More Kits Please - We're British.

Another day and another ebay bargain drops through the letterbox.  Or in this case is delivered to the local delivery office as being too large to fit through.

I'm still on the hunt for old early 80's Heljan kits to bulk up my 'kit mingling' parts box, these three rather tattered examples went for just £15 and although the postage almost doubled the cost, they are still a great buy.

Many of these old Heljan kits are the same ones that Walthers repackage and reissue with modern price tags, it definitely makes sense to try and get hold of the older ones cheaply where possible.  In this case one of them turned out to be one of the out of production Merchants Row kits currently selling on ebay for over $30 which is more than I paid for all three.

In this lot I have:

Crooksville Bank Block

(aka Walthers Merchants Row III) 

Ice Cream and Woolworth Store

(not reissued by Walthers as far as I can tell)

 

911 Drug Store

(not reissued by Walthers as far as I can tell)

 

Turns out that the kits are complete and in very good shape, despite what the torn and ripped outer boxes would have suggested.  I expected some missing parts at least, but I was pleasantly surprised when I opened them to discover everything present and correct, with the added bonus of a few extra pieces from some kind of wild west set for good measure.

I particularly like the Drug Store kit as it is designed to fit on an angled spot, just perfect for filling an awkward space next to a set of points or a spur track.

I bought these kits with intention of them being parts fodder, but seeing as they are complete they will most likely become the basis for the city block on my next module.

I also picked up an old IHC "Homes of Yesteryear" kit which is a really nice model of a Victorian wooden house like those seen in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco. 

 IHC Homes of Yesteryear

Obviously it's hard to tell without having built it, but on examination this kit seems like a really nicely detailed set of parts which ought to build into a great example of an old house.  I picked this one up for only £10 including shipping which is a bit of a bargain considering how detailed it is, definitely appears to be a case where the packaging belies the quality of the contents.

So, yet more boxes of plastic added to the hoard in the loft.  Luckily we expect to be moving to a house with a garage later this year.  So I will be able to get my layout up and running and sort out all the treasure into a proper backlog of modeling work!