Corgi Toys Gift Set 25 (now almost complete)

 

I have now completed the Garage Forecourt layout for Gift Set 25. There are lots of pictures that I have now added to my earlier post. Below I show my attempts to reproduce the three 1965 Catalogue images. They're not quite right but pretty close!

You will spot one or two 'extras' in these and in the other photos in the earlier post! Looking at the catalogue pictures, there appears to be something like an oil can as well as a watering can. I only have two watering cans. If anyone has a spare oil can let me know! Or maybe they did issue two watering cans. The post with a sort of hook looks like an air dispenser and I wonder whether that should have a tube attached? Otherwise I do believe this is complete. 

The construction and painting has been completed to a high standard and I believe this was originally a kit made up for a display by a Corgi dealer in the States. I have a similarly well-made Chalet kit for which there is some provenance in this respect and the two items came from the same collection. Whatever the case it is extremely rare to find the items built and painted and all in such good condition. In many years of looking, I cannot recall seeing anything like this anywhere, only unmade kits.

By chance the models I happen to have here in stock do also match those illustrated in the catalogue, with the correct fixed shaped wheels on the Chevrolet and two Fords. Whilst the little red book accompanying the Great Book of Corgi refers to a black Bentley, all the illustrations I have seen have the green and cream model. Perhaps in the box, however, you might have received either.

I do not have the alternative BP transfers nor paint, brush or glue but the layout is a delightful reminder of how things once were.

Something as attractive as this is a remarkable addition to any Corgi collection and, although not as valuable as the whole lot in their original box(es) which sell for £4000 or more, I actually prefer this as I can look at it and smile every day.

I am not in a hurry to part company with this but if anyone is interested I will consider offers.

Corgi Gift Set 25 Garage Layout

This is my project for August, a comparatively quiet month for me and particularly so because my wife is in Ukraine and will be stuck there for a while. That leaves me free to occupy some space with Corgi material that doesn't have to be packed away every evening!

I now have all the bits and pieces. No, not an original box, nor the glue, paints and packing pieces, just the display things, so I cannot sell it for a fortune and retire - instead, I can enjoy it as I might have done 60+ years ago.

Missing until recently had been the Batley Leofric garages. Corgi Model Club to the rescue! No-one need know and I challenge anyone to tell the difference. 

I am not as adept at handling small parts as I once was and the 'up-and-over-door' mechanism is very fiddly but I got there in the end.

There are pieces to join the individual units as 'Mews garages' but I shall not do that and I don't believe the three in the catalogue illustration were joined either.

Things are taking shape. Waiting for the Corvair at the moment. I shall update this post in a few days.

All complete now. Enjoy the many views in the pictures below.

The Gift Sets 6 and 25 we can afford

 

Gift Set 6

I often get asked questions about Corgi Toys and they also give me something to share with the other collectors who read these articles from time to time. Writing it all down also saves me from having to remember every detail as all I have to do to find it again is use the little search bar to the right (if you're using a computer screen or laptop) or goodness only knows where if you using a smartphone.

This latest query was a fairly simple one but which nevertheless surprised me when I looked into it a bit more closely. "What's the difference between Gift Set 6 and Gift set 25?" asked Mr Horrocks. Let me state quickly that he was talking about the Breakdown Truck and Racing Car sets, not the wonderful and wonderfully expensive Rocket Age Gift Set nor the even more wonderful and hugely more expensive Garage Set! No, these more recent two we can just about afford on a good day.

The first, Gift Set 6, was issued in October 1967. It was withdrawn from dealer's lists in 1969.

The Breakdown Truck was the same VW Truck as had been issued in December 1966 but now gets a fresh coat of white paint, a lemon interior and 'Racing Club' stickers on the doors. The boxed #490 did not, at this time, have any stickers on the doors and the green-beige models all had a red interior. (Later Trucks did get cast wheels and 'Breakdown' stickers.) As far as I can tell, however, all the Gift Set 6 trucks had shaped wheels and lemon interiors.

On the red trailer was a standard Cooper-Maserati model #156 which may or may not have more than one wheel in gold. Most examples had four bare metal 8-spoke cast wheels but quite a few had a few gold-coloured wheels. One or two sets might feature one where someone had managed to find four gold wheels but they're few and far between.

The little red trailer had tiny cast wheels. I have not seen any with the older style smooth wheels in this set.

Then in April 1970, presumably once stock of the old one had been used up, Corgi come out with Gift Set 25 which is basically the same set but with a Cooper-Maserati on the trailer.

Gift Set 25

The only other difference appears to be the #490 Truck now gets cast wheels. However, most of the trucks now seem to have red interiors, with lemon being the scarcer.

Unfortunately, because it is so simple to swap models around, it may well be the case that you find all sorts of combinations of models in each set but it is my view that the original sets would have been as described. Much as I would like to list a truck with a lemon interior as scarce for Gift Set 6 and one with a lemon interior as less common for Gift Set 25, you will appreciate why I don't.

The red trailer appears to be the same in each set, and I think it must be the same as that provided with Gift Set 12, the Grand Prix Racing set in December 1968. However, in the Lotus Racing Gift Set 37, issued in August 1966, early sets appear to have a trailer with smooth wheels. It would seem entirely possible, therefore for early Gift Set 6 examples to have trailers with smooth wheels. I also recall the early trailers as having smooth tracks whereas the later ones, and all I have seen other than in Gift Set 37, have a hatched pattern.

Those big Gift Set play mats

 

Every Corgi collector would love to have these wonderful Gift Sets but if they want one complete in a box then they'll need several thousand pounds. So not many of us do have one. Thinking about it, if I did have one, I have a feeling that it would all almost certainly stay in the big box and, apart from an occasional peep inside to show friends or as a reminder of where all that money had gone, that's where it would stay.

I am quite happy to forego the big box, the paints, brushes, glue and even the packing and boxes inside. Because what I really want is to have the stuff displayed - probably initially as closely as I can manage to how it appears in the catalogues! That would be something, indeed. So what I really want, and which may be somewhat more affordable, are the cars and buildings. The cars will be easy. The buildings, ideally, would be well-made items which someone has taken a bit of care with and which have all the transfers in the right place. Not so easy finding them, though, so it may be necessary to find some kits and make them, or finish myself. Still not easy but feasible with a bit of research and patience and a few hundred readies. A few hundred, though, not a few thousand.

Oh, there's something I've forgotten isn't there? Yes, the mat. The big green and brown and white thing that everything needs to be placed on. Without the mat the display really doesn't work at all well. Until a little while ago, those mats were a non-starter. I mean, no-one has one other than those fortunate people with the whole set. If one did turn up then I have a suspicion that it would have a permanent fold mark or three and would refuse to lay flat. It would probably have a faded appearance apart from one or two rectangles which had never seen the light of day until I opened it. So even one turning up might be a disappointment and I felt as if I would have to forget this idea of making a couple of displays after all.

Then along came someone who had every little piece of a Garage Gift Set 25 and who had made a wooden base which was not a bad interpretation of the play mat. I bought all his bits and the board and it looked pretty good. It wasn't quite right, though. Those incorrect dimensions spoilt the overall impression so I started looking around for a reproduction mat which the chap said he had heard someone in Germany was making.

After a lot of searching I came across Wolfgang and, sure enough, he gets a printer to make these heavy duty plastic-of-some sort mats which are exactly the right size and spot-on with the areas and colours printed on them. Postage from Germany to the UK was a lot and they weren't cheap either but they are good quality and look like they'll survive a good few years without fading or scratching.

I now need to find the buildings for the Silverstone layout and just three individual garages for the Garage layout (and maybe one or two cars). It will still take some time but I do feel this is something achievable and actually something that other people will get to see and appreciate too.

Whilst I am happy to recommend the plastic mats, you may like to print your own on some card as a cheap and cheerful way of making a start on a project like this. I am thinking, therefore, about making a good PDF copy of each mat available by download from my web site. If you're interested in having one or both of the files then let me know. I don't think I can provide them free, though, so tell me how much you'd be prepared to pay. I say this because, with a decent quality file, a professional printer could quickly knock out mats like the ones I have purchased or even create something very much like the material one included with the original sets, a range of items which could appeal to many collectors, even those who don't get round to getting the buildings or all the bits and pieces.

The illustrations below are just low resolution screenprints and would be ill-defined when printed at the correct full-size dimensions but I include them as many of you may never have seen them other than partially covered at an angle in a catalogue and have wondered, as I did, what they actually looked like.

This is the Silverstone track section from Gift Set 15

This is the Garage Forecourt layout from Gift Set 15

Gift Set 25 Garage Layout

 

Just a quick preview of something a little special that has just arrived! Many more photos to come in a couple of weeks or so.