Geoff Arnold

Lucky timing

This morning we went into Oxford to do some shopping - some more books (surely not?!) and some items for my mother. Lunch time rolled around, and we decided to try a place in the Covered Market that sells authentic Cornish Pasties. (No, nothing to do with costume accessories for West Country strippers..!) While Merry had a second cup of tea, I went round the corner to the Auto Model shop, with a vague idea of buying one more model.

In addition to the man who runs that branch, the district manager was there, ranting on the phone to someone. When he'd finished, and saw that I was about to buy a small bus model, he jerked a thumb in the direction of a pile of large boxes and asked if I had any idea what was in them. "Take a look at these before you buy anything," he said, and opened the top box to reveal a 1/24 scale Sun Star RM8 Routemaster model. This is reckoned to be the finest bus model ever produced for retail; only a couple of thousand are being made, and all have been reserved for months. But he had one cancellation... and so I bought it, for £99, and arranged for them to ship it to the US for me. It'll be the culmination of my collection; I doubt I'll buy many more bus models after this. But what a way to go.