Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

<<<<<  Anyone got a Corgi Aston DBS bonnet?  Could* just do a clear plasticard effort to show off Tadek Marek's best efforts, otherwise

Either way, I need to do it in this colour.  I would not be Persuaded otherwise, sorry 

[flat4alfa]

Obtaining the Matchbox Golf means I can also get in on the action of Who Did It Worse on the Mk1 Golfs.  Bit late though, I know.

But!  the LEON THE LEGIONNAIRE insisted we compare.

In the Red corner - Majorette; In the Green corner - Matchbox.

Discuter. Il a dit.

Majorette Golf was purchased in France holiday in 1981.  It's in better condition than me...

[flat4alfa]

Also in last month was a MB Scammell Michelotti Cab.  Not only that, it drove in without a care, delivering a HW Datsun 510 Wagon saved from Dremel-Doom in the hands of @TheDoctor  (Many thanks there)

Pleased about this, as:

1) it's a Scammell;

2) the Datsun is in my fave colour scheme the did it in (so far)

[flat4alfa]

On 4/21/2020 at 8:25 AM, Remspoor said:

I am not "into" the HotWheels rod rods but I had to watch  a series called Life Size presented by Nicole Lyons.

I don't know if there are more but I have watched 4 so far all around 10 mins long. The subject is life sized HotWheel cars.

Thanks again for the link.  Great to see the episodes.  So much work gone into those!   

So.... the inevitable happened.  For completeness (or to supress the twitching), I had a wine glass or two one evening and perused with the bidding finger of impulsiveness

Results: I'd won not only a HW Bone Shaker but also a Twin Mill off the same seller...    

Its all your fault !!  ?

[bunglebus]

6 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Obtaining the Matchbox Golf means I can also get in on the action of Who Did It Worse on the Mk1 Golfs.  Bit late though, I know.

But!  the LEON THE LEGIONNAIRE insisted we compare.

In the Red corner - Majorette; In the Green corner - Matchbox.

Discuter. Il a dit.

Majorette Golf was purchased in France holiday in 1981.  It's in better condition than me...

I've tried to avoid comparisons with Volkswagens, as a have a few*

Quite tempted to have a loft exploration later now though

[bunglebus]

5 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Results: I'd won not only a HW Bone Shaker but also a Twin Mill off the same seller...    

Its all you fault !!  ?

The Bone Shaker is one of the most diverse Hot Wheels castings ever, there's a guy who collects just them, and has thousands, all different. It's a slippery slope.

https://lamleygroup.com/2017/02/06/the-incredible-hot-wheels-bone-shaker-collection-and-room-of-nate-yerton/amp/

I quite like the casting but don't like the skull. Mind you I have several Matchbox model A grille donors...

[Remspoor]

6 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Thanks again for the link.  Great to see the episodes.  So much work gone into those!   

So.... the inevitable happened.  For completeness (or to supress the twitching), I had a wine glass or two one evening and perused with the bidding finger of impulsiveness

Results: I'd won not only a HW Bone Shaker but also a Twin Mill off the same seller...    

Its all you fault !!  ?

Could have spent more and purchased a life sized copy of the life sized cars. See, how I saved you money!?

[flat4alfa]

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

The Bone Shaker is one of the most diverse Hot Wheels castings ever, there's a guy who collects just them, and has thousands, all different. It's a slippery slope.

That's a whole inheritance blown on there.....

When they hit the market all at once (crashing US economy), the bottom will fall out of the Bone Shaking market !  So sell sell sell ! 

Slippery obsessiveness slopes are a worry.  I mean, I'd rather just buy a lot of ten used ones and paint them how I liked.  Might still twitch though.

[Mr Lobster]

Big Twingo, meet small Twingo.

Now, question is, anyone know where I might get some 1:18 scale wheels similar to the ones on the big one.

[DoctorRetro]

Started putting the Escort in paint. It's hard to photograph as still wet, but I think I've managed to hide the join OK. 

 

 

Edit- got a better picture 

[bunglebus]

I've been working on a few customs but none are done. Here's a couple of quick sneak peaks though

 

20200304_181025 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_172652 by RS, on Flickr

IMG-20200505-WA0007 by RS, on Flickr

 

20200505_150236 by RS, on Flickr

 

[bunglebus]

18 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Obtaining the Matchbox Golf means I can also get in on the action of Who Did It Worse on the Mk1 Golfs. 

I dug out all of mine - I included the cabrio as I don't have a Siku hatch. Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Chinese no-name, Zylmex, Majorette, Siku, MC Toys

 

20200505_182808 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_182812 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_182857 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_182835 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_183001 by RS, on Flickr

 

Only two have a moving part. The Siku and Hot Wheels are about the best as I see it, too many doors on the Matchbox and Majorette

[bunglebus]

I also dug out all my Beetles that were approx 1:64 and weren't customised majorly, so no bajas or things with V8s in the front etc. I also excluded cabrios although I have a couple

Starting rear row, left to right; Matchbox X2, Zylmex, Corgi, Corgi, Siku, Majorette X2, Corgi, Hot Wheels, Lesney, Schuco, Marx, Tomica, Husky

 

20200505_183533 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_183637 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_183718 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_183851 by RS, on Flickr

 

Out of 15 cars, a miserly 4 have moving parts. I included two Matchboxes because there is a difference in the rear bumper where the towbar fits, and two Majorettes as one has an opening bonnet.

Hard to choose a favourite but the Husky police car is probably it. 

 

 

[Spottedlaurel]

I only have the Matchox '137' version, I like it. The blue Majorette one looks good, but I always prefer them on cloverleaf wheels over the 3-spokes, although somehow the back of the roof looks a bit droopy?

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

I also dug out all my Beetles that were approx 1:64 and weren't customised majorly, so no bajas or things with V8s in the front etc. I also excluded cabrios although I have a couple

Starting rear row, left to right; Matchbox X2, Zylmex, Corgi, Corgi, Siku, Majorette X2, Corgi, Hot Wheels, Lesney, Schuco, Marx, Tomica, Husky

 

20200505_183533 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_183637 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_183718 by RS, on Flickr

20200505_183851 by RS, on Flickr

 

Out of 15 cars, a miserly 4 have moving parts. I included two Matchboxes because there is a difference in the rear bumper where the towbar fits, and two Majorettes as one has an opening bonnet.

Hard to choose a favourite but the Husky police car is probably it. 

 

 

The front 3 in the last picture are my favourites. I think the Beetle is hard to balls up, even if the proportions aren't accurate its always a fun model to play with.

[flat4alfa]

It's the red Lesney 137 for me sorry.  Engrained onto my mind from a small age and   I  -  can't  -  let  -  it  -  go   

I like the Marx for its authenticity.  The entire floor is missing!   You see, it has rusted away like a real one 

 

[flat4alfa]

[Following-up on the April Post Lady action]

 

A mildly* modified [Hot Wheels] Fiat Topolino arrived at the campsite for Easter weekend - despite restrictions - and set up camp.

Fuel mileage was awful and they forgot the tea bags.  Serves them right for flouting the rules.

[flat4alfa]

A nice [Matchbox] 1964 Ford Fairlane Wagon 1959 Chevrolet Brookwood also showed for the weekend.  Why they brought the canoe I don't know - did they think the previous months' floods were still on?

[flat4alfa]

Oh well, at least the [Majorette] Ford Econolines do not stop deliveries of choccy, even in global pandemics

[Datsuncog]

On 5/4/2020 at 6:09 PM, Split_Pin said:

I have wanted this ever since seeing one in my 'Toy Cars' book that I got for Christmas 1990.

Well secured!

That R6 is one of the models I lusted after in the same book... I think it was quite an influence on a few of us here... coincidence?

I only knew of one R6 in real life; a scruffy late-70s model parked up near to school (this would have been c.1991). I was fascinated by the narrow track and high roofline; I only managed to snap a pic of it years later, in Bobby Shaw's scrapyard.

Happily, I have one of those early 2000s French magazine partwork models to scratch that R6 itch; but that Atlas repro is lovely.

So much delight to be found on that page...

 

On 5/4/2020 at 9:57 PM, bunglebus said:

Mentioned this a few pages back, probably where the endless Chinese Chevy/Bedford vans with portholes were cribbed from. What the story with these Hong Kong Dinky models? I'm looking at you, @Datsuncog

I'm not too clued-up on the Hong Kong/Dinky connection, but as far as I can tell the story runs like this:

A cash-strapped Dinky were desperately chasing sales in the late 70s, and hit upon the idea of launching a range of smaller, pocket money priced toys to take on Matchbox 1-75s and Corgi Juniors.

But with no money to develop a range of their own, they signed a contract with Universal Toys in Hong Kong to rework some existing castings 'off the shelf' that were currently in production for the US market under the Kidco 'Tough Wheels' brand.

This wasn't Dinky's first brush with overseas manufacturing - back in the mid-60s, Hong Kong Industrial (HKI) were a major toy maker and had produced a short-lived Dinky range under licence - comprising some six US cars which had originally been developed for the Spot-On range, and orphaned when Lines Bros merged with Meccano.

At that point Dinky HQ back in Liverpool had been considering moving some of their production overseas to somewhere inexpensive like Hong Kong, but decided they were unhappy with the quality of the HKI diecasts compared to their UK range, and so the range went no further.

It's possible that HKI were also under consideration to produce the Mini Dinky range - an earlier effort to go head to head with Matchbox, Husky and Lone Star Impy in smaller scales - but the Hong Kong factory was bought out by Mattel in 1966 before the plan could go any further, and all Dinky subcontracting ceased as the factory tooled up for Hot Wheels production.

Another Hong Kong contractor (not sure who, exactly) took on production of the bulk of the Mini Dinky range in 1968 (though weirdly, EFSI of Holland also produced two of the range, both racing cars) - with mixed results, as the slightly pricey new range looked good but didn't sell. Sadly, poor metallurgy led to paint falling off very quickly, followed by an alarming propensity for chronic zinc pest and premature self-destruction of these toys. In the ensuing debacle, the entire range was killed off before full production was ever achieved.

But by the late '70s, things were looking grim for parent company Airfix and they were seeking to cut costs in Dinky manufacture wherever possible. Speedwheels and simplified castings had earned some cost savings, but not enough.

Mettoy had already outsourced design and production of their Corgi branded aircraft and military toys to Hong Kong for many years (all made by Lintoy), and had tentatively started making some of their Juniors line through a subsidiary in Singapore.

Lesney meanwhile had teamed up with Universal Toys of Hong Kong to produce a range of licenced cartoon character vehicles, using a mixture of new and existing adapted Lesney castings. Lesney also had a subsidiary in Japan, which had been given special dispensation to develop some of its own unique models for the local market, using the Matchbox name.

Production of Dinky's 1/35-ish scale Rover SD1 model had been outsourced to HKI (no longer tied to Mattel) in 1978, in an effort to boost profitability, although few would argue that it represented a high water mark in terms of quality.

Despite some serious quality control issues, it must have been considered passable enough as HKI also began producing Dinky's Jaguar XJ12C, and by late 1979 tooling had begun in Hong Kong for their Mk2 Ford Granada (which sadly would never see the light of day).

Dinky then went for broke (literally). In late 1979 they signed a contract with neighbouring Universal Toys to supply a load of somewhat cheap-looking Matchbox-sized diecasts with plastic bases, but with their own Dinky logo moulded into the base instead of the usual Kidco or Viscount brands. The idea was that volume sales of these inexpensive toys could offset the company's mounting losses.

The range itself seemed to be a weird lucky dip of mostly US and some Japanese vehicles, each in one colour only plus sticker decorations. These included your orange Ford Econoline 'Sun Van'; a yellow Chevrolet Chevette and a black Pontiac Firebird (both of which turned up in a tat box last year) and a purple Honda Accord that I think featured upthread. There was also another, different Ford day van in blue; a yellow Jeep Renegade; a red Chevrolet Blazer; three versions of a Ford stepside pickup, including one with a camper back; a red Chevrolet Camaro; Corvettes in 1956, 1962 and 1969 versions; a red '55 Thunderbird; a blue '57 Chevy; a red Toyota Celica; an orange Datsun 280Z; a red BMW M1 and a maroon Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.

Although some effort was made to enhance play value through the inclusion of opening features on many, the build quality and realism is probably best summarised as 'approximate'. This is probably a reflection on Dinky's need for profitability rather than Universal's competence - as contractors, they simply produced goods pegged to the price the customer wanted to pay. From a bit of online hoking, the exact same castings produced under the Viscount name with diecast bases look much neater. Universal's toys for Lesney were made in the same factory as the Dinkys,  but in terms of fit and finish were every bit as good as those built in the UK.

I believe there were 20 vehicles in this Dinky range, produced on a carded blister pack with a large Dinky logo - but by the time the toys were ready to ship, Airfix had already hit the wall. The huge Dinky factory on Binns Road was closed with immediate effect and Palitoy picked up the remaining assets, primarily for the model kits business.

Palitoy had no particular interest in the ailing diecast side of the business, and by the time the containers from Hong Kong docked these unwanted carded 'Dinkys' were effectively orphans.

The Dinky name was dead; these were now toys with no catalogues, no  adverts, and no eye-catching POS displays to drive sales. Compared to the 1980 Corgi and Matchbox ranges, they must have looked pretty weak. Accordingly, in the early months of 1980 many unopened cases of these Universal-built Dinkys were disposed of cheaply to wholesalers, who then sold them on at knock-down prices to market traders, variety stores and the like.

This was an exercise in irony, given how precious Dinky once were in only allowing their diecast wares to be sold in approved high-end toy shops and department stores. Rightly or wrongly, their elitist attitude that only the 'right' shops (with, presumably, the 'right' customers) should be allowed Dinky Toys gave both Corgi and Matchbox their point of entry to the market - Lesney's distributor, Moko, decided early on that tobacconists and newsagents were key to driving impulse sales, while Mettoy nudged their new Corgi line toward retailers who had been denied a Dinky franchise.

But genuinely though, it was a sad end for a once-noble name, and there's not a lot of love for these last-of-the-line Dinky Toys (or very much in the way of online info). But as curios they're kinda interesting... and of course, the Dinky name wasn't gone for all that long.

Universal Toys, the new owners of Matchbox from 1982 on, sought to buy the rights to the Dinky name from Palitoy, and quickly issued some re-branded Matchbox toys in Dinky packaging around 1988, just to prevent the copyright ftom lapsing. Less hastily, the launch of the Matchbox Dinky collection around 1990 was a genuine attempt to keep the heritage and spirit of Dinky alive, even if the products were now aimed at adults, not kids...

So! Weird, yet kinda worth a second look...

[flat4alfa]

^ Brilliant.

That book. You know, that book @Datsuncog....

Want me to start a crowdfunding page?

[flat4alfa]

[Husky] Ambulances very much in use and appreciated.  However, one was delivered with an interesting foreign body in the back.  No idea what is is, but it is from Holland.  Those funny fellas.

Word got out on antisocial media that it was suspicious. so a local TV camera crew popped over to film the proceedings.

Except, nothing happened.  So the camera man was swayed away, by the pool party next door instead.  

[eddyramrod]

On 5/6/2020 at 4:03 AM, flat4alfa said:

A nice [Matchbox] 1964 Ford Fairlane Wagon also showed for the weekend.  Why they brought the canoe I don't know - did they think the previous months' floods were still on?

Ford Fairlane?  I think you'll find that's a 1959 Chevrolet Brookwood, based on that year's Bel Air.

[Spottedlaurel]

4 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

The range itself seemed to be a weird lucky dip of mostly US and some Japanese vehicles, each in one colour only plus sticker decorations. These included your orange Ford Econoline 'Sun Van'; a yellow Chevrolet Chevette and a black Pontiac Firebird (both of which turned up in a tat box last year) and a purple Honda Accord that I think featured upthread. There was also another, different Ford day van in blue; a yellow Jeep Renegade; a red Chevrolet Blazer; three versions of a Ford stepside pickup, including one with a camper back; a red Chevrolet Camaro; Corvettes in 1956, 1962 and 1969 versions; a red '55 Thunderbird; a blue '57 Chevy; a red Toyota Celica; an orange Datsun 280Z; a red BMW M1 and a maroon Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.

Fantastic tea n' toast reading DC!

So, how many of them do we have on here? I'll kick things off with the purple Accord 3dr:

Dinky Honda Accord No. 104 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Dinky Honda Accord No. 104 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

The overall casting isn't too bad, it is recognisable as an Accord, but the grille is too deep and the bumper too low. The tailgate opens but there are no exciting details revealed inside.

Dinky HK range by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

I hope this is legible, I'm pretty sure that I had (probably still have) the Ford Van, in dark blue. I don't think it came to me new, probably acquired as a swap. I don't recall seeing many of them in shops and when I got the van it was something I regarded as not overly impressive.

As a child of the '70s the Dinky brand as a whole largely passed me by. Those I had from the first half of the decade were better and more solid, but later ones like the 1:36-ish Volvo 265 were clearly not of the same quality. Also, I mainly played with the 'small cars' so it was mostly Matchbox, Corgi and a few Majorette that were making an impression on me. By the time this Dinky HK range was launched my tastes were becoming a bit more sophisticated and discerning.......

[Amishtat]

Last year at a boot sale I found a Mini Dinky Corsair in gold with its bootlid missing, which at the time seemed reason enough not to shell out two quid despite having never seen or heard of the make before. Still kicking myself. 

[Split_Pin]

Brilliant write up again @Datsuncog. The Toy Cars book which is largely pictorial (and from my own experience at Swapmeets throughout the 1990s, somewhat inaccurate in its statements about which models are harder and easier to find) confirms we need a book written from the slant that you provide.

I have the purple Honda Accord and you're dead right about it being 'approximate'. It's a very interesting piece to have though.

Does anybody remember the 1/43 'Dinky' branded range from around the same time that appeared to be either Norev or Polistil models? I know I still have the packaging for a BMW 5 series in the loft although I can't recall what it looks like as its that long since I've seen it. The model is long gone.

[155V6]

I think they they were re-branded Solido castings with cheaper wheels.I had the Fiat Strada,Peugeot 504,& BMW E12 which you mentioned.They came from a local market,without any packaging if I remember.The market also supplied the Rover SD1 & Jag XJ12C mentioned earlier,which came in bubble wrap I think.

Most are long gone,but I still have the BMW,although I dismantled it to repaint it as my 528i over 20 years ago & it's still in bits somewhere ?

[Tenmil Socket]

@bunglebus is that a MK3 Escort beneath?

[bunglebus]

7 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

A nice [Matchbox] 1964 Ford Fairlane Wagon also showed for the weekend.  Why they brought the canoe I don't know - did they think the previous months' floods were still on?

 

That one^ is the only one of my customs I can't account for. Mysteriously vanished during my hasty exit from my marital home

 

001_zpsbho4gqol by RS, on Flickr

[bunglebus]

33 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

@bunglebus is that a MK3 Escort beneath?

 

Skoda Estelle - about #3 on my project list. The blue base has given me an idea for a paint scheme...