Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

52 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

Yeah yeah, so I use my angle grinder without gloves, goggles, guard or handle. 

Perhaps not the best time to get yourself into A&E

[sierraman]

Going to be having a bit of a sale later this week, nearly all 60s/70s/80’s Matchbox. I’ve a lot of duplicates...

[flat4alfa]

I'm selling everything.  Probably the wife too but not asked yet.  Might* tackle that tomorrow after lining the Corgis up on the kitchen table like the 1972 Catalogue 

Either way, I'll be in the wrong.  Because Slippery Slope(TM) got me. The house is full!

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Going to be having a bit of a sale later this week, nearly all 60s/70s/80’s Matchbox. I’ve a lot of duplicates...

*Wrings hands*

[bunglebus]

You need a bigger house! I'd be interested to see what you're looking at moving on - and I still have a box of bits here for you...😐

[DoctorRetro]

Repaired the bumper on the Escort. Must be worth 10k now? It's a bit Wonky, but that's probably more authentic. 

Also popped into Tesco before the OMGLOCKDOWN begins. It was dire in the diecast aisle. Picked up a 9 pack for about 2 of the cars and a random Matchbox 

 

[Tenmil Socket]

1 hour ago, TheDoctor said:

Repaired the bumper on the Escort. Must be worth 10k now? It's a bit Wonky, but that's probably more authentic. 

Also popped into Tesco before the OMGLOCKDOWN begins. It was dire in the diecast aisle. Picked up a 9 pack for about 2 of the cars and a random Matchbox 

 

Great job on the bumper!

[Tenmil Socket]

Does anyone have a pair of door mirrors going spare that would suit a MK1 Golf? I'm not sure of the scale but it's 9.5" long if that helps to calculate it. Cheers.

[flat4alfa]

39 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I'm not sure of the scale but it's 9.5" long if that helps to calculate it. Cheers.

Approx 1:15

[DoctorRetro]

[bunglebus]

Needs a WAYNE - TRACY sunstrip and some fluffy dice

[Datsuncog]

On 11/4/2020 at 7:30 AM, Split_Pin said:

I love this write up in particular as the Buick was very much part of my childhood in both scales and I'm also a big fan of the Kojak TV series. It's a lovely casting and the car choice is very 1970s. Where do you get your dates and figures from, they're really interesting to read.

I got a battered 1/36 Kojak example in the 1980s which was my Cousin's and in 1994 I bought another tired example at a Swapmeet. I made a good example out of the two and managed to find spray paint of the right colour. I regrettably sold that in my 2013 diecast purge. In 2015 I bought a juniors Kojak version to replace the police one that I had for 1 day in 1984 before losing it permanently, as I had a habit of doing when I was 5! I also remember my P1 teacher Mrs Leitch confiscating a green Juniors version from my classmate Colin one day as he was foutering with it. To my horror I spied it in her desk drawer about 6 months later. That wouldn't happen nowadays.

The Corgi model is actually named incorrectly. The cars are all Buick Centurys with Regal being a trim level such as was common in the 1970s with US cars. Names like 'Brougham' and 'Cricklewood' must have seemed cultured to American designers, which were in reality a small town with a historic castle in Cumbria and a borough of Greater London respectively!

I'm on the lookout for another 1/36 version now!

Hey, glad you enjoyed!

Facts and figures are quoted from my copy of the Big Book Of Corgi, procured back in March using the cumulative proceeds of tat box sales... author Marcel Van Cleemput, Corgi's design chief from 1956 to 1983, went back to his extensive notebooks and other records to give dates of production and sales for each model in the lineup. It's exactly the sort of diecast geekery that I revel in.

I also suffered from extensive car confiscation while in primary school - I always had a car in my pocket, and often incurred the ire of teachers for having it in my hand. I seem to recall that Mrs Lightbody actually had a small box in her store to keep my confiscated cars; the end of the school year meant that I got them all back. I can't remember all of them, but my paintless Matchbox Jeep definitely spent most of 1988 in that box.

I'd be very surprised if my loved-to-death Cortina MkIV didn't spend some jail time in the store too.

I finally found a pic of my reissued Kojak Buick - while lacking plastic figures and a clicky-gun thing, it was still a nicely rendered model with more detail picked out than the original toy.

I must confess, I was slightly disheartened to realise that I'd sold this one for £4 two years back - especially given that the eBay prices for both the originals and these 2000s reissues seem to be alarmingly robust. I'm unlikely to have another.

Ah well.

I also don't seem to have any pics of my City of Metropolis cruiser, which is either an oversight or an indication that I got rid of it long before I thought I did.

But it wasn't much better than this current eBay delight:

A fiver in 1992? They saw me coming.

Here's some of my now-departed Juniors Regals, though:

Jacked-up post-Mettoy yellow version; Mettoy-era metallic green; original Kojak version that apparently suffered badly from a trip to the beach at some point, (and afterwards enjoyed an exalted place in my toy scrapyard because it looked suitably banjaxed).

Brown Mettoy version; maroon Mettoy version; green Mettoy version - the green one think I owned from new, the others were charity shop finds.

NYPD Highway Patrol version bought from Woolworths in the mid-90s as part of an Auto City set - yeah, I was getting a bit old for toys at this point, but I still couldn't resist. I loved this casting. For much of my formative years, this was the archetypal American Car - the one that would get roped into my amateur recreations of Smokey and the Bandit chase scenes, or the Cannonball Run.

For nostalgia reasons, I did keep a couple of Juniors Regals in my Permanent Collection, but felt that I couldn't justify so many colour variations - the Bill Manscuk book lists eighteen distinctly different versions, plus lots of shading variants.

I reckon there's probably more.

Here's what the real-life car looked like:

Aside from the 1/36 Corgi version looking a tad under-wheeled, the shape is pretty accurate - although, like the Chevrolet van, it's curiously difficult to match the real thing with the model somehow. Maybe it's because the toy is so familiar to me that the real thing looks wrong?!

[Datsuncog]

15 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Because Slippery Slope(TM) got me. The house is full!

Crikey Moses - sounds drastic.

But yes, I've been there.

Of course, now I'm buying it all back again.

You can pencil me in for a similar clearance sale in 2023, most likely...

[DoctorRetro]

How's this for one of those OMGLYFHAX tips? 

[Datsuncog]

OHHHHH that looks awesome!

Game-changer for owners of battered Bburagos, that...

[DoctorRetro]

1 minute ago, Datsuncog said:

OHHHHH that looks awesome!

Game-changer for owners of battered Bburagos, that...

They literally just push in, no glue needed. 

[DoctorRetro]

[Split_Pin]

On the subject of TV and film Corgis, between about 1998 to 2001 I had a plethora of the above mentioned reissued 1970s castings, such as Starsky and Hutch and the Professionals. I think there were others too. My brother had various James Bond reissued cars including a fine Toyota 2000GT.

I also recall that around the same time Corgi introduced a raft of new 1/36 TV and Film castings which appeared in suitably themed boxes. I had Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazard and my brother had some more James Bond cars. 

Sadly I have none of these now but my brother sensibly kept his cars.

I guess that cheaper 1/43 partwork schemes have largely taken this space in the market.

[DoctorRetro]

On 11/3/2020 at 9:53 PM, Split_Pin said:

Mine is the same as the Zakspeed one above. No big deal if you don't have one, it's only the silver centre that I need.

All I have is this without chrome, and the Panda ones which are a different design 

[Split_Pin]

Cheers chap, don't go to any trouble though as I'm going to try your hack first! My old Bburago Renault 14s will be next after that.

[DoctorRetro]

3 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Cheers chap, don't go to any trouble though as I'm going to try your hack first! My old Bburago Renault 14s will be next after that.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253752519112

You will need the '5mm' ones. Overall diameter is 11. 4mm

[DoctorRetro]

😁

 

[DoctorRetro]

Had to add the tide line... 

[Split_Pin]

58 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253752519112

You will need the '5mm' ones. Overall diameter is 11. 4mm

That was my next question, cheers!

[sierraman]

First off the 90’s ones, some really good others tatty. 50p each or 3 for a quid. 

[sierraman]

Matchbox 70’s Bedford Car Transporters, horseboxes in varying states of disrepair and a shit load of fire engines. 50p each or 3 for a quid. 

[sierraman]

3 Dinky badged American things. All 3 for a £1

[Datsuncog]

3 minutes ago, sierraman said:

First off the 90’s ones, some really good others tatty. 50p each or 3 for a quid.

Could you set aside the Saab 9000, Ford LTD Police and Mercury Sable Wagon, please?

[sierraman]

Some from the 80’s. The CX is missing the tailgate but you could make some sort of tissier conversion from it maybe?

Again 50p each or 3 for a quid.

[sierraman]

A brace of Stretcha Fetchas. All but one still have the tailgate. 50p each