Welcome to the June blog. At this time of year our hobby tends to take a bit of a backseat as outdoor activities and holidays take over. However, the model releases and announcements keep on coming which is a good sign. If Vectis Auctions are any thing to go by then June will be a busy month for the pre-owned market as well.

Corgi Aviation Archive - a boxed 1/32 Scale AA34905 a Messerschmitt BF109G-6 which generally appears to be Good although not checked for completeness or correctness in Good outer pictorial box and Good inner polystyrene packaging. (1)

Estimate: £40 - £50

Price Realised: £100

Britains - a boxed Farm related Gift Set (Power Farm Motorised) 9390 comprising of Ford TW35 Power Tractor (please see photo) which generally appears Good Plus to Excellent although not checked for completeness or correctness and not tested in generally Fair to Good outer window box (crushing and old price sticker). (1)

Estimate: £70 - £80

Price Realised: £220

Corgi 405m Bedford "KLG Plugs" - red body, silver trim, flat spun hubs with treaded tyres, mechanical motor - Near Mint (couple of very minor marks on edges) - still a beautiful example in a Good (slightly grubby) - still displays well - blue carded picture box.

Estimate: £90 - £110

Price Realised: £150

Corgi 428 Smith's Karrier Ice Cream Van "Mister Softee" - two-tone cream, blue including interior with figure, silver trim, spun hubs - Excellent - lovely bright example in an Excellent Plus blue and yellow carded picture box (does have a label on one end flap) with Collectors Club folded leaflet.

Estimate: £90 - £110

Price Realised: £150

Corgi 479 Commer "Samuelson Film Services" - two-tone white, blue including interior, silver trim, spun hubs with cameraman and camera - Near Mint (couple of usual marks on roof edges) in a generally Excellent blue and yellow window box with pictorial header - see photo.

Estimate: £90 - £110

Price Realised: £240

Corgi 335 Jaguar 4.2 Litre Type E - blue body, black interior, wire wheels, chrome trim - Near Mint - beautiful example in a generally Good Plus to Excellent presentation bubble pack with instruction wing flaps.

Estimate: £90 - £110

Price Realised: £140

Corgi 306 Whizzwheels Morris Marina 1.8 Coupe - RARE ISSUE finished in dark burnt orange (rusty), black interior and base, chrome trim - overall condition is Near Mint - beautiful example in a generally Near Mint orange and yellow window box - see photo.

Estimate: £100 - £130

Price Realised: £660

JRD (France) 126 Rigid Truck "HAFA Motor Oil" - two-tone deep pink, blue, bare metal hubs with white treaded tyres, tow hook - Excellent Plus - a beautiful example in a generally Good (slightly grubby round end flaps) carded picture box.

Estimate: £100 - £120

Price Realised: £340

Dinky 923 Big Bedford "Heinz 57 Varieties" Van - red cab and chassis, yellow back and Supertoy hubs with grey treaded tyres, silver trim - harder to find issue with sauce bottle on sides - overall condition is Fair (does have some loss of paint on most edges), comes with correct Fair blue and white striped lift off lid box - see photo.

Estimate: £100 - £120

Price Realised: £200

In May I finally found a couple of 1;64 scale models to add to my collection. The Toyota Supra GT BPR as driven by JJ Lehto & Y Dalmas is a new casting and a cracking model. Likewise, the F1 McLaren as driven by Lando Norris in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is superb. Both models are Limited Production runs and will never be produced again.

I tend to be very focused when I am choosing a model to buy as limited space means I have to stick with the small number of categories I can collect, yet, recently I found myself on the Oxford Diecast website asking to be notified when the 1:76 scale Biffa Dennis Eagle Olympus Refuse Truck is released. What I asked myself was I thinking. It will not fit into any of my ranges, so why did I want it. True it looks to be a good little model and true I have never had a model of a refuse truck before but on the other hand we have a council liveried lorry not Biffa. The only thing I can come up with is that in the back of my mind I had been thinking of making a street scene diorama and this attractive model would certainly look good in it. So it looks like another project in the offing.