, I had been wanting this model for a while, so I grabbed it as it was up for reasonable money at the time.

I bought one of my 1:18 AUTOart models in that shop.... actually not sure which one but I have a feeling it was my P38 Range Rover. Wouldn't (couldn't) have bought it were it not for the shop's rather philanthropic pricing policy.

I have the UT Cosworth but have absolutely no idea where I got it. I know how old I was, though – the fact that I made little colour-coded quad headlight masks for it gives the game away. Oh, as does the Max Power rear screen sticker and CHR 1 S private plates.

I have the Manta in white. Lovely model, as you say; I think I got it from Toymaster in Chelmsford at the time of the big (and tragic) Beatties wind-down / crossover when there were diecast bargains galore. You've probably seen, but the asking prices for these are galloping.

[bunglebus]

10 hours ago, Jon said:

 

Both very hard to find in the UK!

[Jon]

Hmm, is it worth me opening some sort of sought after Matchbox and Hotwheels service?!

I had a couple of bits of old guff arrive today and have a little backlog to photograph too, so I'll try and make an update in the next few days.

Sent from my SM-G398FN using Tapatalk

[Datsuncog]

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2020 at 5:37 PM, NorfolkNWeigh said:

The woman buying that Minor for , of all things, a child. Reminds me of a visit to a car boot sale a couple of years ago.

i spotted the Dinky Police Range Rover, Corgi XJ- C Coastguard and SuperKings SM , from 4 stalls away - all 3 immaculate, just as I got to the stall a woman handed over £2.00 for all 3 ! Then proceeded to give one each to 3 little kids!!!!! I was horrified, even more so when they immediately started playing with them on the dusty field, un- fucking-be-frigging-lievable.

MrsN had to drag me away, for fear I'd mug the toddlers. Even a pub lunch and pint couldn't cheer me up.

Crikey, that would have spoiled my year!

Fair play for not mugging the toddlers, and I feel your pain...

I've managed to recover over the weekend, and in fairness the Minor Taxi was a recent enough model and only worth a pic for a giggle due to its sheer incongruity; a quick net search indicates that it's a mid-2000s model by Widea, a Hong Kong manufacturer - the sort of pull-back 1/32 tat you see being sold loose from a tray at touristy gift shops, so no massive loss really.

The Polistil Polo and Buddy L Mack would have been sorrier losses to a kiddywink's toybox...

Incidentally, I'm still not sure whether the silver car was originally a VW Polo or an Audi 50, as apparently Polistil sold the same casting as both marques.

That'll be why there's no badges on the bootlid, or clue on the base. Though it was probably a Polo, and great to hear that a spare Golf front end is available to make this one look more finished.

 

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2020 at 5:43 PM, Split_Pin said:

In one of the many car boot stalls I rented during the Great Purge of 2013 I sold a mint 1/18 Bburago Renault Alpine to a scummy woman and her daughter who looked about 8 because I was a bit desperate for money at the time . Clearly No interest in cars and even the princely price tag of £4 was not enough to put her off. Seeing it being carried off to it's certain imminent doom made me vow never to let that happen to any of my remaining collection again.

Yep... there's a certain feeling akin to being booted in the stomach when you just know something you've treasured is about to stop being treasured quite soon... I had a spookily similar experience at a car boot sale in 2011 when selling off a lot of my Bburago stuff - this one was a 1/24 Porsche Carrera RS, just like the one below.

The stall was quite busy, when a woman held up the blue Porsche and asked how much.

When I told her £3, I noticed there was a brief flicker, then she gave me some coins - and I watched in horror as she handed the Porsche to a two-year-old in a buggy behind, which I'd failed to notice...

I know, there's nothing you can do when you offer wares to the general public; the annoying thing was that I had some other bashed-up large scale stuff on the stall which would have been no great loss, but I'd owned the Porsche since I was about 9 and it was still mint.

I doubt the plastic spoiler lasted until the end of the day...

And then a similar encounter a year or two back, as well:

On ‎7‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 10:43 AM, Datsuncog said:

The diecast didn't really sell at all, with the exception of most of the single Cararama models which were going at £1- £2. Most of which were bought, one at a time, by a slightly creepy pair of twins(?) with very yellow shoulder-length hair - who reminded me rather strongly of the kids on the cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Houses Of The Holy' - and who kept coming back every half an hour or so to buy another one. (While packing up later, I noticed all the boxes and blister packs torn open and dumped beside a bin. Hey ho.)

Grrr. This is why I'd rather sell to shiters!

 

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2020 at 7:14 PM, Spottedlaurel said:

Is the 604 particularly susceptible to bonnet issues? I bought two in France last year, one was missing the bonnet, the other one had it but the scuttle panel was bent upwards where the bonnet is hinged.

I think they might be - I picked up a lovely black example at a swapmeet in 1991, near-mint, and I managed to break the bonnet by the end of the day, having tried to open it maybe twice.

It seemed very stiff, and would only open a few millimetres - then the mounts just snapped off at the point it joined to the bonnet. Hmmmpf.

Seems to be a poor bit of French engineering (I know - unheard of).

 

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2020 at 9:12 PM, TheDoctor said:

Remember I got these two scuzzy Polos in my tat box?

Looking great, dude - you've been busy!

The replacement panels on the Pug 604 and Citroen Visa look excellent too - considering these were all basically scrap models, you've done a helluva job there to give them a new lease of life. Kudos!

 

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2020 at 1:24 PM, RoadworkUK said:

The “Double Decker Bus” in question is actually a Setra S431 DT coach, and a bewilderingly faithful representation it is, too. The pics in the eBay listing showed that it had potential to step beyond “Toy”  status in terms of detail, and for a model that I seriously doubt has any kind of official sanctioning from the good burghers of Setra, it’s uncannily well observed.

That's absolutely fantastic - what a weird big thing, and those lights are amazing. Well bought!

Possibly the Setra licencing issue was avoided by branding it SETRR, in best Chinese IP-baiting style?

If I saw one of these, I'd probably buy it too... 

 

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2020 at 2:35 PM, Spottedlaurel said:

After my big cabinet reshuffle, this is the current state of play:

Yow, what a collection!

Cheers for showing all that off - an enviable mountain of primo tiny tat, there. Great to see it all laid out in one place, and that display cabinet was a great find for a tenner.

I'm having to think about adding more shelves to one of my displays - those 1/35 Corgis do take up a fair amount of space...

 

On ‎2‎/‎23‎/‎2020 at 2:59 PM, FakeConcern said:

What, a car boot fair on now!!! I have to wait until Easter for any around here now the Lewes antique car park market is no more...

Seeing this reminds me of my first experience of the dishonesty of others. A black & silver Corgi Bentley just like that one was one of my favourite toys when I was young and it always lived in my pocket so when I started school it went with me. One day it didn't get put into the pocket of my shorts, rather it stayed in my rain coat hanging in the cloak room and when I collected my coat at home time, it was gone. When I told the teacher, I was told off for bringing it to school! A harsh life lesson at a young age haha!

What strikes me now is how strange to have just the boot opening and also did it have a spare wheel in there?

Aw, that's a sickener - always gut-wrenching to lose something so special.

Yes, only the boot opening is a bit of an odd one - don't know what the rationale was there, as you'd think they could have added an opening bonnet too and charged more for it, giving the elegant big Bentley features it was worthy of. And yes - there is a separate spare wheel on the boot floor, though not quite the same as the road wheels.

I'll have a closer look at that later!

 

17 hours ago, Jon said:

Mooching 'round the shops yesterday on a rare day off with Mrs_Jon…

I had a couple of bits of old guff arrive today and have a little backlog to photograph too, so I'll try and make an update in the next few days.

Good to see you back, Jon! Looking forward to the new arrivals, too.

[quicksilver]

A package arrived this morning from Datsuncog Diecast Dispersals, the star of which is this Lone Star eight-wheel Foden that I've introduced to some new friends. It's in far better condition than it has any right to be for £2; the body has gone AWOL and it's a bit scuffed but I've seen worse ones go for far more. The black wheels mean it's an early one (1967-71) but the other two are six-wheelers so they're later than I thought (1975/76 apparently).

 

[MarvinsMom]

we went over to a toy fair at York Races yesterday.

and god, was it quiet..... not too many stall holders and not many punters either. i used to go years ago, and the place would have been bursting at the seams. 

not many trains, but plenty of diecast were on offer, and i've managed to bag a couple of things that have been on the wants list for some time.

first off, a Matchbox Pickfords and Scammell low loader, with bonus Matchbox MoYY Duke of Connaught load.

neither of which cost much, just a few quid each, unlike the robbers on Ebay which would have been wanting double, 3 times as much? Ebay though is ruining proper fairs though, which is daft considering that is where the proper bargains, or the least half sane priced toys are to be had.

obviously this wasn't without its issues, namely a missing drawbar, so, having used one paperclip and a pair of pliers, i've made my own up. its bigger, longer than the original, but more than adequate for what i want it to do. besides as this now resides in a case, after evicting the train that had previously sat there.

then there is this, again as common as anything, but you try and find one with half decent paint, a corgi morris mini minor, in blue. this has the early, oversized hubs too for added geek points. and while, yes its just another bloody mini, its another one that i can now cross off the list.

then i treated myself to this, a Husky S&D Bin Wagon, and boy, does it feel fragile when compared with a Matchbox one, nice though, and oddly enough a really appealing little toy.

i also have added this, a Matchbox Police motorbike and rider, replacing one i remember having as a child, though i think mine had just the plain blue rider. the bike itself is supposed to be a Honda CB750. and Kerry bought another Harley Davidson, this one been right close to the point at which Lesney went pop, and frankly you can see it in both the bike and rider, which are not as crisply moulded or as neatly deatiled as the earlier versions issued.

so all told, even though i'm just PLAYING at the collecting lark, i'm now running short on room, so either more trains get put away, or i'll have to ook out for something else to put stuff in....

 

[bunglebus]

First of all - can you all jog my memory please? Two people asked about cars; a new Matchbox police car and the Hot Wheels 8 Crate. Can't remember who but I have them here.

I was also offered a Matchbox kennel truck as a grille donor, which I need as the donor I bought is too nice to destroy, and is an early Superfast as opposed to the late one I want to fix. 

 

Today's postage haul;

Yet another Hot Wheels Escort

 

20200224_120615 by RS, on Flickr

20200224_120632 by RS, on Flickr

 

Polistil Ferrari Mondial

 

20200224_120802 by RS, on Flickr

20200224_120757 by RS, on Flickr

 

Lovely Lone Star Corsair, opening everything

 

20200224_120839 by RS, on Flickr

20200224_120952 by RS, on Flickr

 

This one was a bit of surprise - thought it was 1:64 but it's pretty big, more so than Superkings etc. Majorette. It's also a jade/aqua colour but impossible to capture

 

20200224_121019 by RS, on Flickr

20200224_121035 by RS, on Flickr

 

Second layer of filler going in the roof of the tiny VW Squareback

 

20200224_122502 by RS, on Flickr

 

 

 

[Richard_FM]

I managed to find a job lot of hot wheels Mercedes a classes off eBay for about the price of 2, now I have a few spare presents for my younger male relatives.

[sierraman]

Bought these two Skybusters today. The green Corvair is a very early one with the thin axles, really hard to find now as they were comedy fragile. Needless to say I’m probably the minority that’s interested in them as like the Yesteryears there’s seemingly no market for them 

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

First of all - can you all jog my memory please? Two people asked about cars; a new Matchbox police car and the Hot Wheels 8 Crate. Can't remember who but I have them here.

I was also offered a Matchbox kennel truck as a grille donor, which I need as the donor I bought is too nice to destroy, and is an early Superfast as opposed to the late one I want to fix. 

and

 

[RoadworkUK]

7 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Possibly the Setra licencing issue was avoided by branding it SETRR, in best Chinese IP-baiting style?

Slightly frighteningly.... I hadn't even noticed that! What's wrong with me?!?!