Special Purchase Bargains – What’s all that then?

For those of you who have been with us for a while you’ll know of the delights to be found in our Special Purchase Bargains category. But in case you need reminding or (heaven forbid!) you haven’t seen it before then allow us to explain…

Special Purchase Bargains is the umbrella under which all our ex magazine partwork models live.  What’s a magazine partwork you say…. More popular in Europe than the UK, the partwork model is one of a series issued over a period of months or even in some cases, years. The idea being that every fortnight a new magazine is issued with a different model attached. In some cases these were available in newsagents but in most you needed to subscribe if you wanted to build the full collection.

The models themselves are usually slightly different versions of the manufacturers standard releases, normally in a different colour or trim and always have a price way below the standard RRP for the normal model. You might not get a cardboard box but the models always come in protective packaging and usually with a plastic display case and mounted on a plinth.  In terms of who makes them, most prolific is IXO through their Altaya brand. We’ve also seen plenty of partworks by Eligor, Norev and Solido to name a few.

The series themselves always have a theme whether that is the history of a particular marque, the classic cars of a specific country or a more specific them such as La Route Bleue which comprehensively charted the history of France’s RN7.

Whatever the theme of the series though, the quality is always spot on and the prices very attractive. In many cases they are available in very limited quantities with as few as a couple of dozen of each model coming to the UK. Because of the quality and bargain price they tend to move fairly fast and whilst in some cases we can restock sold out lines, in others it really is a case of once they are gone then they are gone!

You can have a look at all our Special Purchase Bargains items here!