RED VICTOR

[MatchboxFreak]

For those of us not in the U.K. and for those in the future, can we get a few photos of the item under discussion so we can use this thread as a reference?
Thank you
Kurt

[petethesweet]

Hi Kurt, There is a link on one of the other pages Pete.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Here we go, link brought forward...https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1958 ... SwXOBbe3u2

Ghosthunter.

[numi]

My opinion is that this Red Victor is the real deal and this seller in knowledgable & trustworthy.Members seem dissuaded by the pics as being matt/satin which is caused by the camera filter,basically ommiting any gloss or glare when taken.
Look closely at the glossy-patch reflections on this model and it shows the true paint finishes.The baseplate also had the gloss/satin filtered out and i see no tampering to the base rivet.The trim looks good too.
Also take a look at his other listings with red paint finishes,they are the same as matt/satin.
If i didnt already own one,i would surely take a bid!
numi

[Idris]

My opinion is that this Red Victor is the real deal and this seller in knowledgable & trustworthy.Members seem dissuaded by the pics as being matt/satin which is caused by the camera filter,basically ommiting any gloss or glare when taken.
Look closely at the glossy-patch reflections on this model and it shows the true paint finishes.The baseplate also had the gloss/satin filtered out and i see no tampering to the base rivet.The trim looks good too.

Having looked at the seller's other offerings, I see what you mean about his photographs showing satin finishes, so perhaps that argument can be put to one side. However, I still do not like the baseplate rivet which looks just too good. In my experience, the rivet pillar on the no-dashboard casting is too short, resulting in poor flaring of the head, even to the point of chisel/slotted-screwdriver cutting in order to secure the baseplate. I also worry that the trim looks too precise.
In truth, this is probably a model which requires evaluation in the hand and, ideally, comparison with an accepted genuine example. However, since the seller states that he does not accept returns (in clear breach of the Consumer Contracts Regulations which replaced the better-known and still oft quoted Distance Selling Regulations), that might prove problematic.

[petethesweet]

Hi Hugh Have you ever heard of some Red Victors being resprayed in the 70s , mainly for the collectors that couldn't get a true one. I can not clearly see the base plate & the rivet on my laptop Pete.

[AJR]

It's a fake. The silver has been applied with a brush too accurately and in places has slipped out of the lines.

[Idris]

Hi Hugh Have you ever heard of some Red Victors being resprayed in the 70s , mainly for the collectors that couldn't get a true one. I can not clearly see the base plate & the rivet on my laptop Pete.

No, I haven't heard that story.
If you scroll through the listing images, you will find a rivet close-up at the end.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Hi Hugh Have you ever heard of some Red Victors being resprayed in the 70s , mainly for the collectors that couldn't get a true one.

This is certainly plausable as during 1970, the #13 Dodge Wrecker truck was recreated in the rare 'Reverse Colours' at Lesney for some members of a then current Matchbox models collectors club. This model was not a radical departure from an original model and was identified by the use of crimped axle-ends. Sadly all these years later it has become just as elusive as an original reverse wrecker!

Ghosthunter.

[kay]

This is certainly plausable as during 1970, the #13 Dodge Wrecker truck was recreated in the rare 'Reverse Colours' at Lesney for some members of a then current Matchbox models collectors club. This model was not a radical departure from an original model and was identified by the use of crimped axle-ends. Sadly all these years later it has become just as elusive as an original reverse wrecker!

Ghosthunter.

One of these models will be on sale during the next Vectis Matchbox auction at the end of September....
Kay