Shite in Miniature II

[Cheezey]

I didn’t photograph the others that are there. 

[Datsuncog]

6 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

If it's still there on the stall, you can be sure I'll nab it for you!

[barrett]

22 hours ago, matt79 said:

 

Cararama / Hongwell made an E39 saloon in various guises (foreign Police cars mainly) but also in civilian form as well (this ones on Ebay at the moment for £14 inc. postage).....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193991263007?hash=item2d2ac7c31f:g:rg8AAOSwl3VgWynu

Schuco & Schabak also made the E39 in saloon & estate variants but these are rarer (i.e more expensive)

Do you think a moron like me would be able to remove the police gubbins from this without ruining it? Are those tampo prints or paint, and if the former is there an easy way to remove them? I'd rather have a silver car but all the civilian versions seem to be actual colours
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333948873185

[155V6]

This came todayit's the 2nd car in the Corgi reproduction series

I wasn't going to get it at first,but glad I did,it's a nice little thing.

I got the Anglia Ice Cream Van a few weeks back 

The total cost so far is £14.00,that includes a repro 1966 catalogue,& a tin to put the certificates in

I think I'll leave it there though,the next cars cost £20.00 each,plus postage

[matt79]

14 minutes ago, barrett said:

Do you think a moron like me would be able to remove the police gubbins from this without ruining it? Are those tampo prints or paint, and if the former is there an easy way to remove them? I'd rather have a silver car but all the civilian versions seem to be actual colours
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333948873185

Its not too difficult to do - I used to convert these exact same models (when they were quite readily available for not much money) to 'code 3' british police car models using the following technique -

A cotton bud dipped in non acetone nail varnish remover gently rubbed over the tampo printed POLIZEI livery will remove it (be carefull not to rub to much as it can also take the paint layer off any raised areas on the model).  Be aware that the front grille is tampo printed, so try not to remove that by mistake!

The plastic lightbar on the roof can be removed easily enough (you can unscrew the base & take the interior moulding out & scrape the glue away from inside the roof, then push the lightbar out from the inside, or gently leavering it off might work) - there will be 2 holes left in the roof after the lightbar is removed - these can be filled & painted easily enough.

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by matt79
added info

[Snake Charmer]

Oh no, Shite in Miniature, I'm doomed! Do I have to find all of mine?  I started a collection that was supposed to be my 12 all time favourite cars and it all went horribly wrong. The search for a Dodge Challenger ended up as 2 maybe 3 sets of Matchbox Musclecars from all over the world, one set traveled from the States twice and the second time came back with Kylie's underwear collection.  Iso Grifo's were expensive too.

[bunglebus]

16 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

Do I have to find all of mine?

Yes

[bunglebus]

Thought I'd have a little break from my ongoing projects by doing a simple 1 day build. This McDonald's happy meal toy was in with some other bits I got recently. OK for a free toy, but fairly cack in the grand scheme of things

it screws together (annoying triangular head), took it apart and T-cutted the M logos off

Then  I added STP decals, swapped the wheels (having to make new axles), repainted the base and interior, polished and detailed the grille and engine, added jewel headlights and painted rears and chromed the windscreen surround. Think it looks a million times better and I only started it at lunchtime

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, Snake Charmer said:

Oh no, Shite in Miniature, I'm doomed! Do I have to find all of mine?  I started a collection that was supposed to be my 12 all time favourite cars and it all went horribly wrong. The search for a Dodge Challenger ended up as 2 maybe 3 sets of Matchbox Musclecars from all over the world, one set traveled from the States twice and the second time came back with Kylie's underwear collection.  Iso Grifo's were expensive too.

You have to *look* for all of yours, realise half were lost/swapped away or trashed and spend the next year buying them all again!

[Datsuncog]

3 hours ago, 155V6 said:

This came todayit's the 2nd car in the Corgi reproduction series

I wasn't going to get it at first,but glad I did,it's a nice little thing.

I got the Anglia Ice Cream Van a few weeks back 

The total cost so far is £14.00,that includes a repro 1966 catalogue,& a tin to put the certificates in

I think I'll leave it there though,the next cars cost £20.00 each,plus postage

That Mini looks very decent; I'm waiting on the ice cream van arriving too, but I can't see myself making it a regular thing, at those prices - unless something really nice pops up...

[Snake Charmer]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

You have to *look* for all of yours, realise half were lost/swapped away or trashed and spend the next year buying them all again!

I looked at some in the loft I had forgotten about but dread the thought of Ebaying them. There's all sorts, mostly cars I like but some that were just so nicely made I could not resist. I collected the Oxford Jensen Interceptors as they were released, mainly as I knew each car they were based on and their owners. What I have managed to steer clear of is the Scalextric GT40's, I know I will get addicted if I buy just one. ☹️ 

Edit: @Split_Pin I just noticed your avatar, I have some of those dealer Sport stickers here somewhere from the 80's!

[eddyramrod]

3 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

I looked at some in the loft I had forgotten about but dread the thought of Ebaying them. 

Well don't then!  Bang them up here if you want to move some on.  You might be pleasantly surprised by the response.

[155V6]

18 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

That Mini looks very decent; I'm waiting on the ice cream van arriving too, but I can't see myself making it a regular thing, at those prices - unless something really nice pops up...

This shows some to come

[Datsuncog]

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Thought I'd have a little break from my ongoing projects by doing a simple 1 day build. This McDonald's happy meal toy was in with some other bits I got recently. OK for a free toy, but fairly cack in the grand scheme of things

it screws together (annoying triangular head), took it apart and T-cutted the M logos off

Then  I added STP decals, swapped the wheels (having to make new axles), repainted the base and interior, polished and detailed the grille and engine, added jewel headlights and painted rears and chromed the windscreen surround. Think it looks a million times better and I only started it at lunchtime

That looks really decent; I had one of those from a joblot and never even gave it the time of day. Looks sharp now; painting over that yellow base has made a huge difference. Nice work!

[sierraman]

6 minutes ago, 155V6 said:

This shows some to come

Do you think they’ll cover off the seventies Corgis?

[155V6]

15 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Do you think they’ll cover off the seventies Corgis?

That would be nice.I've been looking online,& can't find anything apart from the picture I've already shown.

There's supposed to be an article in Diecast Collector Magazine about future releases,I might get a chance to look in WH Smith on Wednesday.

[Datsuncog]

9 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Do you think they’ll cover off the seventies Corgis?

Maybe not quite yet, but I think they'll make a killing one day with reproductions of seventies models like the Bond Lotus Esprit and Starsky and Hutch Torino...

I'd heard that the target market for these collectables is mainly people who have just retired, so someone who's 66 in 2021 was 10 in 1965... this mid-sixties era of Corgi looks bang-on for that market, just as Atlas' Dinky Collection from a few years back seemed to focus on late fifties models.

So maybe in ten years or so, we'll see some 1/36 seventies Corgi goodness?

[Split_Pin]

The Atlas French Dinky releases have more 1960s and 1970s cars which are much more my thing so I do hope Corgi take note of a younger generation in the future as well. I guess there won't yet be much of a market for reproduction 1/36 cars as the originals aren't yet ridiculously expensive.

If only Bburago would do something similar.......

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, Snake Charmer said:

I looked at some in the loft I had forgotten about but dread the thought of Ebaying them. There's all sorts, mostly cars I like but some that were just so nicely made I could not resist. I collected the Oxford Jensen Interceptors as they were released, mainly as I knew each car they were based on and their owners. What I have managed to steer clear of is the Scalextric GT40's, I know I will get addicted if I buy just one. ☹️ 

Edit: @Split_Pin I just noticed your avatar, I have some of those dealer Sport stickers here somewhere from the 80's!

That sticker is on the boot of my Cavalier, its also still got a tax disc holder with the same badge.

[Datsuncog]

Well, on the topic of Corgi 1/36... first delivery in a while touched down today.

(Pacer simply there to obscure address)

Pretty well packed, I was pleased to note.

A triple bill, no less.

Anyone fancy guessing what they are, while I quickly go and snap the unwrapped items?

[Datsuncog]

First up - one I've been after for a little while, it's the C286 Jaguar XJ12C.

One of Corgi's earliest 1/36 passenger car efforts after the Ferrari Daytona (the F1 and Can-Am single-seat racers were the first Corgis in this scale), this release dates from  December 1974 and isn't in bad nick, all things considered.

There's a bit of scuffing to the authentically black-painted roof, but the engine is fully intact, as are the bumpers and glazing.

A few chips to the passenger's door, and the bumpers have lost some of their sparkle, but hey - it's survived better than some of its 1:1 counterparts...

Ew.

The shape isn't bad, overall.

This casting remained in the Corgi line-up until 1979 in a variety of colours, shifting nearly half a million examples during that time.

It also acquired an unusual emergency service role in the form of the C414 Coastguard Patrol Car a year later in 1975, which lasted for three catalogue years, before regenerating as a police vehicle (C429) which was sold between 1978 and 1980. Each sold nearly 250,000 examples, meaning that almost a million 1/36 XJ12Cs found homes. Not bad going.

I'm pretty pleased with this one - hey, it's not boxed and it's got a few marks on it, but it's good enough for my display purposes.

Fun fact: the Jaguar XJ12C never actually existed. Well, not officially badged as such, anyway.

Having been announced in 1973, the sleek pillarless coupé suffered development setbacks due to body flex which caused sealing problems between the doors and windows, and so it didn't hit dealerships until 1975 - after Corgi's model was already in the shops.

Slightly embarrassed at this hitch, the V12 version was finally launched as the Jaguar XJ5.3C, as if it were some sort of further development of the originally shown XJ12C. Since the XJS was also launched around the same time with the same engine, it's hardly surprising buyers were a bit confused about what it was for, and only 1,873 were ever sold.

Jaguar never did manage to resolve the body flex issue, which was why all coupes came fitted with a vinyl roof as standard - the paint tended to flake off in sheets otherwise...

[Amishtat]

Is the yellow one a Renault 5?

[Jon]

Just come back from getting our 205 GTI successfully tested for another 6 months (sadly cars have to be post 2000 for annual tests here), so thought I'd drop into the local store to see what school term offers were on.

Nabbed something of interest from Matchbox but here's the Hotwheels premium stuff, either being offered at c.£2.50 a pop for fancy carded ones/re-releases, or 3 for c.£10 on the car Culture ones - some of which have been put on the incorrect, cheaper priced tabs.

Anyway, if anyone's super desperate for something absolutely impossible to get in the UK, do let me know. 

No idea what postage will be, though!

[Jon]

4 minutes ago, Amishtat said:

Is the yellow one a Renault 5?

Looks like an R5 Turbo 2 and judging by the size/colour, the blue one is perhaps a Mercedes 240, or a Rolls Royce?

Let's wait and see!

[Datsuncog]

10 hours ago, Amishtat said:

Is the yellow one a Renault 5?

 

10 hours ago, Jon said:

Looks like an R5 Turbo 2 and judging by the size/colour, the blue one is perhaps a Mercedes 240, or a Rolls Royce?

Let's wait and see!

Oh! Good shootin', sirs!

Yep, also in the pack were the C285 Mercedes 240D and the C307 Renault 5 Turbo Nutter Bastard, to give it its full name.

The R5 Turbo 2 was the main reason I bid on this lot, as even from the potatocam listing pics, it looked really clean.

And it is.

Some of the paper stickers are lifting a little, but c'mon - it must be nearly 40 years old, this one.

Insane engine is present and correct, and marvellously detailed.

In his Great Book of Corgi, Chief Designer Marcel Van Cleemput details the hurdles that were overcome with Renault management to get permission to make a model of this car, and how he was mildly concerned to show up for what he thought was a private meeting at the Renault Museum on the Champs Elysées, only to find nine other toymakers also invited.

However, he proudly notes that Corgi were the first to bring a scale model of Renault's psychotic shopping trolley to market, with this one appearing in April 1981.

One reason I wanted one of these (besides my tragic completionist nature) was that I wished to see whether any of the components on this model were shared with the less terrifying C293 R5 TS which had been in the line-up since 1977.

As it turns out, nope.

Post-Mettoy, Corgi continued to make this model in a variety of different rally colours, and even after all the Mattel nastiness in the 1990s, the re-formed Corgi Classics Ltd continued to market this casting, now made in China and marketed as 'Corgi Super Minis' - complete with a 'collectable' badge to circumvent Mattel's divorce settlement requirement that Corgi could no longer sell toys, but only collectables.

This one seems to be an original Swansea one, however, with its 'Made in Gt Britain' lettering.

I never had this model as a kid, but I have very strong memories of looking at it in Stewarts in Clandeboye Shopping Centre c.1984. Nice to bring it in to the collection, finally.

 

The final arrival is indeed the W115 'New Generation' Mercedes 240D, which Corgi launched in March 1975, rather confusingly just as Mercedes replaced it with the W123.

Sold in silver, bronze, gold and several shades of metallic blue, the individual model lasted through to 1981. Opening doors and boot enhanced play-value, while the towing hitch allowed Corgi to pair it with a generic caravan as part of Gift Set 24, in either blue or bronze, between 1975 and 1979. A million of these two versions combined were shifted, plus many more sold with taxi, police and fire variants, mostly as exports.

I already have a 240D, but it's not quite the same shade of blue as my long-lost childhood example, so I thought I'd take a punt...

But no, while the shade is different from my other one it's still not a match. It's also in the poorest condition of the three, with a crack to the windscreen...

...and the rear screen too, plus a ding in the b-pillar. There's also a scrape along the lower doors...

...and it's missing a bumper corner, plus chrome plating on one front wheel. You can see some other paint damage too.

Originally, I'd planned to compare the two Mercs and then offer whichever one I wasn't keeping for a fiver (the three of them cost £15, plus post), but I don't honestly think this is quite worth a fiver.

If anyone wants it at £3 plus post, I'll set it aside for you!

EDIT: Now sold!!!

So yeah... first Corgis arriving for a while, though possibly not the last!

[Jon]

I had a few of those reissued 90's Corgi Super Minis, including the R5, hencec recognising it. Interesting to see it was a direct copy of the 1981 variant, decals and all! When I picked up a Corgi R11, it came with the bit of packaging that the castings would clip to in the box, except it was for an R5 Turbo. Except, it was for 2 different R5 Turbos, as the card was reversible! Never seen that before - from memory, the reverse was in a very 1980's grid pattern, possibly in blue.

And would I be right in thinking the 205 T16 first came to light in plain white, in the Mobil collection series? That's certainly the first version I can remember, at least. 

Anyway, I had/have a bronze 240D purlioned from somewhere 2nd hand as a kid, as well as a rally version, gifted by a family member. I've mentioned before but one of the wheel covers on it is from a Ford Sierra, so it must've been one of the last ones cast, presumably? From memory, there didn't look to be any foul play swapping covers over by previous owners, though that's something my brother and I liked to do. We'd often reverse the centres too, to give generic 'donut' centre caps. Innocent times, eh?!

[Vincent Velocette]

I made a new thing.

[bunglebus]

9 hours ago, Jon said:

Just come back from getting our 205 GTI successfully tested for another 6 months (sadly cars have to be post 2000 for annual tests here), so thought I'd drop into the local store to see what school term offers were on.

Nabbed something of interest from Matchbox but here's the Hotwheels premium stuff, either being offered at c.£2.50 a pop for fancy carded ones/re-releases, or 3 for c.£10 on the car Culture ones - some of which have been put on the incorrect, cheaper priced tabs.

Anyway, if anyone's super desperate for something absolutely impossible to get in the UK, do let me know. 

No idea what postage will be, though!

I'd be pretty interested in as many of the Flying Colours cars that they have!

[bunglebus]

7 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Renault 5 Turbo Nutter Bastard

I love this one - as you may recall I have one, and a copy I customised. Interesting to know it's not modified from the older 5, but I suppose it's so different it was easier to start from scratch 

 

[bunglebus]

My hot rods decided to leave the display case and meet up for breakfast