Monday, December 26, 2011

AMERICAN GRRAFITTI THE MYSTERIOUS BLONDE'S '56 FORD THUNDERBIRD


The Revell American Grafitti white 1956 Ford T-bird offered in 1:25 scale diecast with car hop figure is a pretty nice depiction of the '56 T-bird used in the 1973 movie American Grafitti and driven by the "mysterious blonde" Susan Sommers. The car hop figure on roller skates is the real value in this set, as she is what every guy would like to have delivering his Mel's drive-in burger and shake to his open window. She is more accurately detailed in 1:24 scale than the 1:25 scale model T-bird because the car's grille is not blacked out and the wide whitwall tires are too wide compared to actual car used in the movie. American Grafitti is a cult classic and the Revell '56 T-bird has a special reminiscent quality and place for every diecast car collector and their diorama display.-- Craige P. Keen Shop here

Thursday, December 15, 2011

CORGI 1/43 ONLY FOOLS & HORSES SET



Del Trotter has become a national institution along with his famous vehicles from the seven series award winning British TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses. This two piece set comprises of Del Boy and Rodney’s ‘Trotters Independent Traders’ Reliant-Regal Supervan III and Del’s green Ford Capri.  These 1:36 scale die cast vehicles boast full body decoration, the ‘2 wheeled van’ features; Del’s Suitcase, opening side and rear door, furry dice, ‘tax in post’ sticker, and the ‘Cap-ri Ghia’ includes; an opening boot and orange wing mirrors and aerials. Shop here

HOT WHEELS 1/64 FLINTSTONES FLINTMOBILE


Hot Wheels back in 1994 released this 1:64 sized (standard mass produced Matchbox, Hot Wheels size) version of the Flintmobile. It does somewhat resemble the one from the cartoon series in design but not in colour. The one in the cartoon was made out of red logs and had a white (with the same red coloured logs supporting it) canopy and wheels. It also didn't have a middle support log on the canopy but this is obviously present in the Hot Wheels version to give support to the canopy otherwise touching it, it would break pretty easily. In the cartoon the white canopy also hung down a bit at the driver end of the roof, this is not present in the Hot Wheels car. See the vehicle out of its blister pack in the customer images part of this page.

One of the reasons Hot Wheels may have gone with the wrong colour is that the canopy on this Hot Wheels vehicle actually changes colour if you dunk it in a sink full of hot water. 90's neons is the colour it changes to, I haven't personally done this with my vehicle as I'm not sure it changes back after you've washed away the brown and I'd prefer mine to be brown to whatever neon is. If you get one and do dunk it, I'd love to hear what it changes to and if it goes back in the comment section of this review.

The other thing that lets this Hot Wheels car down a bit is that it doesn't roll very smoothly (fast) and squeaks a lot when doing so. If you're planning on leaving it in the packaging the blister card it comes does nothing to enhance the display either. It's pretty much your standard blue Hot Wheels card of the 90s with the red Hot Wheels ribbon logo at the top. See my customer images for the back of the card but there's nothing special on there either other than telling you this came from some breakfast cereals that I've never heard of but seem to be rip offs of Kellogg's Coco Pops and Fruitloops. Cereal box coupon mail ins might have been how you got these in 94 but now they are quite commonly found on E-bay and elsewhere. However most sellers who sell this can't spell, so try variations of the correct spelling by leaving out the first t or other letters in Flintstones or Flintmobile when searching. As far as I know Hot Wheels are the only manufacturer who has released this vehicle in 1:64 size.-- James N Sympson Shop here

JOHNNY LIGHTNING - THE FLINSTONES 'BARNEY RUBBLE'S SPORTS CAR'


 Don't get me wrong this is a pretty cool car, that's why I bought it but that doesn't mean I'll just it rate it five stars when there are obvious flaws. Firstly and most obviously the wheels on this thing are rubber tyres with shinny hubcaps. Neither of these things had been invented back in the stone age. The TV show had circular rocks, I'm not saying they should have used rocks, plastic would have done the job as long as it somehow resembled rocks appearance wise. Plus the car in the cartoon was red, this one is brown and light brown (granted the colour of many trees and logs). So maybe you would let that slide except for the fact that for display purposes the card behind the blister bubble uses the image from the cartoon of Barney driving Fred in this very car so you can immediately see they are not the same. The blister pack in its entirety displays very well so it is a shame that the die cast car looks so different for those who wish to keep it in the unopened packet. You also get a nice little original filmstrip animation art cel. There are about 20 different ones of these so if ordering online who knows which one you'll get. The one I've got has Fred and Barney queing in a line behind three other guys. If you are going to take the car out and throw away the packaging you can actually get the cel with the exact same image as is on the card which would probably be the best one to display with the car out of the packet. 

The car itself also has a little hole in the floor for feet powering action. So it is a nice little die cast and to my knowledge no one else has done a 1/64 Barney Rubble's Sports Car so you can't really complain. What else is out there though that would go very nicely with this one is Hot Wheels Fred Flintstones Flintmobile
. So you could park these side by side on display.--James N Sympson  Shop here

THE FLINTSTONES



The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It has since been re-released on both DVD and VHS. The show celebrated its 50th anniversary on September 30, 2010.
The show's popularity rested heavily on its juxtaposition of modern everyday concerns in the Stone Age setting. It has been announced that Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show) will produce a revival of The Flintstones for the Fox network. Development is set to begin in fall 2011 and the first episode is scheduled to air in 2013.

MINICHAMPS 1/43 BMW Z3 - JAMES BOND 007 'GOLDENEYE'

BMW Z3 Blue E36/7 James Bond Car From Movie "Goldeneye" 1/43 Diecast Model Car by Minichamps

BMW Z3 Blue E36/7 James Bond Car From Movie "Goldeneye" 1/43 Diecast Model Car by Minichamps



The beautiful model in the specially-packaged series of cars from the James Bond films is the BMW driven by 007 in 'Goldeneye'.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

JOHNNY LIGHTNING LOST IN SPACE THE CLASSIC SERIES


         

    Robot B-9                            The Chariot



Jupiter 2                       Space Pod  


From the creative mind of producer Irwin Allen came one of America’s most famous and most popular TV series LOST IN SPACE. The show’s debut was on September 15, 1965 and ran for 3 seasons on CBS. The first year was filmed in black and white with the second two in color. 83 episodes in all were produced 4 more than the original Star Trek’s 79! The first 2 seasons employed cliff-hanger ending the show closing on a freeze frame with the words “To Be Continued Next Week, Same Time, Same Channel.” Fan might also be interested to know that the storyline had the Jupiter 2 launching its voyage from Earth on October 16, 1997 way off into the “future!”

Playing Mantis delivers yet another innovative blockbuster to the die-cast world 4 famous models from LOST IN SPACE each packaged on its own beautiful blister card! Collect all four. The Robinson family’s home and spaceship, the Jupiter 2 was the cornerstone of their daily existence. The highly mobile Space Pod could land an exploration team into the most treasonous of terrains and back out again! The Chariot a state of the art land and sea rover, was an integral part of the Robinson’s space exploration arsenal from Day one. And who could ever target the Robinson family’s true voice of reason their Environmental Control Robot B-9 “Danger! Danger! Will Robinson!”

The fun doesn’t end yet. As an extra collectables bonus, collect all 50 LOST IN SPACE film clips. There’s one inside anywhere else! Exciting action scenes and stills filmed right on the studio sets!

Johnny Lightning Blues Brothers Mobile



This is a must for any movie die-cast vehicle collector. The ex police car which starred in so many scenes including two great police car chases is well made by Johnny Lightning. Besides the car you also get a bonus show card, in this case of the orphanage the brothers were on a mission from God to raise the money to save. The car is actually also in that picture in front of the building. This all means it displays nicely still in the blister pack if you're a collector who isn't into opening the packets. The vehicle has rubber tyres, the P1 and the police star logos looking like they've been peeled off like in the movie. 

Johnny Lightning also released the vehicle from the sequel Blues Brothers 2000. --James N Sympson  Shop here