Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

Merci beaucoup!

I bought this one on French holiday in 1981.  Surprisingly in good nick still too!

[flat4alfa]

12 hours ago, 155V6 said:

Dinky Alfa Romeo OSI Scarabeo - one I've never had and now you've got me in a tizz about getting one too.  Ahhhggrh

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Is the #12 car Matchbox? I have a fuzzy memory of a childhood one

Yup, it's the MB194 'Modified Racer' - introduced in 1988, withdrawn from the mainline range in 1993, and saw a few later uses in gift sets until 1995,

Modified Racer | Matchbox Cars Wiki | Fandom

One I remember seeing around, but not one I've ever owned.

[flat4alfa]

Like buses...  the Daimler Fleetline DMS, named by Matchbox as The Londoner and released as 'Superfast', which gave it an incongruous wheel set.  Not into buses at all, but picked this one up as it's got Matchbox 25th commemorative livery.   Bit of a sucker for that sort of thing.

Apart from that, I had no idea our Tiny Tom had joined the Insulate Britain mob.

[bunglebus]

27 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Yup, it's the MB194 'Modified Racer' - introduced in 1988, withdrawn from the mainline range in 1993, and saw a few later uses in gift sets until 1995,

One I remember seeing around, but not one I've ever owned.

I'll have to find one, and the buggy thing that started off as a Kenner and somehow ended up in the range .

This one. Dirk Diggler or something 

As I mentioned before, that's where the funny looking Mustang came from

[bunglebus]

44 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Merci beaucoup!

I bought this one on French holiday in 1981.  Surprisingly in good nick still too!

 

9 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Not into buses at all

Me either - but I also have one

[flat4alfa]

TROIS DANS AUTOCACA !

[Datsuncog]

I did have one of those Majorette Saviem buses, but I think I tried to remove the roof from the base and it all went a bit wrong...

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I'll have to find one, and the buggy thing that started off as a Kenner and somehow ended up in the range .  This one. Dirk Diggler or something 

Dirt Digger as a Kenner, in two colours

 

Sand Racer as a Matchbox, one colour

[Spottedlaurel]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Me either - but I also have one

Ditto. It's located just a few feet from where I'm sitting, but the boxes are rather too well-packed to easily find it.

Mine has a foreign coin in it for some reason, which doesn't appear to want to fall out.

2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I did have one of those Majorette Saviem buses, but I think I tried to remove the roof from the base and it all went a bit wrong...

As such, I shall heed this advice and leave it in there as an unsolved mystery.

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

funny looking Mustang

King Cobra as a Kenner, two colours.  Just 'No.1027' on the base.

 

MB132 Ford Mustang GT as a Matchbox, four colours.   Modified casting too, with mahoosive engine and rear arches.  Just 'Mustang' on the base though.

[Justwatching]

More from my burgeoning 1:64 collection. It's mainly yank tanks. That's just what I'm into. 

First up, a 1958 Plymouth Fury from the movie 'Christine'. Also, a 1980 Chevrolet Caprice in the background wearing Punxsutawney Police livery from 'Groundhog Day'. 

Next, a 1979 Ford LTD and 1992 Ford Crown Victoria. Paid scalper price on both as I'm an LTD/Crown Victoria fanboy. Unfortunately, there's line mark down the LTD's roof. It also has a fair bit of wheel wobble going on. 

 

[morrisoxide]

If anyone missed the MB Civic, matt cream Healey or Nissan hard body in red they have some old stock  in The Original Factory Shop.

Hopefully they will get the old cases we missed.

[eddyramrod]

On 10/20/2021 at 9:01 PM, eddyramrod said:

There will be some, way back in this thread, but I'll shoot some tomorrow if you like.  I've changed the traffic now: the "new" models have gone and the forecourt is filled with Corgi/Dinky restos.  There is also now a smaller garage, and a 1/43 police station.

Sorry... I had some other stuff to do today, but sometime tomorrow I should be able to do a shoot.  I hope.

[flat4alfa]

[Datsuncog]

Did manage a quick half-hour in the market this morning, for the first time in a while.

The Adidas Avenger was back, as it happens, in his traditional blue zippy-top. Seemed in good form, anyway. Maybe he's been away living the high life in Barbados for the past two months, off the back of the proceeds from all his diecast wheeler-dealering?

There wasn't a massive selection of stuff on Market Blokey's stall today, though there were some highlights worth mentioning.

This large 1960s-looking no-name tinplate rendering of what I believe to be a Ferrari 250 GT 2+2 was quite stunning.

Paint and brightwork looked near-perfect.

Battery powered, too - with none of the usual battery tray corrosion. It seems that this has always been a display piece, not a kiddy's toy.

Asking price for this one was a whopping £40, but I think it could probably be justified.

Another pair of rarities were these Ideal battery-powered slot cars:

Plastic body and separate chassis concealing two AA series batteries, these were both fully operational (Market Blokey was showing them off to The Nemesis). £20 each asked, so not exactly cheap, but also not unreasonable either for what they are - the bonnet badge and wingmirror on the Mercedes are so fragile that it's a wonder they've survived for fifty years or so.

I tried to convince myself that I didn't miss out on a whole orgy of diecast delights in previous weeks, since there were the dregs of what looked to be a new tat box: 

Mmm... not much of massive interest. Corgi Juniors were largely okay, but I already have all of these.

The Corgi Unimog Dumper sparked a flicker of interest, but cracked glazing and what appears to be a slightly bent chassis put me off.

More cobwebby Lone Star truck weirdness, as well.

Tonka rotary grader was mint and boxed, but not really my bag either.

Wandering around to the Charity Stall revealed a surprising amount of new diecast there too:

The Maisto 1/24 stuff was a bit dusty and worn in places, but the boxed Bburago 1/43 was unexpected.

Some boxes were a bit mashed, but there's a lot to like here. £5 each, though... the Vitara, Tipo, Cinq and 190E did tempt, but lines were drawn a while ago and I probably shouldn't stray...

I have no idea why there were so many Corgi Jaguar XJR-9 Le Mans here, though. A full dozen in the Castrol colours.

More Corgi Specials in Porsche and Camaro flavours, plus a pinky-purple Jag:

Not sure who made the W30 Toyota MR2 - but now I look at the pics, the base looks a bit Minichamps...

£3 asking on the smaller loose stuff here, £5 for the bigger 1/24.

Nothing at all of any note round by Alan's Emporium this week, but one of the stalls selling greetings cards and puzzle books did have a crate or two of recent-ish Hot Wheels stuff.

The stallholder didn't seem to care much for my photographing his wares, and asked rather aggressively if he could "help me"... so I scuttled away.

Ah well.

No purchasing this week, but it was nice to get out of the house.

[flat4alfa]

40 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Another pair of rarities were these Ideal battery-powered slot cars:

Plastic body and separate chassis concealing two AA series batteries, these were both fully operational (Market Blokey was showing them off to The Nemesis). £20 each asked, so not exactly cheap, but also not unreasonable either for what they are - the bonnet badge and wingmirror on the Mercedes are so fragile that it's a wonder they've survived for fifty years or so.

Ohhh they're interesting!

Approx 1:40 scale?  They'll be Ideal Motorifics and I want them pretty please

[flat4alfa]

The Mako Shark must be worth $50 on its own

[flat4alfa]

Found one to confirm 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313637659795

US $119.99 Buy it now

[flat4alfa]

On 1/24/2021 at 11:25 PM, flat4alfa said:

Back to IDEAL Motorific, from back a page

Two here

Because the selling point was having interchangeable chassis (bodies were sold separately too), the body scaling had to vary and keep within the standard wheelbase.  Take these two, the Triumph TR3 works out to be approx 1:33 and the Plymouth Barracuda to 1:40.

The later, blue chassis has a slot track pin that turns the steering as well, as what Ideal did later was sell slot sets similar to Matchbox Motorway in that you just sat and watched until the battery died.  The earlier, black chassis does not - you set the steering to what you wanted it to be.  [Ignore the slot track pickup brushes, it's been -ahem- 'converted']

Likewise, ignore the wiring, as it runs to the pickup brushes underneath.  Normally, you would flick a switch underside and it would run the motor, seen on the black chassis.  Each car was individually battery-powered by two AA cells (HP7 to luddites like me).   Notice also the design is very similar to the Tri-ang Magicar chassis (shown up the page); I wonder if there ever was a patent squabble?

Hadn't noticed until now, but the the wing detail strips aren't paint ....it's wire, wrapped over and tacked home at each end !  Labour intensive.

Sorry for going on a bit.

Chat

[flat4alfa]

Brenda loved the Mako Shark II concept so much, she would stand next to it even in the pits of winter when it was nippy out

Fun Tat Friday Fact: This was the 1965 concept that gave us the third-generation Corvette

In 1969 it was converted into concept Manta Ray.  This lives with the other concepts such as Chevrolet Astro I (modelled by Corgi), at the GM Heritage Center, Detroit.

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

Approx 1:40 scale?  They'll be Ideal Motorifics and I want them pretty please

Ah, I thought I recognised the concept of a slot car running on two AA batteries from a while back... if I'm over next week and they're still around, then I'll be sure to nab them for you. They really are lovely, and seemed to both have the earlier type of black chassis with cut-outs.

Had they been a tenner a throw I might have bought them speculatively, but as it was I didn't have forty quid in my back pocket!

[bunglebus]

30 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Chevrolet Astro I (modelled by Corgi)

And Yatming!

[sierraman]

17 hours ago, morrisoxide said:

If anyone missed the MB Civic, matt cream Healey or Nissan hard body in red they have some old stock  in The Original Factory Shop.

Hopefully they will get the old cases we missed.

How much are they?

[andrew e]

I bought that blue burago Vitara last week for a £1 - no box though!

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

And Yatming!

and Playart in 1:64 was before Yatming's version

and Pilen in 1:43

and Guisval in 1:37

also AMT and Grip/EHM did kits in 1:25

So pretty well catered-for, in comparison!

[flat4alfa]

On 5/26/2021 at 5:00 PM, flat4alfa said:

Yay!  This is one rarely modelled:  The 1968 Chevrolet Astrovette

It's around 1:24 scale and looks quite swish

Not bad for a £8.50 top bid.  Very surprising in fact.  Now to get it working....

Phact: Astrovette was actually a thing

She looks chirpy.

The other one I like a lot is the 1968 Chevrolet Astrovette.  GM were piling-on the concepts, weren't they...

Grabbed a Mettoy 'Computacar' earlier this year (see quote above) but it's been tucked out of sight in the box since.  Did find out it was  licenced from the 1969 Hasbro 'Amaze-A-Matics' range:

AstroVette is not catered-for quite as well, having the MPC kit in 1:25

and Matrix's $100 model in 1:43, but that seems to be it.  Never seen a smaller scale rendition

 

The real thing was originally pearlescent white, then went to orange for many years after retiring from the show circuit.  

It still lives-on today at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky (the one that had the sinkhole upset a few years back) where it is back in its original colour

[TripleRich]

On 10/20/2021 at 7:51 PM, Datsuncog said:

@TripleRich to the beige phone....

(Or just search for Everard Junction online)

I might have made the odd scene with shite...

[bunglebus]

Ah that's ace, looks just like the yards I used to visit

[sierraman]

35 minutes ago, TripleRich said:

I might have made the odd scene with shite...

That’s superb. What scale are the cars and what did you base them on?