Hot Wheels 'Scorcher'

Not all the HW in-house designs are great, but The Scorcher caught my eye - I have quite a few of these mattel designed cars and it s a good showcase for any budding designer to show off their flair and skill.

Pixar Cars 2 - Officer (Chase model)

I have been threatening to write a blog post on the models I have got from the Disney Pixar Cars range for ages - for some reason I just can't get my arse into gear.

However, I am going to make more of an effort from now on in - famous last words.....

Of all the places that I would think I could by a chase model, Heraklion airport duty free is not one of them.

For those of you who may remember by Bali Airport post, I was in a trance like state when I copped eyes on the latest releases of the Cars 2 range. Some of these not even hit the shops yet in mainland Europe.

A simple and effective model - I can't even remember the part that this character played in the film!

What does puzzle me is that if these models are aimed at children, how on earth are they to properly realise that this is a chase model - more to the point, will they be checking eBay for this?

Hot Wheels VW Brasilia

I do like the randoms that Hot Wheels produce. Not that I want them on display or stuff like that, just that they are different and non-standard. Everyone on the MCCH wants to see cars of yesteryear within the line-up or their wish list of Americana current or past.

Apart from Tomica producing all sorts of Japanese production vehicles, Hot Wheels - for some reason - also offer the obscure.

The Volkswagen Brasilia was a compact car made in Brazil between 1973 and 1982.
The Brasilia (named after Brazil's capital city) looked like a smaller version of the Volkswagen 412 Variant, but was in fact based on the Volkswagen Beetle. It was developed by Volkswagen do Brasil (Volkswagen of Brazil), which had at the time a unique and somewhat exotic line of cars, which spawned such rarities as the SP2. The Brasilia was equipped with the Volkswagen air cooled engine from the Beetle.

It is not a normal model, but I am very glad that the decision was made to produce it and it is welcome within the garage.

Super Weekend - Team GB

It was amazing to witness Jess Ennis & Mo Farah win Gold for Great Britain over the last 24 hours. OK, it was on the telly but there was no hope in hell of getting a ticket for that one.

Even Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in the Tennis (a result that pleases me no end as that is one less gold the Swiss have).

Team GB goes from strength to strength and I am really looking forward to seeing some of the events we have got tickets for this week.

The whole country is riding on a high at the moment and we have forgotten about the problems with the economy and the tough times we are experiencing. 

Long may Team GB's success continue into next week.

Hot Wheels Ferrari 458 Italia

Very few Ferrari's float my boat. The 328 GTB and 456GT are amongst the ones that I really do like - throw in the Mondial for good measure.

Jeremy Clarkson loves this car - and claimed it was one of the most stunning models from Maranello. On firs sight, I disagreed - it looked pedestrian somewhat to me.

However, having got the Hot Wheels version, this has warmed the old cockles. A beautiful little design. And in 1/64 scale, it does well.

I would like to see up close the 1/43 version as I reckon that would display very well in the Garage.

Bburago madness.....

I have cracked - I had a sudden rush of blood to my head and have now started to acquire the 1/43 Bburago range that is easily available all over Switzerland. In the last 72 hours, I must have spend over CHF100 on them, but have added around 15 new models the "garage".

As of early 2007, the company has been relaunched. It is now owned by the May Cheong Group which markets Maisto, so the company now has an issue analogous to Mattel owning both Hot Wheels and Matchbox. In order for both lines to be successful they must be differentiated in some manner. May Cheong's answer is to make Burago's offerings more European. A count from the two brands websites in 2011 confirms the two approaches. Out of 64 1/18 scale cars, Bburago only has 6 models that are not European - or 9 percent. Maisto, with 113 total 1/18 scale models, on the other hand, has 53 or 47 percent non-European. May Cheong is betting internal competition will be avoided by having the Maisto brand oriented at more global offerings. Many of the Bburago models being made at the time of the May Cheong takeover are now being produced again in Thailand and China, along with numerous new castings. By 2011, some models, like the smaller scale "Race and Play" series of "garage" scene Ferraris, were again appearing in retail stores like Toys-R-Us.

These are not going on display at all - far from it. For me, these models are significant as they remind me (as prev. blogged) of the 1/36 scale Corgi and Matchbox SuperKings of yesteryear. And more to the point, you can have a damn good play with them!

I don't know how many I will get - there are certain models like the Lambo Gallardo Police I will just avoid - no need.

I will put individual blogs up n each of them rather than a mass picture-fest.

Stay tuned.

Pixar Cars: Artie and #76 - Vinyl Toupee

It does nark me a little that on some models, you simply can't buy them as singles, OR you have to go via some stupid "pack" - like the launchers - to get the model.



#76 Vinyl Toupee cost CHF29.90, which I think is a little excessive for a standard car and some device that makes it go faster. But, as mentioned on a previous blog, it has now got to the stage where I just sigh, and hand over the cash. I am getting there, albeit is slowly - maybe time to raid the likes of eBay for those models only available in the States.

Artie is actually features in a scene of a TV editing suite on the Piston Cup, and #76 Vinyl Toupee of course features in the race itself.

The rest of my pixar Cars collection are actually in the UK, so next opportunity get, I wil try to get a complete collection "blogged up" here.