Last week I visited a local collectables shop. Out came the shopkeeper with three trays of recently acquired goodies. Now most of these were out of scale, but others were very acceptable.
This Lone Star Bren Gun Carrier had been very nicely repainted. It included two cut down figures in plastic. £5. Not sure about the camouflage, the closest I could find is Empire troops in the Desert Campaign, so will probably reassign it. The paintwork and finish is very nice, very clean. I think the previous owner had paint stripped it.
This Welly (Chinese-made) die-cast is a Mercedes-Benz 1936 500K, in a 1/36 scale. Picked it up for 50p!
This Dinky jeep (left) had only a few chips on its khaki paintwork, and original transfers. I will construct some crew and replace the missing spare wheel at the back. It cost £5. It will join my WW2 American army.
The W. Britains 25pdr above had lost much of its paintwork, and the barrel spring has only a rather poor six foot range for matchsticks. Cost £3. Fine, I only wanted the wheels. Footnote, the gun is proving very useful. It will be converted into a post-1900 naval gun, while the trail will furnish a carriage for a pre-1870 deck gun....... no waste here!
The figures below cost £5, comprising four odds, and four halflings. The latter were no doubt used to man vehicles. I will do the same, but restore their legs.
Great haul MGB!
ReplyDeleteCheers MJT. I am pleased with the haul. Have been working on the two jeeps and three Bren gun carriers. The 'halflings' have also furnished some very acceptable crew. OK, it did total £30, so I better get something worthwhile out of it all, or I won't be able to sleep at night, lol.
DeleteMichael
Congratulations on your shopping trips Michael, you came up with some wonderful bargains! The Mercedes is gorgeous and the armoured vehicles will work perfectly on your table! I look forward to seeing your vastly improved final versions!
ReplyDeleteCheers Brad. I must admit, I do like collecting the 1/30s scaled sports cars. Should really have some more mundane transport. Still, they certainly add colour to any street scene. Nice that this one is German, too. Very lucky with this collection, two cars at 50p each, daft!
DeleteMichael
Your lucky to have a local supply of figures , I have a 'house clearance' type shop nearby which occasionally has the odd figure or two.
ReplyDeleteHi Tony, the shop is really a base for his card and comic business, in which he travels to shows. His toy car section has increased, and occasionally it includes military items. Before that, I relied on charity shops. But they are drying up as a source, modern toys are non-history linked, and much more is sold on Ebay.
DeleteMichael
Fantastic finds! Perhaps it is the fact that I'm in the US, but all I ever find at our local charity shops are cheap knock-off plastic "army men" for prices more than they cost to buy at a "big box" store. When I visit my mom, I try to take in a large open air fleamarket, but prices are far from reasonable for anything considered remotely "antique" (anything made before 2000 apparently judging by the merchandise)
ReplyDeleteHi John, I have several hobbies which are tied to finds in charity shops. I now accept that much of the good stuff is actually 30 years old, or more, and is now scarce. For example, I have about 100 Christmas tree baubles, bells, grapes, etc, that are made of mercury glass and pre1980, some of mine date back to the 1930s. I used to pick them up for 10p each. Last year the charity shops furnished nothing, all they had were modern, matt coloured plastic! While on Ebay vintage glass has become quite expensive. Fortunately, Airfix toy soldiers have been reproduced, and some of these still appear in charity shops. Still, times are changing, as is the quality, lol.
DeleteMichael