Merry Very Late Christmas! (with Explanation!)

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Suncoast Diecasters

Yes, this is our December 2018 update, and yes, it’s super-duper late. As you know, I’ve been looking for a better job (thank God, literally, I am still employed). Job searches, networking, and various other et ceteras take up a lot of my time.

Beyond that, I’ve had other delays. My computer crashed — hard — and I had to take it into a shop to get repaired. That was in mid-December, near the middle of the ironically named holiday “rush”, and it was about nine days before I got it back.

Also, my water heater has developed a leak. I’ve had to do some minor repairs around the area, and I have to arrange for a plumber. Thank God, again literally, it’s still under warranty.

All this has also delayed my newest Christmas diorama photo. Since 2008, I’ve prefaced each December update with a new Christmas Panel. I do have most of the components for what would’ve been the Dec. 2018 panel sitting out; I just haven’t had time to actually set up the scene.

Not all the delays were bad, however. I spent Christmas Eve day and Christmas Day with relatives near Fort Myers. Their original plan was to arrange a rental car for me (to save wear on my old truck); but a couple of days after the initial call, my niece called me with an even better idea: she and her family were then at Disney World, leaving Christmas Eve morning. She said they would swing by and pick me up! And, my nephew and his fiance would bring me back on Christmas Day night! So, I not only got to spend two days with family, I was chauffeured both ways! Holiday wonderment!!

So, without any further further delay, please get to the photos!

December 2018

Aah, Christmas in Florida: Twinkly lights, and the doors open to let the fresh, cool air in!

Okay, the doors were open because a guy was working on the A/C. But still, Christmas in Florida!

Aauuugh! It’s a Martian war machine from War of the Worlds!

Actually, it’s an overhead grain bin, from Big Tractor Mike’s collection. …Aauuugh!

Our December meeting might be considered “O Canada 2.0(!)”, as we were visited by Canadian couple Glen and Robin. Both amparamedics, and both ambought these five ambulances (you see it now, right?) from Original Ken.

Ambulances? Ambulancoi? Ambulancelot?

They also bought this Matchbox Rolamatics-series Police Patrol.

And since the toy is about 40 years old, we can safely presume that the Rol doesn’t amatics any more.

They also also bought these four buses: (L to R) Airport Coach (Matchbox); Humvee (Hot Wheels) [apparently not a bus]; Fuji Semi-Decker (Tomica), and…

0201812-004

…This … um…. Well, it appears to be a repainted Rapid Transit.

We think it’s repainted; we’re not really sure.

And now to our Find of the Month(*). I’m not even going to joke about this, because of the nature of the item. It’s a Matchbox VW van, done up in custom patriotic livery in honor of the emergency crews who responded to the 9/11 attacks.

You may download a 1000w X 1103h image here.

See you at our ~~January~~ February meeting!

~WM

(Okay, Ken, you can send me the photos from the January meeting now!)

The Unreal World of Real Hot Wheels — Designs by Gus

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

Mattel’s Hot Wheels celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, a remarkable achievement for any toy line. In honor of my favorite brand’s longevity, I would like to give you the background on some very interesting models. Over the last fifty years, Hot Wheels has produced thousands of models and variations. But it can be said […]

via The Unreal World of Real Hot Wheels — Designs by Gus

A November to Remember!

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

I know, I know, that sounds like a particular seasonal car commercial. But we really did have a great November meeting, made so especially by some surprise guests.

Get to the photos!

November 2018

Well, who is this handsome young fellow? This is the grandson of Chris, the owner of the Sports Bar & Grill.

Those are real cars. The boy is 219′ tall.

Kidding! Big Tractor Mike RAOK’d the young’un with a pack of Micro Machines.

Not sure, but these just *might* be NASCAR-themed.

Here’s another reason our November meeting was special: I brought cars! It’s been a looooooong time since I did. But I dug out a bunch to hand out during Halloween (yes, with candy). I had 48 candies (24 of two kinds), and 24 cars. These are the cars I had left over at the end of the night.

I took the leftover candies to work, in case you’re wondering.

Spare Mike had this sweet, sweet ’33 Plymouth PC Sedan. This is one beautiful classic cop car. The simple monochrome paint with black fenders and chrome highlights just works.

I swear, this looks like it just rolled out of a James Cagney movie.

This is a very special build. It’s another custom by Doug, of course, but this isn’t just any old barn. This is an exact replica of Spare Mike’s grandfather’s barn. I can tell you, Spare Mike was quite moved as he looked over the model.

Please enjoy this larger image.

Here, Original Ken takes a few photos to post to Suncoast Diecasters‘ Facebook page.

“How the magic happens”

The biggest surprise at our November meeting was the visit by two nice Canadian ladies Big Tractor Mike while operating a booth at the ’49er Flea Market. They specifically scheduled their next trip to coincide with our meeting. Here aer just some of the vehicles they bought.

They may be from Canada, but they park like New Yorkers. (Boom!)

I selected a few of their assortment to showcase. Here is a 1/87th-scale caravan by Eko, with the classic teardrop shape. Next to it is Matchbox’s Flying Bug. This orange one is apparently the only variation MB ever offered (even though the wiki doesn’t list it).

The orange isn’t a custom; I own one as well.

Here we have a VW Sharan by Siku. On the right is a snowmobile.

That is a nicely done bicycle.

Oh, by the way, that isn’t just some “generic” snowmobile. It’s a Ski-Daddler, by AMF. I know this because the toy says so on its base.

Statement of fact.

It’s by Corgi, and features WhizzWheels. For being a good representation of a particular snowmobile, for being overall in very good shape, including still having its windscreen, and for having a nicely-sculpted (and painted!) driver, I declare the Corgi AMF Ski-Daddler to be Suncoast Diecasters’ Find of the Month(*) for November 2018.

O Canada!

…And with a couple of hours still left in November, our November update is actually published during November! Holiday celebration!

See you at our December meeting!

~WM

Shocktober Surprise!

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

It’s late but, yes, that’s my weak attempt at some October title humor. My search for better employment (including job fairs, workshops, etc.) takes up an annoying amount of time.

So, just get to the photos!

October 2018

Original Ken snags this sweet Articulated Truck by Matchbox. Its base states that it’s actually at 1:115 scale.

Let’s be honest: It’s all still 1:64 in our hearts.

Doug presents:

A Work! in! Progress!

Seriously, though, please take time to appreciate the effort Dough puts into these builds. Each of those pieces is hand-cut.

Large Harvester Michael shows how he maintains his Sizeable Combine certification, by bringing these, um … big tractors.

I’m particularly curious about that blue fellow at the left, there.

Hey, look, it’s– Oh, wait….

Not exactly Optimus Prime … But, eh, close enough.

Just in time for Hot Wheels’ 50th Anniversary, Mike Corey had this 40th Anniversary custom-edition GMC Motor Home.

Of course, the GMC looks good in *any* paint scheme.

Even though it was Saturday, Big Rob brought in a little #ThrowbackThursday by wearing his old Hot Nuts T-shirt. I’ve mentioned before that Hot Nuts was the predecessor to Suncoast Diecasters.

Having a Flame Sprite emoji in the logo is what doomed the club.

“He’s the Hot-Movin’ Guy/With his hands on the wheel/He’s the Fast-Drivin’ Man/With the–” Okay, that’s not really a theme song from anything.

I know for a fact you were trying to sing along, though. Don’t deny it.

In reality, this is a super-sweet find by Big Rob. It’s a 1965 Strombecker Cheetah slot car. It’s 1/25th scale, which gives you an idea how small those cars really were. Its chassis is by Dynamic, typical for the ’60s. Original Ken, who knows a thing or four about slot cars, advised Rob to not try to make it run again. He (O’Ken) says “it will never be as fast as today’s slowest cars, and many original parts like threaded axles and wheels are no longer made.”

Hey, mister! Your thing is dragging!

What can I say? Big Rob, thank you, and thank you again, and thank you once more. He RAOK’d me with these two large-scale RC replicas of Twin Mill and Sweet Sixteen II. These massive rides are over 12″ long!

“Vroom-a-zoom-zoom!” — Speed Buggy

It was one of those meetings where practically everything stood out in its own way. I’ve made it a rule for the site not to have multiple FotMs; so after careful consideration, I have selected Big Rob’s Strombecker Cheetah, and his box-busting Hot Wheels RAOK to me. Congratulations, Rob; both of our Dual Finds of the Month(**) for October 2018 are yours!

See you at our November meeting! –Which is this Saturday!

~WM

September’s Sweet Surprises

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

As I mentioned in our previous update, I’ve had a cutback in hours. Ironically, one of the days I now regularly work is Saturday. So, I had to miss our September meeting. Thus, Original Ken again stepped in for photo duty. I chose the best for this update.

We’re introducing an interesting new feature this month: in-caption links. I won’t bore you with the technicals of not being able to create hyperlinks in photo captions in our old hand-coded version of the club site. It’s something I’ve seen on other “blog platform”-type sites, and I found it intriguing. The Holy Spirit told me to give it a shot, and voila!: functional hyperlinks in our own photo captions! This obviously gives me more options for the placement and, as it were, “timing” of off-site links.

So get to the photos!

September 2018

I wish I had more information for you about this item. Big Tractor Mike bought it from Spare Mike. The side reads “O’Neill Family Produce”. But I’m fascinated by the richly sculpted and individually painted food items.

Now that’s some farm-fresh produce!

You can tell it was a successful meeting, because…

Say it with me, boys and girls: “Ken bought garbage trucks!”

…From Bill. He bought them from Bill.

A pair of Redline-era Turbofires (Scott’s stock). I first thought these were Toreros (Toreroes?), but no, they are Turbofires.

These are Turbofires, not Toreros. Just want to be clear on that.

That Ken is a funny guy. He takes this here photo, and edits a copy of the front end into the pic to make it look like the car has two engines.

What a funny, funny guy. By the way, this is Bye-Focal.

From Ed’s stock, this array of … Er, these vari-colored, uh … Field of, um … All these multi-hued … Hmph. I’m not sure what I could say about this….

Ooh! I just thought of what I could say about this!

Scott had this vintage (ca. 1960s?) slot car case (with space for Name and Racing Club)…

The “puzzle piece” edge is due to having to rotate the photo to straighten it; the bottom was cut off.

…With two controllers and three sweet classic slot car models neatly tucked inside.

I guess they’re from the Italian racing circuit…

For its wonderful “retro” vibe, its great contents, and its overall good condition, I declare Scott’s vinatge slot car case to be Suncoast Diecasters‘ Find of the Month(*) for September 2018. Congratulations, Scott!

Scott had a second case, but its cars were upside-down, which is just embarrassing.

And with just over an hour of September left, our September update is actually posted in September! I should treat myself to a pizza! (But I have some bread to finish off, so I’ll treat myself to some deli slices instead.)

See you at our November meeting!

~WM

The Grand Gathering of August 2018

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

I apologize for the lateness of this update. I’ve recently had a cutback in hours at work, so my overriding priority right now is to find a good replacement job. Thus, frivolities such as these club updates take a back seat. (If you happen to know a Tampa Bay area business that’s in need of a hot-rodding creative, please let me know!)

Nonetheless, our August meeting was indeed grand. Good group of people, including a couple o’ members we hadn’t seen in a while. And one stupendous structure.

Hey, get to the photos!

August 2018

Bill does very well for himself by buying this Hot Wheels 20th Anniversary 3-pack. No idea what the CW/CP price tag represents. Circus World, maybe? If you know, share in the Comments!

Twenty years, and only three cars? That’s … not too productive.

Sorry for the glare and shadows. This is actually the last photo I took, before my camera’s battery went out.

Bill also bought this good-looking Indentor, an entry from the Crack-Ups series. I was hoping to get a really nice photo of it…

*-*-*-*

…But unfortunately as I was setting it up, I broke it.

I’m such a bad person.

A bit of a departure here: Some nose art on a Midnight Otto.

I mean, it’s on a door, but still … nose art.

Ed was at the meeting. It’s always good to see Ed. He’s a great guy. But I wish he’d bring some stuff to the meetings once in a while. He never brings nothin’!

And I mean — NUTHIN’!

Amongst his nuthin’, Ed had this oddball little fellow. Threw us all off for a little bit, because we couldn’t ID it. Then we figured out why we had trouble recognizing it…

…Because it usually has a Volkswagen Drag Bus shell wrapped around it.

Mike C. has been absent from the club for the last few months. He made a delightful surprise appearance at our August meeting. Looks good, sounds good. And to make his return complete, he bought some items. A few. You know, three or four.

Some of Ed’s nuthin’, and some of BTM’s nuthin’.

Big Tractor Mike bought this set from Ed (leaving him with nuthin’), which features a Batman “action guide”, and three Batman-themed vehicles: one of the over five hundred eighty six variations of the Batmobile; a Joker-themed Evil Twin (a sly choice for comic book aficionados), and a Bane-themed whatever that is.

By day, he’s Big Tractor Mike. By night, he’s the BaTMan! (See what I did there? I hope you see it; it’s very clever.)

Original Ken picked up this lovely Mercedes 350 SL (Majorette, 1/60 scale), which I actually thought he bought at the previous meeting, but no.

Yes, now. Then, no.

Man, I dig those reflections.

Well-appointed interior, and an opening trunk, which is always nice.

Plus a few nicely embossed — if somewhat overscale — surface details.

And now for the Big Thing of the Meeting: The Grand Barn, a custom hand-built replica of an actual barn, by Doug. I don’t know what scale Doug built it at; nor did I ask him to place his hand in the photo. He was discussing the barn with another member, and just happened to point out a feature right before my camera’s timer fired. A lucky accident, as it gives you some idea of the size of the model.

For additional reference, Doug is 9’12” tall.

I call it the Grand Barn for several reasons, such as its sheer scale, and its incredible detail.

Click below for sheer scale.

Size: 1000 x 486 pixels.

This build is loaded with details.

Details such as the pallet leaning against the wall.

See the small sub-building on the right? It will become important later.

Foreshadowing.

Size: 1000 x 562 pixels.

Note the gleam just off the right of the nose of the contented cow on the left. That’s light reflecting off the artificial water in the trough. Yes, artificial water, a product used to add yet another touch of realism.

The staining around the base of the trough indicates these are some sloppy Santa Gertrudis.

Note the real metal chain on the post in the above photo. It’s used to shut the open gate in the below photo.

And yes, you *are* seeing an actually lit light.

Size: 1000 x 536 pixels.

Here’s an interior shot of the upper section, in which you can see some of the amazing detail that Doug put–

Ha! I’m foolin’! This is actually the storage shed in back of the Sports Bar.

Oh.

Fooled you twice! It really is a shot of the upper interior, as you can see in this farther-backly photographed photograph.

And if you still doubt me, compare the light spill between the boards in both pics. You’ll see they match.

Size: 1000 x 882 pixels.

How’s this for detail? Lightning rods!

Not to mention that double-hung window.

More evidence of Doug’s attention to detail: Each piece of this door is hand-cut, and the hinges work.

It’s also evidence of his patience: That door is *barely* the size of a postage stamp.

Remember that sub-building I mentioned earlier? I wanted a shot of the interior detail, so I set my camera on the table with the lens just outside its door. Didn’t turn out as I’d hoped.

No idea how I got a nicely focused shot of the far fence *and* light smear like someone kicked my camera.

I knew I had to try again while I still had some battery. So I reviewed my camera settings, pushed the camera’s lens into the door, and hit the button…

…Ten seconds later, I got the shot. The modified flash setting lit up the interior details nicely while also creating rich shadows, and you can still see that the lights are lit.

Let me emphasize: This shot was taken with my camera’s lens *inside* the doorway.

Impress yourself with Doug’s amazing detail by clicking the link below:

Size: 1000 x 750 pixels.

For its size, its realism and its astounding and near-overwhelming quality of detail, Big Tractor Mike and I declare Doug’ custom hand-built Grand Barn to be Suncoast Diecasters‘ Find of the Month(*) for August 2018! Many congratulations, Doug!

See you at our ~~September~~ October meeting!

~WM

July 2018 features a Golden Anniversary!

Posted on August 8, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

Just go right to the photos!

July 2018

Customs! on! Parade!

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

A situation at work required my presence, so once again Original Ken provides the photos. We have several nice customs in this update, so get to the photos!

June 2018

I apologize for both the haziness and smallness of this first photo. OKen took a wide “group photo” of some of Big Tractor Mike’s Tomica stock. Thus, no particular item was really in focus. Also, since the pic was comprised of such a large number of boxes, even at full resolution (which this is) each box was smaller than our standard photo size. nonetheless, I was intrigued — not to mention a bit creeped out — by this freaky spider crane model. I swear, it looks like something that could be part of ROTF Devastator.

Or, maybe it’ll be Spidey’s new ride in “Into the Spider-Verse”.

Here’s something that will make your eyes happy again: Ken’s beautiful photo of BTM’s Custom T-Bird (original Redline).

Much better.

No, it’s not a garbage truck, yet I’m still surprised that Ken did not buy this Viking street cleaner.

Some nice mechanical detail on the rear panel.

Renault 5TL and Ford Group 6, both by Matchbox.

-:-:-:-

2 Matchbox Citroen S.M. models, and a Citroen CX, via Mike’s stock

-:-:-:-

Actually, Ken had all three of these models staged in a single photograph. However, somehow this ’77 edition was accompanied by a sweeeet reflection — on the pleather pool table cover, yet! — and I just had to showcase it.

Original Ken: Le Artiste Photografique.

1983 Extras Series Upfront 924 — the extra being the snap-on ski rack. As I pointed out back in August of 2010, the ski rack isn’t merely some vaguely ski-shaped pieces; there are two pairs of poles with baskets, and two pairs of skis with boot bindings. And thanks to Ken’s hi-rez camera, you can see this even more clearly now.

The fact that the rack is shot through the rear window is, apparently, of little concern.

Two Tyco Corvette slot cars, which Ken sold to Scott.

-:-:-:-

And now, we get to the customs. These first two photos feature another farm display by BTM, which includes two custom handmade trailers.

???

The original of the above photo had quite a tilt, which sharply cut off the road piece. I was able to rotate it, but had to crop out the sharp road end because it looked like it was just falling off into space.

I appreciate how a few pieces of green shred appear to be shrubs when in context with the vehicle models.

An M2 Machines pick-up, customised by Doug for Mike.

“For show only”.

And for our Find of the Month(*): ’76 Hot Wheels Corvette Stingray, with custom paint and tampo by Jim. Bought by Bill. Nicely done, Jim, and well-chosen, Bill!

Click below for larger image.

1000h X 556v X 168kB

And with half a week of June left, I shall treat myself to a cheeseburger in celebration!

See you at our July meeting!

~WM

May Update is Up, Up and Away!

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

Our May meeting was lots of fun. Slightly smaller crowd that last month, but still lots of laughin’, reminiscin’ and braggin’ took place.

By the way, I’ve updated our About page to include info on Suncoast Diecasters membership. Please check it out.

Okay, now you can get to the photos!

May 2018

When the Incredible Hulk has a rupture…

The Hulk is from the DCU, right? Heh. Kidding, of course. Once again, Big Tractor Mike brought in a wonderful scale-correct display of farming equipment, some of which has been highly customized by Michael. Oh, yes, there are more photos. But first…

…Ed shares some choice models in his collection:

(L) Top Eliminator [1978, w’ “AC” logo]; (R) Vetty Funny [1983]

Formula 5000 [L – 1977 Super Chromes; R – 1977 Mainline]

(L) Monte Carlo Stocker [1979]; (R) Ice-‘T’ [1977/8]

Here is the most beautiful of the models that Ed asked me to showcase, the ’69 Chevy Camaro Convertible. If you look closely at the photos (and you should be doing so anyway), you’ll note that the model is far more detailed than a typical off-the-peg model. However, I’m unable to ID the specific series. It’s not listed in the 100% Hot Wheels series. It may be part of the 100% Preferred GM Performance Parts series, but I can’t prove this as there’s no photo in the listing.

’69 Chevy Camaro Convertible: Wholly unidentified.

(In case you’re wondering why I didn’t just ask Ed when I took the photo, it’s because I turned the toy over, saw what I thought was the Vintage series logo on the base, on said to myself, Well, that was easy.)

And here’s my favorite of the set, Sir Rodney Roadster, a pseudo-fantasy vehicle based on the Lotus Seven S4. I say “pseudo-fantasy” because it seems some liberties were taken with the design. Fact: I never heard of this model until about fifteen-ish years ago, and it was by accident. At a local shop I spotted some gimmicky Hot Wheels merchandise, little yoyo-like things. Each consisted of a “tire” about 2½” in diameter, with a teensy HW model inside. Pulling the string caused the car to race around inside the tire. So I bought one, seeing as I’d probably never own any other version of Sir Rod here.

Sir Rodney Roadster [1977] [Collector # KAR 120C]

Here, finally, are the afore-promised photos of BTM’s farm display. And look at them; they’re beautiful!

Okay, more kidding. These thumbnails are teasers; click on any one, and you’ll open a gallery of delightfully larger images which you may left/right through at your leisure. (There’s no info for this machines because BTM is still having e-mail trouble, and neither of us took notes during the meeting.)

By the way, I have chosen a Find of the Month model … but I’m not telling you which one it is. I want you to think about the photos in this update, and make your best guess.

Or you could, you know, just view it on Twitter.

And with two days left in May, I shall cry a hearty Victoryyy!

See you at our June meeting!

~WM

Happy Synkro de Mayo!

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Suncoast Diecasters

HWSynkro

Happy #CincodeMayo! Also, Happy #FreeComicBookDay!

1/64th-Scale Diecast Collectors' Club!

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