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"Other items"

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 11:13 am
by Bonzothecat
I donĀ“t know if anyone have found the maker of the mystery-car on the home page under "Other items"? Here is a qualified guess, though:
I had one of those myself, and recently got the opportunity to buy another one from the Swedish eBay. At the same time I bought, what the seller called, a Jowett Javelin. This was very similar as the "Austin", and I have no doubt that they are made at the same factory. This, however, was marked with "BETAL" on the inside. I read somewhere that Betal was a small firm that made cheap toys, like cars and other things. I am sure some of you knows more about this.
Have a look at the pictures:

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Images resized by Ghosthunter.

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 12:08 pm
by GHOSTHUNTER
The little Austin is a rather strange model as it looks more like a cartoon car but is generally accepted by Austin collectors as representing an Austin car. We have seen this on the forum before...viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5937&hilit=betal

Another oddity is the lack of any brand name or logo which we know Betal used on other diecast vehicles and because of this the model often comes up as a 'Mystery Model' found by other collectors.

Ghosthunter.

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2019 12:22 pm
by Bonzothecat
However, "mystery cars" are quite an exciting topic! And just because the makers name is on the car, doesn't always mean I get much wiser.
I found this little pick-up, just marked "Made in England". Shortly after I found the lorry and it said "Arbur Products" underneath. I have searched the internet but can't find anything about it. Can someone help me with that?

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2019 12:41 pm
by GHOSTHUNTER
Yes, have a look in here...http://www.robertnewson.co.uk/articles/Arbur.html

Ghosthunter.

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2019 9:37 pm
by fixer
why have I always thought the "Austin" was a DCMT creation :| :|

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 8:59 am
by Bonzothecat
Thank you, Ghosthunter! A fascinating article. I would never have found that myself on the net! And how true, as he says in the first part, that we use the "flimsiest of evidence" to decide what car it is. Looks like I will have to move the pick-up to the Tempo-room, instead. ;)
However, even if it is a jungle, I have a few more I would like an expert opinion about.
The first is a small truck (I am missing the trailer), just a bit over the 11a tanker in size. Its quite a nice model with a separate frame. There is no text on it, at all, but it looks British to me.

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 12:24 pm
by lionel-honda
The small green truck is a Benbros from the TV Series of toys. It originally came with a yellow or red logging trailer and one wooden log (dowel actually).

Beautiful little toy.

Scott

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:05 pm
by johnboy
I think they're nice models, there's a link with more details here:

https://www.diecastvintagetoys.co.uk/be ... er-tractor

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:37 pm
by DrJeep
It's a really nice little model, though the casting quality wasn't always the best...

Re: "Other items"

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:36 pm
by GHOSTHUNTER
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