Datsuncog's Heaps: Sept 2023 - Another Year's T-Met Exemption Certificate...

[clayts450]

When I had an iffy green slip that didn't work online I just rocked up to the local Post Office and they taxed it off that - no MoT or insurance cert needed. DVLA confirmed not needed when I rang them up about it

[Datsuncog]

On 4/25/2018 at 10:11 PM, Dave_Q said:

I'm trying to think back about the washers, you might have to press in a button on the end of the stalk instead of / as well as pulling them it in the traditional fashion.

Looks GR12.

Excellent, thanks for that! At one point (going over a level crossing) I managed to mash a number of stalks and buttons to the right of the column all at the same time with my ham fist, producing a brief whizz of screenwash that jetted right over the roof in a cheery manner - so it must be down there somewhere! I'll have a fiddle later; also reading the owner's manual might help. There are an intimidating amount of buttons!

 

On 4/25/2018 at 10:13 PM, Zelandeth said:

They do go surprisingly well for something that size, especially given the supposed "detuned" state of them.

Scared the pants off me the first time I booted one out of a junction, and despite my steering right, the thing just went straight on.

Reckon they're good motors, remember access for some jobs being a pig on the Impreza, but I've never done anything beyond an oil and filter change on these so can't comment.

Biggest complaint? The sheer amount of grey they manage to cram into the interior, and some of the plastics make those in the Lada seem high quality...so don't be massively surprised if you find a few bits of cracked trim. Kind of like a 90s Plaxton coach... something's far wrong if there's not some broken plastic in the cab.

Interior looks in amazingly good nick - no cracks or rattles at all, but lots of cubbyholes (which I like, as an inveterate squirreler). Some wear to the driver's bolster, but nowhere near as bad as the seat in TAZ (completely split top and bottom, and with the metal frame sticking out through the foam).

The engine bay looks very crammed! I'm very hopeful I'll not need to be in there very often.

I haven't dared to see what it can actually do in anger yet, as the motorway was a bit greasy last night. It seemed to pull pretty well, though! Glad that there's so many on here who have a bit of experience with these boats, it's kinda like my very own SQA...

 

On 4/25/2018 at 11:06 PM, Split_Pin said:

Looks super purposeful with the stout bumper, I like it!

When the Forester first came out, I remember an ad in Auto Express that didn't show the car at all - just a double spread pic of a tranquil, leafy forest trail... with a GATSO camera to the side, and the Forester logo at the bottom. The fact I can still recall it twenty years later indicates what a subtle yet effective campaign it was, conveying speed and ruggedness.

While I'm not much of a speed merchant, I always liked the Tonka-style chunky looks and pugnacious snout on the Mk1 and 2 models. It'll just take a while to work out how to park it - especially as there's a really dark tint on the rear windows.

 

On 4/26/2018 at 12:21 AM, andy18s said:

V nice, does it come with the famous sidelight switch on top of the steering column ceiling?

Great for flattening batteries or causing mild panic when you can't switch em off!!

Washer should be on the end of the wiper stalk, and twisting the same should sort the rear wiper...

Ah, so that's what that is!

I spent a fair bit of the journey home twiddling with that switch, trying to get the dashboard lights to come on a bit brighter. Now I know. I hope to God I put it back in the 'off' position, or this'll be a fun* introduction to the Subaru alarm and immobiliser system.

I'll hopefully find all the button functions soon. Quite excited to have cruise control back; I really liked that feature on the XM.

 

On 4/26/2018 at 9:30 AM, oldcars said:

Nice i like that. Didn't know they were a bit quick.

Apparently, most owners like to bore bystanders by informing them it's the same flat-4 boxer engine and AWD drivetrain as the Impreza WRX STi... they don't tend to mention that it's a detuned version, though.

I would never have pegged them as a bit quick, either! A chum at school drove his dad's early '90s BC Legacy estate for a bit, which I always dismissed as worthy but dull. Though he did manage to roll it through a hedge one night, while out on a date... amazingly, the car was virtually undamaged and continued to be used as the family hack for many more years.

 

On 4/26/2018 at 9:45 AM, Exiled_Tat_Gatherer said:

Well purchased dude....... another on my 'one day' list. I may have missed it - but I take it this is the more often found auto version. I'd love a manual if I ever see one that isn't ex Colin Mcrea wannabe owned.

I loved my mates when I had it for a weekend - didn't give a flying one when it drank petrol like a metropolitan wino on steroids. Just filled up and tore off into the sunset........

Has the cambelt been done or is it a job looming? Every one I've see no for sale always warns its bloody due, and apparently it's a bitch......

Look forward to updates.

Nope, this one's a manual. Ex-Subaru UK demonstrator car, according to the paperwork.

I've only ever owned one autobox, and that was in Australia where I was hard-pressed to find anything else. Not that I'd refuse one outright - but I find I'm too much of a pleb to appreciate Lord Gears. I'll swap my own cogs, guv'ner. I know my place.

Now, the attachment of various badges does lead me to believe that there may have been some spirited drivers at certain points of this car's lifetime - the V5 states 7 previous keepers, not including MateyPeeps I bought it off - so some thrashage may well have occurred. Bills of sale from dealers show a deflating price over the years. I do like going through old history files, trying to build a picture of the car's life prior to coming into mine. Must be the historian in me.

The vendor claimed that the timing belt had been done...

Last month the car had new discs, pads, front tyres, timing belt & water pump kit.

But I haven't yet found a receipt in the (admittedly substantial) history file to back that up yet. I did however find an entry in the service booklet that states the timing belt was changed at 70,000 miles in 2012, and there's a painted note under the bonnet to that effect. It's possible that the water pump went recently and the belt was changed as part of the job (as I did with my Polo Mk2F). I'll have a proper hoke under the bonnet later and see how things look.

Even if the seller was lying misinformed/confused, as the recommended service schedule seems to be 120k on a belt, I should still be ok if it were swapped over 50k ago? There's a big sheaf of old MOTs and bills of sale that back up the mileage, so I'm assuming it hasn't had a haircut at any point. It did fail its last MOT in October on brake discs, so I'm working on the theory that they must have been replaced in order to get the current ticket. All looks pretty recent, from what I can see.

Good to know there could be some interest as and when I come to move this one on... shiter's discount to apply, naturally!

 

On 4/26/2018 at 9:52 AM, Dirk Diggler said:

Now I fancy one; Jesus they've got cheap; there's manuals and autos on donedeal for less than a a grand

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/1999-subaru-forester-auto-turbo-2-0-awd-d-r/18244224

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/subaru-forester-turbo-2001/18257037

They are becoming pretty cheap, aren't they?

I'd looked at the start of the month, after TAZ's motorway suicide, and there were none in NI but a few decent-looking Mk2s in Scotland for around the £2k mark. Then I looked again on Tuesday, to find OU53 on for a mere £1200... when I arrived to view, the vendor said he'd taken a lot of calls about it, including one guy from Wales who was ready to jump on a plane that evening and pay full asking price for it. I didn't doubt it, which was why I was keen to get a deposit into his hand while hoping I wasn't rushing in like the proverbial fool...

I had a look again on Gumtree last night and there's a 2004 example with slightly lower miles even closer to me for £800. Although I could see the scrapes even in the thumbnail pic on my phone.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/subaru/subaru-forester-for-sale-2004/1295336907

Still though... worth remembering!

[Datsuncog]

On 4/25/2018 at 7:25 PM, binhoker668 said:

Ha ha I can believe it - used to live all over the shop in the Holylands.  Fitzroy/Magdala/Lawrence/Eblana/Cromwell etc etc.  Then up round Malone too.  Long time ago now - I hear it's rough as dogs these days....

It was rough as dogs 20 years ago when I used to park my Datsun Sunny up round there! Also did the Jerusalem/Lawrence St gigs, before really slumming it down to Fane St off Lisburn Rd, then Ashley Ave. I didn't think it could fall much further, but then Belfast has a way of surprising you...

[Datsuncog]

On 4/25/2018 at 11:27 PM, They_all_do_that_sir said:

Also I'm getting concerned as not only do you live close by you also appear to have the same cat as me....

Good Lord... that really, really looks like our boy. Other than the white flash on the nose, I'd have trouble telling them apart!

 

On 4/26/2018 at 9:13 AM, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Would that be an example of Schrödinger's cat, owned by two households at the same time?

Y'know, that would explain a lot...

Though our fella hails from Cavan, after his ma turned up on Mrs DC's family farm and gave birth to five kittens... we brought this lad back in October 2014, when he was a tiny ball of fluff - in KAZ, as it happens.

[Guest Hooli]

I had a non-tubot Legacy 2.5 quad cam a few years ago. Apart from needing to lay on the floor to get to half the bolts it was a doddle to do the cambelt on.

 

Nice buyage btw, I'll go back & read how the renner died later as I've not been online a lot this week.

[mrbenn]

Excellent purchase!

 

Looking forward to hearing about it in the usual fashion

[Datsuncog]

On 4/26/2018 at 9:49 AM, They_all_do_that_sir said:

Was the same when I done the Merc as new keeper. Most bigger post offices will sort you out, the one at Victoria shops or the one in the Decourcey centre will see you right.

You will need a copy of the insurance certificate unfortunately.

Yeah, I usually take it over to the main Post Office in Bridge St, as they do a lot of additional services. Didn't know the branches in Carrick did motor tax too though - mind you, since I'm in Belfast during the day it's probably as easy for me to walk over (just lazy). Thanks for the heads-up, though!

 

On 4/26/2018 at 11:33 AM, SiC said:

Have you tried phoning the insurance company, explain your predicament and seeing if they can email it?

Not yet; when I spoke to customer services yesterday, they said they'd post out the new certificate and schedule. I asked if they could email it, and they said no, but it shouldn't matter as DVLA works off the insurers' database so they'll know that there's insurance in place for VED purposes. Might ring them back and ask again, nearly every other insurer I know sends policy documents as emails (some only do that). This is why I liked NFU; they had an actual office and just ran documents off the printer and handed them to you there and then.

 

On 4/26/2018 at 11:41 AM, clayts450 said:

When I had an iffy green slip that didn't work online I just rocked up to the local Post Office and they taxed it off that - no MoT or insurance cert needed. DVLA confirmed not needed when I rang them up about it

rSee, I seem to remember when I bought TAZ last summer I just rocked up to the Post Office in central Belfast and taxed it on the spot, just as you describe - it was super-quick and surprisingly hassle-free, with no paperwork rigmarole. This time round, I don't have the £300-odd right this minute, so was going to put it on direct debit via the website... more confused as to why DVLA have a section specially for taxing the car you've just acquired, then stop you from buying tax for it - because it's a car you've just acquired. Weird.

But I'll nip over to the Post Office shortly and see what's what. Half-tempted to leave it on the driveway until next Tuesday though, and save myself £30. But they'll probably fine me for that, as I've already done the online change of ownership form, to generate a new V5 in my name. I was quite cross that TAZ self-destructed on the 2nd of the month, thereby losing any chance of a refund for April's tax. Hate this stupid system.

[Datsuncog]

On 4/26/2018 at 1:02 PM, mrbenn said:

Excellent purchase!

Looking forward to hearing about it in the usual fashion

I shall do my best to uphold the traditions, sir!

[kinkersaab]

I have a Subaru grave yard should you require any bits.....  gratis obv.

 

[Dave_Q]

I think the tax is a Norn Iron thing, when I bought a car from Belfast I got the same message as you when trying to tax online with the green slip and had to go to the post office - you can do direct debit at the post office so you won't have to shell anything out there and then.

 

I think it's to do with the fact you still have to show insurance to tax over there, over here they don't check for either new existing keepers, they just take the money.

[Datsuncog]

On 4/26/2018 at 2:56 PM, kinkersaab said:

I have a Subaru grave yard should you require any bits.....  gratis obv.

DSC03654.JPGDSC03655.JPGDSC03656.JPG

That's incredibly kind of you - many thanks! I daresay there may be a few trim bits and bobs required here and there, but it does seem a tidy old bus at first glance, thankfully. Handy to have some cars to reference against, too.

I've to spend tonight plundering the last of my old rubbish out of the Lagunas and make an attempt to drain out at least some of the half tank of unleaded from TAZ, but once they're gone (on Saturday, hopefully) I'll be doing a full bumper-to-bumper check of OU53 to see what's what.

Updates, as ever, to follow...

[beko1987]

The brothers touring extended the pipe that feeds the engine with fuel with some rubber and put that in a big container when they had to drain their stricken car outside a closed garage leaving shitefest_16, just bridged the fuel pump connectors. The same with the pipe, then just ignition on (think their fuel pump was mechanical, imagine a gooner is electronic) should just empty the tank/empty it and leave enough in to get the car onto the truck and off again).

[binhoker668]

It was rough as dogs 20 years ago when I used to park my Datsun Sunny up round there! Also did the Jerusalem/Lawrence St gigs, before really slumming it down to Fane St off Lisburn Rd, then Ashley Ave. I didn't think it could fall much further, but then Belfast has a way of surprising you...

I was still about 20 years ago - I think living up on Meadowbank Street off Lisburn Road.  Sure we've probably passed each other many times in many pubs.... Probably at Laverys carry-out section at about 2am ha ha...

Nice to see a few folks from home on here these days.  I'm from Whitehead originally btw...

[Datsuncog]

On 4/26/2018 at 3:00 PM, Dave_Q said:

I think the tax is a Norn Iron thing, when I bought a car from Belfast I got the same message as you when trying to tax online with the green slip and had to go to the post office - you can do direct debit at the post office so you won't have to shell anything out there and then.

I think it's to do with the fact you still have to show insurance to tax over there, over here they don't check for either new existing keepers, they just take the money.

Daah, that's most likely what's happened. I can't for the life of me work out why these systems aren't yet standardised, given that they all work out of Swansea now. It's especially galling as I'm insured with a well-known large English company anyway.

Realistically, I've enough to be getting on with this weekend, so maybe I'll wait until Tuesday morning before getting the Thunderbeast taxed and on the road for the first time.

[alcyonecorporation]

I have a Subaru grave yard should you require any bits.....  gratis obv.

 

DSC03654.JPGDSC03655.JPGDSC03656.JPG

any impreza bits m9?

[320touring]

The brothers touring extended the pipe that feeds the engine with fuel with some rubber and put that in a big container when they had to drain their stricken car outside a closed garage leaving shitefest_16, just bridged the fuel pump connectors. The same with the pipe, then just ignition on (think their fuel pump was mechanical, imagine a gooner is electronic) should just empty the tank/empty it and leave enough in to get the car onto the truck and off again).

E30 fuel pumps are electric , that's why we bridges the fuse and were able to drain the tank with just the ignition on;)

[beko1987]

E30 fuel pumps are electric , that's why we bridges the fuse and were able to drain the tank with just the ignition on;)

Ah I see, was close then! It was a long time ago, been drunk since then

[Datsuncog]

On 4/26/2018 at 3:17 PM, binhoker668 said:

I was still about 20 years ago - I think living up on Meadowbank Street off Lisburn Road.  Sure we've probably passed each other many times in many pubs.... Probably at Laverys carry-out section at about 2am ha ha...

Nice to see a few folks from home on here these days.  I'm from Whitehead originally btw...

I daresay! Yeah, Laverys... Hunters... Four In Hand... The Elms... heh.

If you ever saw either of these heaps bimbling about the Lisburn Rd at the arse end of the 1990s, generally kicking out DJ Shadow or Chemical Brothers mixtapes, they were mine...

[Datsuncog]

On 4/26/2018 at 9:33 AM, Parky said:

Re the Yaris you could always try vinyl wrapping it - or to make it truly unique, get some Anaglypta wallpaper from your local hardware place and paint it magnolia to create a wheeled old people's home

I mentioned this to Mrs DC last night, and she thinks it's a top idea.

Just to get a flavour, she decided to old-biddify it a little first, by accessorising with a crocheted shawl, an umbrella to shake at unruly youngsters, and a cat.

Think we're rolling. Onwards to the wallpaper shop tomorrow...

[Datsuncog]

Alright, where were we...

Oh yes, these two. In all the Oriental SooperTurbo OMG WRX-ish excitement, they've been easy to overlook. They're still on the driveway, looking faintly shifty. They've seen the writing on the wall. Literally.

After a pleasant after-dinner stroll along the seafront last night, I return and start stripping out these two heaps, removing all personal items and trying to stuff them full of other assorted crap useful spares for the new owner to bin enjoy, thus preparing them for their final journey into an uncertain afterlife in the manner of ancient Egyptian embalmers.

I've yet to uncover historical evidence that Nebmaatre Amenhotep III was honoured with a Johnny Fartpants air freshener as part of his funerary goods at Ta-sekhet-ma'at. So the lucky* new owner is winning already.

KAZ's boot is filled with all the tools and dribbly fluids left over from the weekend's unsuccessful spannering efforts, so most of them go back into the shed. I might see if I can get my money back on the unused oil, coolant and Redex from Halfrauds, as neither the Toyota nor the Subaru can make use of them (well, possibly the Redex but since Tesco's doing the same bottle for £2, I'd sooner have the money back as I'm still smarting from the 'Two for One' fraudulent labelling).

I label the various unused spares and known good parts previously swapped and swiped from UKZ, the £50 scrapper. I don't have any canopic jars handy, so I stuff the spare vital organs into a couple of old wine boxes and cram them into KAZ's rear footwell. The seats are still damp from my over-exuberance with the mould remover, but perhaps I should just think of this as part of the preservation process. At least it won't go all mildewy with half a litre of fungicide slopped all over the shop.

Time was, I would have kept all these bits 'just in case', but time and experience has revealed I'm simply a packrat hoarder. So anything Renner-related needs to go; brochures, handbooks, HBOLs and all - there's nothing I can't replace for cheap if I really, really find I can't live without it. Though that scenario's about as likely to transpire as me being voted Miss Paraguay, three years running.

I similarly pull all the Lidl bags, emergency blankets and toolbag out of TAZ, and stuff it all in the shed too, as a temporary measure (Mrs DC's had a long-term fantasy of using the shed as a summerhouse - but then each year I stuff it with yet more boxes/bags of my assorted motoring detritus, much to her displeasure). These will be removed over the weekend, scrubbed up and transferred into L'il Thunder as appropriate. My car/hoarding shenanigans have put me on thin ice lately, and I need to do the right thing here.

The thick rubber Cannon mats also come out; they're UV-bleached to an odd grey-green colour but will do the job in the currently mat-less Subaru. Sentimental old duffer that I am, I like to think that I may well have sold, and maybe even fitted, these very mats to TAZ right back when it was brand-new in 1998 and I was a clueless petrolhead with ridiculous hair working in Halfords. I resist the urge to purloin the original tailored Renault velour mats beneath, which are like new - my grabby-hands tendency to swipe things "to sell" is significantly more developed than my actual urge to get the finger out and sell said items. Hence the issues aforementioned.

 

It's getting dark by the time I replace the well-used scissor jacks in the boot and screw the spare wheels down. Annoyingly I can't see the recessed Torx screws well enough to remove the dashcam lead that I carefully tracked behind the A-pillar trim on TAZ, so I'll have to try again after work today.

The fuel tank appears to have a drain plug fitted to the underside, so I'll also try to remove that before Saturday and see if I can get a swill of unleaded to transfer into the Subaru (who, by all accounts, has rather a taste for it) - but I'll be honest here, if it needs to go with £40 of petrol still in it, I'll not weep too inconsolably.

Mojo has been severely tested over these past few weeks; ungrateful though I may sound after a solid four years of (almost) trouble-free motoring, I just need my diamond-badged nemeses to bugger off out of my life PDQ. I've simply been walking everywhere for the past month rather than driving; the fuel would otherwise have been used up, and as a plus I've been able to see spring properly arrive in Co. Antrim; the trees and hedges burst from bud to leaf a little more each morning, and it's actually been really helpful in lifting my mood. I'm still a tubby git, like, but it's been nice to see it happen, and I've avoided sitting in a line of traffic on the way to the station carpark each morning while the radio news enunciates more misery.... yeah, sometimes it is the small things.

I've enjoyed my time with the Lagunas (mostly; though significantly less since the start of this month) and I'd recommend a good one in a heartbeat to anyone seeking a roomy, comfortable cruiser with good kit for not much outlay. It won't set the world on fire, but I found the performance and ergonomics more than acceptable and I never once cursed it for any shortcomings in terms of design or practicality.

But! Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Blokey may have given me the £200 (with which, in customary fashion, I ran outside like Billy Bunter on his way to the 50% Off Pie Sale, and spunked the lot on one-sixth of a Subaru less than 24hrs later) and I've received notification that the ownership has been transferred via Doovla, but of course the damn things are still there on my (spikier than it looks) drive.

 

 

Oh, and just to add to the comedy, I received this email about fifteen minutes after the registered keeper transfer notification had arrived.

I'd put through a valuation on the plate the day after TAZ messily shat itself, but had received nothing back, and so forgot all about it. I'd done something similar for KAZ a few years back, purely out of interest, and it came back within a day or so as worth £200 less fees and all, so I thought that it wasn't really worth the hassle. Now, I know this isn't an offer, they don't actually buy it - just advertise it on your behalf and deal with the legalities, for a fee - but just as a point of note to mainland shiters, it may be worth your while buying a cheap Norn Iron car and flogging the plate afterwards, as it could well cover your travel costs and then some.

 

Now, blokey and I have exchanged a few messages about his intention to get them towed/trailered tomorrow, but nothing firm has yet transpired. I'm now kinda concerned he's had a think and is reassessing whether he actually wants two phuq'd Renners after all; if he rocks up and says he wants his money back, things could get stickier than the time Sticky the stick-insect got stuck on a sticky bun (© B. Elton).

 

I've also spent a not inconsiderable part of the week dragging the boxes and boxes (and boxes) of models out of the storage shed/ Mrs DC's summerhouse-in-waiting, listing them, photographing them and finally WhatsApping them all to Blokey for his perusal. After some fag-packet maths, I surmised that if I were to go back to the car boot sale circuit as planned, I could reasonably expect to realise £2100 or so from the whole lot - back in 2010, I was lifting £300-400 in a morning from my assorted diecast sales.

I realise that few of them are worth megabucks (especially as these are the fag-end of the collection, i.e. the stuff that didn't sell in 2010) - but there is a significant volume. Those 00 scale Oxford/Cararama diecast in plastic cases aren't especially rare or worth more than £3 or £4 a pop, but I've about a hundred of them. Playworn Matchbox Superfast, Corgi Juniors, Majorette - again, not exactly hard to find, but I've seen boxes smaller than mine go through collector pages on Facebook for £250, and I know they sold briskly for £1 a pop at the boot fairs.

So I suggested a price of £1500 for him to take the whole lot away, including a large box of action figures my brother wished to discard, containing original Star Wars figures and Star Trek stuff, and some other boxes of motoring memorabilia that I just want shot of - which I felt was a reasonably fair price.

He messaged back (eventually) to say he'd have a proper look at the pictures later - and there's been silence ever since. Now, maybe he's just seeing who'll blink first; or maybe I am a greedy dreamer... but I'm getting a bit of a sinking feeling. Despite his derring-do tales of online buying and selling, maybe he was hoping to pick the whole lot up for fifty notes (hey, he'd just picked up two Lagunas for less than the price of some taxi journeys).

Certainly, it's a pain in the proverbial listing so many things online, which is principally why I don't bother my arse to do it, so maybe he reckons there isn't the margin in it for him... dunno. I'd kind of banked on coming to some sort of deal and getting shot of them to him - I'd go down to £1200 without too much protest, with maybe £800 as my absolute bottom line, where I'm kinda paying to have the sales hassle removed from me (and as such would nearly cover the Subaru). But I don't want to be the one to start gabbling first. He's plainly a pro at this. I'm not.

All I know is the prospect of a summer of 5am starts and having long, circular conversations with adjacent giffers flogging grimy tubs of Royal Albert and maundering about how that Nigel Farage has the right idea, retains little appeal for me. I want to move on with my life, if at all possible. My multiple Boxes of Stuff are an anchor I'd really like to be shot of, and these are almost the last of them.

 

So that's where we are. Renners are ready. Models are boxed up and stacked in the dining room. Will my Fairy Chodfather reappear, or is this all an elaborate hoax staged by Norn Iron's own version of Jackass, and I've been on hidden camera the whole time?

"Why sure, friend, I'd just love to buy your shit, rusty, dented Renners! Oh, they're both terminally broken? Even better!" **Snigger**

Stay tuned, kids. This could go either way.

[junkyarddog]

You don't happen to have one of these little Toyota Corolla coupe models lurking in amongst your collection of Tomica,do You?

 

[Datsuncog]

^^^ That looks kinda familiar, though I don't think I have that one - though maybe I'm getting confused with a Datsun Violet SSS that's the same colour. I'll have a rummage when I get home! If I do, it'll be a Chinese repro one rather than an original, mind.

[junkyarddog]

See what you have please.

Don't mind if it's playworn(actually a playworn one would be preferable)

I want to paint it to match my full size one.

Thank you.

[Split_Pin]

Id also be very interested in seeing your Tomicas ad I dont have any. I have neglected my less than 1/1 scale hobby recently.

[Datsuncog]

Tomica-wise, these are some of the ones I'd earmarked for going (please excuse pics, I really was doing this very quickly at 11pm)

They're very appealing wee things, but I've realised that I'm such an idiotic perfectionist that the shut lines and slightly wonky proportions annoy me. I know.

Seem to fetch about £10-20 online each when mint/boxed, for these early '80s ones.

[Parky]

Is it worth PM'ing Mr Lobster for his advice on how to shift a load of die casts quickly? You never know he might be interested in some (what with being a registered dealer in such things)

 

Or he might view you as competition and trigger some kind of Die Cast War. Rather like the Scottish ice cream wars but with less Rossi and more Lesney.

 

That could be fun. Life isn't worth living if you don't have a visit from a massive cockney at 2am bellowing "LEAVE DA 'OT WHEELS IN DA BOX SUNSHINE AND NO-ONE GETS 'URT, UNDERSTAAAAAAND?"

[Datsuncog]

On 4/27/2018 at 4:28 PM, Parky said:

Is it worth PM'ing Mr Lobster for his advice on how to shift a load of die casts quickly? You never know he might be interested in some (what with being a registered dealer in such things)

Or he might view you as competition and trigger some kind of Die Cast War. Rather like the Scottish ice cream wars but with less Rossi and more Lesney.

That could be fun. Life isn't worth living if you don't have a visit from a massive cockney at 2am bellowing "LEAVE DA 'OT WHEELS IN DA BOX SUNSHINE AND NO-ONE GETS 'URT, UNDERSTAAAAAAND?"

Mmm, if the wheels fall off the Sale of the Century tomorrow, I may well do that... though I think it's either a case of putting in the hours (and hours, and hours) painstakingly photographing, uploading, listing, watching, packing, posting each and every one through online sales to fetch top dollar, or else boot them off to a dealer at a few pennies on the pound to get the dining room back. Neither really appeals, due to my personality encompassing extreme meanness coupled with astonishing bone-idleness, in one bad-tempered package (I don't know how Mrs DC puts up with me, really...)

I'd gone down the car boot route eight years ago with some success (just sorted everything into '£10 box', '£5 box', '£2 box' and '£1 box', with discounts along the lines of one free of equal value if you buy five or more from a box - plus one or two real gems priced separately), and then the same again with an out-of-control vinyl collection two years back. These are some of the remainder from back then, plus many others that I've now decided I can live without... I'd been steeling myself to begin the car-boot circuit after Easter, but when TAZ bled out on Easter Monday, that kinda put the mockers on that little plan...

I'm sure Sr Lobster would have no issue with some good-natured, healthy competition...

[Split_Pin]

I' d be interested in the Bluebird for definite Tim, it would be a great 'first' for my collection as I dont have any Tomicas at all.

[Split_Pin]

Btw I know its a bit far but I had great success in shifting about 2/3 of my collection at the Falkirk Toy Fair a few years back. Its £15 for a table and its held on the first Sunday of every month.

 

I actually made most of my coin from other traders before it opened and I never saw any of my former collection for sale on their stalls.

 

People have to pay a quid to get in and I generally found everyone there to be decent and paid close to or right on your asking price. Any haggling was polite!

 

Worth a try?

[Datsuncog]

^^^ Yep, toy fairs are a great way to go - I'd planned to get a table at the North Down model railway expo and model swapmeet this weekend, but Rennering got in the way, rather... though if the Fairy Chodfather option falls through, that's well worth considering!

Since I've sent Blokey the pics of all my sales models, I might have to wait until he gives me a yea or nay on the job lot before offering them elsewhere, lest he accuse me of wiping his eye if certain rarities have done a vanishing act... but the Bluebird is indeed a cracking wee model! I've another pull-back version of the same casting, owned for a long time - not even sure whether it's also Tomica, but it is one of my all-time favourites.

You've first dibs on this one, yeah?