Junkman

Barreiros Dodge 3700:

And no.

Seeing that the Matchbox is 228 mm (9.0 in) long, it's most likely not from the same tooling. It even scales out pretty accurately to 1/25.

That no plating bit is a tad off putting, tbh.

This pretty much sums up the model kit industry for me.

Norev, IXO, Sunstar, Bburago, Maisto, Jada, Greenlight, Minichamps, CMC... It's incredible how much money you can make if you produce what people buy.

Heller celebrates 60 years of continued bankruptcy. That's an HY low loader on the top shelf. They shared the stand with Zvezda, so there seems to be a cooperation going on. The good news is the Estafettes were only delayed, not scrapped. R8 RMC is a welcome reissue.

Mr Delespinay did much more than that. He is one of the unsung pioneers, heroes and ambassadors of our hobby. He started with Heller as a designer and project engineer, then left when he felt that his efforts at Heller were underappreciated. Just ask him and he will tell you many a hilarious anecdote about what an operation it actually was. He left for the USA on a one way ticket in 1970 and became a professional slot car racer. He also worked for Matchbox in Playa del Rey, to come up with an HO slot car series to compete with Aurora and Tyco. He came up with the concept of using magnetised wheels for improved traction. After Matchbox's demise, he unsuccessfully tried to market the concept to other companies until Auto World took it on as an aftermarket add on. All the while he continued to be a professional slot car racer and designed a chassis for Parma. In 1973 he landed a job at Cox to revive their Eldon slot car range and sure enough they became the first ones who mass produced his idea of a slot car with a separate traction magnet. Now he is a restorer, toy and real car collector. We both are on the hobbyDB advisory board, so I can draw on his wealth of knowledge. There was another stillborn project while he was at Heller: It's a 911R and if Mr Delespinay's ideas would have made it, it'd be the only model kit in history where the windscreen and backlight would have been held in place by rubber seals. Here is a young Mr Delespinay with his Alpine while working for Heller in 1967: Now, if you will please build one of his projects while he was at Heller, the Renault 8, in his honour. Please note that Heller releases this kit with its original box art, without making a lot of fanfare about it (yes, this is possible). Now, the old Heller box art was done by Paul Lengellé. Just google image him and you shall be rewarded.

Have you counted the slats?

Announced for second quarter 2018, item number 99731.

Announced for June release, item number 84072.

Just announced for August release, item number 84071. Man, I sure hope they don't screw that one up.

The main difference is that the TE was built in England and the FF in France, using a few locally sourced components. The 'regular' kit contains the parts to build both versions. The "coffret" apparently contains two of the kits, which could also yield the possibility to build this contraption, a TED40:

That plastic is so rubbish, I'd not be surprised if it's going to warp in years hence.

2004, ay? Is it the one made from a semi translucent grey softish plastic?

A 1950s yank tank would be right at home in a 1958 London street. Give it an embassy reg of an exotic colony. LOL, true. You are really 'lucky' if you are into heavy haulage, since that's Brame's real speciality.

That's roughly what they sell for in GBP over here. Which is bad. Self import isn't any better, thanks to the insane postage cost from the US, a 12 Pound processing fee per parcel and a horrendous 20% VAT on the invoice amount including postage. Don't start the revolution without me!

And sure enough there was a ghost in form of a Matra 650: And plans for a Matra MS80 F1: Why those were never issued is unknown, in particular the MS80, which actually won the GP WC in 1969.

Tamiya never made an Alpine A210. Only Heller did. They made two racing Ferraris, a P4 and a 512S, which can both be pegged exctly against the GT40s they lost out to. They also made two racing Porsches, a 908 and a 917. The 917 is naturally superseded by the Fujimi, but the Heller's oily bits can be used to decurbside a Fujimi. The 908 is sadly best forgotten, its proportions are way off. The formula 1 cars would be nice to have indeed. They are the Lotus 49, the Brabham BT33 and the McLaren M7A. They also made Matra and a Brabham formula 2 kits.

Is that a good or a bad thing?

I really do appreciate the reissue of the R8 Gordini, prices for which have gone nuts lately. It's a well travelled set of moulds, having been issued by AMT and Union in the interim, so I presumed it lost. I really do hope the equally worldly-wise tooling of the Alpine A210 and the racing Ferraris survived and see reissues soon. I also appreciate the comeback of the C4 van (for which they apparently lost the 'Waterman' licence) and the Hotel Taxi. Either of these make excellent bases for tow truck conversions and yes, hot rods.

They are heads and shoulders above those, but still not really good. Not only are they 1980s tools, but the E Type appears to be notoriously difficult to get right proportion wise. The DHC is quite okay, but the FHC IMO has a slightly too high greenhouse and the tailgate/backlight are incorrectly shaped. They also have the steering wheel on the wrong side, but that should be a relatively easy fix.

I would guess the usual EUR 25-30 range. It's not yet listed on the websites of the big mailorder shops, which usually sell Heller kits a bit cheaper than the actual Heller shop. If you need help with finding mailorder shops in France that ship internationally, please feel free to ask.

The tractor is a reissue. A long awaited reissue, I must say. Prices for these were going a bit gaga lately.