Well, you were the one interested in how the term developed...don't say ya didn't ask for it...
I did... busy taking notes!
Good. Now all you have to do is to find and restore a post-1953 Dodge D100 with Ute bed (rarest brand name/cab-bed combo) and your work will be complete. And you'll have a heck of an awesome car! )
Can I just buy it when it released in the next extension of JBCC?
Alas, nothing close appeared even as a background vehicle in a James Bond film. For sheer underrepresentation on the market, though, 1950's and 1960's Dodge/Fargo/DeSoto trucks (including the carryalls/station wagons) are difficult to beat. Despite being next to universally acknowledged as classics, try finding them in almost ANY scale.
Has anybody ever done Felix's Studillac from the novels.
I have been thinking about it. But the problem has been finding a black Studebaker at a reasonable price. (Plus I'm running out of JBCC bases and cases - so I'm back on the hunt for some more cheap second hand ones) I have done Leiters Cord from LALD (a 2dr variant as I can't remember if Fleming was specific about the actual model - he certainly didn't mention a colour - so it's red!).
I'm also putting together the Alfa Romeo 8C and Merc 300s from Moonraker. I've also done the Impreza that featured in Carte Blanche and have a Jag XK140 similar to that featured in DAF (albeit maroon rather than in red).
I have posted a couple of photos of some earlier efforts (a few pages back now) featuring a Bentley from Thunderball and a TR3 from Goldfinger.
I'll post the rest when I get around to finishing them.
I'd love to see those when they're done! Also, SMTS Models used to make an Aston Martin DB Mk. III, the gadget car of the literary Bond (okay, so Fleming incorrectly called it a DB III; we know what he meant, fortunately). You can get it in pretty much any color, although it WILL set you back about $150.
I'd love to see those when they're done! Also, SMTS Models used to make an Aston Martin DB Mk. III, the gadget car of the literary Bond (okay, so Fleming incorrectly called it a DB III; we know what he meant, fortunately). You can get it in pretty much any color, although it WILL set you back about $150.
While we're on the subject, in FRWL (the novel) Fleming mentions a ZIK saloon. Any idea what a ZIK is/was?
I'd love to see those when they're done! Also, SMTS Models used to make an Aston Martin DB Mk. III, the gadget car of the literary Bond (okay, so Fleming incorrectly called it a DB III; we know what he meant, fortunately). You can get it in pretty much any color, although it WILL set you back about $150.
In the UK Spot-On toy cars made a DB Mk III model in varius colours but they're now rare and worth over £100 with the box. (See the Spot-On Collector website.) (I have a scratched green one.)
This week I've been re-reading the Goldfinger book that mentions it.
He deliberately reverses it into Tilly Masterton's Triumph TR3.
While we're on the subject, in FRWL (the novel) Fleming mentions a ZIK saloon. Any idea what a ZIK is/was?
I don't know how reliable this is, so bear with me. Reportedly, Fleming read either the famous 1947 Popular Mechanics article that described the ZIS-110 and described the "smaller Victory model", not mentioning it was made by a different factory (they were referring to the early GAZ-M20 Pobeda Sedan..."Pobeda" in Russian means "Victory") or alternately one of the several 1950 articles that described the ZIS-110 captured by a US Army officer in Korea and was brought back to the US, where photographs of the car (probably one of the closest copies of ANY Soviet car to an American car) were widely circulated. If he wanted a Soviet car for a VIP, this was his chance. He'd probably heard "ZIS" stood for Zavod Imeni Stalina, or "Factory Named after Stalin". However, he actually wrote From Russia with Love from 1956-1957. What happens during that period? If you answered "De-Stalinization", you got it right. Fleming must have known that the wholesale destruction of the Stalin personality cult and changing the names of entire cities. It wouldn't have been much of a jump to assume that a mere car factory would have its name changed, too. I'm guessing he got "ZIK" because there were (false) rumors that the factory would change its name to "Zavod Imeni Khrushcheva" ("Factory Named after Khrushchev"). In 1957, when he writes the novel, despite an impending name change since 1956, only then does it become Zavod Imeni Likhacheva ("Factory Named after Likhachev", since Ivan Likhachev designed many of the cars there), or ZIL. It was also known that ZIS was working on a new, Packard-based limo during this time that eventually became the ZIL-111. However, the actual look of the car was not well-known. Honestly, you could probably get away with using either car so long as they're black (because anything else would have been pretty wrong). Both appear in the Russian DeAgostini partwork "SSSR AvtoLegendy", although the ZIS-110 is better-moulded and the ZIL-111 is definitely one of the series' few clunkers (it's also likely that the car was a re-badged ZIS-110 [as "ZIL-110", since they were referred to that way in official service following a late 1957 decree] anyway, since Fleming had no way of knowing what on earth the ZIL-111 looked like, though he did probably know what the ZIS-110 looked like).
In the UK Spot-On toy cars made a DB Mk III model in varius colours but they're now rare and worth over £100 with the box. (See the Spot-On Collector website.) (I have a scratched green one.)
The reason I didn't mention this car (I have some Spot-On cars, although not the Aston) was because there's no screw hole in the bottom and I just didn't want anyone drilling a hole in the bottom of one of these rare, well-done Dinky competitors that probably are worth more than the SMTS Models if they're in comparable condition. With the SMTS Model, it's both scale, hand-made, and fastened to the base with a single screw.
Hi Guys,
Picked up the latest addition to the collection today. Sheriff J. W. Pepper's Louisiana State Police Car.
Hope you like the photos...
Issue No. 132 has the model of the 'LINCOLN CONTINENTAL CONVERTIBLE' from Goldfinger.
Thanks for the pics! I look forward to mine coming! By the way, some quick analysis...
-Ixo reused the sand base. Look carefully. They actually did a pretty good job with the pavement (compared to the Lada Niva 1600L, especially), but I honestly wonder how the line between the pavement and the grass turned out.
-The car and diorama seem to portray different scenes. That's Bond's boat jumping the road. As such, a boat is about to slam into Sheriff Pepper's car and there's no reason for ANYONE to actually be in the car, which justifies a lack of figures. The problem was that Sheriff Pepper's car destroyed in that manner was a dark-colored Parish Sheriff's car, NOT a Louisiana State Police car (as well as being a top-of-the-line Impala, not a Bel Air). This is the car he commandeers from the State Troopers AFTER the scene portrayed happens.
-The car itself, while without figures, looks terrific. On the other hand, I don't believe we ever saw this car's license plate during the film. The factory seconds and QC rejects from China have no rear plate. Although it should literally take minutes to fashion a correct Louisiana State Police plate decal (just find a real one, as they're all over the internet), a bracket for the plate or blank plate (ironically seen on the Morris Minor 1000 Convertible and condemned) would probably make the decal look better.
While we're on the subject, in FRWL (the novel) Fleming mentions a ZIK saloon. Any idea what a ZIK is/was?
I don't know how reliable this is, so bear with me. Reportedly, Fleming read either the famous 1947 Popular Mechanics article that described the ZIS-110 and described the "smaller Victory model", not mentioning it was made by a different factory (they were referring to the early GAZ-M20 Pobeda Sedan..."Pobeda" in Russian means "Victory") or alternately one of the several 1950 articles that described the ZIS-110 captured by a US Army officer in Korea and was brought back to the US, where photographs of the car (probably one of the closest copies of ANY Soviet car to an American car) were widely circulated. If he wanted a Soviet car for a VIP, this was his chance. He'd probably heard "ZIS" stood for Zavod Imeni Stalina, or "Factory Named after Stalin". However, he actually wrote From Russia with Love from 1956-1957. What happens during that period? If you answered "De-Stalinization", you got it right. Fleming must have known that the wholesale destruction of the Stalin personality cult and changing the names of entire cities. It wouldn't have been much of a jump to assume that a mere car factory would have its name changed, too. I'm guessing he got "ZIK" because there were (false) rumors that the factory would change its name to "Zavod Imeni Khrushcheva" ("Factory Named after Khrushchev"). In 1957, when he writes the novel, despite an impending name change since 1956, only then does it become Zavod Imeni Likhacheva ("Factory Named after Likhachev", since Ivan Likhachev designed many of the cars there), or ZIL. It was also known that ZIS was working on a new, Packard-based limo during this time that eventually became the ZIL-111. However, the actual look of the car was not well-known. Honestly, you could probably get away with using either car so long as they're black (because anything else would have been pretty wrong). Both appear in the Russian DeAgostini partwork "SSSR AvtoLegendy", although the ZIS-110 is better-moulded and the ZIL-111 is definitely one of the series' few clunkers (it's also likely that the car was a re-badged ZIS-110 [as "ZIL-110", since they were referred to that way in official service following a late 1957 decree] anyway, since Fleming had no way of knowing what on earth the ZIL-111 looked like, though he did probably know what the ZIS-110 looked like).
Really interesting, thank you.
At the beginning of the novel Grant is collected from his dachau in a 'battered ZIS' this I have always thought of as a 110. A little later in the novel Kronsteen is picked up in this 'anonymous black ZIK saloon'. So he appears to be differentiating between the two. I suppose a ZiL may be seen as being anonymous back in 50's USSR.
After a little digging I did come across a ZIK factory that appeared to be named after Mikhail Kalinin - this seems to have produced military vehicles and forklifts! So I suppose it could have turned out some civilian motor vehicles.
So I suppose it could have turned out some civilian motor vehicles.
Trust me, it didn't. If that's the case, he could either be referring to the new ZIL design, the ZIS-110 (I'll explain how a bit later), or quite possibly it indicates he read the Motor magazine article on the GAZ-M20 Pobeda which profiled another interesting candidate: the GAZ-12 ZIM (the GAZ-M20 Pobeda, if seen in black, was HARDLY anonymous...it automatically meant the thing belonged to the MGB or its better-known successor, the KGB in real life).
Until about the early 1960's, you see continual references to "the assembly lines at Gorky" instead of GAZ. This was done on purpose due to a VERY confusing (even within the USSR) system of automotive nomenclature as it pertained to GAZ until 1965. The car Fleming could have had in mind in this case was a GAZ-12 ZIM, which was described a few times, but never got the picture time of either the ZIS-110 or GAZ-M20 Pobeda. "ZIM" was the formal but rarely-used name of GAZ; indeed, it was only popularized on that one model of car, which was a six-cylinder intermediate between the ZIS-110 and GAZ-M20. That stood for "Zavod Imeni Molotova"; Factory Named after Vyacheslav Molotov. Indeed, the "M" in front of "M20" stands for "Molotovets", or "Molotovist" in English.
Well, after the coup attempt he masterminded to get Khrushchev out of power, you WOULD think that the name would have disappeared. It did, but only sort of. On the GAZ-13 Chayka, there's no reference whatsoever to Molotov. But cars designed before the coup retained the "M" designation (albeit as "Model") and "ZIM" still remained in use until the GAZ-12 was finally discontinued; it was certainly colloquially referred to as the ZIM.
Now, what does this have to do with a "ZIK"? Well, again, THE TIMING, and again, the expectation that the factory name would be changed to honor somebody the Soviet Government considered a hero. The GAZ-12 ZIM was predominantly manufactured in black and while the Soviets considered it a limosine, most outsiders viewed it as a full-sized sedan. It's possible, then, that Fleming simply made the car's designation up to reflect the coup attempt (quite possibly drawing on the REAL "ZIK" rumors to rename ZIS); it was poorly covered in the west, anyway. Also, it's the best candidate, to me anyway, of a car that's a tad sinister, but also commonplace enough to actually be "anonymous". Like the ZIS-110 and ZIL-111, you can buy it from the partwork SSSR AvtoLegendy or also, if you want a more detailed interior, then Nash Avtoprom. It sits a little too high, but otherwise, it's a pretty good model.
Alternately, it could STILL be a ZIS-110. How? Well, as you said, he's picked up in "a battered ZIS". There were a handful of ZIS-101's and ZIS-101A's left over from WWII that were not well-maintained and indeed sold circa 1960. These cars would have appeared VERY prominently in pictures from WWII-era propaganda reels and were also identified as "ZIS". To say nothing of the ZIS-110/ZIL-110 being manufactured well into 1959 almost completely unaltered from the first few made.
So I suppose it could have turned out some civilian motor vehicles.
Trust me, it didn't. If that's the case, he could either be referring to the new ZIL design, the ZIS-110 (I'll explain how a bit later), or quite possibly it indicates he read the Motor magazine article on the GAZ-M20 Pobeda which profiled another interesting candidate: the GAZ-12 ZIM (the GAZ-M20 Pobeda, if seen in black, was HARDLY anonymous...it automatically meant the thing belonged to the MGB or its better-known successor, the KGB in real life).
Until about the early 1960's, you see continual references to "the assembly lines at Gorky" instead of GAZ. This was done on purpose due to a VERY confusing (even within the USSR) system of automotive nomenclature as it pertained to GAZ until 1965. The car Fleming could have had in mind in this case was a GAZ-12 ZIM, which was described a few times, but never got the picture time of either the ZIS-110 or GAZ-M20 Pobeda. "ZIM" was the formal but rarely-used name of GAZ; indeed, it was only popularized on that one model of car, which was a six-cylinder intermediate between the ZIS-110 and GAZ-M20. That stood for "Zavod Imeni Molotova"; Factory Named after Vyacheslav Molotov. Indeed, the "M" in front of "M20" stands for "Molotovets", or "Molotovist" in English.
Well, after the coup attempt he masterminded to get Khrushchev out of power, you WOULD think that the name would have disappeared. It did, but only sort of. On the GAZ-13 Chayka, there's no reference whatsoever to Molotov. But cars designed before the coup retained the "M" designation (albeit as "Model") and "ZIM" still remained in use until the GAZ-12 was finally discontinued; it was certainly colloquially referred to as the ZIM.
Now, what does this have to do with a "ZIK"? Well, again, THE TIMING, and again, the expectation that the factory name would be changed to honor somebody the Soviet Government considered a hero. The GAZ-12 ZIM was predominantly manufactured in black and while the Soviets considered it a limosine, most outsiders viewed it as a full-sized sedan. It's possible, then, that Fleming simply made the car's designation up to reflect the coup attempt (quite possibly drawing on the REAL "ZIK" rumors to rename ZIS); it was poorly covered in the west, anyway. Also, it's the best candidate, to me anyway, of a car that's a tad sinister, but also commonplace enough to actually be "anonymous". Like the ZIS-110 and ZIL-111, you can buy it from the partwork SSSR AvtoLegendy or also, if you want a more detailed interior, then Nash Avtoprom. It sits a little too high, but otherwise, it's a pretty good model.
Alternately, it could STILL be a ZIS-110. How? Well, as you said, he's picked up in "a battered ZIS". There were a handful of ZIS-101's and ZIS-101A's left over from WWII that were not well-maintained and indeed sold circa 1960. These cars would have appeared VERY prominently in pictures from WWII-era propaganda reels and were also identified as "ZIS". To say nothing of the ZIS-110/ZIL-110 being manufactured well into 1959 almost completely unaltered from the first few made.
6.15pm this evening and I had a Royal Mail Delivery. Issues 130 and 131 . Here are some photographs
As already said issue 132 is the Lincoln Continental from Goldfinger.
Ok starting with 130 the Wales and Edwards Rangemaster Milk Float, a very competent model of a vehicle seen in most towns and cities throughout the UK but sadly now few and far between. I dont think this is something i would have bought out with the James Bond genre but equally i think this model stands from the many as one of the highlights of the collection. i have one criticism is the rear license plate is wrong colour. The rear number plate should be yellow, even black with silver letters would be acceptable though not legal! But never two white front and rear. Anything 1973 and older can drive with black number plates fromt and rear, 1974 onwards or 'L' registration suffix was yellow rear and white front in the UK.
i have one criticism is the rear license plate is wrong colour. The rear number plate should be yellow, even black with silver letters would be acceptable though not legal! But never two white front and rear. Anything 1973 and older can drive with black number plates fromt and rear, 1974 onwards or 'L' registration suffix was yellow rear and white front in the UK.
If you ever need a license plate decal done, please, don't hesitate to call on me. I'm obviously going to have to take measurements and then edit the plate picture in IrfanView to give a different background color, but I'm going to try and make a corrected decal now.
Chevy Bel Air is brilliant!
Agreed, except it has the same problem the Wales & Edwards Rangemaster does, only arguably worse: no rear plate at all. Still, the rest of the model is, as you say, brilliant!
By the way, did they include a statement saying they'd extended the collection from 130 to 135? Odd if they didn't.
i have one criticism is the rear license plate is wrong colour. The rear number plate should be yellow, even black with silver letters would be acceptable though not legal! But never two white front and rear. Anything 1973 and older can drive with black number plates fromt and rear, 1974 onwards or 'L' registration suffix was yellow rear and white front in the UK.
If you ever need a license plate decal done, please, don't hesitate to call on me. I'm obviously going to have to take measurements and then edit the plate picture in IrfanView to give a different background color, but I'm going to try and make a corrected decal now.
Chevy Bel Air is brilliant!
Agreed, except it has the same problem the Wales & Edwards Rangemaster does, only arguably worse: no rear plate at all. Still, the rest of the model is, as you say, brilliant!
By the way, did they include a statement saying they'd extended the collection from 130 to 135? Odd if they didn't.
Never mind what's in issue 132. The real question you should be asking is what's in issue 136. Cause anyone who thinks this is stopping at 135 is out of their mind. I would gladly stake my life and everyone else's in this entire universe on that. I know JBCC of old. Rest assured this IS going on. Laugh now if you like but we will see who is right in exactly 8 weeks time B-)
Cause anyone who thinks this is stopping at 135 is out of their mind.
So why is Universal Hobbies still restricted to producing cars off already-existing moulds? Why did Ixo leave the building? Why are even Eaglemoss employees and dealers acknowledging for the very first time that there will be no extension, period? Are they all out of their minds? I doubt it. Sometimes things are just beyond the control of the partwork distributor, and I'm fairly certain that's what happened here. Ixo was, I believe, going to go out to 145 at least and it just didn't happen. Eaglemoss had no backup except Universal Hobbies, they threw some molds together (plus Issue 134 may be Ixo that was scheduled to be released earlier), and that was that.
Cause anyone who thinks this is stopping at 135 is out of their mind.
So why is Universal Hobbies still restricted to producing cars off already-existing moulds? Why did Ixo leave the building? Why are even Eaglemoss employees and dealers acknowledging for the very first time that there will be no extension, period? Are they all out of their minds? I doubt it. Sometimes things are just beyond the control of the partwork distributor, and I'm fairly certain that's what happened here. Ixo was, I believe, going to go out to 145 at least and it just didn't happen. Eaglemoss had no backup except Universal Hobbies, they threw some molds together (plus Issue 134 may be Ixo that was scheduled to be released earlier), and that was that.
It's possible that behind the scenes, Eaglemoss suits are desperately trying to buy time or salvage something from the business situation you've outlined. A question that could be asked is what could be added to the collection from existing moulds (UH, Ixo, Norev or others)?
Here are some:
YOLT Mini Moke in yellow (UH)
LD Aston Martin Vantage (non-gadget) (UH)
SF Modern Beetle (Ixo)
GF Willys Jeep
TB Jaguar E-Type hardtop (Atlas Editions)
DN Renault Dauphine (Ixo?)
DN Alfa Giulietta Spider (that's got to be in a partwork, surely?)
TB Citroen DS19 (Ixo?)
These are just a few, I'm sure someone with a better knowledge of part-work cars than me and time to go through the Bond movies on IMCDb could add to this list substantially. Yes, they'd need new paint jobs and some minor alteration in some cases, but the basis for each vehicle is there.
And if Vanguards were on board (wishful thinking, I know):
DN Vauxhall Velox
DN Hillman Minx
DN Consul Classic
OHMSS Ford Escort
TB Ford Zephyr
i have one criticism is the rear license plate is wrong colour. The rear number plate should be yellow, even black with silver letters would be acceptable though not legal! But never two white front and rear. Anything 1973 and older can drive with black number plates fromt and rear, 1974 onwards or 'L' registration suffix was yellow rear and white front in the UK.
If you ever need a license plate decal done, please, don't hesitate to call on me. I'm obviously going to have to take measurements and then edit the plate picture in IrfanView to give a different background color, but I'm going to try and make a corrected decal now.
Chevy Bel Air is brilliant!
Agreed, except it has the same problem the Wales & Edwards Rangemaster does, only arguably worse: no rear plate at all. Still, the rest of the model is, as you say, brilliant!
By the way, did they include a statement saying they'd extended the collection from 130 to 135? Odd if they didn't.
Never mind what's in issue 132. The real question you should be asking is what's in issue 136. Cause anyone who thinks this is stopping at 135 is out of their mind. I would gladly stake my life and everyone else's in this entire universe on that. I know JBCC of old. Rest assured this IS going on. Laugh now if you like but we will see who is right in exactly 8 weeks time B-)
i have one criticism is the rear license plate is wrong colour. The rear number plate should be yellow, even black with silver letters would be acceptable though not legal! But never two white front and rear. Anything 1973 and older can drive with black number plates fromt and rear, 1974 onwards or 'L' registration suffix was yellow rear and white front in the UK.
If you ever need a license plate decal done, please, don't hesitate to call on me. I'm obviously going to have to take measurements and then edit the plate picture in IrfanView to give a different background color, but I'm going to try and make a corrected decal now.
Chevy Bel Air is brilliant!
Agreed, except it has the same problem the Wales & Edwards Rangemaster does, only arguably worse: no rear plate at all. Still, the rest of the model is, as you say, brilliant!
By the way, did they include a statement saying they'd extended the collection from 130 to 135? Odd if they didn't.
No letter or insert, I do think this possibly indicates that maybe the end is not 135 .
Cause anyone who thinks this is stopping at 135 is out of their mind.
So why is Universal Hobbies still restricted to producing cars off already-existing moulds? Why did Ixo leave the building? Why are even Eaglemoss employees and dealers acknowledging for the very first time that there will be no extension, period? Are they all out of their minds? I doubt it. Sometimes things are just beyond the control of the partwork distributor, and I'm fairly certain that's what happened here. Ixo was, I believe, going to go out to 145 at least and it just didn't happen. Eaglemoss had no backup except Universal Hobbies, they threw some molds together (plus Issue 134 may be Ixo that was scheduled to be released earlier), and that was that.
It's possible that behind the scenes, Eaglemoss suits are desperately trying to buy time or salvage something from the business situation you've outlined. A question that could be asked is what could be added to the collection from existing moulds (UH, Ixo, Norev or others)?
Here are some:
YOLT Mini Moke in yellow (UH)
LD Aston Martin Vantage (non-gadget) (UH)
SF Modern Beetle (Ixo)
GF Willys Jeep
TB Jaguar E-Type hardtop (Atlas Editions)
DN Renault Dauphine (Ixo?)
DN Alfa Giulietta Spider (that's got to be in a partwork, surely?)
TB Citroen DS19 (Ixo?)
These are just a few, I'm sure someone with a better knowledge of part-work cars than me and time to go through the Bond movies on IMCDb could add to this list substantially. Yes, they'd need new paint jobs and some minor alteration in some cases, but the basis for each vehicle is there.
And if Vanguards were on board (wishful thinking, I know):
DN Vauxhall Velox
DN Hillman Minx
DN Consul Classic
OHMSS Ford Escort
TB Ford Zephyr
All of the above. This collection has legs for many more. I honestly believe that Eaglemoss would be foolish to cull off a successfull part work at the expense losing a guaranteed income from a loyal customer base. I have said many times before I cannot think of any other subject that would appeal to as many levels of interest than this part work.
Skyfall looks to be the biggest bond movie of all time it alone could produce a number of additional cars to the collection not already mentioned.
Eaglemoss may be trying to fix something up behind the scenes but if they have lost IXO we have only a few UH models like Moke that can be re-cycled. Remembering what happened with Largo's blunderbird even that may be poorly done and not worth the extension. NB the Atlas E Type is from IXO and the Atlas Aston DB5 is Norev neither of whom seem to be inclined to have further contact with JBCC.
If they have UH making more beyond 135 we will shortly see the QC rejects hitting ebay given UH back history.
My guess is all will end at 135 but who knows what Eaglemoss may do for money. If they extend I just hope its not a trawl through re-colours with no new bases or figures.
Eaglemoss may be trying to fix something up behind the scenes but if they have lost IXO we have only a few UH models like Moke that can be re-cycled. Remembering what happened with Largo's blunderbird even that may be poorly done and not worth the extension. NB the Atlas E Type is from IXO and the Atlas Aston DB5 is Norev neither of whom seem to be inclined to have further contact with JBCC.
If they have UH making more beyond 135 we will shortly see the QC rejects hitting ebay given UH back history.
My guess is all will end at 135 but who knows what Eaglemoss may do for money. If they extend I just hope its not a trawl through re-colours with no new bases or figures.
Well, if they were to carry on dealing with Ixo, I guess it shows that Ixo probably have a wealth of model car moulds available that could be included in the JBCC. If not, and they still have a lifeline available with UH then the series could still carry on with new sculpts if UH don't have the stock vehicles available that Ixo or Norev seem to have. It could give them time to patch things up with Ixo maybe.
I know it's all rumour, but what I really cannot understand is why a business that has a decent product with something of a monopoly on it, plus a healthy market to sell it in, would allow relations to be seriously damaged with what appears to be its best (or maybe even only) source of supply?
I received the FRWL Ranch Wagon today - it's a very impressive model and when it's 'in your hands' rather than looking at over-sized photos, it looks right. Maybe the wing ornaments are slightly oversized, maybe they're not, but if you're going to get your magnifying glass out to look at a 1.43 scale model, even super expensive offerings will have faults somewhere. Unfortunately when things like that are picked up on, it's very easy to overlook what's right with a model, and IMHO the lines and general feel of this classic car have been captured really well, just like the Savoy.
Eaglemoss may be trying to fix something up behind the scenes but if they have lost IXO we have only a few UH models like Moke that can be re-cycled. Remembering what happened with Largo's blunderbird even that may be poorly done and not worth the extension. NB the Atlas E Type is from IXO and the Atlas Aston DB5 is Norev neither of whom seem to be inclined to have further contact with JBCC.
If they have UH making more beyond 135 we will shortly see the QC rejects hitting ebay given UH back history.
My guess is all will end at 135 but who knows what Eaglemoss may do for money. If they extend I just hope its not a trawl through re-colours with no new bases or figures.
I couldn't agree with this post more. What I meant by 100% recycled moulds was 100% recycled UNIVERSAL HOBBIES moulds; no Ixo and certainly no Norev. You can barely get to 140 on that and Eaglemoss has retracted any claim that it's going past 135. In other words, they're not going to carry on dealing with Ixo. I've just seen the first Premium X QC rejects on eBay which means they're going to start making those, plus they're also going to simultaneously release Ist and J-Collection. Then you have the 30-new-mould extension for Russia, the (roughly) fifteen new moulds for Brazil since they're finally leaving the "partially recycled" territory, and the 10 or so new Romanian moulds that are literally causing the collection order to be shuffled. You also have had two completely new partworks launched with a third scheduled to be launched. Ixo probably figured "okay, now that we don't have the Bond collection to work on anymore, we can allocate resources elsewhere", which seems to be exactly what they've done.
Fabbri also badly burned its bridges with Norev early on. Even though Eaglemoss took over the partwork, you still apparently have all the same "brains" retained from Fabbri. In other words, the very people Norev did not want to deal with. That leaves one realistic alternative: Eligor. But then consider that PCT (parent company of Ixo) bought up a majority share in Eligor.
but what I really cannot understand is why a business that has a decent product with something of a monopoly on it, plus a healthy market to sell it in, would allow relations to be seriously damaged with what appears to be its best (or maybe even only) source of supply?
Because they screwed up. They thought they could get anything they wanted from Ixo, had no backup except UH with that provision in their contract that they have to work from existing moulds, and figured Ixo would be interested in just pumping out car after car. Ixo WAS interested in doing that, but the problem was they wanted (and probably needed) more money to do so with all their upcoming releases and new partworks. UH is a much smaller-scope company that typically doesn't handle a dozen partworks plus regular releases at a time. Ixo is. But even then, Ixo tends to overstretch itself. Ixo could likely not sustain the working agreement in place, they did ask for more money, and Eaglemoss probably thought they were calling their bluff, turning them down. To everyone's surprise, Ixo walked out and Eaglemoss was left with one HUGE mistake. This is also why virtually nobody uses multiple companies to make their partworks. What may be good for one manufacturer may be terrible for another.
No letter or insert, I do think this possibly indicates that maybe the end is not 135 .
Alternately, it could show the power of the internet regarding spreading the news or another possibility might even be that EM may not have believed printing something announcing a 5-issue extension to be important (alternately, since we know there WAS a planned extension to probably 145, they could have printed up a bunch of letters saying there was an extension to 145 and then just not included them since the partwork won't go that far).
I honestly believe that Eaglemoss would be foolish to cull off a successfull part work at the expense losing a guaranteed income from a loyal customer base.
But that's the problem. Eaglemoss HAS shown that they're really foolish.
Comments
Well, you were the one interested in how the term developed...don't say ya didn't ask for it...
I did... busy taking notes!
Good. Now all you have to do is to find and restore a post-1953 Dodge D100 with Ute bed (rarest brand name/cab-bed combo) and your work will be complete. And you'll have a heck of an awesome car!
Alas, nothing close appeared even as a background vehicle in a James Bond film. For sheer underrepresentation on the market, though, 1950's and 1960's Dodge/Fargo/DeSoto trucks (including the carryalls/station wagons) are difficult to beat. Despite being next to universally acknowledged as classics, try finding them in almost ANY scale.
I have been thinking about it. But the problem has been finding a black Studebaker at a reasonable price. (Plus I'm running out of JBCC bases and cases - so I'm back on the hunt for some more cheap second hand ones) I have done Leiters Cord from LALD (a 2dr variant as I can't remember if Fleming was specific about the actual model - he certainly didn't mention a colour - so it's red!).
I'm also putting together the Alfa Romeo 8C and Merc 300s from Moonraker. I've also done the Impreza that featured in Carte Blanche and have a Jag XK140 similar to that featured in DAF (albeit maroon rather than in red).
I have posted a couple of photos of some earlier efforts (a few pages back now) featuring a Bentley from Thunderball and a TR3 from Goldfinger.
I'll post the rest when I get around to finishing them.
While we're on the subject, in FRWL (the novel) Fleming mentions a ZIK saloon. Any idea what a ZIK is/was?
In the UK Spot-On toy cars made a DB Mk III model in varius colours but they're now rare and worth over £100 with the box. (See the Spot-On Collector website.) (I have a scratched green one.)
This week I've been re-reading the Goldfinger book that mentions it.
He deliberately reverses it into Tilly Masterton's Triumph TR3.
Bleuville.
I don't know how reliable this is, so bear with me. Reportedly, Fleming read either the famous 1947 Popular Mechanics article that described the ZIS-110 and described the "smaller Victory model", not mentioning it was made by a different factory (they were referring to the early GAZ-M20 Pobeda Sedan..."Pobeda" in Russian means "Victory") or alternately one of the several 1950 articles that described the ZIS-110 captured by a US Army officer in Korea and was brought back to the US, where photographs of the car (probably one of the closest copies of ANY Soviet car to an American car) were widely circulated. If he wanted a Soviet car for a VIP, this was his chance. He'd probably heard "ZIS" stood for Zavod Imeni Stalina, or "Factory Named after Stalin". However, he actually wrote From Russia with Love from 1956-1957. What happens during that period? If you answered "De-Stalinization", you got it right. Fleming must have known that the wholesale destruction of the Stalin personality cult and changing the names of entire cities. It wouldn't have been much of a jump to assume that a mere car factory would have its name changed, too. I'm guessing he got "ZIK" because there were (false) rumors that the factory would change its name to "Zavod Imeni Khrushcheva" ("Factory Named after Khrushchev"). In 1957, when he writes the novel, despite an impending name change since 1956, only then does it become Zavod Imeni Likhacheva ("Factory Named after Likhachev", since Ivan Likhachev designed many of the cars there), or ZIL. It was also known that ZIS was working on a new, Packard-based limo during this time that eventually became the ZIL-111. However, the actual look of the car was not well-known. Honestly, you could probably get away with using either car so long as they're black (because anything else would have been pretty wrong). Both appear in the Russian DeAgostini partwork "SSSR AvtoLegendy", although the ZIS-110 is better-moulded and the ZIL-111 is definitely one of the series' few clunkers (it's also likely that the car was a re-badged ZIS-110 [as "ZIL-110", since they were referred to that way in official service following a late 1957 decree] anyway, since Fleming had no way of knowing what on earth the ZIL-111 looked like, though he did probably know what the ZIS-110 looked like).
The reason I didn't mention this car (I have some Spot-On cars, although not the Aston) was because there's no screw hole in the bottom and I just didn't want anyone drilling a hole in the bottom of one of these rare, well-done Dinky competitors that probably are worth more than the SMTS Models if they're in comparable condition. With the SMTS Model, it's both scale, hand-made, and fastened to the base with a single screw.
Picked up the latest addition to the collection today. Sheriff J. W. Pepper's Louisiana State Police Car.
Hope you like the photos...
Issue No. 132 has the model of the 'LINCOLN CONTINENTAL CONVERTIBLE' from Goldfinger.
Thanks for the pics! I look forward to mine coming! By the way, some quick analysis...
-Ixo reused the sand base. Look carefully. They actually did a pretty good job with the pavement (compared to the Lada Niva 1600L, especially), but I honestly wonder how the line between the pavement and the grass turned out.
-The car and diorama seem to portray different scenes. That's Bond's boat jumping the road. As such, a boat is about to slam into Sheriff Pepper's car and there's no reason for ANYONE to actually be in the car, which justifies a lack of figures. The problem was that Sheriff Pepper's car destroyed in that manner was a dark-colored Parish Sheriff's car, NOT a Louisiana State Police car (as well as being a top-of-the-line Impala, not a Bel Air). This is the car he commandeers from the State Troopers AFTER the scene portrayed happens.
-The car itself, while without figures, looks terrific. On the other hand, I don't believe we ever saw this car's license plate during the film. The factory seconds and QC rejects from China have no rear plate. Although it should literally take minutes to fashion a correct Louisiana State Police plate decal (just find a real one, as they're all over the internet), a bracket for the plate or blank plate (ironically seen on the Morris Minor 1000 Convertible and condemned) would probably make the decal look better.
Really interesting, thank you.
At the beginning of the novel Grant is collected from his dachau in a 'battered ZIS' this I have always thought of as a 110. A little later in the novel Kronsteen is picked up in this 'anonymous black ZIK saloon'. So he appears to be differentiating between the two. I suppose a ZiL may be seen as being anonymous back in 50's USSR.
After a little digging I did come across a ZIK factory that appeared to be named after Mikhail Kalinin - this seems to have produced military vehicles and forklifts! So I suppose it could have turned out some civilian motor vehicles.
Trust me, it didn't. If that's the case, he could either be referring to the new ZIL design, the ZIS-110 (I'll explain how a bit later), or quite possibly it indicates he read the Motor magazine article on the GAZ-M20 Pobeda which profiled another interesting candidate: the GAZ-12 ZIM (the GAZ-M20 Pobeda, if seen in black, was HARDLY anonymous...it automatically meant the thing belonged to the MGB or its better-known successor, the KGB in real life).
Until about the early 1960's, you see continual references to "the assembly lines at Gorky" instead of GAZ. This was done on purpose due to a VERY confusing (even within the USSR) system of automotive nomenclature as it pertained to GAZ until 1965. The car Fleming could have had in mind in this case was a GAZ-12 ZIM, which was described a few times, but never got the picture time of either the ZIS-110 or GAZ-M20 Pobeda. "ZIM" was the formal but rarely-used name of GAZ; indeed, it was only popularized on that one model of car, which was a six-cylinder intermediate between the ZIS-110 and GAZ-M20. That stood for "Zavod Imeni Molotova"; Factory Named after Vyacheslav Molotov. Indeed, the "M" in front of "M20" stands for "Molotovets", or "Molotovist" in English.
Well, after the coup attempt he masterminded to get Khrushchev out of power, you WOULD think that the name would have disappeared. It did, but only sort of. On the GAZ-13 Chayka, there's no reference whatsoever to Molotov. But cars designed before the coup retained the "M" designation (albeit as "Model") and "ZIM" still remained in use until the GAZ-12 was finally discontinued; it was certainly colloquially referred to as the ZIM.
Now, what does this have to do with a "ZIK"? Well, again, THE TIMING, and again, the expectation that the factory name would be changed to honor somebody the Soviet Government considered a hero. The GAZ-12 ZIM was predominantly manufactured in black and while the Soviets considered it a limosine, most outsiders viewed it as a full-sized sedan. It's possible, then, that Fleming simply made the car's designation up to reflect the coup attempt (quite possibly drawing on the REAL "ZIK" rumors to rename ZIS); it was poorly covered in the west, anyway. Also, it's the best candidate, to me anyway, of a car that's a tad sinister, but also commonplace enough to actually be "anonymous". Like the ZIS-110 and ZIL-111, you can buy it from the partwork SSSR AvtoLegendy or also, if you want a more detailed interior, then Nash Avtoprom. It sits a little too high, but otherwise, it's a pretty good model.
Alternately, it could STILL be a ZIS-110. How? Well, as you said, he's picked up in "a battered ZIS". There were a handful of ZIS-101's and ZIS-101A's left over from WWII that were not well-maintained and indeed sold circa 1960. These cars would have appeared VERY prominently in pictures from WWII-era propaganda reels and were also identified as "ZIS". To say nothing of the ZIS-110/ZIL-110 being manufactured well into 1959 almost completely unaltered from the first few made.
Interesting stuff isn't it!!
Thanks again for the insight.
That it is and, considering East Bloc vehicles (along with Yugoslav and Chinese communist vehicles) are my hobby, any time! It's great fun!
As already said issue 132 is the Lincoln Continental from Goldfinger.
Ok starting with 130 the Wales and Edwards Rangemaster Milk Float, a very competent model of a vehicle seen in most towns and cities throughout the UK but sadly now few and far between. I dont think this is something i would have bought out with the James Bond genre but equally i think this model stands from the many as one of the highlights of the collection. i have one criticism is the rear license plate is wrong colour. The rear number plate should be yellow, even black with silver letters would be acceptable though not legal! But never two white front and rear. Anything 1973 and older can drive with black number plates fromt and rear, 1974 onwards or 'L' registration suffix was yellow rear and white front in the UK.
Chevy Bel Air is brilliant !
If you ever need a license plate decal done, please, don't hesitate to call on me. I'm obviously going to have to take measurements and then edit the plate picture in IrfanView to give a different background color, but I'm going to try and make a corrected decal now.
Agreed, except it has the same problem the Wales & Edwards Rangemaster does, only arguably worse: no rear plate at all. Still, the rest of the model is, as you say, brilliant!
By the way, did they include a statement saying they'd extended the collection from 130 to 135? Odd if they didn't.
Never mind what's in issue 132. The real question you should be asking is what's in issue 136. Cause anyone who thinks this is stopping at 135 is out of their mind. I would gladly stake my life and everyone else's in this entire universe on that. I know JBCC of old. Rest assured this IS going on. Laugh now if you like but we will see who is right in exactly 8 weeks time B-)
So why is Universal Hobbies still restricted to producing cars off already-existing moulds? Why did Ixo leave the building? Why are even Eaglemoss employees and dealers acknowledging for the very first time that there will be no extension, period? Are they all out of their minds? I doubt it. Sometimes things are just beyond the control of the partwork distributor, and I'm fairly certain that's what happened here. Ixo was, I believe, going to go out to 145 at least and it just didn't happen. Eaglemoss had no backup except Universal Hobbies, they threw some molds together (plus Issue 134 may be Ixo that was scheduled to be released earlier), and that was that.
It's possible that behind the scenes, Eaglemoss suits are desperately trying to buy time or salvage something from the business situation you've outlined. A question that could be asked is what could be added to the collection from existing moulds (UH, Ixo, Norev or others)?
Here are some:
YOLT Mini Moke in yellow (UH)
LD Aston Martin Vantage (non-gadget) (UH)
SF Modern Beetle (Ixo)
GF Willys Jeep
TB Jaguar E-Type hardtop (Atlas Editions)
DN Renault Dauphine (Ixo?)
DN Alfa Giulietta Spider (that's got to be in a partwork, surely?)
TB Citroen DS19 (Ixo?)
These are just a few, I'm sure someone with a better knowledge of part-work cars than me and time to go through the Bond movies on IMCDb could add to this list substantially. Yes, they'd need new paint jobs and some minor alteration in some cases, but the basis for each vehicle is there.
And if Vanguards were on board (wishful thinking, I know):
DN Vauxhall Velox
DN Hillman Minx
DN Consul Classic
OHMSS Ford Escort
TB Ford Zephyr
Welcome to the forum!
No letter or insert, I do think this possibly indicates that maybe the end is not 135 .
All of the above. This collection has legs for many more. I honestly believe that Eaglemoss would be foolish to cull off a successfull part work at the expense losing a guaranteed income from a loyal customer base. I have said many times before I cannot think of any other subject that would appeal to as many levels of interest than this part work.
Skyfall looks to be the biggest bond movie of all time it alone could produce a number of additional cars to the collection not already mentioned.
If they have UH making more beyond 135 we will shortly see the QC rejects hitting ebay given UH back history.
My guess is all will end at 135 but who knows what Eaglemoss may do for money. If they extend I just hope its not a trawl through re-colours with no new bases or figures.
Well, if they were to carry on dealing with Ixo, I guess it shows that Ixo probably have a wealth of model car moulds available that could be included in the JBCC. If not, and they still have a lifeline available with UH then the series could still carry on with new sculpts if UH don't have the stock vehicles available that Ixo or Norev seem to have. It could give them time to patch things up with Ixo maybe.
I know it's all rumour, but what I really cannot understand is why a business that has a decent product with something of a monopoly on it, plus a healthy market to sell it in, would allow relations to be seriously damaged with what appears to be its best (or maybe even only) source of supply?
The Chevy cop car is on order now
I couldn't agree with this post more. What I meant by 100% recycled moulds was 100% recycled UNIVERSAL HOBBIES moulds; no Ixo and certainly no Norev. You can barely get to 140 on that and Eaglemoss has retracted any claim that it's going past 135. In other words, they're not going to carry on dealing with Ixo. I've just seen the first Premium X QC rejects on eBay which means they're going to start making those, plus they're also going to simultaneously release Ist and J-Collection. Then you have the 30-new-mould extension for Russia, the (roughly) fifteen new moulds for Brazil since they're finally leaving the "partially recycled" territory, and the 10 or so new Romanian moulds that are literally causing the collection order to be shuffled. You also have had two completely new partworks launched with a third scheduled to be launched. Ixo probably figured "okay, now that we don't have the Bond collection to work on anymore, we can allocate resources elsewhere", which seems to be exactly what they've done.
Fabbri also badly burned its bridges with Norev early on. Even though Eaglemoss took over the partwork, you still apparently have all the same "brains" retained from Fabbri. In other words, the very people Norev did not want to deal with. That leaves one realistic alternative: Eligor. But then consider that PCT (parent company of Ixo) bought up a majority share in Eligor.
Because they screwed up. They thought they could get anything they wanted from Ixo, had no backup except UH with that provision in their contract that they have to work from existing moulds, and figured Ixo would be interested in just pumping out car after car. Ixo WAS interested in doing that, but the problem was they wanted (and probably needed) more money to do so with all their upcoming releases and new partworks. UH is a much smaller-scope company that typically doesn't handle a dozen partworks plus regular releases at a time. Ixo is. But even then, Ixo tends to overstretch itself. Ixo could likely not sustain the working agreement in place, they did ask for more money, and Eaglemoss probably thought they were calling their bluff, turning them down. To everyone's surprise, Ixo walked out and Eaglemoss was left with one HUGE mistake. This is also why virtually nobody uses multiple companies to make their partworks. What may be good for one manufacturer may be terrible for another.
Alternately, it could show the power of the internet regarding spreading the news or another possibility might even be that EM may not have believed printing something announcing a 5-issue extension to be important (alternately, since we know there WAS a planned extension to probably 145, they could have printed up a bunch of letters saying there was an extension to 145 and then just not included them since the partwork won't go that far).
But that's the problem. Eaglemoss HAS shown that they're really foolish.