In Brief: My surprising finds of a Lotus or two...

One of the joys of collecting is walking into a shop/store, and finding something unexpected - this is usually amplified if it is old stock that you've either never seen before or didn't respect for what it was at the time of release. Well, a couple of months ago it happened to me.

I'd gone into Poundworld as normal on the lookout for old/new Hot Wheels and Matchbox. Once I got to the pegs I was met with the usual old stock from 2014 - stuff that I've seen time and time again. I was about to leave when I noticed a basket below the pegs, full of Mystery Models. I got straight in, rummaging through, and discovered cars from the notoriously elusive ROW-exclusive set, which I'd come across before at a BargainBuys and got the likes of the black Aston Martin DBS and grey Lamborghini Reventon but failed to find the other model that interested me; the Lotus Project M250. This time, I was in luck, and picked it up.

But that wasn't all. When rummaging through the basket I'd noticed some even older Mystery Models. I quickly realised that they were from 2013, and was lucky enough to find the only car worth getting in that particular set, the Lotus Sport Elise. I left a happy customer and eager to open the both of them, as I hadn't expected to find either at all!

UK readers, be on the lookout for older models at pound shops/stores!

Both have been around for years and are relatively popular but I've only one other M250 and this is my first Elise, so it was great to add these to the collection...

NB: Posts titled 'In Brief' will be shorter posts about specific things; this isn't a series.