Going Going . . . Gosh.

 

A colleague mentioned an auction that will end as I am writing this. It was for a very nice, complete Gift Set 15 Silverstone Set. I say 'complete' but I read that it lacked one of the six tubes of enamel paint! The glue is present, though, so I think we can call that as complete as complete can be for this set. It all comes in a big cardboard box which never looks very inspiring but now costs rather more than the 72/6d it did in November 1963. That was £3.62½ for those readers who wonder what on Earth that price denomination means. And that's just short of £100 in 2026 money terms, so that set was not something you could have popped out and bought with your pocket money, nor even something most of us would have been likely to receive as a birthday or Christmas present. Whilst around 8000 did get sold, you can imagine how many now exist in any vague form of completeness. Indeed, I think the only sets that we find coming on the market now will be ones that didn't get sold but were discovered as good old 'old shop stock'.

Anyway, that one particular £3.62 and a ha'pence-worth is now at £2200 and I would expect it to have some way still to go in an upward direction after I publish this. My colleague sent me a message when it was a mere £925 and I have to say I was most tempted. Despite having had a very successful week with lots of customers apparently discovering my website and my own store, (as opposed to Ebay where I have to charge at least 15% more to receive the same net amount), I have a suspicion that I will not be able to afford what this eventually goes for.

I also have to ask myself what I would do with it. I have written before about how much enjoyment I have had by recreating the Garage Layout from all the Gift Set 25 components that I now have, and how I would love to do the same with the Silverstone set. But there is no way that I could envisage opening up all those kits . . . well, if I had two sets then I could, especially if one of them had a really grotty old outer box, missing cars, paint, glue and brush. Then I could, as long as my wife agreed to do the painting. (She's the Ukrainian artist, brilliant with tiny detailed work who painted the most impressive lady in the Telephone Box that I have ever seen, if you missed a previous article).

So, not envisaging doing anything with this large cardboard box other than admiring the label and wondering how one could flatten out the layout mat, I would have to hope to find someone willing to pay even more than the vast sum I would have had to shell out, not forgetting the auction house fee which will add another few hundred. So it would all be rather pointless and if all I am going to do is make some money then I would probably be far better off investing in some scarce variations, which is what I had intended to write about in the first place.

Look at these - all recent completed sales, not wild hopeful estimates, for models which I actually already have in stock myself (in most cases). I was so surprised at the prices realised that I have had to look again at what I was selling mine for and adjust accordingly, very much upward.

That's £1063, including fees and tax. Now mine is by no means mint. It has lost some paint but is quite sound otherwise. Photos do seem to show up the faults, though, and the car sitting on my desk looks very attractive still. And it isn't £925. or even £1063.

That is a staggering £2185 to get it into your cabinet at home. Again, mine has seen better days but may well have better rear suspension than that one. It has lost paint - not so obviously in this colour, so still looks nice on display. This isn't £2185 either.

Extraordinary. This one breaks £3000 once you've paid your fees and tax. Now I have to admit that I don't have one with a lemon interior. This price, however, is more than I would have expected for a factory colour trial. I can only assume that there is a collector who is trying to get one of every Jaguar Mk X and money was simply no object for this one. Well, if you happen to be missing a quite scarce kingfisher blue variant with red interior, here is mine. And it isn't even 1/10th of the price of that one.

The Jaguar 2.4 seems almost cheap at what would have been a total of £575. I have one with a grey base and did wonder whether it might be a little scarce. I wasn't thinking £575 scarce, though. 

Another one that is almost affordable at their auction! A mere £536 for what I found a most strange model when one turned up amongst some I had bought some time ago. I came to the conclusion that Corgi had the white bodies for the 211M lying around when the M models were abandoned in late 1959 but in early 1960 only had the 211S bases available as that would have been ready for distribution. So a batch of white bodies got attached to a 211S base but got no suspension or interior so remained as a 211 of sorts. It didn't occur to me that anyone would pay that much, however. It does now, of course, and mine is nearly a match for theirs - but a lot cheaper.

You may have noticed that the boxes for these models are all pretty standard. Whilst the Rover does appear to have a generic box with a stamped number I am pretty sure that there would have been that edition in a normal 252 box. I shall have to find the Jaguar one. The others should be around somewhere.

These are just a few of the wonderful variations that I have in stock and I merely show these because I saw how similar items sold for so much. I shall have to feature a few more before long and try to encourage collectors and investors to check with me before parting company with huge amounts of (not necessarily in the case of the latter group) hard-earned money to line the pockets of QDT and Vectis directors.

I mentioned the layout mat along the way. That is something I shall be writing about soon, along with some more views of the Garage layout (which will have to go back in its box next week before my wife returns from her trip home).

It's 7pm and I need to go. Please someone bid more than £2200 or I shall be very tempted . . . just because I am sure it would sell for around £4000 with some more effective publicity. For the auction house, though, there's not much incentive to do much - they'll only get a few hundred more at best.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Ford's Tractor and Conveyor Set and Cortina alone

 

It's August 1966 and Ford is the brand for both the new arrivals this month 60 years ago. The first is the reappearance of the Ford Consul Cortina Estate. This was first issued in January 1966 with golf trolley, golfer chap and caddy on a nice tray. Now it's  catalogue number #491, just the car, and 2/1d cheaper (that's two shillings and one penny less than the eight shillings for #440).

It's a very pretty model with its clean-looking almost white interior and lovely metallic blue, red or dark grey paintwork and chrome front and back. 

Most issues had small shaped wheels but towards the end of production cast wheels were fitted. These are not particularly rare on the metallic grey models but quite hard to find on red models and vey rare on blue models.

The second Ford was the 5000 Super Major Tractor, now towing a trailer to which the elevator mechanism first seen on #64 Jeep FC-150 in June 1965.

In the attractive box the models sit on a nicely illustrated display with a driver on the tractor and a bag of six plastic sacks. Turning the handle moves the black rubber belts to transfer items from one end to the other. These belts may often have become brittle and broken by now and, whilst replacements are available, they cannot be fitted without cutting and then somehow joining the ends together again.

This stays in the order lists through to 1971 and can be found with both variations of the Tractor's rear equipment design.

Corgi Model Club: Kingfisher Blue

If you had a Corgi Toy in 'kingfisher blue' in the 1960s you were very lucky. It was most likely to have been a Jaguar Mk X but it could also have been a Chrysler Imperial. The last time I had one of these on my desk was over 10 years ago, when I found this really nice example when I was slowly working through the American section of Corgi's issues to review and document for my then very new Catalogue. I wish I had not let it go all those years ago - I have not seen another since, not even one I cannot afford! So it is a delight to see the latest Corgi Model Club issue, even if they have simply repainted the red one from May/June 2024. It just looks and feels right, and there is something about that wonderful colour . . .

Now, let's take a closer look at this and what the Club say about it.

First of all, it comes wrapped in tissue-like paper with a couple of L-shaped pieces of foam to help protect the screen. The certificate specifies this as the kingfisher blue edition. They get that bit right.

They seem, however, to be unaware of the origins of this model, 

If thy had looked in the 1969 Corgi Catalogue they would have seen it on page 13.

This was planned as model #507, a new Bermuda Taxi to replace the ancient Ford Thunderbird. It would carry the same funny detachable roof as the Fiat Jolly and Thunderbird and a couple of suitcases in the boot, with a suitably well-tanned chap behind the wheel.

That model, however, was never actually 'available later' but a batch of Chryslers had been prepared and these have reached the market. Now, bearing in mind that the 1969 catalogue would not have been produced much earlier than mid-1968 and the #246 model ceased production in 1967, it must have been the case that this batch were put into whatever remaining #246 boxes were around and, as the box talks of a 'surprise in the boot' they popped a golf trolley in there too. It would have been too late for dealers to order but I guess they reached a few somehow.

There is a notable difference between the kingfisher blue and the red editions which tends to confirm this. That is the two holes just behind the passenger compartment where the roof canopy poles would have been placed. These are not present on the re-issue.

There is a further marked difference between the original and the re-issue and that is the colour of the base. The re-issue, understandably, keeps the deep grey of the 2024 re-issue whereas my original had a much lighter grey finish.

For all the mistakes in the description, I have to say that I do like this re-issue and I may get a second so that I can make the two holes, change the base, install a canopy, driver and cases and create my very own #507.

Corgi Toys Gift Set 25 (now almost complete)

 

I have now completed the Garage Forecourt layout for Gift Set 25. There are lots of pictures that I have now added to my earlier post. Below I show my attempts to reproduce the three 1965 Catalogue images. They're not quite right but pretty close!

You will spot one or two 'extras' in these and in the other photos in the earlier post! Looking at the catalogue pictures, there appears to be something like an oil can as well as a watering can. I only have two watering cans. If anyone has a spare oil can let me know! Or maybe they did issue two watering cans. The post with a sort of hook looks like an air dispenser and I wonder whether that should have a tube attached? Otherwise I do believe this is complete. 

The construction and painting has been completed to a high standard and I believe this was originally a kit made up for a display by a Corgi dealer in the States. I have a similarly well-made Chalet kit for which there is some provenance in this respect and the two items came from the same collection. Whatever the case it is extremely rare to find the items built and painted and all in such good condition. In many years of looking, I cannot recall seeing anything like this anywhere, only unmade kits.

By chance the models I happen to have here in stock do also match those illustrated in the catalogue, with the correct fixed shaped wheels on the Chevrolet and two Fords. Whilst the little red book accompanying the Great Book of Corgi refers to a black Bentley, all the illustrations I have seen have the green and cream model. Perhaps in the box, however, you might have received either.

I do not have the alternative BP transfers nor paint, brush or glue but the layout is a delightful reminder of how things once were.

Something as attractive as this is a remarkable addition to any Corgi collection and, although not as valuable as the whole lot in their original box(es) which sell for £4000 or more, I actually prefer this as I can look at it and smile every day.

I am not in a hurry to part company with this but if anyone is interested I will consider offers.

Something for the younger ones

 I am by no means a fan of Corgi's output after the mid-1970s but I have recently acquired a bundle of Corgi Collector magazines issued from January 1986 to Christmas 1989. These have been fascinating, with contributions from collectors and Corgi staff on occasion too. One contributor, who I hope will not mind my reproducing part of his article here, was Roderick Ward, who wrote in 40 years ago as follows:

"The new Corgi management is run by a group of people who were nearly all Mettoy managers but rarely in a position then to make decisions regarding choice of model subject, quality, target market and so on. They were aware that somewhere down the line collectors had been lost to Corgi and a sneaking feeling that this market was possibly larger than previously thought. It may surprise collectors to know that Corgi were unaware that all those promotional Routemasters in funny colours, when they first appeared, were being bought by adults. When this realisation dawned, an attempt was made to identify this market.

We have already seen the first fruits of this realisation. In the Thorneycroft and Renault vintage trucks and the 99p 1:43 scale cars. the message has got across that 1:43 is the scale collectors want, and children will buy it, but other messages have not got through yet. A make soon gets devalued for collectors if too many variations of colour or livery is produced (Thorneycroft vans). Finish and detail should not be too obviously cheap (1:43 cars). Packaging should not be too brash or childish or too space-consuming (whole range). I fear that the latter fault may be due to the employment of an outside agency, who took the existing "36 months" target age range too literally.

Another crossed line is in connection with reissued models. Many people would like to see re-issues if ever possible of early Corgi models from the blue box or yellow and blue box era. Lowest priority for reissue would be the Corgi Classics, so what was chosen for reissue? You guessed it.

When the new company was formed, there was a lot of goodwill around. we all wished Corgi well, and were prepared to accept a few faults, a few too many RM liveries and some strange marketing decisions. Now perhaps we can look forward to Corgi responding actively to demand. You don't have to be a Frank Hornby these days, with an instinctive feel for what the market needs. You just need to listen, as collectors are very vocal, very opinionated and will talk your ear off all day with what they want.

You can always tell when a model range is confidently put together, and it usually strikes a chord with collectors who not only avidly collect them, but have a good idea of what they will be collecting in the future from that range. We're not quite there with Corgi yet, but I hope that the next year will see the final meshing of collectors' interests and Corgi's products."

As we now know, things did not change very quickly and rather more changes of ownership were to follow. And, of course, Hornby, as a company if not Frank, eventually told hold of the reins after all and we do now get re-issues of models we had hoped to see again. 

I am aware, though, that there are people who do collect Corgis from the 1980s and, from what I can tell, there is limited material available by way of comprehensive lists of what was actually issued in those pretty mad and, on occasion, desperate times. So I thought it might be helpful to a few people out there to see what these magazines included by way of model variations that they may not know about. Each month there was a section that showed the special issues being released, either for export or as a limited edition for a particular organisation, some of which may have reached normal dealers too.

At this link are extracts from the magazines I have, detailing the export and special editions over that period.

There was also an interesting series of articles about the many editions of the Ford Escort Van too, which may help those seeking to discover whether they have a complete collection or not!

These models, as I said at the start, are not going to be everyone's cup of tea but I know there are a number of people who do like them and, with prices really very cheap in many instances - including the scarce editions as many dealers simply don't appreciate they are scarce - they may be able to build something quite worthwhile for a very modest outlay.

Of course, by publishing this I may have scuppered some chances of finding a bargain, for which I suppose I should apologise!

If anyone would like to buy the magazines themselves, get in touch. I have 18 and they're all clean and tidy. Issues 12 to 32 with one or two missing. There's quite a bit from contributors about the original Corgis too which makes them worth browsing.

Corgi Gift Set 25 Garage Layout

This is my project for August, a comparatively quiet month for me and particularly so because my wife is in Ukraine and will be stuck there for a while. That leaves me free to occupy some space with Corgi material that doesn't have to be packed away every evening!

I now have all the bits and pieces. No, not an original box, nor the glue, paints and packing pieces, just the display things, so I cannot sell it for a fortune and retire - instead, I can enjoy it as I might have done 60+ years ago.

Missing until recently had been the Batley Leofric garages. Corgi Model Club to the rescue! No-one need know and I challenge anyone to tell the difference. 

I am not as adept at handling small parts as I once was and the 'up-and-over-door' mechanism is very fiddly but I got there in the end.

There are pieces to join the individual units as 'Mews garages' but I shall not do that and I don't believe the three in the catalogue illustration were joined either.

Things are taking shape. Waiting for the Corvair at the moment. I shall update this post in a few days.

All complete now. Enjoy the many views in the pictures below.