Matchbox wrecker restorations from the distant past

[Tinman]

Are they all out there or did you keep one as it was too nice to release.?

Two customs I've kept: Both are Matchbox 1-75s, an XKE I made into the convertible version. It was one of my first customs involving heavy body modification. I finally sold it a year or two ago. The 2nd one is a Dodge stake truck that I converted to a "tractor" or cab to pull an M2b Davies Tire trailer. I still have the custom cab. I couldn't find a photo of it and it's currently stored (goodness knows where). The rest have all gone into the collections of others. After doing about a dozen or so restorations and customs, I decided to keep track of them. When the count went over 1,500 I gave up on tracking them. I literally had file boxes full of sales receipts/records, notes and plain paper printed photographs of the models. It had become too much and I got rid of those boxes and just stopped counting the models and saving records. My best guess is now over 2,500 unwanted models and discarded models being restored or customized and brought back to a new life. Another 100 or so models would be from owners who wanted a childhood model restored to like new condition.

[misterpop]

Same here Joe but you have me on numbers...Very theraputic I find it.

[Tinman]

When I first started to tinker with the models, one of the first things I wanted to make or imitate was an authentic looking reverse color 13d wrecker. I labored over the thinned down booms until I had them just right. I did re-spray after re-spray until I got the colors right (or super close). I searched for models with "Lesney" embossed on the wheels. I took to looking for models with the correct low profile ejector ring. I experimented with the silver trim application. I was perfecting the round overs on my axle ends. I even used some original spun rivets using the glue together method. Then I realized that I had created a fake, a fraud. I dismantled the final product and decided that I would stop rounding over axle ends and never again put something together with anything other than screws or drilled rivets. When I see how much fear and loathing Nick the Greek has wrought on the hobby, I know I made the right decision early on. A restored model or an imitation of a rare model should look good sitting in a display but should never attempt to pass any sort of basic inspection.

[misterpop]

Agreed-----

[Squid]

A restored model or an imitation of a rare model should look good sitting in a display but should never attempt to pass any sort of basic inspection.

Agreed 100%. I have a model that might be up for a wheel swap (I may start a new topic for it tomorrow). Even though I don't believe it would replicate a rare variation, I'd want to come up with a way to make the wheel swap obvious.