Later models 1969-1983

 As I started to write in my last article, I am attempting to resist starting to collect some of what I call Corgi's 'later models'. These are the issues from around 1969 through to the company going into receivership at the end of 1983. They cover a multitude of categories: lots of racing cars, aircraft, film and TV character vehicles, space and military vehicles and, of course, the 1:36 scale models, none of which I have found particularly interesting in the past.

The larger scale models always appear rather cheaply finished and lack the charm and sense of quality of so many of the earlier issues. The aircraft look quite impressive but I'm not really interested in them and I certainly have no time for the film and TV stuff. So it has been relatively easy to ignore all the issues so far.

I have, however, always wanted a decent list to consult as people do ask questions from time to time about the later issues and I cannot help being slightly intrigued when I see a range of what appear to be different Rover 3500s or some other models on Ebay. I do like variations. It all started with the British Machin definitive stamps, for which the first denominations were issued in 1967. As new values were issued and postage rates changed over time, there have been over 1000 different 'varieties' of these stamps with the Arnold Machin design of HM Queen Elizabeth II's head. I was 15 in 1967 and was able to afford to start and, once employed, able to continue, acquiring all these varieties through to the end of the series just a short time ago.

So, just as I created a list of those, I did the same for my second hobby, Corgi Toys from 1956-70s and now feel that one is needed for the later models. There is nothing that I found of much use online. Marcel Van Cleemput's Great Book of Corgi does tell us more or less what was issued when but it's not an easy reference book. The little red book that accompanied it is more readily consulted but what we really need these days is something online that appears when we need it.

By chance I have had some correspondence on another matter with a collector called Daniel Feuchtwanger who is based across The Pond in the Bronx.

Mr Feuchtwanger had built a lovely Excel spreadsheet of the whole Corgi shooting match from 1956 to 1983 and has been kind enough to permit me to work with this. It was not as vast as you might think because he has been concerned only with the different catalogue numbers, not variations of models. So there is just the one 286 Jaguar XJ12 whereas I have seen at least 3 different colours and suspect there may be more.

This is a great start for me, though, as he has been very thorough and precise and it is a far better resource for this task than anything else I have found. Firstly I extracted all the earlier items and some later issues in 1:43 scale, basically all the items that I have already listed myself. Next I put his data into the same format as I have used for my other lists just to make everything a little more consistent and added a few models that I found referred to in the Little Red Book and which I feel need to be included until I can determine that they were either not actually issued or were errors (and there are plenty in that book to watch out for!) The time-consuming part was adding months, missing from my colleague's list, but which were mostly available in the Little Red Book.

The end result is a nice clean list that may be useful to someone and it is now available to view on my Catalogue website at this link. I have listed the data in three ways, by Catalogue number, by issue date and by model name.

Now I can get back to what I started to say in the previous article. This exercise has left me needing to find those varieties. I have become intrigued and models like the Jaguar and Rover seem to have a lot of different issues that I need to add to the list. I am hoping that this will not be a massive task, and, from a first glance at what appears to be on sale, the variations are going to be colours or some promotional stickers in the main. All the cars seem to have the same wheels! I am sure I will discover that they don't really but they certainly appear that way. It's only the cars that I am going to look at first. I have a feeling that most, if not all, of the other categories will be single items, especially those issued shortly before closure of operations when there would not have been time for many changes.

What is interesting to me now is just how chaotic life appears to have got at Corgi in 1982 when, even if the staff didn't know, the managers were clearly aware that they needed to sell a lot more to try to survive and so umpteen gift sets were created and these may well have had slight variations on the previously issued model. It looks like Woolworths and Marks & Spencer also were selling packs produced specially for them and that could provide some new material too.

At the moment, many of these models are going for a song, making very low prices if selling at all. They're not popular at the moment but I remember how Whizzwheels models were cheap and cheerful not long ago until someone realised that there weren't many of some of them and most now fetch high prices, as much or more in many cases than the original model on which they were based. I don't know whether the same will apply to the 1:36 series but if I am going to take a closer look I'll need to buy some and this may be as good a time as any.

So it does look as though I shall not be able to resist the temptation and will be getting some 1:36 cars. I don't see many so it shouldn't cost a fortune unless there really are some scarce ones. 

I'm going to set a limit of £10, though, which is what I did for the British (up to 1999) Vanguards as a little much-needed discipline. It means I will not get boxes but they're pretty grotty boxes from what I can see anyway with something of a gamble as to which was actually issued in which in the later years. I am also having to contend with what look like very similar models made in the later 1980s and 1990s, just to confuse matters. And I may change my mind as I can see it will be damn difficult selling anything again unless I am very lucky and get some of the scarcer issues at that price.

Whizzwheels wheel types

 I almost bought some 1:36 models yesterday. I am still trying to convince myself that I shouldn't. It's a similar feeling to that which I had about 8 years ago when I was building my collection of what I call 'the originals' in 1:43 or thereabouts and reached 1969 and had to decide what to do about Whizzwheels. Initially I told myself that I would stop with September 1970's 513 Citroën Alpine Rescue but then I saw a Ford 5000 Tractor in January 1971 and a few months later a Citroën SM with quite attractive wheels would be issued. That looked eminently collectible, especially as there would be four to collect with the two colours and two types of wheel and I told myself that I could live with the few models with ugly Whizzwheels that I'd need to obtain as there would be little logic in excluding them.

Later I began to quite like some of the Whizzwheels models after all, especially the rare ones which seemed impossible to find at a price I could afford. And when I did find one I'd snap it up and finish up with several. I have since sold most of what I regard as the common Whizwheel editions but have kept a few scarce items. Even now I still have three pink Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays.

As can often be the case, the ones I liked the least can turn out to be the most valuable. The Mini Marcos GT850 was reasonably attractive and well-finished in metallic maroon but downright ugly in white with stickers for stripes, and doors which flopped around loosely. The white one was expensive enough too but try and find a blue one . . . So far I have managed to acquire two wrecks but, once you start collecting it is simply essential to keep going until you have everything. I'm addicted, I suppose, and now I am even looking at the different ugly wheels put on those models in the 1970s. Early models start with the pepperpot style and then we see the four crowns style. For a long time I thought there was also a quite neat eight-spoke wheel but eventually it dawned on me that this was just the four crowns with the silver and black sections appearing to create continuous spokes.

The first 'pepperpot' style

The later 'four crowns' style

An example of how the 'four crowns' can appear to be 8-spoke

A more attractive 8-spoke wheel in mid-1971

A closed 8-spoke design

The filled in 12-spoke design from around 1973

A larger 12-spoke design in gold on a Rolls Royce

Unfortunately, an ugly design returns on some late Rolls Royces and one of two other models

Late Minis get another ugly double-5 spoke design

So you can see how one can get pulled in to collecting these things. It occurred to me that I had not provided a definitive list of the different types of Whizzwheels and so I have now done that and you can see the table on my Corgi Catalogue website. It is work in progress, of course, and if you know of others that need to be added then please send me some pictures. As always, I have to warn people not to pay a fortune for red spot wheels on later models. They're very easy to change and disreputable dealers do so and then even auction houses who should know better sell them as original for vast sums.

Now, all this started because I have been working on a catalogue of the 'later models', the ones I don't collect - and still don't, as I am resisting the temptation! I have, however, been distracted into talking about Whizzwheels so I'll not complicate matters and end here. The 'later models' article will follow separately.

Numbers and boxes

 A colleague asked me a question yesterday that I didn't know the answer to. "Why do some models have a white number in a black oval and others have a white number in a red oval?" he wondered. So I thought I'd have a look at the different boxes used from 1959. (Prior to that models were in all-blue boxes with white numbers on a black oval with white numbers on a red oval indicating the M models only).

Here's what I found.

It looks as though things changed in early 1965. The Ferrari was the first to have the red oval. The previous issues that year had been the military models 354-9 and the most recent fairly normal issue had been the 309 Aston Martin, all with black ovals.

Following the Ferrari, there are a few that have later issue dates but black ovals, namely 62 Farm Trailer, 242 Fiat, 471 Joe's Diner and 475 Citroën but that appears to be all (I think, need to check).

That would, therefore, appear to indicate that the company decided to make the change in late 1964 but some boxes were already printed which accounts for the black ovals post-February 1965.

I had initially assumed that the red was an indication of a sports model or some particular category but, clearly, that's not the case at all. If anyone knows of another explanation then do let me know.

The earliest window boxes in blue and yellow seem to all have red numbers in a white rectangle from 1968 until May 1970 when it becomes a black number in a white rectangle on Whizzwheels yellow and red boxes.

Several models can, therefore, be found with either.

This appears to be only the Lamborghini, Ferrari and Pontiac, however, for which I assume the box was printed when it was expected to have Golden Jacks as we know there are boxes for these models which have had to have stickers with revised text.

Whizzwheels models from February 1970's Ford Capri onwards seem to come only in the red and yellow window box (or later, cheaper boxes for those that remained in stock through to the change around the end of 1972.

The Datsun 240Z looks like being the last in the red and yellow box, with most examples now, from 1983, in the cheap dark blue-black box with the red and orange band.

After this there seem to be many colour changes in the band whilst the box stays fairly similar with a yellow number on a dark blue-black background.

The odd 700s series in February 1974 are the first and maybe only models to get a blue, orange and yellow band.

A couple of months later, the Massey Ferguson Tractor has a green, orange and yellow band in May 1974. Or is that just the effect of sunlight or fading?

By mid-1975 models are packed in a pink and yellow band box for a while. And long-running models like the Rolls Royce, which you could have first found in a red and yellow Whizzwheels-style window box with a black number in 1970, can be found in 1977 with a pink and yellow band too.

Finally, in the 1:43 (approx.) series, the VW1200 gets a 'rainbow' band with red, orange and yellow - but not the same as the 1973 type!

Corgi Model Club: 275 Rover 2000TC

 

This is the latest issue from the Corgi Model Club and their first Golden Jacks issue.

They have chosen the common metallic green edition with a tan interior, the one that most of us would remember, although I have a suspicion that we'll be seeing a white version next year.

The first thing I noticed when it arrived was how shiny and bright the wheels are. I really don't remember mine ever being that clean and bright but that may just be my memory. Now, of course, the cast material used on the originals has invariably turned dull and grey. Maybe collectors will be swapping these new wheels for their old ones!

The second thing you'll quickly notice is the continued use of plastic instead of glass for the 'jewelled' headlamps. Yes, they look neat and the colour's pretty accurate but they're no substitute for the original type and I can't imagine the cost would be dramatically more.

The spare wheel holder on the boot lid is excellent, with a satisfying click when you close it. I shall not be opening and closing mine often, though, as I expect it will be as vulnerable as the original to crack and break after a lot of use. That's entirely understandable, by the way, and not a criticism of the new issue.

Here you can compare the two. I only have one with the red interior but it is still, in all other respects, a fair comparison. At the front we have mentioned the headlamps. Otherwise it is very good, maybe with slightly fatter side lights and the new model has a better defined TC logo/

Other than the obviously brighter wheel material, there is no discernible difference in the side view.

At the rear too, everything looks great, even the design of the spare wheel cover device.

The paintwork on the new issue is more 'grainy' than the original and has a somewhat brighter green appearance.

I haven't checked but this may be the first re-issue with the later tyre design. This has been replicated really well and will be another useful spare that this model provides!