My initial purpose in writing this time was to let you know that there had been no new issues from Corgi in May 1965 and hence no 'Corgi Toys @ 60' article this month. It has, though, been pretty quiet generally, with few sales recently. I have just set up a 15% discount across most of my models and that seems to have encouraged some customers to buy something they'd been watching for a while, probably hoping I'd do something like that!
I have noticed some very high prices being asked for quite normal issue models from one or two sellers that I don't know. Maybe someone has acquired a collection and is just putting them all up at pretty crazy prices in the hope that someone really needs a particular item and none others are around at the time. Generally, however, I would say that prices for all but those in pristine condition with bright and perfect boxes, membership leaflets et al have fallen this year. My feeling is that the advent of the Model Club issues has had quite an impact on prices for day-to-day issues in average condition. Collectors can now choose between a play-worn original without a box and a shiny new model with a shiny new box for a similar outlay. The Club models are mostly very accurate reproductions. Yes, they have a few things which may not be quite right but for many people I can understand they are a nice reminder of younger days and will look good on the shelf. As I have written before, my own choice has been to spend the £30 or so on old models but I am sure they have had some effect and reduced the number of people looking to buy the more worn originals.
So let's have a look at what I have been getting this month.
Firstly I have managed to find a really nice example of the scarce second issue of the Milk Tanker. According to the records, there really were not many of these sold and it ought to rank highly in the list of scarce 'normal issue' Corgis but often gets over-looked. This may be because the tanker section is exactly the same as the later first issue models (with its shaped fixed wheels and no suspension). I have seen what appear to be variations in the coverage of blue paint on the tanker, some having the blue across the whole of the lower side.
This variation, however, I have only seen on the first issue. It is, I suppose, entirely possible that there could be both designs for each of the first and second issues - and because it is simple to swap them around, no-one can ever be completely sure.
Fortunately, the shade of blue used for the TK cab is different to that used for the same cab pulling the Machinery Carrier so, whilst some sellers may try to switch them around, you should be able to spot the difference. I didn't, unfortunately, and before the one above came along, I bought a 1131 cab with a tanker section and realised they didn't match! I have since split them and hope to find a spare 'milk' blue Big Bedford cab and a 1131 trailer to attach the respective parts to one day.
Next is the cute little Sunbeam Imp Panda Car. I couldn't resist this as they seldom have good suspension these days and this one is fine. It is one of the later editions with cast wheels and with no indication the other four holes where jewels were inserted for the Monte Carlo edition. The first Panda was pale blue and white and there are two versions of the later black and white, one having only the roof painted black.
A quite worn example of the first model in the Catalogue - #200 Ford Consul - here in a not particularly inspiring shade of mushroom-brown - comes next. This was sold with the green Morris below and a couple of other models on a Car Transporter at a very low price, just a few pounds. I can only imagine few people bothered to look closely at the very grubby pictures as the two old models were quite nice. The windows are intact and the base has only a small amount of rust and it is not at all bad for nearly a model nearly 70 years old!
Nice to have a Morris Cowley with a smooth working motor. I still have to work on the inside of the windows but they seem undamaged, just dirty. Like the Ford, it's been tossed in and out of storage boxes over the years and played with but is all original with no annoying attempts by children (or more recent adults, for that matter!) to touch in anything.
More expensive was this other #202M Morris, in a pleasant and more unusual shade of very pale green. This one even has an original 202M box and a motor that works.
My own very first Jaguar Mk X was pale green, not a very nice colour for the car in my view, but I had no idea at the time that there was any other colour issued. This pale blue would have been the other option had the man in the toy shop gone to the trouble of opening a few of the other boxes but I never thought of asking in those days. I do remember changing mine for the cerise model when I spotted that a year or two later on his shelf but I was still none the wiser as to all the many other delightful shades which might have been available.
A schoolfriend once appeared at my house in one of these and took me for what was probably the most frightening drive of my life. At the ripe old age of 16, I think too, as I believe these could be driven on a motorcycle licence. (Not sure about that - indeed, in those days, we didn't really think too much about it.) Corgi produced this little Heinkel Trojan 'Bubble' Car for many years and in a host of colours too, including shades of lilac or pink. Later models were orange with cast wheels. I have often wondered how it stayed in the dealers' order list for so many years when other models came and went after just a few years. The Model Club will be providing one of these too in a while.
This is one of the models that you really do need to check that it has reasonably good tyres fitted at the back! They appear impossible to replace!
Another oldie from the days before suspension is this Austin A40. This is a slightly scarcer edition, though, being the #216 model without a friction motor but finished in the 216M colours. I bought this one for my friend Andi in Germany who actually spotted it before me but with a seller who didn't like posting anything abroad..
The last of my 'real Corgi' arrivals this month is this lovely Mercedes 220SE. When I first started building my old collection again and doing the catalogue I remember that the first model I wanted to acquire was a 'blue Mercedes 220SE'. I had seen one in the intervening years and, as I had only had the black and cerise models myself, this looked like something special that I thought I had missed, rather like all the colours of the Jaguar Mk Xs. I was aware of a cream edition but the blue was what I wanted first. It was only a little later that I realised that Corgi had created a new model #253 with no steering and a revised design for the boot lid as well as an extra pillar at the sides.
So then, of course, I had to find the metallic cerise version too. The blue, however, has always been a model I find hard to resist when I see one at a reasonable price. It really ought to have steering but it's not, unfortunately, just a simple matter of swapping bases. Whilst the other Mercedes 220SE all have the usual shades of lemon or red interior, the blue one can be found with cream or yellow. The yellow appears to be a lot scarcer but I have only my own experience in trying to find one to support that.
It would seem entirely feasible for there to be the same two variations of interior for the metallic cerise model too although I have only encountered lemon myself. I have seen what appear to be distinctly lighter or darker shades of the metallic finish in both cerise and blue but I cannot determine whether that is just how images have been reproduced. Until I can place two real models side by side I cannot say any more about that.
For these models you need to make sure the icon on top of the grille is in place. It can often break off.
Finally the Corgi Model Club have supplied the #436 Citroën Safari. It looks good in a quite bright yellow which I thought was unlike the original but my old example looks pretty much the same shade. This is the second appearance of the Citroën in this form and is another of the many 're-working' of existing castings that members have been receiving. Prior to the Yellow Submarine (which itself may re-appear with white and yellow hatches and the alternative exterior decoration) we had the Bentley Continental and another Oldsmobile and another Impala. Whilst one appreciates the need to make the most use of costly initial production and design costs, the recent and expected re-issues could benefit from a few more fresh models.
One of my customers in the States was most concerned about the proposed 145% tariff on goods imported from China which I believe might have had quite an impact on the Club's business there. I hear that there may be some relief, however, and , indeed, at the time of writing there may be some reconsideration of the higher figure. I did offer to supply customers there from Britain and just declare them as previously owned items being transferred from my collection to someone else's with a rather lower liability for duty. That might have been an interesting business development to counter the relative quiet!
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