You would be forgiven for wondering whether the US Army had taken up residence in a big way in 1964 because January 1965 saw a massive set of models which Corgi might have thought ideal for the GI's kids. Actually, some were for the British too, but this was certainly quite a dramatic development. We had seen military machinery and wonderful missiles take centre stage from '58 to '60 but after that things rather went quiet with Agriculture and the Circus occupying the military pages in the catalogues.. Five years later and we're back getting the children to prepare for battle once again.
The first model is the lovely Commer ¾ ton reworked as a Military Ambulance. It is essentially the #463 Ambulance from February 1963 with a khaki finish and red cross transfers.
Next is a similar Commer ¾ ton van - this time the #464 County Police Van in khaki and with a white star on the cab roof and Military Police transfers on the sides.
Although there are two versions of the original police van, only the first type was in production when these army versions were made and so it has the bulb that flashes when contact is broken and made by a cam on the front axle. The model does not stay in production long enough to get the second type.
It does, however, appear to get a clear bulb in place of the original blue one. This also matches the illustration on the box and is not just a matter of some owner having switched them over.
Next is another commercial vehicle brought out of retirement in the form of the VW Van. This is the December 1962 #434 Kombi with khaki paintwork and U.S. Personnel transfers
The fourth new model in January 1965 is another appearance of the Land Rover in khaki with a matching plastic canopy.
You can find this with either a lemon or red interior. To all intents and purposes this is #500 from December 1963 which was then a US Army Land Rover according to the box. Now it is described as a Land Rover Weapons Carrier. I have written before about these two models. #500 is very scarce and you really need a friend across the Pond to find one for you as that's where they all went. There are two key differences to tell them apart. The star of the #500 is a creamy colour. That on the #357 is much more white. If you're still in doubt then you need to look at the rear window. The #500 has a different type of window unit - the early type found on all 406S and first 438 models - which fits flush with the body at the back and creates a sort of frame effect when viewed from the rear.
Returning to the GI kids' toys, we have the Oldsmobile Super 88 Sheriff's car from June 1962 getting a khaki coat of paint, stars on the roof and doors and an H.Q. Staff transfer on the bonnet.
Completing the 350 series is #359, a US Army Field Kitchen. In March 1963 you could have bought some ice cream in the sunshine from a blue and cream Smiths Karrier 1 ton van just like this one. Indeed, I'm not completely sure that it would not have been the same guy inside! These are darker days, however, and the US Army need refreshment in the field and the ice cream van has been requisitioned, repainted and Arlo Guthrie would probably have told us that it was dissected, inspected, directed, injected with, objected to, rejected and then collected.
The last three are Corgi Majors.
This is the US Army Truck #1118 which becomes #1133 Troop Carrier with some new transfers and a different tin canopy, now showing an indent where the star is placed. There are also usually stars on the doors and characters along the sides of the bonnet. These trucks can be quite confusing but I am pretty sure all the #1133 editions will be similar and have the 'closed' type of chassis and stars in the same places. There was a US issue of #1118 which had a star but no indent on the canopy, possibly a star on the bonnet but no characters on the sides of the bonnet.
Next, you'll recognise #1134 as the Mobilgas Tanker with a coat of khaki paint and new transfers.
Despite the Bedford TK cab now being attached to many similar models, the tanker still retains the old Big Bedford variety with no suspension.
Strangely, however, the last of the January 1965 issues does get the newer cab. It's the #1131 Machinery Carrier from November 1963 with a coat of khaki paint over everything and transfers on the rear axle unit and a star on the cab roof.
The #1135 can be found with either a red or lemon interior.
Production numbers are really quite small for all nine models but especially for these three Majors.
1133 56000
1134 43000
1135 28000
The lower numbers are similar to the sales of the Corporal Missile or Golden Guinea Gift Set. The higher are similar to the Whizzwheels Rover 2000TC and the Agricultural Set GS5 to give you an idea of how few there are of these that are likely to be still around.
This is an excellent collection to build and good examples always seem to sell for high prices - and the boxes for even more! You may think that there are different shades of khaki when you look at models for sale but this is the result of models being handled a lot. Originally they would have been (and some remain) matt in a lightish shade of khaki. A little oil from one's fingers, however, rapidly turns this to a darker shade and some even appear to be quite shiny too (although that may well be a restored version with the wrong type of paint!) Once darkened they'll not get light again but you will find several of the models available at more reasonable prices as a result.
