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Shite in Miniature II


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Posted

Hey @bunglebus, from that 1980 Corgi catalogue I've learnt of the existence of an 80's Corgi casting I'd never know of before: Juniors E93 Dodge Magnum! Was this something that was sold only briefly?

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I also like seeing the prototype resins, especially the Rover SD1s. Funny how the police ones are resins and the civvy ones are actual models. I think it's fair to say the actual models were much better than the mock-ups but it's funny how Matchbox and Corgi both jumped on the SD1 bandwagon so long after its launch - presumably because Dinky launched theirs? Could've been them becoming increasingly popular as police cars too, I suppose.

And did Corgi ever release the 1/36 Rancho in gold? Have only ever seen red and perhaps an image of a yellow one. I also like the mixture of 1/36 and Juniors in the construction set, where a Mazda pick up is towing the Juniors cement mixer - which from memory, had Husky wheels.

Anyway, I noticed lots of other boring old duffer 'idiosyncrasies' but I've prattled on too much for now. Thanks for taking the time to upload!

 

 

Posted

Really quite taken with it on closer inspection. Filthy, but that's no surprise. I keep noticing little details like the luggage on the parcel shelf and the badge on the rear panel which probably hasn't come out very well. 

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  • Like 3
Posted
1 hour ago, eddyramrod said:

You are correct sir, 1961 Pontiac chassis.  This would be what GM called the Professional chassis, with a longer wheelbase than was available to the public.  Body w as coachbuilt by Superior, hence the name on the base.

By the way, the missing rear door on the ambulance is available on eBay.  Don't know what the quality is like, I haven't had to order one yet.

Posted

It isn't missing, although my piss-poor photo does give that impression. I would take a better one but typically I left it in the car when I got home and it's currently raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock. 

Posted
1 hour ago, Jon said:

Hey @bunglebus, from that 1980 Corgi catalogue I've learnt of the existence of an 80's Corgi casting I'd never know of before: Juniors E93 Dodge Magnum! Was this something that was sold only briefly?

ZOT_3OniRNCfAGMQce3gmw?w=300&h=225&fm=we

I have no idea, I don't recall ever seeing one before. I've had a look through the 79 catalogue and it's not in there (but there are resin 1:64 and 1:43(?) civilian SD1s). I've got 78 and 77 too though...

Interwebs says 80-82 only and I can only find images of yellow ones. A new one to find!

Posted
1 hour ago, Amishtat said:

I wasn't sure whether it should be there at all

I think the spare sits right at the front in the slot through the base, you push it up to help the bonnet open

Posted
9 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I have no idea, I don't recall ever seeing one before. I've had a look through the 79 catalogue and it's not in there (but there are resin 1:64 and 1:43(?) civilian SD1s). I've got 78 and 77 too though...

Don't worry looking at the older catalogues, as it was a new model for '80, apparently:

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Now, if you had a 1981 catalogue......

Posted

I had three of those Dodge Magnums, it's not a model you see much of.  As far as I know they were only available in yellow, and only for a very short time.  They all went in earlier stages of my diecast sale.

Posted
46 minutes ago, Jon said:

Don't worry looking at the older catalogues, as it was a new model for '80, apparently:

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Now, if you had a 1981 catalogue......

I already scanned that a while ago - no mention of it and the list goes from 92 to 94

 

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Posted

So a single year release model? No wonder I'd never heard of it before. And luck for Eddy to have had 3 of them!

Must put one on my wish list, purely for the predicted long term acquisition time and the satisfaction that comes from it. It's not as much fun if it's too easy, is it?!

  • Like 2
Posted

oh its always fun to find out i have the same tat as other members!

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i too have the Corgi Dodge Magnum. i got mine off another member here.

its a nice little thing,shown here with a Guy tanker, its self a Husky.

and oddly enough, the Dodge is one model i have not been able to find anywhere with in the copy of the Ramsey's Diecast Catalogue book i have.

though mine could well be an old edition - so maybe its been added to a newer one. or more likely i have been looking in the wrong place for it,as sometimes the book isn't as clearly laid out as i would like!

i got a dinky vauxhall  victor estate too,

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i have only got the civilian version though.i might get lucky one day and be able to add the ambulance version to it.

 

 

Posted
8 hours ago, MarvinsMom said:

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i too have the Corgi Dodge Magnum. i got mine off another member here.

Any chance of a shot of the base?  Never ever knew of this one.

Posted
14 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I like spotting stuff that either wasn't released or was changed significantly beforehand, not seen the custom vans in those colours (P44) or a black Vantastic (P41). That last definitely looks pre-pro going by the windows.

The Rover SD1 on P43 is absolutely a resin model.

I know I've mentioned it before, but did any Volvo estates exist with round headlights and a detailed number plate, or was it just a re-touched photo?

 

48366215677_fa55a43cbf_6k.jpgMatchbox 79-80 27 by RS, on Flickr

Yeah, that SD1 stands out by a mile. Does anyone own a pre-pro model of any kind?

The light up Corgi Maestro reminds me of one with the black windows.

Posted
16 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Any chance of a shot of the base?  Never ever knew of this one.

as requested here is the underside

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Posted
10 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I think the spare sits right at the front in the slot through the base, you push it up to help the bonnet open

That makes some sense in the daylight, another tyre going on the list then.. 

Posted

I've got that magnum too somewhere... 

Edit: here it is... 

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Posted
11 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

By the way, the missing rear door on the ambulance is available on eBay.  Don't know what the quality is like, I haven't had to order one yet

Nothing missing as far as I can see, except for some paint and one of the rear window transfers. Still needs a proper wash though. 

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  • Like 3
Posted
19 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Continuing to go through the attic boxes this week in a effort to catalogue what I've actually got in the collection...

I've four of these IKEA boxes for my 1/43 stuff...

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Plus a load of other boxes for bigger scale, smaller scale and loose stuff.

Plus what's in the display cabinets.

Plus what's at the bottom of the wardrobe, from the Friday tat market.

I don't think I'm exempt from the creeping feeling of dread that seems to be engulfing a few of us on here...

Daewoo Nexia! Awesome. 

Posted
29 minutes ago, Amishtat said:

Nothing missing as far as I can see, except for some paint and one of the rear window transfers. Still needs a proper wash though. 

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Oh you have the door!  I don't know how I thought you didn't, sorry.  That's in nice condition, well done.

Posted

the version of the superior criteria ambulance that i have is a different one to that one above.

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mine has a "flashing" light driven by a camb on the back axle, and the back is full of the battery box for this,

it also has a 2-tone livery and white tires, which i think were supposed to look like white walls. i think that was the "original" launch version of the car which Dinky did make for a good number of years, and i think there is another version with the later cadillac nose.

whether or  not the light worksi dunno  cos i've not tried it. one thing though having the camb on it means that the car does not roll at all.

as  a kid that would have pissed me off immensely!

Posted

Now I'll make you sick: I have both versions!

Posted
11 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I already scanned that a while ago - no mention of it and the list goes from 92 to 94

 

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When I look at my 1970 catalogue you realise by 1980 the offerings were very poor 

Posted
1 hour ago, TheDoctor said:

Daewoo Nexia! Awesome. 

Heh, well spotted!

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Nicely beige, just for bonus points... the packaging calls it a Daewoo Cielo, but I believe there were loads of different names used across the world for the same model... to me, it's a Nexia!

This was from of some sort of Eastern European partwork series, which is kinda appropriate since the last one of these I spotted in real life hailed from that part of the world.

 

13 hours ago, Jon said:

And did Corgi ever release the 1/36 Rancho in gold? Have only ever seen red and perhaps an image of a yellow one.

I've yet to see a gold version of the Rancho, so the catalogue pic may have been a prototype - but I have a fairly tidy yellow version (would have come as part of the C gift set towing a racing car, with stickers on the bonnet - now missing), as well as spotting a green variant on the tat stall last year.

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I didn't buy the green one as I'm trying not to go down the colour variant route - but I note that my last few Matchbox Dinky purchases have all been different coloured versions of ones I already have...

The Juniors Dodge Magnum is one I only knew about from Eddy's diecast clear-out - and then from the 1980 catalogue, when I got hold of my own copy last year. I've never seen one in the metal, but you can be sure I've been keeping an eye out... according to the book I got a few months back on the Husky/Juniors range, the Magnum was developed as part of a push for market share in North America, but just didn't sell and so was dropped from the range after only a year.

Posted

Daewoo Racer in its home country! 

Oh the irony! 

 

Posted
1 hour ago, eddyramrod said:

Oh you have the door!  I don't know how I thought you didn't, sorry.  That's in nice condition, well done.

It was the angle I took the first picture from made it look like it wasn't there. Because idiot 

Posted
3 hours ago, Bren said:

When I look at my 1970 catalogue you realise by 1980 the offerings were very poor 

I suppose there's a number of issues to consider - one being the nostalgia factor.

Those early 1980s catalogues are a bit of a high watermark for me, as it shows all the cars and trucks I was lusting after in the toy aisle in Stewarts. But that's my own personal bias there!

Corgi Toys in 1980 were very different from those a decade earlier, it's true - the detail wasn't as crisp nor the castings as refined. The annoying paint blebs and casting swarf that blights a few of mine were, apparently, caused by the sheer volume of models going through the Swansea factory - more care meant slower lines, and higher costs. As Mettoy's financial situation worsened in the early 80s, quality control took a nose-dive so only those models with serious defects would be pulled - cosmetic marks like the smudges and bubbles all over my Supra's paintwork would have been grounds for rejection in the 1960s or 70s, but these were now boxed up and sold.

But comparing the 1970 and 1980 catalogues also highlights the changes to the toy market over the course of a decade - Corgi's core customers had dropped in age (and hence in spending power) from 13-16 year olds in the late '60s, to 6-9 year olds by the late '70s. Clearly, there was a tacit assumption that younger kids wouldn't care about paint bubbles, or fine detailing.

Comparing Matchbox catalogues of the same vintage would probably reveal a similar pattern - I'm really digging the regular wheels King Size from the 1970 catalogue year at present. But those from the 1980 catalogue objectively aren't as good - comparing the Scammell crane truck of 1970 with the Bedford TM Skip Truck of 1980 shows a major step down, in detail, construction and overall satisfaction. But then Lesney were battling the same market forces that had already claimed Dinky by the time the 1980 ranges hit the shelves. One thing I will say is that Lesney had better quality control around this period; I've rarely seen otherwise-mint Matchbox toys suffering from sloppy paint.

I agree with you that the later Corgis aren't as good, in absolute terms - but there's still a lot to love. I remain tickled by the Honda Prelude from the other week's tat stall... it's a fine model.

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