Corgi Toys @ 60: A Ford, Monte Carlo and The Avengers

 January 1966 and Corgi bring three new models to your local toy shop, although only one is completely new.

The lovely Ford Consul Cortina Super Estate Car is all new and a delightful model in rich metallic blue with a bright, almost white interior. The rear door opens and it originally appears on a tray insert with a golfer and boy caddy with the golf trolley which you will recognise from the 'surprise in the boot' of the Chrysler Imperial issued a few months earlier in August 1965.

This model will be released later as #491 on its own in September 1966, when it will appear also in metallic red and metallic grey, with cast wheels being fitted towards the end of production but very seldom will you see these on a blue model.

It appears likely that only the blue model was used for the first issues of #440 but, of course, now it is impossible to know whether a red or grey has been substituted or if they really were in the box when bought.

Perhaps the 'star' attraction for this month will have been The Avengers Gift Set 40.

This set helped sell some more of the old Bentleys that had not been very popular as well as bringing new life to the sales of the Lotus Elan, previously in metallic blue as #318 in July 1965. Now with the "I've got a tiger in my tank" transfer removed and in white the Lotus is a good representation of the car driven by Emma Peel in the first series of the TV programme. The red Bentley, however, is not so accurate!

Early sets featured a green Bentley which would have been a preferable colour for Steed (albeit somewhat bright, I feel) but on no account would he have driven anything with red wheels! 

The set has plastic figures for Steed and Mrs Peel, neither looking very attractive when viewed closely but acceptable at a distance, and three brollies. Original brollies are very hard to find now and most sets you will find have replacements which can be identified with a magnifying glass (see a recent article on this subject).

Beware the many, many reproduction sets of poor quality or downright incorrect composition. Many dealers use a reproduction Steed that is actually from a mould of Jeeves from the #9004 World of Wooster set. The figure supplied by a major 'spare parts' company in Leicestershire was Jeeves in a grey suit and may still be, although I have not ordered any for some time. They may have mended their ways in this respect since. Original Emmas usually have two or more black stripes at the bottom of her trousers but I have also seen what may well be originals with just the single stripe so it is not so easy to tell with her. Some have very poor facial definition and painting, however, and these are likely to be reproductions.

Most reproduction boxes are poor copies too, with colours that are too bright, the wrong quality card and, of course, there are many produced with printers at home on white card as well. I sell many sets and use a particularly fine reproduction box but most I see are nothing like as good, even from those better-known repro box people.

Although you will encounter many variations of the composition, there really are just the two original sets as illustrated here. You will find gold wheels instead of steel colour on the red Bentley, but seldom will all five be the same shade. The Lotus may get cast wheels towards the end of its production run too. That is all, however, apart from the factory one-off samples. I know of a green Bentley with black mudguards and steel wheels, for instance, which is a much better match for those in the series but this would have been a sample for marketing consideration.

Although Mrs Peel drove a powder blue Elan in the second series, the issued sets only ever feature a white car. Some made-up sets show a green #9001 Bentley with the Union flag and RN3 transfers removed and a folded hood replacing the original type alongside a white or metallic blue Elan. These can be nice displays and maybe slightly more accurate but are not original. A green Bentley in the original set always had red wheels and was a slightly different shade to the #9002 model too so any attempt to switch wheels can be identified and needs to be looked out for.

The other not so new model is a 1966 edition of the Monte Carlo BMC Mini-Cooper. Corgi retained the #321 catalogue number for this but it is completely different to the 1965 #321 in several ways. Obviously this one has RN2 on the doors and a transfer of two drivers' signatures on the roof. You will also see that the Mini is a quite different casting, with no fog lights in the metal and this has just the two jewelled fog lights instead of the three before.

The first issues came in the #321 box with an illustration of the RN52 model and a sticker added to distinguish it. Later a box is produced with the RN2 model illustrated.

Corgi Model Club: Mustang Flower Power

 

This month's issue for current Model Club subscribers is the Ford Mustang in Flower Power finish.

It is yet another (but not the last!) working of the Mustang casting, now in a slightly depressing shade of blue and featuring decals of designs I might had had on my bedroom walls at the time! It's a nice model and, with its chunky eight-spoke cast wheels, looks good from the side particularly.

Viewed side by side with my rather grotty original, it really is very accurate indeed. My only complaint is the poor definition on the grille, which was a paper label for the original. I am not sure whether the reproduction is similar or a firmly fixed item. It is not very good but that may just be for my model. And, of course, the jewels - why can't the Club specify something a little better?

The transfers are spot-on, a great improvement on the last effort the Club made with the Sting Ray.

As you'll gather from the rest of the photos I have added below, this is a good-looking item and these cars are not that easy to find in good condition as originals, with few being sold here in the UK. A box is particularly scarce and I have to admit that I don't believe I have ever seen an original to this day.

Looking at Land Rovers again

I have written a great deal about Land Rovers but I decided to take a fresh look at what I had in various cupboards and boxes and to see whether I could make a better job of categorising the main #438 issue in deep green (shades).

I have found just three distinct models amongst my collection. That is, of course, not to say that there will be others but let's start with these for now. Please note that this is a major update of the original article and I have updated the references below for the types and some features since first publishing this. Apologies for having had to have several attempts at this but I believe I am now settled with the proposed types.

The principal distinguishing feature is:

the bars on the cab roof

I find three distinct types of cab roof bars

1 The three bars are of similar length and seem to be a separate plate

2 The bars are much shorter

3 The bars are full length and no evidence of a plate

The appearance of some form of 'plate' for the three bars varies quite a lot in the first two examples, sometime it is very obvious, like an additional piece of metal on top of the cab. In other examples it is much more flush with the cab roof surface and less visible. Nevertheless, the roof is quite different on the third variety with all three bars extending to the front and what seems like a different casting for the roof.

Within the first two type of roof I have found two types of rear window

the rear window

i frame within window

ii no frame

The window unit that shows the 'frame' is designed so that the rear cab window fits to give a flush finish at the back. The later style of unit is more simple and the window appears to be inset.

Because it is quite possible for some old window units to have been used at a later stage of production, I don't regard the window as a specific 'Type' but will refer to 1i and 1ii or 2i and 2ii in listings. As far as I can tell there is no 'frame' unit in any of the Type 3 or later models.

the vent leaver

For this particular group, I see just two styles of window lever.

i A small vertical edge lever

ii A larger triangle shape

All Type 1 and Type 2 models have the small vertical edge lever and Type 3 models have the triangle shape.

Later editions of the #438 will have a third variety - a much smaller triangle - but I have not seen this on the deep green Land Rovers. It appears to be standard from the metallic green turquoise models onwards, all the way through the Whizzwheels editions too, although I wonder that there may be some transition examples to seek.

the registration plate

Again, for this particular group I see two types of registration plate panel on the front wing.

i A small rectangular panel

ii A larger rectangular panel

As for the lever, there is a third variety of panel - a definite square shape - and this also seems standard for all later issues from metallic green-turquoise on.

All Types 1 and 2 appear to have the smaller rectangle and Type 3 have the larger rectangle. The more recent metallic turquoise and other later issues have a square plate.

the grille

i No gap between the grille and bonnet

ii A clear gap between the grille and bonnet

You will also note clear difference in the casting of the headlamps and badge.

All Type 1 and 2 appear to have clear lines around the headlamps and no gap, Types 3 having the  less well-defined lights and clear gap.

Below is a table summarising the three main types I have found amongst the blue-green models.

I have found only one example of Type 2i so far amongst green models. The others seem reasonably plentiful. I would be interested to know of how other collectors have found these types to be distributed as well, of course, of further varieties. I mention the possibility of a Type 4 below.

Needless to say, there will always be something different too - and here you can see a couple of 'outliers'!

The edition with red seats is quite uncommon but may appear throughout production - I even have Whizzwheels and Gift Set 19 models with red seats! So there is likely to be red seats in all types.

The distinctly blue-green model, however, is a bit unusual. At first I thought it was just another blue-green #438 but this one stands out and is quite different to all the others. It is not, unfortunately, though, RAF blue for the 351S! It is a Type 2 in the table above, with short bars and I am assuming it is just from a batch of production with a touch more blue in the paint mixture than usual. I would like to learn about any other instances of this quite distinct blue-green shade.

I had thought I might be able to distinguish a dark green and a deep green for this issue but I find so many shades in between that I have decided not to list them. (It is not as distinct as the two greens found on the #301 TR2 and #405 Bedford models).

Lastly on the subject of #438s for now, don't forget the 'farm green' issue from early Farming Gift Set 22 issues. This is a very distinct flavour of green, similar to the green shade used for the Gift Set 2  #406. In fact, I tend to refer to the 'farm green' model as a #406S but the number is hardly relevant as it was never issued individually anyway. With these being produced for a very short time in that colour, it is almost certain that they will all fall in Type 1 in the table above.

Looking at the other Land Rovers, I have found these:

GS17/19 red

Type 1i

Type 2ii

416S

Type 1i

GS2 fawn

Type 1ii

Type 2ii

Type 3

406S

Type 1i

These are interesting and, like the 'Farm green' issue from GS22, they all seem, at first glance to have no evidence of a plate for the bars and yet have all the Type 1 features, length of bars and also all I have seen have the frame in the rear window. 

On very close examination, though, I can see the Type 1 'plate' element but, being the very first castings of the Series II, it is not at all obvious and it must be only in later production that the plate becomes more prominent. So I shall list these as Type 1i too.

It does, therefore, seem that the Type 1 casting is the first for Series II Land Rovers, followed by Type 2 with a different plate for the bars, then Type 3 with a revision to the entire roof as well as several other elements and finally Type 4 has a very tiny triangle shape, very smooth roof edges and other differences and appears to be introduced with the advent of the metallic turquoise and blue GS15 editions. I am sure there will be transition models to look for but so far even the metallic turquoise and blue GS15 Land Rovers with shaped wheels and a tin hook, which I have seen, and which would be the very earliest, all have the small triangles. Perhaps the Type 4 was introduced during the life of the blue-green #438? Only time will tell.

While I had the floor and several other horizontal surfaces covered with Land Rovers this afternoon I also spotted something interesting about the blue Land Rovers issued either as Gift Set 15 with a double horsebox #112 or Gift Set 19 with an airplane on a trailer.

The shade of blue for the Pony Club Gift Set 15 model remained pretty consistent as a bright and cheerful shade of blue throughout all its years with normal shaped wheels, then cast wheels and on to Whizzwheels too. At the very end of production, however, it seems that the mixture gets changed to a moodier shade with more violet added - clearly quite different as you'll see above. I have only seen this shade on issues with the later style of interior, with its moulded steering wheel. I had thought, therefore, that perhaps this was the paint created for Gift Set 19 which came along towards the end of the life of Gift Set 15 with a model that I had from that set having the same shade.

Now, though, with everything displayed, I have seen that all the other Land Rovers I have with beacons from this set have a much different and darker metallic blue finish. They also have no spare wheel on the bonnet but that's another story entirely. Just as I was beginning to conclude that production must have started with the same shade as Gift Set 15 and then switched to the new darker blue and then ditching the spare wheel I find these two.

The red interior is the old style with a separate steering wheel but finished in what I'm assuming is the later shade of blue! I can only conclude that there was a day when the ladies at the factory ran out of solid yellow plastic interiors and found some old red thin plastic types lying around and fitted those instead for a batch.

Incidentally, you may just be able to make out that the windows on the lighter blue GS19 model are amber tinted, in the same shade as the beacon, which is also made of perspex, all quite different to the others that I have which have clear windows and a red, softer plastic beacon. I have yet to encounter another like this. The trailer for the plane was in the same lighter shade and examples of the Land Rover with the spare mounted on the bonnet are few and far between. I am actually of the view that none of the darker shades will have this feature but I have to research this a little longer. Again, let's see what collectors can add to the list!

Corgi Toys @ 60: lots of valuable issues (if you had the early ones for Christmas!)

A huge number of new issues arrived in the shops in December 1965! I'll list them in catalogue number order, starting with the second appearance of the #242 Fiat 600 Jolly Ghia. It has lost the roof and comes only in a solid but cheerful yellow. Now with two people and a Corgi dog on the back seat too. 

This was not a particularly popular model and the attempt to make a few more sales from the casting was not very successful and it was quietly withdrawn from dealers' order forms after a few months. Really quite hard to find now.

Next is #256, the VW 1200 in East African Safari trim. This was a great model and something I was delighted to play with as it had really good steering operated by a spare wheel on the roof. So much more realistic-looking than the Austin A60 had been and with better ground clearance from the normal size wheels as well! The model came with a baby rhino about to attack the car on a pleasant scenic tray. The sticker on the bonnet was inclined to lift off but that didn't really bother me and I was more keen on things like the jewelled headlights and opening engine compartment at the rear and bonnet at the front. There was no space to carry anything so they seldom did get opened. I was also impressed by the use of a lovely bright silver base-plate to incorporate attractive bumpers and, remarkably, rear mudguards too!

The first issue was left hand drive but you will also find this in right hand drive form. There is also a very later edition where the jewelled lights have been replaced by rather tedious silver blobs. That's not an easy find either.

You may be beginning to see a trend here in these December 1965 issues.

Next is another casting re-use in the form of #325 Ford Mustang 2+2 Fastback Competition Model. Corgi have added bright red stripes and a coat of white paint to the lovely #320 model and it gets a fresh lease of life. There was a set of peel off numbers in the box but the RN2 shown here is not at all common. Nor are the very early models with shaped wheels as illustrated here.

This model can be found with the fullest range of wheels of any Corgi. First it had shaped wheels but only for a very limited time before wire wheels were fitted. Then detailed cast wheels appeared, the ones with fine spokes, before a chunkier style of 8-spoke cast wheel started to be fitted and, just to add more for a complete collection, these came in a gold finish as well as the plain cast silver-grey colour. Finally some wire wheel models had a red sill added! (The Corgi Model Club made a mistake in adding the red sill to their chunky 8-spoke wheel version.)

You will also have fun seeking out the different interiors. Whilst there was no Corgi dog in this issue, the interior was initially the same as was being fitted to the #320. Later the interior is redesigned and you'll find both chalky blue and chalky green versions.

Next on the list for December 1965 is the #468 London Bus, identical to the original issue other than its advertising which now features Outspan Oranges and this will be the most common version of the #468 model.

Later this will get cast wheels, lose its jewelled headlights and then Whizzwheels as well as a wide range of other advertising banners, some of which are hard to find now. Look out for transition models which have cast wheels but no jewels.

Another re-use of a casting is the Citroen Safari model which is basically the same as the January 1964 issue, also #475, but now Corgi Ski Club stickers replace the 1964 Winter Olympics ones.

The skiing character is the same, as are the skis and ski poles. You will find red and yellow with both #475 models. For a change, that's the only variation!

Now for another 'new' model that isn't really new at all. The #477 is identical to the later issues of the  #417S Land Rover Breakdown Truck apart from the new plastic canopy fitted to this one, replacing the tin affair that had been fitted since the #417 was issued way back in 1960.

This another of Corgi's very long-running editions and stays in the catalogue for many years, getting cast wheels, transfers instead of stickers and, of course, Whizzwheels in the 1970s.

Something else with some play value was the #478 Jeep FC-150, although this is yet another re-working of an existing model. The same Jeep in red and lacking suspension or interior was available as Gift Set 14 in 1961. Now the lamp standard has gone but the character still remains (for a while).

The boom can be found in painted silver, plain metal silver and also gold-coloured metal. There is a variation with a red interior and the wheels become cast later in its long life, although it never gets Whizzwheels, oddly enough.

Two more very simple adaptations prolong the life of a couple of other old models. The #1110 Mobilgas Tanker was first seen in 1959 with the Big Bedford cab. All Corgi have done is add the new Bedford TK cab and changed the number to #1140.

The same trick was done with the #1129 1962 Milk Tanker.

Add a Bedford TK cab and call it #1141. Corgi didn't even change the trailer component. Well, they may have changed the coverage of the light blue colour on the tanker towards the rear but, as it is so simple to swap things over, I cannot be absolutely sure. #1129 models seem all to have the blue colour all the way along the lower half whereas the #1141 stops in a 90° corner.

Both these models had very short period of availability for dealers to order and are hard to find now - but do beware of an old rear section hitched to a new front one. With the Milk Tanker, that's not so easy as the 'milk' blue is not the same as the other blues used for the cab. The red for the Mobilgas Tanker, though, is more readily switched.

Finally, for 1965, you could have been one of the first to have bought a Gift Set 32, the #53 Massey Ferguson Tractor with Shovel attachment and driver, towing the #62 Tipper Trailer (with raves) issued in February. The #53 is the last of the shovel attachment types in all bare metal.

This is yet another hard to find item now and a valuable Gift Set when in good condition with its original, nicely illustrated box and display.

If you had been lucky enough to get this lot, as shown here (apart from the late #256) in your Christmas Stocking (well, you'd have need a pillow-case!) then your parents might have forked out 87/2d (that's 4pounds, 7 shillings and 2 pence). Now, however, you'd be able to sell them for £1500 if you' d managed to keep everything nice and original, as well as the boxes, of course. (For reference, inflation between 1965 and 2025 would make the original price around £120 in today's buying terms. So definitely an inflation-busting investment that you could also have had a lot of enjoyment from - on the carpet in the 1960s and in cabinets in the 2020s (and probably the loft in the years in between!)

The Corgi Model Club : a taxi while we wait . . .

 

1962 was a good summer for fans of the Ford Thunderbird. Corgi had issued the Hard Top and Convertible 'S' upgrades with suspension and new colours in June and in July they had another go at the Convertible and added a strange-looking roof, stickers and a driver to a new issue #430 called a Bermuda Taxi.

It would have been a relatively inexpensive set of changes at the time and I am sure the same consideration was persuasive when deciding on this month's release from the Corgi Model Club. It's a cheerful model and brightened up a gloomy November morning when it arrived.

You'll see some additional packing with this one - a quite solid bit of card protecting one end, as well as the now familiar chunks of white foam plastic. The cars are also now being wrapped in thin white paper. I can only assume that some people have complained about some scuff marks on unprotected models that allowed a little movement in the past. It's a good idea but I do have to say that in the old days we had the box, the car and a membership certificate and that was it in the vast majority of cases! 

It is another excellent reproduction all round. I don't have my original to hand to make comparison photographs but everything is pretty much as for the re-issue of 215S which you can refer to.

The additions will be the roof, stickers and the driver. The stickers are not stickers so don't try to peel them off as you could with an original model. Whilst I appreciate that these transfers, or maybe they are produced as part of an advanced printing process now, look good and will be cheaper to produce than separate items which then have to be stuck on, and this is not like other issues where we were given the stickers on a sheet to apply as and where we wanted, I would have preferred stickers to make this that much closer to the old #430.

The driver is the one I am familiar with in these models. I have encountered, and written about, another with bigger yellow boots and one or two other differences but I have no idea if that one ever appeared in an original #430 or was something a parts firm had created. This chap looks fatter than I remember the original being but I really cannot be sure about that.

As always, the box is very shiny and I still have an issue with some of the fonts used but the main appearance is very good.

As something to keep us amused for a while this is fine but you know, and I am sure the Club knows, that we are really holding our breath for the much more exciting things due in the next two or three months!