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That's a bold statement from me, but in all seriousness I'm going to have to calm down a bit, I've far too many 'projects' in the attic and have to stop adding to them in order to start sorting them. I've been aware of this for some time, but thought I'd have one last bash on ebay before going 'cold turkey'. I found a suitably large pile (40 items) with a suitably low start bid of 99p, and postage a bit on the high side at £10. I could see a few items in there that I could do with, SF Pipe Truck being one and King Size Fordson being another so although the condition of many of them was obviously pretty poor I put in my 99p bid and waited. Whilst waiting for the auction end I had a wee look at the sellers other items and found another joblot, 21 items, ending about 10 minutes after the first one with a 99p start and postage again a bit high at £7. I didn't pay much attention to the models themselves but had spotted a green 19 Lotus which would keep my orange one and SF purple one company.

Hmmmmm, what to do? I did not fancy getting stung for £17 postage, and there was no mention of combining costs for multiple wins. The first auction ended - mine for 99p. I watched the second one count down. No bidders, so far so good. A quick message to the seller re the possibility/cost of chucking lot 2 in with lot 1. In due course a message back from the seller - just pay the extra postage and he'll chuck them in, he has no idea how much that'll be and he'll invoice me after he's been to the post office. I paid for lot 1 and waited...and waited..... Eventually the seller messages me to say that the combined postage was only a pound or so more than the total I've already paid for Lot 1 and he can't be bothered sending a PayPal invoice for such a small amount

So am I happy - well yes I am. Although there is nothing in here particularly htf, and the condition of many leads me to think they've been stored in salt water, and the paint fade on others would suggest exposure to more sunshine than you'd expect in Scotland, I am very happy. There are quite a few transitional / early Superfasts that I had on my 'wants list' - Pipe Truck, Ford Refuse Wagon, Greyhound Coach, Lotus Europa, Porsche 910 and more but above this, there are a few in here I'd had as a kid and completely forgotten about like the pink Dodge Dragster. So, for once, there will be no announcements on what I am and am not keeping - I think I'll be taking my time with this lot and perhaps familiarising myself with the SF range a bit more - maybe 2014 will be my 'Superfast Year'

Hi Ewan,

Boy you must have a big attic for all the job lots you have bought of late!

That SF#8 Wildcat looks a very different shade which even if it was a sunfaded car would be very unusual. Can you post a better image of it?

Some of the other SF models look to be in reasonable condition. Not a bad buy mate.

Here we go Sir

The #8 looks to have been a custom at some point - I'd found the pink paint on the inside of the casting and then noticed the front of the baseplate was loose....

I've only just started to look through this lot and am already finding it very educational

I realise this is probably nothing new to many of you, but I very rarely have more than one of any particular model in hand at once so the opportunity to compare is quite an eye opener, particularly regarding how the paint fades.
The Europas are pretty obvious... The Hustlers too (the darker one has a green baseplate, the other one is black) But I had not appreciated how the metallic red could end up resembling the bronze - the 'bronze' VW has no interior either And the there's the windows.......

Your ford d series refuse truck looks brown?interesting colour fade?,the beetle without the interior would be a great error find if the base rivets are good and tight.
dave

Ewan wrote:Here we go Sir

The #8 looks to have been a custom at some point - I'd found the pink paint on the inside of the casting and then noticed the front of the baseplate was loose....

Ewan, that is certainly a possibility and given the amount of paint loss and the wear on those wheels i recon this car has spent most of its life in a sand pit. Maybe it was a beach find by a metal detectorist??

MOKOSEX wrote:Your ford d series refuse truck looks brown?interesting colour fade?,the beetle without the interior would be a great error find if the base rivets are good and tight.
dave

The plastic part of the 7c Refuse Truck is often found in various shades of brown - clearly the result of fading. (The section which is covered by the metal part is usually affected to a lesser degree and remains more grey than brown.) It is the same phenomenon as on the cattle box of the 37c Cattle Truck.

The problem with the Beetle is that on this model in particular the base is a very loose fit and comes off easily. Examples without interiors and indeed loose bodies and bases are often encountered in bargain boxes at swapmeets and flea markets.

Christian - you are indeed correct, the baseplate on the Beetle is easily pulled off so it looks like the interior was removed by a previous owner.

Very nice job lot Ewan, the red pipe truck looks like good. Not an easy one to find in superfast. J

nearlymint wrote:Very nice job lot Ewan, the red pipe truck looks like good. Not an easy one to find in superfast. J

I like it too - definitely one for keeping. I'm developing quite a soft spot for these early SF commercials