Corgi Model Club: Kingfisher Blue

If you had a Corgi Toy in 'kingfisher blue' in the 1960s you were very lucky. It was most likely to have been a Jaguar Mk X but it could also have been a Chrysler Imperial. The last time I had one of these on my desk was over 10 years ago, when I found this really nice example when I was slowly working through the American section of Corgi's issues to review and document for my then very new Catalogue. I wish I had not let it go all those years ago - I have not seen another since, not even one I cannot afford! So it is a delight to see the latest Corgi Model Club issue, even if they have simply repainted the red one from May/June 2024. It just looks and feels right, and there is something about that wonderful colour . . .

Now, let's take a closer look at this and what the Club say about it.

First of all, it comes wrapped in tissue-like paper with a couple of L-shaped pieces of foam to help protect the screen. The certificate specifies this as the kingfisher blue edition. They get that bit right.

They seem, however, to be unaware of the origins of this model, 

If thy had looked in the 1969 Corgi Catalogue they would have seen it on page 13.

This was planned as model #507, a new Bermuda Taxi to replace the ancient Ford Thunderbird. It would carry the same funny detachable roof as the Fiat Jolly and Thunderbird and a couple of suitcases in the boot, with a suitably well-tanned chap behind the wheel.

That model, however, was never actually 'available later' but a batch of Chryslers had been prepared and these have reached the market. Now, bearing in mind that the 1969 catalogue would not have been produced much earlier than mid-1968 and the #246 model ceased production in 1967, it must have been the case that this batch were put into whatever remaining #246 boxes were around and, as the box talks of a 'surprise in the boot' they popped a golf trolley in there too. It would have been too late for dealers to order but I guess they reached a few somehow.

There is a notable difference between the kingfisher blue and the red editions which tends to confirm this. That is the two holes just behind the passenger compartment where the roof canopy poles would have been placed. These are not present on the re-issue.

There is a further marked difference between the original and the re-issue and that is the colour of the base. The re-issue, understandably, keeps the deep grey of the 2024 re-issue whereas my original had a much lighter grey finish.

For all the mistakes in the description, I have to say that I do like this re-issue and I may get a second so that I can make the two holes, change the base, install a canopy, driver and cases and create my very own #507.

The Corgi Model Club : a taxi while we wait . . .

 

1962 was a good summer for fans of the Ford Thunderbird. Corgi had issued the Hard Top and Convertible 'S' upgrades with suspension and new colours in June and in July they had another go at the Convertible and added a strange-looking roof, stickers and a driver to a new issue #430 called a Bermuda Taxi.

It would have been a relatively inexpensive set of changes at the time and I am sure the same consideration was persuasive when deciding on this month's release from the Corgi Model Club. It's a cheerful model and brightened up a gloomy November morning when it arrived.

You'll see some additional packing with this one - a quite solid bit of card protecting one end, as well as the now familiar chunks of white foam plastic. The cars are also now being wrapped in thin white paper. I can only assume that some people have complained about some scuff marks on unprotected models that allowed a little movement in the past. It's a good idea but I do have to say that in the old days we had the box, the car and a membership certificate and that was it in the vast majority of cases! 

It is another excellent reproduction all round. I don't have my original to hand to make comparison photographs but everything is pretty much as for the re-issue of 215S which you can refer to.

The additions will be the roof, stickers and the driver. The stickers are not stickers so don't try to peel them off as you could with an original model. Whilst I appreciate that these transfers, or maybe they are produced as part of an advanced printing process now, look good and will be cheaper to produce than separate items which then have to be stuck on, and this is not like other issues where we were given the stickers on a sheet to apply as and where we wanted, I would have preferred stickers to make this that much closer to the old #430.

The driver is the one I am familiar with in these models. I have encountered, and written about, another with bigger yellow boots and one or two other differences but I have no idea if that one ever appeared in an original #430 or was something a parts firm had created. This chap looks fatter than I remember the original being but I really cannot be sure about that.

As always, the box is very shiny and I still have an issue with some of the fonts used but the main appearance is very good.

As something to keep us amused for a while this is fine but you know, and I am sure the Club knows, that we are really holding our breath for the much more exciting things due in the next two or three months!

Corgi Toys @ 60 : Two Americans

 

August 1965 sees two lovely American cars on the shelves in your local Corgi Toys shop.

You need to be fairly quick to find one, though, as the plain version of the new split Impala was not around for long at all, less than a year on dealers' order lists. So this is a comparatively scarce model but one that also gets cast wheels later in each production and this version seems particularly hard to find.

It is always in what I call coffee and cream and I am not aware of any variations in the finish at all. These colours do suit the period well, although I guess they're not a combination you'll see on the streets today. This Chevrolet Impala is the last of the four reworkings of the old 220 model. There are two last gasps to come when it gets a sort of box shape added to the rear for two dog wagons, one in 1967 and the last in 1970 for a Chipperfields Circus edition. The 248 model, however, is the last Impala saloon.

The other American arrival was heavily advertised as having a 'surprise' in the boot. I was rather disappointed to take this one out of the box and find quite a dull-looking Chrysler Imperial inside and the surprise was a golfing trolley with a set of clubs!

The car was big, very rectangular and everything opened. I suppose that should have been quite impressive as it was an open convertible too but I remember finding it all a bit clunky, with very far doors, a screen that looked as if it had just fallen onto the car and a rather basic-looking dashboard. 

The 'chrome' elements were now a solid chunk of silvery metal, including two bars for the cills. There were two people included with the car too although they often got lost and are missing in all the photos I have taken of those in my possession.

Here they are.

You will find this model with two colours for the interior - chalky green or chalky blue, similar to the colours found in the Mustangs. In my experience the blue seems a lot more common than the green but I cannot say which came first or perhaps they were both produced over the years and the difference was merely down to the current supply of interior materials at the time.

I have always found the door panels to match the interior, however.

The early editions had shaped wheels, replaced pretty soon after issue with cast wheels. I bought my own model very soon after it was issued and that had cast wheels and the green interior. Shaped wheels are quite a scarce variation.

I show here too the very rare 'Kingfisher blue' edition which some people have found in 246 boxes, with the two people and the golf trolley, always with cast wheels. This was supposed to be a replacement for the Bermuda Taxi but never made it into production as such. Clearly a batch of models were prepared in that finish and I can only guess that it was decided to sell them off as normal 246 models instead when the Bermuda Taxi idea was dropped. This would, though, have been sometime later than August 1965.

The #246 model stayed in production for a couple of years and sold quite well, despite is heavy 9/3d price tag, only 8d less that the James Bond Aston Martin which would come out a couple of months later.

Update on Corgi Model Club issue plans

 Here are the next few months' models, as proposed by the Club:

492		VW 1200 European Police Car (Dutch edition)
107		Batboat + Trailer
334		BMC Mini Magnifique (green)
430		Bermuda Taxi
348		Ford Mustang Flower Power
1126		Ecurie Ecosse Racing Car Transporter
270		James Bond's Aston Martin (silver grille)
270		James Bond's Aston Martin (gold grille)
233		Heinkel Economy Car
248		Chevrolet Impala

and here are two further issues to be added to the list:

268 The Green Hornet's 'Black Beauty'

416 RAC Radio Rescue Land Rover

The earliest dates that anyone will have received the #406 Land Rover in yellow with a black roof will have been mid-June so add a month for each row and that'll give you an idea of the when you should see these first appear.

So there may be some lucky people getting an Ecurie Ecosse Racing Car Transporter for Christmas!

With the Batboat will be the device issued originally to connect to the first issue of the Batmobile, fitting over the flame-thrower at the back. These devices are very hard to find as originals as you can imagine how easily they can get lost so expect sales for this little boat to soar. It will, of course, also attach as normal to the second issue which is also available from the Corgi Store.

The two silver Aston Martins are expected to be issued at the same time in January, members getting the one with a silver grille and the other version being available for anyone to buy from the Club Store. As for the matt black Batmobile, expect to see several appear at high prices for the member editions as they will be in comparatively short supply, certainly at first. The matt black Batmobile still sells quite easily at £100.

The Mini will be a green edition of the blue one issued in November 2023. I rather suspect that it will be no more than a fresh coat of paint at the factory with the sliding roof remaining with narrow bars and not the wider variety, so you'll still have to search for an original of that one!

The Dutch edition of the VW Police Car is all white and a good-looking model that is hard to find and usually expensive if you do. It's a model I have never had myself so I won't be able to do a side by side comparison. It will, no doubt, be just the May 2023 issue with different paint and decals.

The Bermuda Taxi will be the November 2021 issue with some fresh paint, a change of driver and a funny roof. That could be a useful addition as many collectors will have lost the driver and roof from the original or may even need the roof for a Ghia Jolly. There appear to be two different drivers for the Thunderbird in its Bermuda Taxi guise so it will be interesting to see which survives through to 2025.

The little 'Bubble' car was issued in a few colours: red, shades of mostly pale lilac, metallic blue and orange with either fixed smooth wheels or free spinning cast wheels. I have only seen the orange edition with both types, the other colours having only the fixed smooth type. I wonder what the model club will provide us with? 

I am a big fan of the coffee and cream Impala so look forward to that one. The Club are certainly making the most out of the split casting but one can hardly blame them. I just hope the price reflects the fact that they have had a lot less work to pay for in its production (although I would be delighted if they changed the wheels for some cast ones). In contrast, however, the Ecurie Ecosse Transporter, their first Corgi Major, will have cost a veritable fortune, even in Chinese yuan. So that's not going to be cheap but perhaps by charging the 'normal' £30 or so for the Impala and some other relatively cheap variations the price of the Transporter will be reasonable. Needless to say, I see it being extremely popular and is typical of a model which many of my generation will have had on their Christmas lists for a few years but not received.

There are many variations of that model too but these are early days. There will be some previews in a while but my money is on the darker shade of metallic blue with yellow lettering and a lemon interior. As for the extent of silver paint around the front, I have no idea and can hardly recall the different editions as I write! My guess is that the precise silver paintwork will be like none of the originals at all.

Update 5 July:

I have just noticed two more proposed issues that I have now added to the text above.

Black Beauty is probably one I shall not be too concerned with although I can see it will be poplar amongst the Film and TV-related model collectors, especially if the grille stays closed!

The Land Rover casting gets another outing with what appears to be the early edition of the RAC Radio Rescue Truck. Now, will it have a headboard? Smooth wheels or will we finally get to see some fixed shaped wheels? A clean and well-shaped tin canopy will be useful to replace a worn one, or more often missing) on an original!

Bermuda Taxi

The 'Bermuda Taxi' had been on my wanted list for a long time. They are common enough; I just hadn't really wanted to spend money getting one. I think it was the silly roof that put me off. Interestingly, I have similar lack of interest in the Fiat Ghia Jolly cars too which have the same plastic affair dangling on top.

As it happens, this one didn't have its roof so I'll need to get one sometime but i shall not be rushing. There are several original colours by the sems of it too - yellow, red, green and blue at least. This one is also missing a sticker on the trunk but replacements are good and easy to apply, being only glossy paper.

This does have its driver, though, who often gets lost after 40 off years rolling around in the bottom of a toy box, when many examples will get damaged screens too. This one is excellent and that's important as they are not simple replacements but require the car being taken apart and that would be another one less original.

Based, of course, on the great Ford Thunderbird, nothing has changed at all other than a hole in the back. It is the suspension version which usually looks a bit odd and sits too high but this one actually looks fine to me. It could be the colour - white does look a lot better than red and the driver in the red 215S just looks too tall whereas this fellow seems more comfortable.

Now that I have got this I am beginning to quite like it after all. That's maybe just as well as it probably won't get sold in a hurry!