Corgi Toys @ 60: Nine new releases for March 1965!

 I don't think there will have been many children getting all the new issues which March 1965 brought to their local toy shop. There were no less than seven new models and two gift sets this month 60 years ago.

One was the almost iconic Corgi gift set - the Monte Carlo Gift Set of three 1965 rally models.

Record indicate that just 72000 of these were sold, not many for those times, and these sets are extremely expensive now, with prices reaching £1500 or more for a set in its original box. The box may be one of the most expensive pieces of folded cardboard around as the cars can be found individually for around £120 each in unmarked condition so the box adds a massive £1200!

It's an attractive set and features the 321 Mini Cooper which was released in February plus the new Citroën and Rover which were simultaneously released individually his month too.

The Citroën DS19 is catalogue number 323 and is the 210S model with four small jewels as fog lamps and the Monte Carlo decals. Individually it was issued in its own illustrated box. A classic problem with this model has been the aerial which can become brittle and is not easily replaced.

The Rover 2000 is the 252 model with Monte Carlo decals and two jewels added to the grille. The individual models were first issued in a 252 model box with a 'Special Release' label over one end. Later issues had their own illustrated boxes.

Another Mini appears this month in the shape of the Austin Mini Countryman.

I would have dated this rather later than 1965 but it did, indeed, come out this month 60 years ago. This is a substantially revised casting, previously seen as the Minivan and Police Van, now with woodwork and windows and a chrome-plated roof rack and two surf boards. In the box is a young chap in swimming trunks in a position where he neds to be holding the surfboard to avoid looking a bit strange.

It's a nice model and will eventually get cast wheels to replace the first issue's shaped wheels. There is also a little known and seemingly very scarce variation where there is no fuel filler on the rear left wing.

I believe this is a very early edition but have no further information about this.

A commercial vehicle gets revised this month in the shape of the quite ancient Jeep FC-150. First issued in April 1959, the Jeep now gets an interior and suspension as well as a plastic canopy.

There are three initial releases, two in blue and one in a sort of green-beige colour, often referred to as avocado. The blue can be found quite easily with either red or lemon interiors but the avocado version seems to be mostly red, with lemon being a scarce variation.

Later this model will get cast wheels and it stays in the catalogue for many years through to 1972.

The Saint's Volvo P1800 is issued this month too. This is a straightforward adaptation of the July 1962 228 model with the addition of a character at the wheel and a 'Saint' emblem on the bonnet.

Later editions get a red or blue label which covers the whole of the bonnet and has the Saint emblem in white. The red is usually found with cast wheels. The blue label edition is quite scarce. The same body and character will stay in the catalogue until 1972 too, the red label edition getting Whizzwheels and a different interior in 1970 as #201.

The 'Simon Templar' character appears to be the same as the driver inserted in the 215S Ford Thunderbird.

Next we have some models brining us some refreshments. First is a Karrier Van, looking rather old-fashioned now, but with an interior and suspension and a nice 'trans-o-lite' feature that lights up the 'Snack Bar' sign at the front.

You'll find two versions of this - the usual one is Joe's Diner but there's a nice Belgian variation advertising patates frites.

After your snack you might have fancied an ice cream and the next model is the Ford Thames Ice Cream Van in Wall's livery.

You get a model of the ice cream seller and a young lad on a pavement with a 'hopscotch' design. This was a short-lived issue, however, being replaced after just a few months in October by a 'musical' version. The characters and display scene go and instead you get an ugly handle at the back which plays a tune when turned.

Finally for this month, the second issue of the Fordson Tractor is paired with a Beast Carrier in Gift Set 33.

This is the first appearance of the Beast Carrier trailer, which will not be available individually in a box until later in 1965. It comes with four calves on a card straw design in the trailer and a green plastic mesh stretched across the top. There is also a driver on the tractor in this set.

This is quite a scarce set because it gets the new Ford 5000 tractor at the end of 1966 and is renamed Gift Set 1. The Beast Carrier itself is another very long-running model, staying in the catalogue until 1972.

The Corgi Model Club: 485 Austin Mini Countryman

 

The Corgi model Club replica of the 485 Austin Mini Countryman has finally made it to our letterboxes. In the package you will find an accurately-sized but somewhat shiny box and the Certificate. I had not appreciated until now that this was entitled not Austin Countryman but Surfing with the B.M.C. MINI-COUNTRYMAN although the model still has Austin Mini Countryman on the base. Just to confuse us, the certificate has BMC Mini Countryman (without the hyphen) so take your pick!

In the shiny box is the car, a square piece of foam to protect one end and the surfer boy in a plastic bag protecting the other end.

This is another fabulous replica. The colour is spot-on, as is the reproduction of the roof rack and the plastic surfboards mounted on top.

The paint is slightly thicker than the original which has resulted in less definition of the Austin badge but that may be just as well now that it's supposed to be a BMC anyway!! The silver paint is good, too, almost too good and covers the side lights, which the original did not have in silver (to the best of my knowledge). There is one quite noticeable difference in the grille. The original has a rectangular shape which I guess is where one would have opened the bonnet on a real one. This has no such design included which is a little surprising. Maybe the edition they copied didn't have this feature.

Another feature that has been included is the rear wing petrol filler / cap which is missing from some editions. The doors are wonderfully well finished and, for a moment, I wondered whether this model did, indeed, have them opening. The Minivan's doors would open as soon as you accelerated forwards or went up an incline. These stay nicely shut, without glazing, again being faithful to the original.

The interior is the same bright yellow colour and I can really see no difference between the two.

I have not had the surfer boy figure for many years and have not bothered to look up an original figure to compare this one with. The overall display works well, as you can see.

The aerial is very straight and seems somewhat thicker than the original. This may be no bad thing as they tend to suffer from being caught when moving the model around or packing it away but it does look a little wrong as this thickness would approximate to a solid bit of tree branch in real life.

The other very small niggle concerns the 'jewelled' headlamps. I would like to see the Club spend a fraction more and get some real glass jewels instead of the less effective plastic. It would make quite a difference.

Otherwise congratulations once again to the team, who must now be basking in the sunlight of compliments and relief that they've got over the delivery problems, whatever they were.

Austin Countryman - a third variation

 

The original and most common model has shaped wheels and a fuel filler cap on the nearside rear wing.

Later in production cast 'spoke effect' wheels are fitted. Note the fuel filler cap is still there.

Now I discover a third model - without any sign of a filler cap! I have only seen this so far on models with shaped wheels and my inclination is that this is an early casting - not at all common and which was later revised. The fuel filler on the Minivans and Police editions are on the driver's side and inset so quite different.

Mini Van Doors

What is it with Mini van doors? So many not only fall off but then seem to disappear without trace. 

I now need a left Police van door, both Countryman doors and a right Mini van door. Whilst replacements are easy to buy they need painting and there's no way I can match the colours. the Countryman is also quite a difficult paint task too.

With a bit of luck there'll be some cracked window and dented wrecks available with just the right doors remaining. Let me know if you see any!

Surfing in Cornwall, a Circus in Surrey and a Marina in Wales.

Luxulyan sounds like it ought to be in some exotic place like Burma or Paraguay but it is actually a Cornish village. The delightful little Austin Mini Countryman has arrived, complete with surf boards but not the slightly scary-looking surfer. Cornwall has some smart surfing spots so it is sort of the right place to go and, although Luxulyan is inland, nowhere in Cornwall is far from the sea.

Tadworth welcomes Chipperfields Circus with Gift Set 19 and the Horse Transporter having plenty of room in the leafy Surrey outskirts of town. These were boxed items from a Derbyshire collector - the models being in super condition but the boxes had suffered a bit over the years. Either that or the elephant and six horses had been tucking into the flaps!

Now, much of Wales is beautiful but this little Wrexham street doesn't show the nation's scenery at its best. The bright lime green metallic paint on the old Marina does, however, brighten up the place a bit! Yes, Corgi did make a Morris Marina. They probably regretted it later, especially with those awful Whizzwheels! I am trying imagine a child in 1971, walking into a toy shop clutching 50p and choosing to walk out with this in a bag rather than a Porsche 911 Targa which was the same price and new on the shelves that year too.

An extra 6p would have got him a Beach Buggy and Sailing Boat Gift Set 26 (which, incidentally, I am still trying to find for myself forty five years later!)

To be honest, there wasn't a great deal of choice in one of the bad years for Corgi. 1971 was the year of ridiculous dragsters, the dreadful Ford Mustang 'Organ Grinder', the appalling Mercedes C111 and thickly orange painted Bond Bug as well as strangely sized models of a Marcos Mantis and the DAF City Car, which might have been management's way of preparing kids for the 1:36 stuff that would appear the following summer. 1971 did see the lovely Citroen SM emerge to rescue the Corgi image a little but it had to compete with Basil Brush's horrid adaptation of the #9031 Renault 12/16.

Writing this I think I might take a look at each Corgi year. That would be a nice way to mark their 60th Anniversary, especially if I stick to the best of each year's releases!