After an absence of three or four years, the Matchbox brand returned to the shops of Tbilisi, Georgia. Not only did they stock the regular line of Matchbox cars but they also had a premium line of cars with “moving parts”. I open up and have a look at the 1988 Chevy Monte Carlo LS from this range. In the video clip, I also look at two models a Land Rover and a Chevy Wagon with interchangeable luggage.
Tag Archives: Chevy Monte carlo
Monthly Acquisitions: June 2020
After last month (Monthly Acquisitions May 2020), when I added nothing to my collection, this month was closer to my pre-Pandemic collecting behaviour.
The first car I picked up this month was the Hot Wheels Porsche 917LH at Carrefour, where I do my grocery shopping. Then I came across the Hot Wheels Chevy Monte Carlo in a secondhand toy shop near the Central Station. The Matchbox Super Kings Ford Sierra XR4i came from Karo’s stall at Dry Bridge Market.
Then I had a surprise; an old school friend from England, Paul Ridley, sent me a package containing a Sunbeam Alpine. This was a model I already had and was even thinking of giving to him as he once had a real Sunbeam Alpine. The Sunbeam Alpine was driven by James Bond in the film Dr No.
Like the Sunbeam, most of the cars I got this month were doubles of models I had acquired previously.
The final model was a Soviet made 1:43 scale Moskvitch 427, Karo offered to sell one for 150 lari, a couple of weeks ago. Gocha’s prices are more reasonable and at 50 lari, I couldn’t resist. My father drove a Moskvitch 427 in England for a couple of years in the seventies, his was mustard coloured with a dark vinyl roof.
It wasn’t all additions, I gave away a Matchbox Land Rover Discovery from my collection to the father of one of my students, who used to own a Discovery.
Bilan
Totals: 5 Models: 2 Hot Wheels, 1 Matchbox, 1 Made in USSR, 1 Made in China
1 Bought new, 3 bought secondhand, 1 gift
Outlets: 1 Carrefour, 2 Dry Bridge Market, 1 Secondhand Shop, 1 gift
Net expenditure: 89.55 GEL ($29.26)
1 lari = 33 US cents
Monthly Acquisitions February 2020
This month has been quite restrained. The shops here still have the same stock as they’ve had over the past six months, I did buy the ’71 Datsun 510, even though I already have one, like with the Ford Escort RS1600, I find it a casting difficult to resist. Today, 28 February, I finally came across some new 2020 Hot Wheels stock in the city in a new Pepela shop near Delisi Metro. I had to restrain myself from coming out with an armful of cars, but I did permit myself to pick up three that I really wanted. A ’65 Mustang Convertible in a baby blue shade from James Bond’s Thunderball, another ’70 Ford Escort RS1600 this time in orange and a ’95 Mazda RX7, which I’d been searching for a very long time. This would appear to be from the 2020 C Case. I left on the pegs a Ford GT40 in Gulf Livery, a blue Porsche 917 and a black ’96 Porsche Carrera. What I didn’t see, but really want from this case are the Porsche 944 Turbo and Volvo 850 Estate.
Even with these late additions, the cost only came to 50.60 GEL ($18.10). The other models were bought secondhand, firstly, a Pompe a Incendie (Fire Truck) by Majorette, I intend to use this as a restoration project, I haven’t yet found suitable pieces to replace the missing parts.
Also by Majorette is a Ford Focus Rally, a Lada Niva in fire brigade livery by an unknown Chinese manufacturer, a glittery 1988 Chevy Monte Carlo and the shell of a VW Beetle “Feuerwehr”.
I was disappointed not to find any Matchbox models this month for my collection.
Bilan
Totals: 9 Models: 5 Hot Wheels, 2 Majorette and 2 unidentified Chinese model
4 bought new, 4 bought secondhand, 1 traded
Outlets: 3 Pepela, 2 Secondhand stores, 1 Carrefour, 1 Varketili Market, 1 Samgori Market and 1 Kakha
Net expenditure: 50.60 GEL ($18.10)
1 lari = 36 US cents
Diecast Car Collector 