2³ Magnifque variations

 

An update on future Corgi Model Club issues:

It looks like the green #334 Mini will have the wider stripes. For many collectors, I suspect this will be the first they knew about there being two versions of the sliding roof. However, I have to admit to learning for the first time that their blue issue with a silver steering wheel and green one with a gold steering wheel reflect the different components in the original.

Despite my passion for 'variations' in the original models, I have tended not to be too concerned to date with the colour of a steering wheel. This one is a little interesting, though, so now I need to establish whether each colour can have each colour of steering wheel. I have already established that there are both green and blue models with each type of sliding roof. If there is no correlation between colour, roof and steering wheel (and I have no reason to think there should be) then we'll have 2³ different models, that's 8 in plain English, to find! Oh dear!

Back in Model Club land, the models I will be adding to my collection will be the silver grille #270 which, although not marked as a 'member's only' edition was announced as such originally, with the plebs only getting the gold-coloured grille on an order from the shop. I am wondering now whether both might, in fact, be sold via the shop? I shall also get the MGA, suitably clad in Reform Party colours, as I quite like these 'different' models. (OK, I know that all the Club issues are different in one way or another - I am referring here to a totally new colour).

The Aston Martin could be worth getting for the packaging alone, especially if the printer switches to a matt ink (I assume it is the ink that has to change or is it the card's coating?)

Corgi Kit 601 re-issue: the Batley "Leofric" Garage

 

The Corgi Model Club garages arrived a few days ago. This is the first Corgi Kit from the Club and, whereas I am not too bothered about their cars nowadays, I do like the idea of being able to complete my Garage Set, the Batley Leofric garages being the only items missing from that wonderful Gift Set. It would be particularly wonderful if the kits required for the Silverstone set also become available one day. These are so difficult to find these days, and always so expensive. The good Silverstone kits that I have had I have not wanted to open to make up the model and you will definitely not find a single nice made-up one that has survived intact in a hurry either! So, whereas we can buy most of the re-issued cars as originals in pretty decent condition for not much more than the Club price (notable exceptions understood), these kits are another matter altogether. So well done, Model Club folk!

So let's see what we've got.

It's all really nice and just like the original in almost all respects. The box is the only disappointment, being as shiny as anything and this is all the more noticeable due to its dimensions. I am quite sure a word with the printer would lead to a more matt finish and all would be well with the world in that respect, at least.

The individual pieces are all nicely finished, no sanding or removal from sprues here. I even appeared to have three of the very tiny 'bolts', two being required in the mechanism for the door which could easily get lost. I use the past tense because now I look for it, it is nowhere to be seen! I suspect I have knocked it down the back of the immovable unit upon which I made and photographed the construction illustrated.

The Assembly Instructions are a very close copy to the original, with just references to the Club in place of Corgi Toys. Nicely done. I was concerned that, in this present age of control by one or another government department, who appear to assume that few have any common sense and even those few may have some allergy or tendency to get injured, over-anxious or just generally upset from involvement the product, we might have had DO NOT EAT THE PARTS or BEWARE GLUE IS ADHESIVE or DO NOT PUT HEAD IN BAG included in the text to comply with some EU regulation that, despite not being in the EU any more, we still need to be told. 

I smile at the instruction to 'Recycle' the box. I am so glad that we were not so encouraged with the originals, the packaging often now being worth as much as the content, notably significantly more in some cases. The 1965 Monte Carlo Set springs to mind, with the cardboard regularly making a cool £1500 or more at auctions than the models inside. I shudder to think, in fact, how much the outer cardboard for the Garage and Silverstone Gift Sets would be worth, as they make several thousand pounds as complete sets and the contents, whilst not as easy to find as the three rally cars, would still total only hundreds not thousands. But that's another story . . . maybe an nice idea for one or two Christmas Club re-issues? (Just not shiny, please!)

As you will have seen at the start of all this, I have successfully completed one of the three I need to make. It is quite fun, but the door mechanism is tricky and you may need the assistance of a child with small fingers or some tweezers. My glue does not set quickly and I should really have followed the instruction to take my time. Trying to attach the very last two pieces, gable covers or whatever they're called, the whole affair objected to being squeezed in a particular direction and I was very nearly back to square 1½. I can see a small gap  which I need to address but otherwise I was quite pleased at my progress and doubt you'll struggle unduly.

At just a few pounds too, you can always get another if things do go badly wrong! That simply is not the case if you were trying to make an original!

Corgi Toys @ 60: The Express Service Truck and another Land Rover

 

September 1965 brought us a model which has become something of a favourite amongst many collectors. This is the first appearance of the Ford 'H' series cab and it is a particularly attractive model with just enough features to make it interesting without getting too complicated.

The bits and pieces attached to the cab, though, are pretty vulnerable and few horns have survived without being bent down and you'll be lucky if the exhaust and mirrors are still well-attached. This is always finished in a rich metallic blue with silver plastic doors on a red chassis for the trailer. In the box there should be a mechanic who looks familiar from 1505, the Garage Mechanics set.

The original issue had the usual shaped wheels and large tyres, replaced at some point with the new standard Majors wheel, larger and more detailed in two styles for front and rear. The model has a long life, available through until 1971 when it was sold in a window box and can be seen with gold horns instead of bare metal.

The other model this month is a Chippefields Circus model, the Public Address Land Rover from September 1964 in Chipperfields colours - red Land Rover and blue fittings. In place of the politician is a clown (which always makes me smile!) and a monkey takes the place of the girl assistant.

You will find this model with or without a label on the bonnet and also with or without a hook at the back. Editions with a hook appear to be rarer.

The plastic elements may sometimes be seen in different shades of blue-green as several batches appear to have been issued with a quite different colour to either the blue or yellow. I thought that an example I have might have been due to fading in sunlight but the colour is consistent in areas here the sun wouldn't have reached and inside, visible where a corner had broken.