Shite in Miniature II

[Datsuncog]

41 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

...fairly involved dioramas involving dozens of vehicles and accessories, including a large extendable crane which could usually be relied on to 'have an accident', thus necessitating the arrival of all my emergency services vehicles on the scene...

Found out which crane it was - the CS 64 Grove AT 1100.

Seems this was a short-lived model available for 1993 only, and I can remember buying mine from Poundstretcher in Springhill Shopping Centre. I think it cost me a fiver, which was over a month's pocket money.

Weirdly, this went missing at some point and I still don't know where it went. Pity, as it was a brilliant model and worked really well with my other constuction vehicles.

You can see just how big it was compared to the standard range.

Although the jib extended, I don't think the side stabiliser legs pulled out, so it wasn't all that difficult for it to tip over when in use.

I'm kinda craving that construction set now...

[Datsuncog]

37 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Sadly my garden is rather austere as I tend to not be able to keep plants and flowers alive!

No, I have a magical talent for killing greenery too - to the extent that I'm pretty much barred from doing any hands-on gardening.

I really don't know what it is either - as an example, I was once given a chilli plant and by the time I got it home, all the leaves had fallen off it in the space of half an hour.

Luckily, that means the flower beds are pretty barren in places and so ideal for mucking about with wee toys...

 

12 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

You know all those Chinese Bedford/Chevrolet vans with the portholes?

I think I worked out where they're copied from

Crikey, didn't know those Hong Kong Ford Econolines appeared in the last-gasp Dinky range... but it does indeed look like exactly the same casting, still being peddled well into the 1990s.

Good sleuthing!

 

[bunglebus]

I got sniped on one on eBay

[bunglebus]

22 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Found out which crane it was - the CS 64 Grove AT 1100.

I had the Hercules. Extending/rotating boom, extending legs etc - loved it

 

[Datsuncog]

Of course, if you want to construct something, you have to clear the site first... and wouldn't you know it, there's always some scallywag fly-tipping their old rubbish.

Bloody typical.

Best get those old scrappers dragged out the way...

Should get a couple of quid from T-Met for the hulks, any road.

Job's a good 'un.

[bunglebus]

Scrap? A Corgi Corvair? Nooooo!

[Jon]

Here's my Hot Wheels 500 I picked up last year (and which is the same as bunglebus's version), if anyone's interested. 

 

 

Sadly, these aren't as cheap as regular hotwheels, so a slightly inflated £4 would see me recouping my money on it, I think. Postage to the UK may be another matter, though! In an ideal world, I'd prefer something older (i.e. made last century) and more 1/43 sized in an exchange (I fully embrace careworn!), so cash doesn't have to part ways and I sort of hone my collecting.

Or as per usual, be willing to wait for my return trip to Britain to save on postage - which understandably is May 2021, not May 2020 as planned.....

[Jon]

In other news, I apologise for my lack of updates on my pre-lockdown purchases, which I know must have caused many a tenterhook scenario. Fear not! For here is some more mediocre die cast content!

 

See what I mean?! Here's a modern casting of a not-super-vintage Porsche 911. What I will say though is that again, your honour, its condition is great and it was 50p. And up until now, I've been a very upstanding member of my community.

 

Actually, er, there was this black one, too. But look, it's got gaudy blue wheels, to go with the blur decals and interior. Surely the latter point must offer some leniency?

 

If I can point the jury to the fact that I have sought a Chinese backdrop of the correct period for these Porches, to go with my new-money Asian Lothario scenario I imagined for these after getting a book on Chinese architecture, I'm sure that should curry some favour.

 

I also refer to the above item, supporting the good nature of my services to: 'terrible castings, by once successful toy companies with former modicums of standards', again with considerate use of scenery depicting the era and status befitting the subject. 

 

VERDICT: Charged with wasting of time on an obscure car forum. SENTENCE: £1.50 fine (cost of 3 unwanted 911s).

[bunglebus]

35 minutes ago, Jon said:

Sadly, these aren't as cheap as regular hotwheels, so a slightly inflated £4 would see me recouping my money on it, I think.

That ^ is an absolute bargain, check eBay!

[Jon]

Is it a bargain price, or something?

[bunglebus]

Sorry my phone had a total spaz-out

[Jon]

Sorry, I jest. I did a quick check of Ebay to check that my £4 investment* hadn't nosedived in value and seemingly it hasn't. But I'm a kind sort and will happily pass on for that. Charitable 'shiters may take the opportunity to up the ante on swaps - Spot On gladly accepted!

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

This is, according to the Mack encyclopaedia, a less common variant of the K-2 heavy wreck truck - it has regular wheels and the old-style baseplate stating Matchbox King Size, but instead of being white, the shell's painted metallic gold like the later Superkings version with nylon speed wheels. Guess it's a transitional model c.1971.

I had that gold one as a child.  I don't remember it being scarce, but as I was brought up at Watford, which at the time the town was proud of its Scammell factory; it's quite possible that sales turned over well there.  A good few of the Dads worked there and my current wife's (I did say current, I do have a diecast problem) father was apprenticed there.

I wish I knew where it was now.  I probably wrecked it, but am sure the last time I saw it the screen 'glass' was intact.  It was yellow 'glass' IIRC

I have the dumper truck body Scammell still though, somewhere

[Lord Sterling]

@Spottedlaurel - I'm interested in the Red Peugeot Expert van ('maintance mechanique' written on the side) the Proton mug (unless a Proton fan wants to snaffle it). Whats the Mercedes thing inside the mug?

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, Jon said:

Here's my Hot Wheels 500 I picked up last year (and which is the same as bunglebus's version), if anyone's interested. 

 

Sadly, these aren't as cheap as regular hotwheels, so a slightly inflated £4 would see me recouping my money on it, I think. Postage to the UK may be another matter, though! In an ideal world, I'd prefer something older (i.e. made last century) and more 1/43 sized in an exchange (I fully embrace careworn!), so cash doesn't have to part ways and I sort of hone my collecting.

Yes please

There was something else you put aside for me I think?

[Datsuncog]

56 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Scrap? A Corgi Corvair? Nooooo!

Easy fifty quid M9.

Who's coming down the Pit Stop for a fry-up?

[andy18s]

Just been offered these 2 twin packs

Tempted

 

[flat4alfa]

Found the Scammell !!

It seems to have been commandeered away from its usual workload and was spotted in a more current day emergency role

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Of course, if you want to construct something, you have to clear the site first... and wouldn't you know it, there's always some scallywag fly-tipping their old rubbish.

Bloody typical.

Best get those old scrappers dragged out the way...

Should get a couple of quid from T-Met for the hulks, any road.

Job's a good 'un.

Brilliant, the Leyland looks great as a scrap hauler too.

[Datsuncog]

35 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

I had that gold one as a child.  I don't remember it being scarce, but as I was brought up at Watford, which at the time the town was proud of its Scammell factory; it's quite possible that sales turned over well there.  A good few of the Dads worked there and my current wife's (I did say current, I do have a diecast problem) father was apprenticed there.

I wish I knew where it was now.  I probably wrecked it, but am sure the last time I saw it the screen 'glass' was intact.  It was yellow 'glass' IIRC

Yep, your memory seems fine!

As far as I can tell, the K-2 started off in white with an unpainted baseplate plus regular wheels for the King Size lineup in 1969-1970...

Then went gold with Superfast-style mag wheels and a red-painted baseplate for 1971, along with the new Superkings branding.

Seems that mine was one of a number of transitional models, which must have appeared in late 1970/early 1971 with all the King Size-era features but painted in gold, rather than white.

If your gold example came with the (much better looking, IMHO) regular wheels, then it must have been a transitional too.

There is amber glazing in mine as well, though it's in two pieces on the floor of the cab. Might try to see if I can get it in place later on...

As ever with Matchbox, 'rarity' is relative - it's quite likely that many thousands were produced and sold like this, to use up older axles and baseplates. The Charlie Mack book suggests only a moderate price premium for this version over the white King Size and gold Superkings variants.

I would quite like a minty one of these!

Nice to have that local connection to Scammell, too. Some fine engineering in their trucks.

[eddyramrod]

I've been outside photographing some more models.  There's no real point here, I'm just showing off.  Nothing is for sale.

So we've moved into my Corgi 1/36 selection, some of which you've seen before.  The Bonna ambulance is top left of course, and the two Kojak Buicks across the middle.  I'm seriously thinking of drilling them both apart so I can put the intact window set from the rough one, into the good one which is short a windscreen.  The rough one would then be available.  (So much for not selling any, lol)  Also in shot: obviously the Striped Tomato, as Hutch unkindly called it, but with the stripe handpainted on rather than the original paper sticker.  And two Range Rovers: I'd never seen the Garda version before I bought this one, so obviously, with my Dublin heritage, I had to have it.

Bond, James Bond, in both Moore and Dalton styles; and a bonus Lotus that came from a fellow Shiter a while ago.

The personal fleet.  The two Sierras strictly belonged to my parents, but I drove both anyway.  Both were 2.0GL, amazingly; one pre and one post facelift. .  The Capri was my Cabaret II which I ended up trading-in for my first Volvo; the Escort van came from the same bombsite dealer a couple of years earlier.  I thought it would be immensely practical, but just basically didn't like it, so I didn't keep it long.  In front is half a Corgi Maestro, in Moonraker Blue as was my full-size MG.  Obviously I haven't reassembled it yet.

It doesn't show up terribly well in this shot, but that van is a Royal Mail version.  I have a few RM vans, somehow.  Rancho was another bargain from here; Rolls-Royce could have come from anywhere, I can't remember.  I think I might have another somewhere too.

Senator came from my late friend Dave, painted by him to match his car.  The two Hondas just appeared, and I kept them because an ex-girlfriend had one years ago.  And that's the big stuff really.

Something smaller now; what follows is my fleet of playworn originals that I have no intention of restoring.  We'll start with the smallest scale, these two Matchbox.  I love the little 300E van, picked up to replace an older one (that I've had all my life) which is now dark green, representing one we had when I was 11 or so.  And I've always had a bit of a soft spot for a Trader....

Remember I called the Bedford CA cute?  I do like this old casting.  Note it was modified to give an early and late version.  I also have a bit of an AA fleet (and RAC, come to that) so it fits there.  The A60 school cars replace one I had from new, which is now grey to represent 213 FUY, our family car in 1975-6.  I also have at least one other I've painted.

The name's Bond, Ja- oh, we did that already.  This of course is the Connery version, but he himself has gone missing.  Strangely the henchman hasn't!  This is not my original toy, that's been severely abused and is now black, with a mockup Webasto roof.  Jag and Silver Wraith joined the collection more recently, but not recently enough for me to remember!

The name's... well, Bond!  Bond Bug in fact, a late addition.  I thought it appropriate to show this with my Corgi Heinkel and Spot-On Isetta.

These two Triumphs represent my originals.  Herald Coupe just died; white 2000 (which only came in a set with a glider and trailer, also now long gone) went off in one of my sale joblots.  I picked up the Holden and De Tomaso simply because I never had them as a kid.  The Holden came from one of Barrow's many charity shops.

My original TK transporter is long gone, as is my original Corvette; the others are late additions.  The Chrysler is missing most of its glass, which is quite important on a convertible!

1959 Chevrolet Impalas; 1961 Oldsmobile 88s.  I wasn't aware of the Uncle car in white for many years, I only knew the blue one.  It rides higher than the standard model behind, because of the mechanisms built in.  The Impalas are also early/late: the "Police" car is the later model with the casting split at the chrome waist moulding.  The earlier one, like the Oldsmobiles and most others, is a simple body-on-chassis.

Lincolns, by Dinky (white roof) and Corgi (stretched).  My original stretch is now black, after many coats of Humbrol over the years, but at least it still exists.

None of these have been with me from new; probably the longest-standing is the green Plymouth convertible, which I've had 30 years or so.  The green Corvette is the Golden Jacks version and has all its wheels, and even the clip-off roof panels.  Nash Rambler station wagon is by Dinky, and may possibly get restored at some point.  Not so sure about the Matchbox Cougar; I might just leave that.

Remember I got the Holden in a Barrow charity shop?  These two were in the same job lot, so I just had to grab them.

I'm not that big a fan of a lorry-mounted crane, but I do like the Scammell cab.  Little bin wagon is an ERF, which as we all know, stands for Eddy Ramrod's Favourite.

Matchbox race transporter has no load, but I just think it's a nice model.  Ford D-Series sweeper was a gift from my sister last year and will replace a shabbier one, which I will now probably paint.  Eventually!  I suspect the S.H.A.D.O. stickers are from her husband; like me, he grew up with all the Gerry Anderson shows on telly and this is clearly his nod to UFO.

 

Well that's what I've been doing this morning: photographing these for you.  They are very much just for show.  With the very few exceptions noted, I have no intention of selling these, and little intention to restore either.  I think most are just too good, despite paint loss and the odd missing tyre.  I hope you've enjoyed them.

[flat4alfa]

5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Seems I have the Plein

Aha!  Are you keeping it?

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I think I'll have a go myself! Sadly my garden is rather austere as I tend to not be able to keep plants and flowers alive!

⚠️

Perfect opportunity* there to use all your construction set models to tarmac all over it.  Just cover the lot!  

The YouTube film of the event will be fantastic ?

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I had the Hercules. Extending/rotating boom, extending legs etc - loved it

I still have one of those K-9 Superkings in LAING livery

Mentioned it here, doing a bit of lifting:

Truthfully, I bought it last year new in box eBay snipage

[sierraman]

I had the gold Scammell, used to pretend it was the truck from Duel, also used the red Valiant they did as well. 

[flat4alfa]

3 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I had the gold Scammell, used to pretend it was the truck from Duel, also used the red Valiant they did as well. 

Lesney did a Plymouth Valiant??

*Goes off to Matchbox Fandom website*

[Datsuncog]

10 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Well that's what I've been doing this morning: photographing these for you.  They are very much just for show.  With the very few exceptions noted, I have no intention of selling these, and little intention to restore either.  I think most are just too good, despite paint loss and the odd missing tyre.  I hope you've enjoyed them.

Certainly enjoyed that Eddy - thanks for taking the time!

I think I'm moving on to a point in my collection where things no longer have to be absolutely perfect, or part of a complete set - they just have to have some sort of significance to me. And that's enough.

Even pushing things round the flowerbeds can be rather more fun than it ought for someone of my advancing years...

47 minutes ago, andy18s said:

Just been offered these 2 twin packs

Tempted

 

Crikey, those are rather nice. I remember those two packs in Woolworths and the like.

Is the seller looking big money?

 

1 hour ago, Jon said:

In other news, I apologise for my lack of updates on my pre-lockdown purchases, which I know must have caused many a tenterhook scenario. Fear not! For here is some more mediocre die cast content!

 

See what I mean?! Here's a modern casting of a not-super-vintage Porsche 911. What I will say though is that again, your honour, its condition is great and it was 50p. And up until now, I've been a very upstanding member of my community.

 

Actually, er, there was this black one, too. But look, it's got gaudy blue wheels, to go with the blur decals and interior. Surely the latter point must offer some leniency?

 

If I can point the jury to the fact that I have sought a Chinese backdrop of the correct period for these Porches, to go with my new-money Asian Lothario scenario I imagined for these after getting a book on Chinese architecture, I'm sure that should curry some favour.

 

I also refer to the above item, supporting the good nature of my services to: 'terrible castings, by once successful toy companies with former modicums of standards', again with considerate use of scenery depicting the era and status befitting the subject. 

 

VERDICT: Charged with wasting of time on an obscure car forum. SENTENCE: £1.50 fine (cost of 3 unwanted 911s).

Always a pleasure to see your latest additions, never a waste of time!

[flat4alfa]

33 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Lesney did a Plymouth Valiant??

*Goes off to Matchbox Fandom website*

Did not find in any of the 60s catalogues

Did find these though !

No Dodge Darts or Plymouth Valiants.  Looked at Husky range too.  But there is something there, in the back of my mind....   but can't find it

[andy18s]

Sellers looking for a tenner for the Manta/Corvette pack,12 for the Bmw 635/M3 pack

I've no idea if thats expensive or not as I'm unable to find anything similar for sale

[Datsuncog]

^^ That's probably fair pricing on both sets - not necessarily bargainous, but fair - since twin packs like that don't seem very common. The BMW set is the older of the two, going by the logos.

Even if they cropped up on the tat stall, £10 a pop or thereabouts wouldn't seem too outrageous. Mantas seem to command a bit of a premium these days, too; and other than the biffed one at the market, I haven't seen any for a while.

Mind you, if you did choose to go for them, there's then the dilemma to open or not open the packaging...