I remember my 8 year old self in the school playground some 45 years ago. We would play a game of car “tag”, where we’d push our toy cars across the asphalt trying to tag (bump) our friends’ cars. I had a brand new Corgi Marcos Mantis, given to me by my Uncle Norman, a week earlier. Uncle Norman was Dad’s friend, who would visit once a year and bring a shiny new diecast for my brother and I. I remember pushing my car gently onto a drain cover, I thought it a sneaky move to win the game as the others wouldn’t dare chase me there.

Then I gave another slight push and to my horror the car slid and fell into the drain, with a loud plop. I don’t remember crying but my heart dropped. It was not possible to lift the drain cover, my car was gone.

45 years later, a visit to Dry Bridge Market in Tbilisi, and to my great surprise, I find a Corgi Marcos Mantis on Gocha’s stall. A few chips and a grubby interior but otherwise in good condition. The asking price a mere 20 lari ($8). I sincerely doubt it is the one I dropped in the drain but it serves as an adequate replacement. I, alas, am unable to console my eight-year-old self, he has long passed into the ether of time, but it does have that frisson of nostalgia, which fuels my collecting.

One thing is for sure, this one is not going anywhere near a drain cover! There are some other diecast memories from my childhood, but those tales should wait until I find the relevant models: a Dinky Ford Capri, a Dinky Lotus Europa, a Matchbox Pickford’s Removal Van….