Corgi Model Club: The Toronado arrives

 In a busy week for both Corgi and my postman, the Oldsmobile Toronado now arrives in Golden Jacks style as the Model Club's re-issue of #276. They chose the scarcer amber-yellow colour and it looks lovely. The Oldsmobile Toronado first appeared in a delightful shade of metallic blue with the very nice pale cream interior and with normal shaped wheels and without a tow bar. I missed this model when I was collecting Corgis as a child and was most impressed with it when I started to rebuild my collection. That was one of the first 'new' models that I bought.

It gets cast wheels shortly after being released and then a red and this amber-yellow editions come out with the Golden Jacks wheels.

Once again I have to take the Model Club to task on the text they write in the accompanying Certificate of Authenticity!! They say that this model with a tow bar appeared with the Glastron speedboat in Gift Set 36. No, only a version of #264 was issued in Gift Set 36, not the #276. The boxed edition of #264 did not have a towbar. All the Golden Jacks #276 models did have a towbar but they did not pull the trailer with a Glastron speedboat although, I suppose, there was no reason why collectors would swap them over.

Quite what the model was supposed to tow I am not sure and I have written before about Corgis with hooks and towbars and the comparatively limited things Corgi issued which they could attach.

However, that's another story. Maybe this Certificate will get replaced like I have suggested the Batmobile one may too, in which case those getting these early issues may have something a little scarce. We shall see.

So here is the new issue in all its glory:

I don't remember having the header card with any of mine. It isn't as pretty as Corgi's usual header cards but If that's what they did then OK, never mind, and it's nice that the Club decided to include this.

I have to smile at the reverse of the box where the artist must have only had on old #264 with cast wheels available when doing the illustration!

You'll see that the model itself is, as is now customary for the Model Club issues, very accurate. I cannot fault the bodywork, chrome, interior or wheels at all. Really well done.

Even the tow hook is accurate (and usefully a bit stronger too!). But then you turn up the lights . . .

Oh dear. They don't look right. Neat as they may be in comparison to the originals, they're just the same old plastic things which the Club are using whenever jewels were fitted originally. This is simply not good enough. The price of the small jewels can surely not be prohibitive in relation to the overall cost and we know that they're available in bulk from the same places that Model Supplies get all theirs.

I id not choose the best edition of the originals that I have in stock for this photo so the old jewels don't look that great either but, for me, it does have to be the glass, not plastic.

As the photos of the two side by side show, the colour is pretty much spot-on and the whole model is a very accurate reproduction indeed.

Here's the certificate with its error.

This is another model that is worth a little more than the normal re-issues in that the wheels are far better than those available from companies supplying spares. So if you need any, it might well be worth buying this just to get these excellent copies, especially as they come with the right type of tyres too.

Corgi Model Club: 275 Rover 2000TC

 

This is the latest issue from the Corgi Model Club and their first Golden Jacks issue.

They have chosen the common metallic green edition with a tan interior, the one that most of us would remember, although I have a suspicion that we'll be seeing a white version next year.

The first thing I noticed when it arrived was how shiny and bright the wheels are. I really don't remember mine ever being that clean and bright but that may just be my memory. Now, of course, the cast material used on the originals has invariably turned dull and grey. Maybe collectors will be swapping these new wheels for their old ones!

The second thing you'll quickly notice is the continued use of plastic instead of glass for the 'jewelled' headlamps. Yes, they look neat and the colour's pretty accurate but they're no substitute for the original type and I can't imagine the cost would be dramatically more.

The spare wheel holder on the boot lid is excellent, with a satisfying click when you close it. I shall not be opening and closing mine often, though, as I expect it will be as vulnerable as the original to crack and break after a lot of use. That's entirely understandable, by the way, and not a criticism of the new issue.

Here you can compare the two. I only have one with the red interior but it is still, in all other respects, a fair comparison. At the front we have mentioned the headlamps. Otherwise it is very good, maybe with slightly fatter side lights and the new model has a better defined TC logo/

Other than the obviously brighter wheel material, there is no discernible difference in the side view.

At the rear too, everything looks great, even the design of the spare wheel cover device.

The paintwork on the new issue is more 'grainy' than the original and has a somewhat brighter green appearance.

I haven't checked but this may be the first re-issue with the later tyre design. This has been replicated really well and will be another useful spare that this model provides!

Rover 2000TC varieties

If you'd thought that there was just the metallic grey-green model 275 then you will have to make three more spaces on the shelf now.

There are three variations of interior - white is the most sought after and, consequently. most expensive. At the time of writing there is one for sale at £225 and that is without a box! I may have to consider doubling the price I set for mine which looks pretty much as nice.

The second is red, which I have only seen one example of and that is another I have for sale (and maybe too cheaply!)

The normal colour is brown and that's invariably what'll you see out there and they're really quite inexpensive.

There is also a white painted edition, with the red interior, that looks splendid but is not that easy to find. I have one in stock and some lovely photos of an immaculate original I had a while ago.

All have the same, and quite accurate, take-off wheels using the Golden Jacks system. The chrome at the front is a really good example of this type of work that Corgi did and where there were Trans-o-lite headlights in the earlier 2000 models there are now jewels sparkling attractively.

There is also a chrome rear bumper. The bumpers do tend to get damaged and the chrome flakes off easily which can spoil the car's appearance. There isn't much by way of suspension but I have also not noticed any examples of broken suspension which is surprising so it must be sturdier than many of the era.

Because the wheels come off they do come off - and get lost! Both the models with the scarcer interiors had odd combination of wheels when I acquired them but now have the correct ones. Corgi sold spares but the packs are quite pricey unless you find an opened one. The best way to replace lost wheels is to buy a cheap wrecked model or two and steal its wheels. That is why the only normal 275 I have available at the moment has four Camaro wheels!

The most annoying problem, though, is the hinge on the spare wheel container. This is a very vulnerable bit of plastic and it really doesn't stand up to much opening and closing. So may models have an unattached top or no top at all. Replacement spare wheel holders can be bought but they don't look quite right and I am not sure whether they can be fitted to a model without taking it apart. It may just be glued to the boot - and the join not visible anyway.

The Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray coupé. Here today...

300 in metallic red

300 in metallic green

A Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray coupé was available in April 1970, one of the most photogenic of all the range - the model was just well-proportioned and the bright crimson and green reflective paint sort of suited the model. I am not at all sure it would have worked on the real thing! It had the excellent 'Golden Jack' removable wheels but not a great deal else. The bonnet opened and there was a nicely detailed engine with some parts picked out in black plastic. They had come a long way since the black plastic being used for an oversized oil filler cap on a Triumph Herald.

However, well into 1970 meant the Whizzwheel machine was well and truly rolling. Several models were in the shops and had been for getting on for a year. These #300 models were, therefore, going to have a short life and in June 1972 #387 appears with the dreaded plastic feet.

387 in metallic but not very shiny blue

Instead of nice jewels at the back, there are now just blobs, possibly coloured red although Corgi seemed to be economising on the red paint too as I've seen several models without it.

red blobs for tail lights on #387

red jewels for tail lights on #300

I spotted this one, though, on the Little Wheels site and - guess what - it is a Whizzwheels version but with tail light jewels! It must have been a very early changeover variant coming out after the decision to change the wheels, baseplate and paint them blue but before a supply of the casts with filled in rear lights were available.

just to confuse us all

So these Whizzwheel versions are even rarer - not only are there the two variants but also they were deleted in 1973 after just a year! I don't know how many were sold but my guess is that it wasn't many and they are extremely difficult to find now. The author of the Little Wheels site, another Andrew, thinks there was just a blue #387 but here's something a bit special that should change his mind on that!

coming soon!

When this arrives I shall add some better photos. It is in excellent condition and quite original. These Whizzwheel years are actually proving quite fascinating. You really never do quite know what you're going to discover in that very short period.

Rolls Royce and Bentley

280

273

274

It took Corgi a while to produce a Rolls Royce. The #224 Bentley Continental had been so good and a staple part of the range for so long that they probably didn't think they could beat it. Finally they made one and the #273 Silver Shadow appeared in 1970. It started as a Golden Jacks version but by the time the 1970 catalogue was issued there was already a Whizzwheels version. So this pretty impressive first model had a very short life and most appear in cream over blue. The Whizzwheels version was originally silver over metallic blue but there are a few around in that colour scheme with Golden Jacks. I am fortunate to have one in stock but it isn't cheap.

Apart from  missing a spare wheel in the boot and the wheels themselves of course, the Whizzwheels version is identical. Change the radiator grill and paint it a shade of ghastly 1970s pink and you have #274, the new Bentley. This only came with Whizzwheels and appears in the 1970 catalogue as 'Available Later' so is more like a 1971 release. The catalogue shows a photo of a yellow Bentley, another ridiculous colour but not one I believe was issued thank Heavens.

The Bentley appears

Not sure what Project X was all about. The Rolls can also be found in all silver, all darkish metallic blue and a solid mid-blue with what appear to be better-looking wheels in a second release around 1973. It is easily confused in pictures with the later 1:36 scale model which was often either red or black and silver and was actually a Corniche but people selling them do get mixed up.