Blue Beauties

 

I had this selection of recent additions to my collection on the shelf next to where I write and it just occurred to me how lovely they are and, in particular, how I have liked blue editions of many in the range. I was going to write about some annoying careless packaging but instead decided to be more cheerful this morning and leave that until later.

The Oldsmobile Super 88 is a very plain Corgi. Nothing opens, no suitcases or jewelled lights and the huge white stripe always strikes me as odd but there is something about this model in this colour that makes it one of my favourites and I was so pleased to find this lovely example recently. The shade is typical mid 1960s and you can almost hear the Beach Boys record playing in the background.  The more common metallic shade seems quite boring in comparison.

Now you don't need me to remind you that the Jaguar Mk X can be found in a really large range of colours, including several variations of blue, from solid sky blue to what is often called 'kingfisher blue'. This deep metallic blue is one of the best I have had and even the paint around the headlamps has survived the last 60 years (and a trip from Germany where my friend Andi found it). 

As a child I had the rather unpleasant pale green version. All the first issues were either solid sky blue or that green but I can only imagine I didn't have any choice when I bought mine. I remember returning to the toy shop a couple of years later when working for a local farmer meant that I had some money to spend each week on Corgis. There on his counter was a metallic cerise Jaguar Mk X that he had been showing to someone else and it was such an improvement that it was the first 'duplicate' I acquired. It is only over the last ten years or so that I have realised just how many colours that were issued. If I had known I would have asked the shop owner to look out for this one, for sure.

Another model with a fair range of colours is the Ghia L6.4. My first one was a strange, darkish turquoise-blue shade with a red interior but the duplicate I acquired in sage green was my favourite at the time. I was particularly fond of the cream interior and delighted to find a more normal metallic blue version with that cream interior some 50 years later! Of course, I now appreciate that there are many shades of the metallic blue and the model I should have illustrated here is the one with matching door panels as opposed to the odd red ones in this example. They are original, though, but I have never seen red door panels in the sage green car. They do appear in some gold cars with cream interior. The few bronze editions that I have had have only had all cream interiors too.

This was the first Corgi to have opening everything and it was a delight to own and play with. I shall probably always have one of these to look at somewhere around me. People do buy them every time I advertise them and then I have to start looking for another but, luckily, they are a bit easier to find than the Jaguar!

The Oldsmobile Toronado was after my time, to coin a phrase, in that by 1967 I was listening to Radio London, collecting 7" singles and albums by the Byrds and The Mamas and The Papas, singing Monkees songs and writing poems to possible girlfriends. It was one of the first 'new' Corgis that I found when I started all this Corgi stuff in 2012 or thereabouts. Again, that lovely metallic blue finish and very bright and clean-looking, almost white, interior appealed to me. The opening twin headlights were nice, especially with the chromed finish and operated so much better than those on the Chevrolet Sting Ray of earlier times.

It didn't do much else than flash its headlamps and shine with all that glorious chrome (the chrome sills were great) but the design just works for me. 

For a long time I was confused by what appeared to be variations but eventually I realised that the #264 model in a box did not have a tow bar and those that did were from Gift Set 36 with a Glastron Speedboat. I did, however, much prefer the look of the early and quite scarce editions with normal wheels as opposed to the more common cast variety.

Whilst on the topic of attractive 'blue' Corgis, I have written before about how I searched for a metallic blue #230 for  while before appreciating that Corgi had revised the Mercedes 220SE as #253 without steering and modifications to the boot and pillars. I did love the steering on the #230 model and the black model is likely to rank in my all-time Top 20 but I do like the blue #253. It must be that cream interior again!

I cannot allow any text on this topic to be published without reference to what could be my favourite Corgi - the metallic blue Ford Mustang.

Here it has wire wheels as that was the first photo I found. I think the one with plain wheels may be the one that actually tops my own poll. I will have to write a note to myself not sell the next one I find in good condition! Maybe this article will do.

For now, though, I hope you will excuse my rambling about some not particularly different or hard to find models but, instead, remembering just how nice ordinary Corgis can be.

I am aware that I have not mentioned a whole host of other models in blue that may or may not deserve mention. These few just happened to be next to me.

More interesting Corgis

It's nearly the end of the year and the last arrivals for 2024 are in. As you may have noticed, I have stopped reviewing the Corgi Model Club issues and prefer to spend time now on the interesting variations in the good old originals.

First you'll see what looks like a pretty ordinary Land Rover Breakdown Truck. The 417S models, however, that was issued in December 1962, retained the first type of jib for a brief period before getting the stronger, more solid variety. This one needs a new rear tin canopy with a light on the roof. I ordered a replacement from Model Supplies but it is just bare metal and, surprisingly, the shape is quite wrong too, having a completely different angle to the curve. I shall see if I can find one - there should be plenty around as the 417 will be the same too and if the truck has some damage or wear it might not cost too much either! Failing that I could borrow one from either of the Corgi Model Club or Hornby-Corgi re-issues.

The Jaguar Mark X is always a delight to collect, with its coats of many colours. I've had the metallic blue for some time but it is the metallic green that is the latest arrival, with the correct two cases as well. This is quite different to a brighter emerald metallic green that I had.

Here is something that I knew existed but had not seen before - the VW Breakdown Truck with cast wheels. It is all complete, albeit missing some paint on raised edges. I have had to replace the small winch hook and there is no chevron sticker across the rear. I cannot see any replacements for this small strip so I may have to make one myself. I am assuming that they did all have one. 

Finally, here is a slightly sad-looking Chevrolet Sting Ray. You'll see that the suspension has totally collapsed which is not as common a problem on these as it is on the Mustang, Imp, Ghia etc. I think it is provided by the plastic chrome piece that runs from back to front so I can imagine that this is vulnerable. I shall have to see what I can to make some sort of repair but this is the lovely and quite scarce bronze edition so I am anxious to keep it original. Otherwise it is in very good condition with just a few chips here and there. I may be able to insert some foam rubber above the axle, perhaps. A job for the holidays. 

 

Keep your Mark X in the shade!

I saw this Jaguar Mk X for sale last week and rushed to buy it, offering far more than the initial bid which the seller gladly accepted. Amongst all the many colours I have of the #238 model, I didn't have a silver one with a lemon interior!

It had a few signs of wear but was generally pretty good and I looked forward to adding yet another variation to my collection.

When it arrived, though, yes, you guessed . . . it was just a cerise model which had been left out in teh sun for a few years!

It is quite remarkable how that particular paint finish fades. I had had a model some time ago that was light cerise on one side and dark cerise on the other but this is quite extraordinary, with only the paint inside the boot, under the bonnet and along the inner edges of the sills underneath retaining their original colour.

I shall have to ensure I keep this one, which is still a nice shade of cerise, under wraps!

I remember the first one I had as a child was a strange solid slightly pale green colour which I felt never suited the car. When I had a little of my own income from mowing people's grass or some farm work a year or two later this was one that I replaced with the much nicer cerise version. It was only 50 years later that I realised just how many other colours this model was produced with. I wish I had asked the toy shop man to look in some of the other boxes he had at the time!

 

Corgi Toys @ 60 : Jaguar Mk X and two big Gift Sets

 

September 1962 brought the magnificent Jaguar Mk S Saloon to our local toy shops! This was an exciting model with an opening bonnet as well as an opening boot in which there were two suitcases and one of them was huge and could be opened! I never actually put anything inside the big one but there was something nice just about the fact that we could open it. There were also four jewelled lights at the front and a design which produced a silver metal front bumper section. This was never particularly bright but it was solid and stood up to the occasional crashes better than the chrome or silver paint.

Illustrated above is my own Jaguar, purchased as soon as it came out, and you'll see that it was a weird shade of green and a solid colour. There was also a pale solid blue at the outset.

When I was a little older and had pocket money to spare I bought the cerise model - a much classier metallic finish - as I had never been very happy with the pale green for such a quality car in reality. This was the only other colour that I knew about until I started looking at Corgi Toys afresh in my 60s! Now I realise that there was a large range of metallic colours issued during the mid to later part of this model's production. I have done my best to obtain and illustrate here as many as I can find but no doubt one or two more will appear! The metallic cerise colour is the most common by some margin, but be careful with this colour as sunlight fades this particular shade remarkably and you will find several pale metallic grey-pink models around as a result! Look under the wheel arches, however, and you'll see the true original, lovely dark cerise.

All the other colours (and the early pale blue and green) are difficult to find now and some are particularly scarce, with many being available with red and lemon interiors too. You could have good collection that would take a while to gather by looking just for this model alone!

dark silver-blue

pale silver blue

silver

solid dark blue

metallic dark blue

turquoise-blue with red interior

turquoise-green with lemon interior

metallic bright emerald

gold-plated (very few made for VIP guests and Jaguar directors)

This month was a busy month for shops as there were also two large Gift sets issued in September. These were Gift Set 22 Agricultural Set and Gift Set 23 Chipperfields Gift Set.

The Agricultural Gift Set 22 was quite an important one in that it was the first to feature a green Land Rover Series II with suspension. The early sets had a distinctly different and lighter shade of green Land Rover to the deep green that would be issued later as 438. There was also no canopy on the model and I am inclined to list this as 406S rather than 438. It is pretty academic, though, as the 'farm green' Land Rover with suspension and interior only ever appeared in this set.

The set also featured an all yellow 101 trailer which would not be issued anywhere else either. 

Later in 1962 the deep green 438 Land Rover would be used, but still without a canopy, as in the illustration which shows a later set. The all-yellow 101 trailer continued to be included, early sets having one with fixed shaped wheels, later sets having the free-spinning variety. All had the fixed drawbar.

The other components are as shown in the top illustration above. Later the set gets revised with the later components in the lower picture.

The other set was the Chipperfields Circus Gift Set 23 which was the second outing for the Land Rover in Series II guise, still with a tin canopy in the early sets.

The other components in the original issue are as shown above. Later they would be changed, with a Bedford Giraffe Transporter replacing the Booking Office.

2019 arrivals

Very early GS2 with a box and inner tray which displays the pony separately. Later editions had no holes for the pony, which was wrapped in card in the trailer. As seems appropriate, I have used a similarly rare and early trailer without a handle at the top of the ramp. It's not going to be cheap.

58 The Beast carrier with calves and the green mesh on top (although that's not shown here)

151 Scarce edition of the Lotus XI Le Mans in red with original screen

200 Ford Consul in mushroom brown. I though it was a cream one when I saw it advertised! I now have two of these to sell.

202M I also have two of these mid green Morris Cowleys with working motors

203M Vauxhall Velox with working motor

208 Nice Jaguar 2.4 with super original early box

208M Jaguar 2.4 with working motor

209 Riley Pathfinder Police Car lovely but missing the bell.

213 Jaguar 2.4 Fire Chief's Car - excellent and complete but missing a transfer

214 Ford Thunderbird (I bought this hoping it might have had shaped wheels).

231 Triumph Herald - very clean examples in each colour

234 Bentley Continental - superb examples in each of the main colours and one with a lovely original box too.

238 Jaguar Mk X in a really stunning deep cerise shade. I have two of these, equally good, one with an original box.

246 Chrysler Imperial with original box. All very good. I bought this for the golf caddy - the one sold with it is a replacement.

252 Rover 2000 in maroon with an odd wheel!

252 Rover 2000 in maroon with an original box.

318 Lotus Elan S2 - very scarce with cast wheels

323 Citroen DS19 Monte Carlo Edition with an original aerial!

384 The last 1:43 Corgi car. From 1977 a VW 1200 Rally Edition - only available for a short period.

508 Commer Holiday Bus with original luggage cover (but no cases)

These are all quite recent additions, listed in catalogue order. Please enquire for availability and price as there has been quite a bit of interest in some of these.