Corgi Kits

 

I was fortunate to find four #602 Corgi Kits last week. All are complete and probably had never been opened, with instructions, a membership form and unopened bag of pieces inside the original boxes. Whilst the contents are the same in each case, each box has some faults but nevertheless I would be happy to have any of them in my own collection and I'll keep whichever one remains.

The one above has creasing at one end.

This second one is the best and nearest to what we'd describe as 'excellent' with just very slight creasing at the bottom left.

The third box has one edge on which the glue has dried and a small piece of clear tape has been applied. There are creases on the two long sides and one crushed corner, with some marks on one side, maybe where a pen line has been rubbed off. 

The fourth box has one edge on which the glue has dried (but no repairs attempted) and there is a small crease where one corner has been slightly crushed.

Original instruction sheets can be hard to find now as they tend to get lost and I think I may make some copies. The paper may be hard to match but I will have a go and they may be useful to someone one day.

I can resist the temptation to keep one and make up the telephone boxes because I already have two excellent examples as part of my Garage Set. That reminds me - ever since I received the lovely layout mats for the Silverstone and Garage Sets I have not managed to find time to recreate the Garage Set display with all the pieces that I do have. Now that my wife is away in Ukraine and, even if she wanted to, couldn't get back very soon, it could be a good opportunity to do so without it being in anybody's way. So that will keep me occupied for a week or two - including finding the correct cars and building a couple of the garages - Model Club issues, of course, which are a perfectly acceptable substitute in my opinion.

Writing this has also highlighted the fact that I have not listed the Corgi Kits in the Catalogue at all! That's very remiss of me. I know that it took me a long time to get them all, and I never did get built examples of the Timekeeper's Building or complete Pit Buildings. However, I did have nice examples of complete sets in original boxes and should be able to find the pictures. Adding a section to the Catalogue should be easy enough as there were not any variations to worry about, or, at least, none that I am aware of and I can't imagine much that could have changed anyway.

The kits are great and original complete examples are expensive. You'll find my prices in the shop or just get in touch.

These AA and RAC Telephone Box sets that I have for sale are not cheap but the proceeds will go towards the money I am trying to save up for the any Silverstone Set buildings which I need to find again now I have the layout mat to display them on. Sets do appear occasionally but made-up buildings seem very scarce and, of course, not every owner was careful with the construction. It is a bit of a dilemma as I would probably prefer to make one myself and have my artist wife add any paint or decoration required. That does mean, however, spoiling a valuable original set, which bothers me. Now, if the Model Club were to reproduce all the Kits then that would be a marvellous thing! When you think about it, they have tended to want to reproduce the less common model variations on the basis that people would be happy to have a copy for £30 or so when the real thing maybe several hundred. (Let us let lie the matter of their seldom actually getting the specification right for these variations.) Reproducing Corgi Kits follows the same logic but with the bonus that the parts would be dead simple to make, being mere cheap plastic and they only need to pay some children in China or Bangladesh to put the pieces in a plastic bag, not build, paint and decorate as they have to do with model vehicles. They did the Batley Leofric Garage brilliantly. I wonder how sales went?

These mats incidentally, were produced for me by a chap called Wolfgang who regularly contributes quite authoritatively on various Corgi online groups. They're heavy duty plastic rather than fabric but have the advantage of laying flat and without any creases. Having said that they have been rolled up for a few years so I may have to encourage them to lay flat again. If he happens to read this perhaps he could let me know whether he can still get these made and I will provide a link for anyone who might like one. I should have an email address somewhere and will get in touch with him, if he doesn't respond to this, once it comes to light.

Now I appear to have given myself quite a few tasks. More news on how I get on to follow. What we really need are illustrations of the completed models and the layouts which I'll try and dig out or prepare.