Shite in Miniature II

[Datsuncog]

7 minutes ago, Amishtat said:

Actually, twenty isn't too bad for the Bedford transporter with the ramp still there. If you haven't left yet could you grab that please? 

 

3 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Could I have the cream/green Bentley please?

Will head back over now and see what I can find!

Cream of the Tat Box also nabbed. Some very nice stuff in there today, which I think may appeal to one or two here...

Will be heading in 20 mins sharp, so shout up if there's anything else that grabs you!

[bunglebus]

Home made boot lid? Shame

 

[Datsuncog]

Aaaaagh!!!

[Datsuncog]

5 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Home made boot lid? Shame

 

Not sure... May be a weird plasticine bit stuck on?

Interested, if complete?

[bunglebus]

Just now, Datsuncog said:

Not sure... May be a weird plasticine bit stuck on?

Interested, if complete?

Yes but I think it's probably FUBAR.

Tat Man should be letting you have stuff on tick by now after how much you've bought 

[DoctorRetro]

16 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Crumbs, what else is here?

Some interesting stuff, and cheap. I'll just throw up some pics quickly, and come back and edit text and whatnot later.

Lots of Corgi's 'Nine Double Nine' collection from the early 2000s - £10 each on these, mint and boxed - many look unopened.

Quite a few of these Daimlers, in various health authority liveries.

Local OOC stuff - also £10 a throw.

Loose steam wagons, too - including Sentinels, which may appeal to devotees of @JimH's thread.

£5 on the big 'uns, £2 on the Days Gone.

Very little on the other stalls - other than some maybe-interesting Hot Wheels.

£1.50 on these.

More tat box pics to come!

Interested in the Prelude!

[Amishtat]

9 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Aaaaagh!!!

No worries here if that's brought you to a stop, thank you for what you grabbed already. 

[Datsuncog]

Cash obtained - and tat procured!

Having to scoot now, but pics still to come!

[egg]

While we wait, in Feb 2020 I had these sent to a French address from within France to save on postage. My relatives could bring them over at some point. Well, with Covid as it is, I had them forwarded on to me this week, cost €15!

Anyway, anyone got a base for an Isetta?!

[bunglebus]

That's a shame - Spot-On stuff isn't cheap. Thought it was a Corgi initially.

Could probably be fixed with plastic sheet and it'll look OK on the shelf

[sierraman]

Just now, bunglebus said:

That's a shame - Spot-On stuff isn't cheap. Thought it was a Corgi initially 

I couldn’t believe my luck a few years ago when I managed to pick up a near mint Spot On Austin Sprite in a box of crap for 20p at a car boot. Wanged it straight on eBay and got a decent price for it. 

Imagine how much money John Noakes must have made when the Blue Peter appeal asked you to send in your old diecasts!

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Home made boot lid? Shame

Corgi Impala does not have opening trunk lid

[Datsuncog]

Okay then - so where were we?

Readers' requests time, I think...

8 hours ago, Amishtat said:

Jag, Mini and Mercedes Coupe if you're still there please! 

7 hours ago, Amishtat said:

Actually, twenty isn't too bad for the Bedford transporter with the ramp still there. If you haven't left yet could you grab that please? 

Dinky Bedford Transporter (with ramp), Corgi Mini (missing an eye), Mercedes 220SE (minus tyres and with glazing crack fore and aft), and early tinplate base Jag 2.4 (which is on its third repaint, at least) - all bagged for you, sir!

 

8 hours ago, egg said:

It's a Thomas the tank engine horrid lorry - please can I have that DC - or take for yourself if it's 50p as they are £3-4 on ebay.

Absolutely yours if you fancy it, fella - will set it aside for 50p, and you can keep or punt it on as you see fit!

I know some of these Thomas the Tank Engine toys have a bit of a following - is there any reason this one's particularly sought after, other than because it looks a bit like Bill Bailey?

 

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Could I have the cream/green Bentley please?

You sure can! Didn't know MoYs were your thing, but no bother.

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Could I have the cream/green Bentley please?

Errrr... hang on...

(Yes, I actually did mistakenly buy this; my overloaded grey cells cranked through 'green Bentley' and pinged this one out  - heat of battle, and all that.)

Fortunately, I re-read your post properly before leaving, and was able to skedaddle back and pick this up for you.

Can't take me anywhere, etc. Will pop that in with your other goodies.

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Home made boot lid? Shame

As just mentioned - this is a solid casting with no opening anything...

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Yes but I think it's probably FUBAR.

Amazingly, it's not.

It just has a big wodge of plasticine stuck to the bootlid, for reasons best known to its former owner. Glazing and emergency light are all good. And there's a self-adhesive tax disc in the back window, too. So many questions, so few answers...

Oh, crikey.

Yes, there's an even bigger wodge of mixed-through Harbutt's Finest adhering to the underside.

I've no idea what's been happening here, other than possibly some sort of downforce-generating weighted base.

It should clean off ok with a blunt instrument - looks like the recent attic-mank joblot might just have been a warm-up?

Yours if you want it, at £5!

 

7 hours ago, DoctorRetro said:

Interested in the Prelude!

Nabbed that for you, just as I was heading out the door!

Nice long-card version; silver suits it well.

Good to see you back, dude!

 

More speculative and personal purchasing still to come... I can confirm that the Hat of Tat has returned, and I'm genuinely not sure what's in it yet.

Stay tuned!!

[bunglebus]

12 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Didn't know MoYs were your thing, but no bother.

My heart sank for a moment there!

"Yours if you want it, at £5!"

Hell yes. More cleaning!

[DoctorRetro]

13 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Okay then - so where were we?

Readers' requests time, I think...

Dinky Bedford Transporter (with ramp), Corgi Mini (missing an eye), Mercedes 220SE (minus tyres and with glazing crack fore and aft), and early tinplate base Jag 2.4 (which is on its third repaint, at least) - all bagged for you, sir!

 

Absolutely yours if you fancy it, fella - will set it aside for 50p, and you can keep or punt it on as you see fit!

I know some of these Thomas the Tank Engine toys have a bit of a following - is there any reason this one's particularly sought after, other than because it looks a bit like Bill Bailey?

 

You sure can! Didn't know MoYs were your thing, but no bother.

Errrr... hang on...

(Yes, I actually did mistakenly buy this; my overloaded grey cells cranked through 'green Bentley' and pinged this one out  - heat of battle, and all that.)

Fortunately, I re-read your post properly before leaving, and was able to skedaddle back and pick this up for you.

Can't take me anywhere, etc. Will pop that in with your other goodies.

As just mentioned - this is a solid casting with no opening anything...

Amazingly, it's not.

It just has a big wodge of plasticine stuck to the bootlid, for reasons best known to its former owner. Glazing and emergency light are all good. And there's a self-adhesive tax disc in the back window, too. So many questions, so few answers...

Oh, crikey.

Yes, there's an even bigger wodge of mixed-through Harbutt's Finest adhering to the underside.

I've no idea what's been happening here, other than possibly some sort of downforce-generating weighted base.

It should clean off ok with a blunt instrument - looks like the recent attic-mank joblot might just have been a warm-up?

Yours if you want it, at £5!

 

Nabbed that for you, just as I was heading out the door!

Nice long-card version; silver suits it well.

Good to see you back, dude!

 

More speculative and personal purchasing still to come... I can confirm that the Hat of Tat has returned, and I'm genuinely not sure what's in it yet.

Stay tuned!!

Ooh, what's the Bburago? 

[flat4alfa]

Looks to be a Bburago Alfa Giulietta 116-series.  I'd like that if possible

In front of it a Guisval(?) Audi 

 

[flat4alfa]

Confirmed

[Amishtat]

Thanks for scoring them! My hopes weren't high after the bus and fire engine overload of the last couple of weeks but it's now become routine to pore over your photos on a Friday morning. Very happy with that lot and it's provided a welcome distraction from the boring weekly food shopping. 

[flat4alfa]

It's a genuine livery, although I can only find pics of a Alfetta GTV

[Split_Pin]

4 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Confirmed

Love this.I have a civilian 1/24 version of it.

[flat4alfa]

29 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Dinky Bedford Transporter (with ramp), Corgi Mini (missing an eye), Mercedes 220SE (minus tyres and with glazing crack fore and aft), and early tinplate base Jag 2.4 (which is on its third repaint, at least) - all bagged for you, sir!

I have replacement vac-formed glazing for the Mercedes

[bunglebus]

13 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Guisval(?) Audi 

Interesting! I glanced and assumed it was a Superking.

I spy an ERTL KITT in there too but I have several

[egg]

38 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Absolutely yours if you fancy it, fella - will set it aside for 50p, and you can keep or punt it on as you see fit!

Thanks, I just fancied it as an oddball resto! 90s I think...

[DoctorRetro]

33 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Interesting! I glanced and assumed it was a Superking.

I spy an ERTL KITT in there too but I have several

Ooh, I'm after a KITT...

 

[Datsuncog]

So what else came back with me?

Well, I nabbed this, from the blue-light selection:

Local ambulances for local people.

There were actually two of these on the stall in NIHA colours; and I didn't know this had even been made.

I'm all the more pleased, as I know where the real-life one lives. 

Candidate for the Bunglebus 'big version/little version' challenge, as per the Hoveringham Foden tipper the other day! These are unbelievably enormous when you're standing next to one. I note that the seats are a different colour, the front spotlight is missing and the vents adjacent to the ambulance signage are incorrect. Also, the wipers are pointing the wrong way. Tch.

All the bits still there in the box, still sealed; and unlike last week's mank-fest, these were all pristine.

It also came from the shop I used to work in:

They appear to go for rather more online, and certainly more than the £10 I paid, but I think I might just keep this one for myself. 

Keeping it local, there's also this:

Yow. A still-sealed Ulsterbus Tours Volvo Plaxton Excalibur.

This brought back some memories, let me tell you.

Released in 1998, this was the first time anyone had ever modelled a bus in a Northern Ireland operator's colours, by my understanding.

Local collectors went utterly batshit over this. Seriously. It's hard to overstate just what an uproar this release caused in the local collector community.

I was still working in McCulloughs when this model dropped, and we could not get enough of them. We had at least 100 pre-orders for this, the most we ever had for any model, and everyone went nuts.

Corgi couldn't keep pace with demand, so we only got our orders through (which I would fax over to Corgi) in dribs and drabs. Six here, twelve there.

There was one dude who phoned us every day for a month, to find out if they were in yet.

Another guy would already be standing outside forlornly when I came out to pull up the security shutters around 8.45am; "Are yer wee Ulsterbus Tours coaches in yet?" 

Fellas would come in on a Saturday morning and hang around the store all day, just in case a delivery arrived - and even though we made it clear that any which did arrive were already allocated, with deposits paid.

The shop owner, rather cheekily but understandably for a shopkeeper, originally put a 66% premium on the RRP - and then hiked it again.

I can't be quite sure, but I think that while most OOC retailed at £11.99, these were selling at £20, then went up to £30. And we still had people coming in, offering us £40, £50 for them, but we simply couldn't get the stock.

Rumours flew about that The Model Shop in Belfast had a few, but were charging £100 for them. Mail-order sellers in GB then got a sniff of what was going on across the water, and suddenly Collectors Gazette was running ads with the Ulsterbus Tours Plaxton front and centre, for £49.99 (if memory serves).

If eBay had existed back then, it would have been utter carnage.

I remember having to chase one fella out of the back store, where we used to set aside customer orders waiting for collection - he didn't believe me when I said we had none in stock, and had sneaked through the door and was rifling the shelves looking for one.

Like I said, nuts.

And now I have one in my hot little hands.

Not quite sure what to do with it, mind: it's just such a talismanic object to me, following the Great Mania of '98.

There aren't any on eBay right now from UK sellers, so I'm not sure if they're still commanding such heady prices (but that may be an indication in itself).

I might hold on to it for the time being, as it is the only diecast in my entire collection with Ulsterbus lettering.

There's also a work link, as Ulsterbus is one of the trading names of Translink, who are government-owned by the Department for Infrastructure, of which I am a tiny (Datsun) cog deep down in the machine. And it might look good on my desk, as and when the office reopens.

So yeah. INTENSE REMINISCES FTW.

What else, then?

Oh yeah, these.

Too clean to pass up; these were a fiver each but I think they're worth it.

It's the Lesney No.47 Commer Ice Cream Canteen in Lyons Maid decor, and the No.32 Jaguar E-Type.

They're not absolutely mint - there are two chips to the Commer's nose and one to the driver's side wing, while the Jag has two or three very small marks to the lower o/s flank and just above the tailgate (just visible in the pics).

The freshness of the raw metal beneath makes me wonder, tragically, whether these marks were inflicted very recently due to careless handling.

But they do both have that 'just unboxed' freshness, and are quite delightful.

If anybody wants to take them at £5 each, hit me up!

And now... I really need to delve into the Hat of Tat, don't I?

[bunglebus]

That Daimler Ambulance is actually really nice - just a bit too much into the "model" spectrum for me.

The Matchbox are also really nice but £5 is a bit too much for my liking. Lovely though.

[flat4alfa]

Audi confirmed as Guisval Coleccion Fuego Rallye range in 1:37

First release 1983 and kept on to 2002

Modelled on the Hannu Mikkola 1982 Acropolis Rally car

[junkyarddog]

Epic Tat Friday DC,

Shame you didn't pick up the Matchbox Thames Wrecker too,very unusual to see one that nice.

[flat4alfa]

5 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Was that Market Blokey's stall?

[warch]

 

An impulse purchase from eBay, a tiny 1/76 Atlas Editions Die Bart Rail Unimog. 

Unimogs are one of those vehicles that occupy the centre spot in a Venn diagram consisting of trucks, tractors and off roaders. This is based on a real vehicle used for trackside maintenance. I'm not sure exactly what work they perform, but I think I've seen them fitted with brash cutters and mowers.

It is a fantastic model, the wheels all turn, including the rail wheels and get this, the rail wheels are mounted on little replica hydraulic rams that drop to allow the wheels to drop into position.  Atlas's Stobart partwork series was troubled in many respects but they did produce lots of really interesting models of quite obscure prototypes.