ploughmaster

One of these I take it: http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_16264.htm

Only locked in his workshop building some more perhaps

The pewter one he has on another thread appears to me to be a 7610 ?? It will be worth rather more than the UH one though!

I see the nutters have been allowed out again \ http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150531857801&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I am assuming you mean the UH Ford 7810? If so, it is hardly rare; they have already made thousands. There are currently 9 standard coloured ones and 11 silver jubilee ones available to the UK on eBay, most of them in the UK or Germany, and priced at or below recommended retail

I doubt it, to be honest - it was rumoured that their difficulties with miniaturising the turnover mechanism was what stopped it being released earlier this year In what way Ertl are keeping the licence (if you have any doubt about that, have a look in the 2011 Ertl JD catalogue). So do Ertl The price is very relevant!!!! I can't see how one substantially plastic tractor with a price of £15 is 'going head to head' with a similar one in mainly metal with a price likely to be about £25 \ . Why do some of you have such difficulty in comprehending that some parents simply can't afford to buy Siku, regardless of their strength.

From what is stocked at the one in Lincoln, I think they sell whatever they can buy in cheap and resell at a profit - clothes, household goods, kitchenware and furnishings, toys, fancy goods (including boxes of biscuits and sweets), and even small items of furniture. Perhaps your local one is only a small one?

eBay changed their fee system one around a little while ago - for private sellers starting an auction style listing at 99p, there is now no insertion fee, and you can insert one picture for free. Final value fees for private sellers are now a blanket 10%, up to a maximum fee of £40 on any one item; ie. the fee on an item selling for £400 or more will be £40 (apart from listings in 'eBay Motors' which have a different fee structure) Fees for business sellers are more complicated, and vary from one category to another, but in general the listing fees are higher than for private sales, and the final value fees are lower. To be honest, unless you have a rare issue which is in demand, reselling recent issues is almost certain to make a loss after taking into account fees and non recoverable costs (such as travelling miles to the nearest PO!). I really only watch Britains, but eBay prices have been very erratic recently (though the prices realised are generally a lot lower than a year ago). There have been some real bargains on older items, but sometimes they attract the attention of a number of bidders and sell for over the odds. Genuinely rare and desirable, or well hyped items still go for silly money. I have also noticed that in general, 'Buy It Now' prices for older Britains are way over the top, and they never sell - certain sellers have had the same items going round and round on constant relisting for over a year or more (you'd think they would have cottoned on by now!)

It looks even worse in that side on view Beats me how some folk can criticise other makers for not being accurate with their toys, but are quite happy to gloss over glaring inaccuracies on what is a relatively expensive 'model'

Which is why they are more expensive - sadly not every parent is in the fortunate position of affluence to be able to afford the more expensive toy in the first place, thus Britains and Siku sell to different sectors of the toy market. (having done a bit of testing recently, I don't think the Ertl/Britains are as flimsy as some people would love to imagine, added to which the colour doesn't chip off plastic )

It isn't really a new development, or unusual really - both Britains and Siku have a long history of being licensed to produce the same machine - Ford TW35/8830, Renault 145, New Holland L/35 series, Deutz DX, MF7200 combine, JD 7500 forager, and Ifor Williams stock trailer immediately spring to mind. Britains and Siku do not actually clash as such as, from a price point of view, they don't sit at quite the same level in the market place; Siku tractors are on average around 25% more expensive than their Britains equivalent.

I'm not so sure - I've seen a list of the recommended retail prices for next years Britains, and the T9.670 is shown at £24.99, with the T9390 as £22.99. If the T9390 was actually a T8.390, I would expect a price similar to the Magnum (£17.99). I was thinking that too!

Perhaps it's my eyesight, but they don't appear to be contoured right to me - the model has three distinct angles at the outer edge of the black section, whereas all the NH 60 series tractors I've seen are much more curved: It's a niggle, I know, but I was under the impression that these are made and priced as models rather than toys, so they have no excuse not to be spot on

Which is exactly the point - the mudguards are even more inaccurate than the roof, so just changing the top is pointless.

As paulali says

It's a shame they've spoiled it by getting a few things wrong - it's a model that has been crying out to be done properly (even I have to say the Britains version left a lot to be desired!). The Imber cab roof would be spot on, but you still have the problem of the 40 series mudguards (at least Britains had the right shaped ones for their version, even if the rest was a bit ropey). They have also made the same mistake that Britains made with their first batch - the bonnet side decal is the wrong way round. It is a bit disappointing when some of the other Replicagri models are excellent.

Equal sized wheel 4wd will always out grip unequal Which is why the correct term for unequal sized is 'front wheel assisted' rather than 'four wheel drive'. It seems a bit of an odd convo to do, but if a reasonably priced axle was available, it probably worked out a lot cheaper than buying an equivalent County.

I think you mean the other way round The earlier ones were all infra-red, but the more recent JD 8430T, Deutz-Fahr Agrotron and the new JD 8345R (and the lorries) are all radio controlled. Pleased you've got it running - when you have given it a good testing you could give us a review perhaps?

I take it that it has been removed from the possession of Ertl without permission (ie. stolen). 3 days later and nearing the end time, and eBay have not stopped it - will the winning bidder get a visit from

Whilst Bills' comment clearly suggests that the number is below 500, it also indicates that there were more than 400. He would not have suggested "less than 500" if they had produced less than 300 for instance - he would certainly have a fair idea of the numbers - he is the Managing Director of the Ertl Brand for farm and construction after all. At the time they first came to light, everyone got excited about them being hyper rare and only given away by Microsoft, but the number that surfaced on eBay.com and from various toy dealers over the subsequent months suggested to me that a fair few had been made. I also take what I have read, along with the wording in Bill Walters' post, to suggest that the software was not directed particularly at New Holland, and that the choice of a New Holland tractor was to a great extent an arbitrary one (it could have just as easily been a Case-IH or John Deere), so New Holland not utilising the software is perhaps ironic, but not necessarily significant.

Remember also that Siku sell at a significantly higher price than the standard Britains releases

New Holland, and before that both Ford and FIAT have had a fairly generous spread of licences: Britains, Ertl, Scale Models, Ros, Siku, Yaxon most of which have held past licences for all these brands (from before FNH and CNH were formed). Ertl has only ever had wholly exclusive licences for John Deere and International Harvester as far as I am aware (the joining of IH with Case has led to a few prior Case licence holders being able to produce some Case-IH models though). Nowadays, I think you will find (apart from the aforementioned IH and JD) a lot of toy/model makers are granted licences to make specific models rather than given a blanket licence to do anything. If I take a wild guess at Andys comment about UH and the Case-IH models, I suspect it is a licencing issue. Historically, the Ertl/IH licence (as with the Ertl/JD) meant that anyone wanting to produce a model of an IH machine needed permission from Ertl as well as a licence from IH, so that may have an impact here. If UH is not allowed to produce the Magnum, then Ertl/Britains want to get on with it - something that has been missing from 32nd for too long (as with the 10 series Fords until the UH 7810 came along).

Michelle might give you a cup of tea and a biscuit

I have an unpleasant suspicion that the two new buildings may be the existing Atcost sheds boxed seperately (instead of together as they are at present). I would like to be wrong about that!

Basically I think it may be at least in part because Britains (ie. Craig and his one assistant!) is probably on a limited budget for Britains only items and it is tractors that sell - perhaps there is insufficient funding for developing both new tractors and a wide range of implements (and the implements would have a much lower sales volume). Perhaps they see all the tackle from Siku and don't feel able to compete - perhaps they are happy to concentrate on tractors and let Siku supply the carpet farmers with most of the tackle. Then again, perhaps the new trailers are the beginning of a resurgence of machinery in the Britains range (it has to be said that whilst Britains have made a number of very good items of machinery over the years, they have never had a particularly extensive range of tackle at any one time). Potato/sugar beet equipment would be nice, but is limited in potential sales, and the only history of root equipment they have is the Smallford Setrite (which was nearly an obsolete machine when they modelled it) and the Faun (which was also outdated and rarely seen in reality). A good many of the models/toys that are sold as Britains originate from what Ertl are doing for the OEMs in the States, and that side of the puddle they don't seem terribly interested in implements much above 32nd scale, and their tackle doesn't really reflect the type of equipment we use in Europe. Therefore any tackle that Craig initiates will likewise be limited to Europe. In the end I suppose it all comes down to maximising profit (which Learning Curve/Ertl seem to have been quite succesful at recently).