Vectis

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Thanks Glen.

[Ozbox]

This was the first Vectis auction I'd participated in. I made live bids on about 20 lots and won 4, including one pretty good buy and a couple of other reasonable items. I was impressed with the process - seemed to go very smoothly. I was staggered by the cream Mercury Cougar - £7,000 plus commission! I found that many apparently run of the mill models went for pretty high prices, compared to the estimates and other price guides. Maybe I was missing something....

Only downside for me is that, as I'm on the other side of the world, the auction didn't finish until after 1.00 am my time, so had a big sleep in the next morning. I'm also waiting to how much they charge me for postage and how long the package takes to get to Australia.

What I also found interesting is that many models' descriptions stated that they were variations not listed in Stannard. Has anyone checked whether those are included in Nick's guide?

[DrJeep]

What I also found interesting is that many models' descriptions stated that they were variations not listed in Stannard. Has anyone checked whether those are included in Nick's guide?

Vectis marks both error models and new variations as unlisted, which is logical but means that something like the 19d Lotus without racing numbers gets the ‘unlisted’ label. I didn’t see anything major that hasn’t been covered in the missing variations section here, though you’d want a good look at some of the silver-grey Cadillacs to check that they aren’t faded from lilac. The unlisted d-type with fine tread wheels was a bargain at £40 - I’ve only ever seen four or five of these and I think they’re by some way the rarest of all the 41b Jaguars. It’s unlisted in Stannard because he catalogues a different version of the base with these wheels, probably in error because he’d never seen this variation.

[Ozbox]

Did anyone join yesterday's Vectis Matchbox auction? I sat through most of it but bailed out before the end when it moved into Superfasts (which aren't really my thing - I'm a regular wheels bloke). Still, it was a long auction which meant it finished early morning for me (Australian time...).

I was struck by the overall price level of winning bids - they generally seemed pretty high to me (well above the "estimate" range). However there was much competition on many of the lots, which no doubt pushed up the prices.

The highlight was probably the lime green regular wheels 31c Lincoln Continental which went for £800, well above the (lowball) estimate but still well below what I thought would be market price. It did have a couple of minor chips and scratches, or maybe bidders were just cautious about the model. There was also an OK-looking Beales Bealesons Moving van (with a few chips, rusty axles and a deformed decal) that went for a pretty reasonable £170.

One thing I noted was that many of the models had small foam rubber pads stuck to their bases. Not sure what this was for - has anyone seen that done to models before?

Anyway, I picked up a couple of things that I'm pleased with, so a nice night for me. Just have to wait now to see how long they take to arrive in the post.

And also a hats off to the auctioneers. It was a big auction with nearly 760 lots - the actioneers must have cast iron voiceboxes to keep speaking for so long...

[tractorboy]

One thing I noted was that many of the models had small foam rubber pads stuck to their bases. Not sure what this was for - has anyone seen that done to models before?

I thought it might have been where they placed pins on the base of models to run on the Matchbox Motorway No12. Checked out this video and the pin placement was a foil strip so initially thought no but on this video you can see a small foam piece attached to foil. Was that similar to the foam pad you saw?

[DrJeep]

The piece of sponge is between the back wheels, which I think is the wrong place for a motorway pin unless the cars were intended to travel in reverse! I wonder if it’s something to do with holding them in place in a display?

[jsherwood]

I spent about £150 on a few reg wheel variations & boxes I didn't have - but not rare. I would have spent a bit more but I hate not examining the models and boxes in hand - especially for rarer items.

The rear rivet on the 31 Lincoln that sold for £800 looks nothing like those on any of my lincolns (and I have 12 reg/SF) - but I don't have a reg wheel with SF colour variation, not that it should make any difference to the rivet. It may put have some people off.

Not sure if I should post Vectis photos here so here's a link instead.


https://www.vectis.co.uk/lot/matchbox-r ... tal_850944

Cheers

John