US Military models

 

Here is a complete set of the US Army models from  1960, 1963 and 1965 that I now have available. All but the Tanker and one of the #357 Land Rovers have been carefully handled and show no marks or darkening of the vulnerable matt finish. Most also all have original boxes in good or excellent condition.

355 Commer Military Police Vehicle

356 VW Personnel Van

357 Land Rover Weapons Carrier

357 Land Rover Weapons Carrier

358 Oldsmobile HQ Staff Car

359 Army Field Kitchen

414 Bedford CA Military Ambulance

500 US Army Land Rover

1133 Troop Transporter

1134 Fuel Tanker

1135 Heavy Equipment Transporter

The #1135 Heavy Equipment Transporter is particularly rare with only around 28,000 produced, of which most will have been exported to America. It appears that roughly one-third of the production had a red interior fitted so there may only have been less than 10,000 of these, a number which puts the model, already in the same league as the 351S RAF Land Rover in total numbers, on a similar scale of scarcity to the Rocket Age, Garage and Silverstone Gift Sets.

It is currently missing the tray insert which has been lost. I am going to sell this with a tray that has the 'Carrimore Detachable Axle Machinery Carrier' text on the side, taken from an earlier #1131 model. Although most #1135s I have seen have had 'Heavy Machinery Carrier', there have been a few with the earlier text. Whether they are as issued or have been changed at some point I cannot tell. When the #1135 was being prepared for issue there would certainly have been the #1131 trays around as that was also in production. With a 'Heavy Equipment' tray I would expect this model to sell for around £500 but I shall adjust the price to £400 and agree to swap the tray should another come to light. There is, as I write, another model someone has advertised at £450 with the 'Carrimore with detachable axle' text. Whether that is original or a later replacement, I don't know. 

A rare find abroad

 

It was my birthday a few days ago and this arrived just in time! It is the very scarce export edition of the #464 Commer Police Van in really very good condition.

The first model was issued in June 1963 and had a device set in the chassis which could be moved so that it made and broke a circuit as the model was pushed along to light a lamp in the roof. This tended only to make the lamp flicker and was not that reliable so in February 1967 a new system was fitted which merely required to be switched on and had a flashing bulb fitted which turned itself on and off once it warmed up.

Somewhat strangely, the casting of the rear section was completely revised and this second edition of #464 has the word POLICE standing out with a border around the text, replacing the simple transfers.

It appears that it was only this second edition that was also available as an export edition in green. (I have not seen any first editions as export models and would be interested to know if any do actually exist. It would have been relatively easy to produce, requiring just a change of finish and a change of text on the transfers.) As it is, our friends abroad do seem to have had to put up with the immovable English word POLICE on the sides and they would have had no choice.

This is a scarce model and not easy to find, although having a friend in Germany made the job a little easier for me. As if it is not scarce enough already, Corgi changed the finish for the frame and lettering at some point and these were produced in either silver or, as illustrated here, white on the model I have acquired. Silver seems to be the more common colour from the few that I have found over the years, this being the first white one.

(I didn't have the rear section properly closed for these photos which is why it seems a little high at the front)

My particular model needs a box and, from what I can gather, the second issue can have either a normal #464 box or an interim one with a sticker or stamp announcing an improved flashing unit. The second edition would have a different instruction leaflet inside and I understand that the export edition will be in several languages too. That's going to be even harder to find! I may have to sell this with just the box first.

Someone paid well over £2000 (including fees)  some years ago for one of these. Admittedly that had the ring and instruction leaflet but it is still a lot of money.

I am happy to have this in my own collection and it will require a good sum to encourage me to part with it. I'm advertising it on my own site for £875. It will be rather more on Ebay and in order to take account of their fees of around 13% that will be around £1000. I'll not advertise there until I get a box, though, so if you do happen to want it quickly and can afford a nice contribution to my birthday account then get in touch.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Simca 1100 Coupé and a Milk Float

 

April 1964 sees a Simca 1100 Coupé arrive on the shelves at your local toy shop.

It probably won't have been the blue on in the box, however, unless you were incredibly lucky, as the vast majority of this issue were in a liquid silver type of finish.

It was a very simple model and one of a couple that had been intended to start a 'low price' range - models that would be attractive but much cheaper to produce and so could be sold for lower prices. The other model was the NSU Sport Prinz. I would imagine that the silver finish would have been more expensive though so maybe the blue ones were for that initial cheaper release idea. Suffice it to say that the blue ones are very scarce and sell for several hundred pounds whenever they do appear.

All models had a RN8 stripe decal on the bonnet, extending over the roof and onto the boot. They had an interior and suspension, shaped wheels and that's it!

The other release this month 60 years ago was 466, the Commer Milk Float. You will, of course, recognise this from the Gift Set 24 Commer Construction Set but this has its base attached and cannot be removed, with a different design so the two should not be confused.

No milkman was in the box with this one and the colours were always pale blue and white, with a red interior and suspension. The wheels were aways shaped on this edition. Much later, in 1971, there will be a Co-Op promotion through which you might have been able to send some vouchers and get one of these models with Co-Op stickers on the doors and all those models had cast wheels and were supplied in a blank brown box. It is a different model, albeit just a way of using up old castings, I guess. There was also a Co-Op van and Scammell Truck in the same promotion, but more about that in a few years' time. For now I just wanted to make it clear that the April 1964 edition did not get cast wheels and, whilst it really does look like a Co-Op edition, it isn't.

Corgi Toys @ 60: More Classics, a Commer and the first Monte Carlo Mini

 

It's February 1964 and two more models in the Classics series are added. Two Bentley 3 litres, one red with red wheels, the other in green with steel wheels.

Both have a full length hood which can be detached with a rather strange-looking driver, seemingly covered in white bandages from head to toe. It is the same chap in both the racing edition - the green one with RN3 decals on the front radiator and rear box - and the more sedate-looking red one. The green edition has the Union flag on the passenger door.

These were both initially catalogued as #900 and packed in a flimsy card box, mounted on a card base with a plastic mechanism securing the model to the base. Later, but I do not know when, they were numbered #9001 and #9002 and supplied in much more practical stiff card boxes with separate lids and foam protection.

We shall meet the Bentley again in a few years' time!

Next we have the delightful Mini-Cooper, now in Monte Carlo mode as Corgi celebrates the Mini's success at the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally. It gets a search light on the roof and is the Morris-badged casting as for the 227 model, with two headlamp jewels and a RN37 decal on each door.

There are no variations of this model that I am aware of but I guess there could be some different base types, just as there were with the #227 models.

The final addition to the shelves at your local shop would have been the Commer Ambulance as a complete model #463 and distinguished from that which could have been made with the earlier Gift Set 24 by the base, lacking the device to remove the rear section.

In due course the Milk Float will be issued but the plain Van never gets an issue on its own outside the Gift Set other than as a branded model, 'Hammonds' being the #462 catalogue issue. 

Corgi Toys @ 60: The Sting Ray and two Gift Sets

 

It's August and, as a child starting a long school holiday, you can imagine the delight at seeing this in my St. Albans toy shop in French Row! The Chevrolet Sting Ray was a smart model you just had to have, with its twin jewelled headlamps which could be opened up and closed. This was the first to have twin jewels. The Jaguar Mk X had four jewels at the front but two were smaller and not quite the same as twin headlamps like these. This particular model is in a scarce bronze finish and will have been issued a little later, always having wire wheels.

Now this is an imposter, I add quickly before you all write in and tell me that's not a Corgi. Look closely, though, and you'll see that this is an exact copy of the Corgi from Auto-Pilen in 1970. They added opening doors and a better quality interior but otherwise this is the Corgi casting (or a made from one!)

This metallic pink-crimson edition was the first on the scene, with normal wheels when first issued. It would get wire wheels a few months later.

All the silver models appear to have wire wheels. there are two editions in silver. One is a quite thin, metallic silver finish similar to the James Bond Aston Martin. The other has a more pearlescent finish - I call it champagne silver and it can display a slight gold effect in some lights.

These Sting Rays did look rather better with their lights closed. The device that holds the jewels never quite sits as nicely as it should when open but it was nevertheless a super model and very popular.

Also in August 1963 the Commer Construction Gift set 24 was released.

This was my own set and note the coin that I used to release the different sections. This is a super set and provided us with all sorts of possibilities - four different vehicles with a red base and four different vehicles with a white base. If you happened to have the Police Commer Van then you could extend the range even further as that had the same release on the base! 

The red chassis always had Trans-o-lite headlamps, the white chassis did not.

The last addition for August 1963 was the Gift Set 27 with a Priestman Cub Shovel on the Bedford Machinery Carrier.

This was a long-running item, as can be evidenced by the wheels on the Carrier. Initially issued with normal shaped wheels it gets the louvre-type spoke effect wheels in around 1967 and then the larger commercial truck wheels in 1968.

Whilst I am sure there must be some other small variations in these models, all that I have encountered appear the same, with yellow interior to the light blue cab and a black removable rear axle.

The rear Chevrolet Corvette Stingray! Corgi were not wrong with their choice of colour for the first issue!

Corgi Toys @ 60: A little Ghia and another Commer

 July brings the little Fiat 600 Ghia Jolly and a Commer Pick-up truck to the toy shop shelves in 1963.

The Fiat was an odd-looking model, presumably something that might have been found at Italian resorts. Certainly not a common sight on British roads from my memories of the year. It came in three flavours, plain mid-blue and two metallic finishes, one in dark blue and the other mid-blue and these last two are the hardest to find now.

Total sales of #240 were not great at about the same as the Plymouth Suburban with suspension but the spread of production across three models means that the metallic ones will have fewer than 60000 sales and, as the less common, more like 30-40,000 at most, which puts them in the quite scarce category, a similar quantity produced as for, say, the later Milk Tanker or US Army Machinery Carrier with the Bedford TK cabs.

You will recognise the roof as being the same as that fitted to the Ford Thunderbird Bermuda Taxi in 1962, although now only made with a red 'frill'.

In the front seats are two barely-clad holiday makers and there is an abundance of chrome along the sides which can get damaged easily.

The Commer Pick-up truck as #465 can be found with a red chassis and yellow rear section or a yellow chassis and a red rear section. They all have Trans-o-lite headlamps, a bench seat in the rear and blue-tinted windows. Both red and yellow editions appear to have lemon interiors and these all have free-spinning shaped wheels.

You can easily distinguish a #465 model from one made from the Commer Construction Set as this one will have a fixed base, not one that can be removed. 

I have seen black rear bench seats but these may be replacements as both brown and black are available from Model Supplies and can be easily switched.

If you do remove the base you'll find that the rear sections are identical to those supplied with the Gift Sets. So you may find Gift Sets with red rear sections. I expect there may be some all yellow or all red models around too, where the factory has made a mistake, although I have yet to see any.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Plymouth and the Police

 

The lovely Plymouth Suburban Sports gets a final run as #443 a US Mail edition. It looks very glamorous in bright blue and white with a red stripe and some impressive silver paint, especially at the front end.

You may remember that the Plymouth was the first model to get an interior way back in 1959. A little earlier this year it finally got some suspension and this is essentially the same car in a different finish.

June 1963's other new arrival on your local toy shop shelves was a Commer Police Van. This is the first sight of this Commer 3/4 ton model, which would later appear in many guises. It is also the second model to have flashing lights - something which made it a little special and great to play with, especially on dark evenings.

The flashing light was provided by a normal bulb and a device on the front axle which, when set in the 'ON' position, made contact with a cam on the axle. So the faster the van went, teh faster the flashes. The connection could be a bit temperamental as the suspension altered how the cam and plate interacted and contact could be so brief as to cause barely a glow on occasion. The battery was stored in the rear section of the van which could be removed by unlocking from the chassis.

This locking device would be put to great use in the Commer Construction Set we will see in a few months' time.

The chassis could also be combined with different rear units in that set so it was very worthwhile having this model as well as the set!

The device to make the contact, however, was not that good and an updated version of this model, still numbered 464, will appear in future. Just as for the Ambulance, which had the same system in its first version, it will be changed so that the current is always on but a flashing bulb will be required.

The Police Van has some variations as export editions were made with RiJKS POLITIE for the Dutch market - still in deep blue. I have also seen one with a CITY POLICE transfer but I am not sure how genuine this may have been. Perhaps US export editions might have had CITY POLICE but then they would be unlikely to have used Commer vans like this over there so I really can't be sure of that one. Excellent reproduction transfers are available so it is very easy to create the alternative too.

there will also be a dark green export edition but not in this style - it will be the later type so I shall not feature it here now.

Corgi Toys @ 60 : An Elephant, Land Rover, Ferrari and Ice Cream

 

Mr Softee was a well-known brand back in the 1960s and Corgi used this brand for their first ice cream van. You can get a set of replacement transfers and stickers to convert it to another brand, Mr Whippy, from the Model Supplies people and I have seen many of this 428 model in pin and white with the different brand too. There was, however, just the one original issue and, as far as I can tell, all these models had free spinning shaped wheels with suspension. The same van is used later in khaki and army decals for a Military Field Kitchen.

Also issued in March 1963 was the Elephant and Cage kit #607. The cage looks the same as the one in the Gift set 19 issued in the previous year but the elephant is different, coming in two parts and in brown plastic.

The last new item for March 1963 was the splendid Gift Set 17 combination of a red Series II Land Rover pulling a yellow Racing Car Trailer with the 154 Ferrari (amusingly with its driver still in place!)

The first editions of this set would have the Land Rover with a 'frame' in the rear window, the window unit fitting to provide a flush rear surface with the back of the cab. As this set ran through to 1967 later examples will not have this window unit but whether a later casting with different vent levers was used I am not sure. They will all have had cream plastic canopies and shaped wheels.

As I have mentioned in another recent article, the Ferrari was a long-running model which outlasted the set. There are two types of casting and I believe these match the different style of transfer characters too. Both appear with the shaped wheel editions. Unlikely to have been in a set would be the cast wheel editions, although it is virtually impossible to know now whether a set advertised with one is genuine as it is simple just to swap them over.