#tranquilcollecting
I've had this one stirring since I did the Autogrand feature way back in February. I thought it deserved it's own spotlight. And I've recently managed to acquire a standard one so it's time to take a good look at what I think is the pick of the Autogrand range.
Is there anything cooler than a Porsche with a roof rack? Not much. And these cars are defnitely some of the most awesome diecasts I've got my hands on this year.
The mail call is a bit more of a rarity these days in my household. Bills, mortgage, food. Day to day life means the diecast collecting (especially for the more expensive brands) is sporadic at the very best. But sometimes I have a little bit left over to treat myself and given Tomica just released one of my favourite Kei trucks of all time, I decided now was a good time.
Model: Racing Champions Mint Buick Regal Grand National & Hot Wheels GMC Syclone Line: 2017 series release 2 & 2020 mainline. Ebay links: Racing Champions Buick Regal & Hot Wheels GMC Syclone My car taste is as broad as it is long, but if you've been one of the people keeping up with my Lamley …
You may recall seeing this in my earlier post on the Schuco BMW Isetta, where I had used this in a comparison with the German "bubble car" and vintage Kei trucks from Tomica. Given it's such a cool little car, I thought it's about time it gets space for itself, and given that it's the only R360 in this scale, the new Single File feature is a perfect platform.
This is a perfect article to demonstrate what motivates me in diecast collecting: obscure but interesting brands, vintage European cars and for those on a tighter budget, just how much bang you get for your buck.
Finally I have my hands on some of the fantastic metal from Majorette, and hopefully this will be the start of something great....
If you've read my previous posts you'll know I like to travel and when I do go abroad I try to bring home diecast each time. The more obscure the better, and these cars are one of my favourite finds.
I've been looking forward to finally getting a Majorette into my writing. And what a place to start.
Tomica's Limited Vintage Hinos have been some of the most desirable 1/64s of the past few years. Monsters, full of tiny details, opening trailers and oozing with retro Japanese chic. And the demand has been high, prices have quickly risen to the point where to some of us they have fast become unobtanium. But today we're not going to be serving up any more (highly deserved) hyperbole on those. We're taking a little step back into the Japanese brand's back catalogue to look at the one of the ancestors of the modern TLVN Hinos.
With this Single File post, we've finally got to the end of the Welly Polish series, a surprising addition to the Chinese brand's catalogue. And the last vehicle in the series is the most modern; the FSO Polonez Caro Plus.
It's a truth widely acknowledged that anything with the Mooneyes livery on it is instant cool, and in the world of diecast, Hot Wheels are solid proof of that.
We're almost through Welly's set of Polish vehicles now, and in part 3 we're going to be looking at their take on the long lived Polski Fiat 125p.
When the Lamley team discussed the new Single File series introduced by David Kiley, John joked that myself and fellow contributor Graham Heeps would be all over it, given our rather unique collections. And he was right, this feature is a great opportunity to present to you some truly obscure things. My kind of place entirely then!
Welly have done a fabulous service to Polish and Eastern Bloc vehicles recently, and I'd originally planned to cover them all in one go, but the article sat in my drafts for a while, needing some tweaks to wording and photography. Then the new Single File series came along and gave me a good opportunity to split the cars up as some of them are unique to this scale.
This was a diecast that was high on my list to write about, but both my examples were stored away out of sight. I came across them again recently and decided to finally put some words down.
Keen eyed Lamley readers will have seen this before when I introduced you all to the High Speed manufactured models comissioned by German marketing company Grell. The other day I recalled a conversation I had a few years ago in Berlin, and it gave me the idea to take this particular model on my daily walk.
A side by side with these two has been on the cards since I did a comparison with the two Mk1 Golfs from Schuco and Greenlight back in February. I'm bringing the Schuco car back this time for a head to head with the Mk2 GTI from Tomica's Limited Vintage Neo line.
It's hard to put my finger on just why I love this old Schuco but love it I do. I'm not sure I even recall where I got it from. But it's always been close to hand, on show somewhere.
Hot Wheels have always done a sterling service to air cooled Volkswagen enthusiasts. The Beetle and T1 and T2 vans have been present in various forms for a while in a multitude of Hot Wheels lines. The Type 181. The Variant "Squareback". I could go on. Even the VW Brasilia has featured.
The Nissan DeltaWing is such a unique car, I'm surprised that only Spark have risen to the occasion to model it in 1/64. But to be honest I can think of few companies more qualified to give it a shot, given the legendary quality of their 1/43 scale race cars.
Model: Minichamps Porsche 934 RSR (Helmut Kelleners, ADAC Eifelrennen, 1976) & Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Seikel Motorsports, Le Mans 24, 2007) Line: Minichamps 1/64 Ebay link: Minichamps 1/64 Porsche Why I am featuring it: The fact that this was published before I'd even begun writing has been a bit of a godsend really, as I'd …
Continue reading "Lamley Daily: A pair of Minichamps Porsches"
A bit like any diecast collector, I spend a lot of time trawling through eBay listings looking for bargains and oddities, restoration opportunities and our personal holy grail cars. It's on these eBay trawls I discovered all these cars, and while they're the scale we are used to on Lamley, they're perhaps not the material …
Continue reading "Plastic fantastic: F-Toys, Aoshima and Japanese plastic miniatures"
Those who know me will know one of my other big passions in life after cars and travel is history, particularly military history. And as a subsequent offshoot, I collect militaria. It's always nice then when my hobbies combine.