New arrivals and fond memories

 

Here are some of the recent additions to my shelves, all from the best Corgi Toys era and each provides a fond memory of the layout that I was fortunate to have at home in the mid 1960s, which would have had all of these at one time or another. When my brother went to start his apprenticeship with Bamfords in Uttoxeter, a small spare room became available. My dad cut a piece of hardboard to fit over the iron bed frame occupying half the room. On this huge space I could mark out roads with Floral Garden fences and pathways and place Bayko houses and garages here and there. I remember how much better this was for driving models like the Mercedes-Benz 220SE, VW1200 and Austin A60 which struggled on carpet due to their very low ground clearance.

Whilst I managed to build up a monstrous pile of Bayko bits and pieces, the Floral Garden items were much too expensive. The few trees and flowers did look lovely, though, but I never did get enough for a good display. I still have the Bayko pieces, and sets do come along from time to time at quite reasonable prices. Floral Garden items are also available but, with one or two exceptions, can be very expensive as you need several items of the right sort to make a useful contribution to a display.

The scarcer blue and white edition of the beautiful #259 Citroen 'Le Dandy' Coupé, in excellent condition and with a lovely original box too.

The #477 Land Rover breakdown Truck, indistinguishable from #417S other than it now gets a big, plastic canopy. This example is in excellent condition.

I finally got round to removing the old transfers, which had been printed with an annoying white background and never looked right, and applying some much better ones to this maybe a little worn but otherwise original 'Pop Art' Mini.

A nice, clean Gift Set 40 with original models and characters in an excellent reproduction box and tray.

A very clean early #210 Citroen DS19

A lovely example of the scarcer cream edition of the #200 Ford Consul.

A rare #252 Rover 2000 with cast wheels from a late Transporter Gift set.

One of my favourites - the Mercedes 220SE in black, as first issued with steering as model #230

A nice late edition of the #222 Renault Floride in metallic blue with a red interior and free spinning wheels

A very good example of the first #303S Mercedes-Benz Roadster with free-spinning smooth wheels and a white interior, a scarce variant.

A working #1401 Service Ramp which is pretty much unmarked. This was issued in April 1958 and did not sell particularly well, being discontinued a couple of years later. It was brought into the Corgi range as it had previously been a Mettoy branded product in red back in the 1950s.

I also now have here in England some marvellous US Army models which I shall feature in the next post.

349 Morris Mini Minor 'Pop Art' Edition

Strange things happen sometimes. For a reason I genuinely cannot recall, I finished up at an online auction based in Holland a few days ago and saw this at about 100 euros. I casually set a high bid of 200 euros and was amazed to discover that I had won it for a figure somewhere between the two! I didn't even have an account there and hurriedly created one and paid the whole price, including quite reasonable fees and postage.

It is a genuine original, not repainted or with new stickers applied. I think some people may have passed it by because it was advertised with a reproduction box. It was one of those very sharply angled boxes that are made of the wrong type of card with a bright white interior and they do look out of place, albeit well-printed. It just cries out 'repro' and the car suffers as a result. So that will get sold for a few pounds and the car can stay as it is.

It has been played with, with a few chips here and there but nothing significant. The windows are clean and all very good. Often I see these with broken perspex which is such a shame. The suspension is as good as all minis and the wheels the correct cast variety.

I was not intending to bother chasing after one of these as I believe they are very much over-priced generally and not as 'rare' as most advertisers declare. It has, though, become the model to get. It is missing from many collections because it costs so much and I was content to have it missing from mine too. However, I cannot deny being quite delighted to have got this at such a good price and to be able to cross this off the Wanted List. 

It will be sold at some point - and no doubt for a hefty profit - but that will enable me to search out more interesting models - like a bronze Sting Ray, a gold Volkswagen Karman Ghia and a blue Austin Healey. For now, though, it does put a smile of my face and, as child of The Sixties, it kinda suits me!

This is quite an unusual scene! 

It did occur to me that my friend Frans, who, as I reported some time ago, found one of these at a charity shop in Holland for 5 euros, may have put this in the auction. I must compare the photos!

Let's Go To San Frans...Tilsburg

At the risk of starting a stampede towards thrift shops in Holland, I have to share the delight of a correspondent in that country. Yes, in a box of assorted toys in one of those shops where the proceeds go to good causes, charities etc. and nothing tends to cost more than a few pounds, Frans found this!

He paid the princely sum of 2 euros 50 and simply cannot believe his luck. From his quick snaps this looks to have survived extremely well. 

Although I have not seen the base, he is smart enough to be able to recognise something that has been taken apart and put together again so it is highly unlikely to be a repainted 227 or 226 with added jewels and 'aged' decals! No, to me, this looks like the real thing and a good one at that.

With these fetching £1000 without a box and several thousand with one, it is, indeed, one lucky find. 

We were wondering just what the chances were but I really don't know how many of these were, in fact, produced. I know that they were not featured in the yearly catalogue and were offered to members of the Collectors' Club by mail order only, not being sold across the counter in shops.

How scarce those orders were, however, in comparison to the known low production figures for various other items, remains a mystery. Sometimes I feel that the prices that this model fetches may be just a little too inflated with its rarity a little exaggerated which, in turn, has made it all the more desirable for some!

This will, I suspect, remain a missing item in my collection and stock for some considerable time! I have been using some images of immaculate models from QDT but I may ask Frans to take some for me to feature on the web site. I often think used examples can look more interesting than those oh so perfect models perched on immaculate boxes, striking the industry standard pose.

Late addition: I have just seen that Ebay has one for sale in rather poorer condition at around £520. Where is it? Holland!! Interesting.