Delayed for some time en route from China, presumably with several million TEMI and WISH orders, the US Army HQ Staff Oldsmobile has arrived and what a superb reproduction this is.
In the box you'll find the now familiar chunk of foamy plastic and a tiny piece of very thin wafty material, wrapped around the model's body to protect, I think, the star decals. And, of course, the model and its certificate which tells us that it is "one of the most collectible of the Corgi Oldsmobile 88s due to its low sales".
I always found it odd that the box didn't say it was an Oldsmobile, just an "H.Q. Staff Car".
It did only sell around 120,000 in 1965 when it was issued with a range of other US Army models which is about the same as the sales for the Monte Carlo Citroën and it is quite hard to find now in really nice condition. The aerial will often be missing and the decals worn so it is nice o have a decent-looking edition to look at.
The accuracy of the casting is remarkable. I used to be able to spot differences but I've failed to find anything to report on this time. They have done a smashing job and left me with only the finish and decals to comment on. The finish is more what used to be called vinyl than matt as it has a sort of sheen that the original did not have. Of course, many old model will now have something of a shine after being handled so much but my rather tatty edition has escaped that an, so far, remains nicely matt.
I imagine that to produce a matt finish would be difficult and more expensive but I wish they had tried.
The other comment relates to the decals and is something that applies across all the Model Club issues to date. They are not transfers like the originals but sort of printed on the models. They are excellent but lack that original look.
The Chinese have some wonderful silver paint which really does shine and it is especially effective on this model where the four headlamps are the only place that you'll see any. Now I see that the design of the headlamps is slightly different - or perhaps that is just how the light appears to make a difference in this image of my old one and the Model Club issue.
Just about all of Corgi's aerials become brittle on their original issues and we all know how hard it is to find models now with them intact. I understand that the Model Club have used a different type of plastic which is likely to stand up rather better to being bent around, not that many of us will be around for long enough to test this. Some of their aerials have not looked quite right in the past but this one is fine. Oddly, I was convinced that this model had two aerials at the back and it was not until I got out my old one that I could see that my belief was misplaced.
And is this the only Corgi saloon with four people inside?
So, once more, I am full of praise for the Corgi Model Club people and their work on this one. It was no fault of theirs that this was a bit late arriving and it can be a bit annoying to read grumpy comments from customers on Facebook about this. You'll enjoy yours when it does arrive (if you are collecting these) and do remember to hold one to those two pieces of packing material! Remember how much extra we have to pay now if we want a box and also what will probably be a grubby piece of old corrugated cardboard which may have been wrapped around some model in the old days.
Goodness knows whether these re-issues will be particularly valuable in years to come but we should be a lot wiser now than we were when we had the originals and our children or our children's children may well appreciate those small pieces of plastic in years to come.
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