New arrivals this month, including Noddy's Car

 Some very nice models have arrived recently, some for my own collection and others that I hope a collector will consider purchasing.

I'll start with the Corgi Major 1133 Troop Carrier. I have tried many times to figure out not only the differences between 1118 US Export edition and 1133 but also which 1118s and 1133s had the solid or 'see through' chassis. I have sort of given up and this one disproves another idea I had - that 1133s had a canopy with an indent where the star was placed. This example I am satisfied is an original, bought by its last owner new in America. It has a canopy with no indent and a star but comes in a 1133 box and, hopefully consistent with all 1133s, has the text along the side of the bonnet.

So I shall have to update my Catalogue entries - again! I think it is correct that the 1133 has no insignia on the front or rear and the star is applied to the two doors as well, rather than the bonnet. This has a nice, complete original box - the 1133 issue being the thin card type with flaps as opposed to the thick type with a lid.

Next is this lovely old Bedford CA van, here in Fire Department guise as #405. Note this is not #405M, having no friction motor and a tin base. This is quite rare as the #405 models were usually green with AFT transfers (as the box text declares). 

It has an original metal ladder in black and the later, slightly updated grill casting. The box is not something that is easy to find these days and has survived nearly 70 years pretty well!

At the opposite end of the Corgi spectrum we have the penultimate use of the Citroen casting, now quite disfigured with Whizzwheels and some chap with a megaphone standing in the back together with a row of spare bicycle wheels.

This one did have an aerial that was intact but movement in the box due to the missing inner tray led to it breaking on the way to me. I still have the broken part and it could be reattached by someone with a steady hand and strong glue. I did manage to get the thin pole for the parasol on the Corgi Kit Motel Chalet repaired so will have a go at this and report at some point in the future should no-one buy it in the meantime. I don't think there is anything special about the inner tray by way of design or printing so I may reproduce something as the outer box is perfectly sound.

In its glorious liquid metallic blue finish, the Toyota 2000GT is a lovely looking model, although the Whizzwheels do let it down. I fitted some wire wheels to one a while ago and that made a huge difference. However, I shall try and leave this all original as it has a nice, complete, original box.

The aerial is also in place, as are the jewels front and back. The white ones at the front can often go missing. The box is lovely and has the correct inner section with a cut-out for the screen.

In a less impressive and solid blue comes the very scarce Whizzwheels edition of the Chevrolet Camaro, issued as #304 for a very short period on dealers' order lists in 1972.

This also has a nice original box.

Lastly, and now for something completely different - Noddy's car! I remember buying one of these when I was at St. Andrews University in 1970. Not because I was still collecting Corgis then but Noddy was very cool at that time in that environment, in similar way to the Magic Roundabout, for which Corgi also produced lots of models and characters a little later. These, incidentally, included the final throes of the Citroen casting as Dougal's Car in November 1971.

Whereas mine had a nice original Golly in the back, this one has the politically correct Mr Tubby Bear. Of course, now even the suggestion that Mr Bear might be a little larger than his BMI figure would be regarded as 'inappropriate' or some similar word by the woke community. As for Noddy's friend, Golly, he has now been virtually 'disappeared' like some resistance campaigner in some countries run by the Communist Party. I was ordered by Ebay officials to remove photos of a model, with an original friend, from listings and I am not too sure they were happy with the name Golly either. 

This was, as I recall, the very first signs of wokeness or political correctness, not that either expression was used in conversation or articles at the time. I remember having this feeling that something wasn't quite right about effectively 'banning' a Noddy Car with the first Golly in the back. He had a jet black face, just like Noddy's friend in the stories had. Corgi changed that by painting it grey, which struck me at the time as an even more insulting way to deal with the character! The grey-faced Golly did last a few years, though, for some strange reason being more 'acceptable' to whoever decided these things. Finally, however, he gets dismissed entirely and the fat bear takes his place.

An original with the black-faced Golly is now one of the more valuable Corgis from this era and very hard to find. Amusingly, Steve Flowers at Model Supplies does a reproduction Golly for £6 and I am not sure it is easy to distinguish from an original lump of plastic or rubber. He used to advertise both the black and grey-face options but now I don't know which is supplied. I may enquire. it is easy to remove Mr Tubby and this might make the item more interesting.

As it stands, it is still a nice addition to the Comics collection, for those who like that sort of thing. The box has a tear at the top and bottom on the right but is otherwise remarkably complete and clean. The cellophane invariably gets torn as one or other of the hats scrape by on their way in or out.

It's nice to see both chrome lamps in place. I recall that my own Noddy's Car lost one lamp in a matter of weeks.

So there are some new items in my cabinet here, For prices or any more information click on an image or drop me a line.

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. 

Corgi Toys @ 60: The Army's coming!

 

You would be forgiven for wondering whether the US Army had taken up residence in a big way in 1964 because January 1965 saw a massive set of models which Corgi might have thought ideal for the GI's kids. Actually, some were for the British too, but this was certainly quite a dramatic development. We had seen military machinery and wonderful missiles take centre stage from '58 to '60 but after that things rather went quiet with Agriculture and the Circus occupying the military pages in the catalogues.. Five years later and we're back getting the children to prepare for battle once again.

The first model is the lovely Commer ­¾ ton reworked as a Military Ambulance. It is essentially the #463 Ambulance from February 1963 with a khaki finish and red cross transfers.

Next is a similar Commer ¾ ton van - this time the #464 County Police Van in khaki and with a white star on the cab roof and Military Police transfers on the sides.

Although there are two versions of the original police van, only the first type was in production when these army versions were made and so it has the bulb that flashes when contact is broken and made by a cam on the front axle. The model does not stay in production long enough to get the second type.

It does, however, appear to get a clear bulb in place of the original blue one. This also matches the illustration on the box and is not just a matter of some owner having switched them over.

Next is another commercial vehicle brought out of retirement in the form of the VW Van. This is the December 1962 #434 Kombi with khaki paintwork and U.S. Personnel transfers

The fourth new model in January 1965 is another appearance of the Land Rover in khaki with a matching plastic canopy.

You can find this with either a lemon or red interior. To all intents and purposes this is #500 from December 1963 which was then a US Army Land Rover according to the box. Now it is described as a Land Rover Weapons Carrier. I have written before about these two models. #500 is very scarce and you really need a friend across the Pond to find one for you as that's where they all went. There are two key differences to tell them apart. The star of the #500 is a creamy colour. That on the #357 is much more white. If you're still in doubt then you need to look at the rear window. The #500 has a different type of window unit - the early type found on all 406S and first 438 models - which fits flush with the body at the back and creates a sort of frame effect when viewed from the rear.

Returning to the GI kids' toys, we have the Oldsmobile Super 88 Sheriff's car from June 1962 getting a khaki coat of paint, stars on the roof and doors and an H.Q. Staff transfer on the bonnet.

Completing the 350 series is #359, a US Army Field Kitchen. In March 1963 you could have bought some ice cream in the sunshine from a blue and cream Smiths Karrier 1 ton van just like this one. Indeed, I'm not completely sure that it would not have been the same guy inside! These are darker days, however, and the US Army need refreshment in the field and the ice cream van has been requisitioned, repainted and Arlo Guthrie would probably have told us that it was dissected, inspected, directed, injected with, objected to, rejected and then collected.

The last three are Corgi Majors. 

This is the US Army Truck #1118 which becomes #1133 Troop Carrier with some new transfers and a different tin canopy, now showing an indent where the star is placed. There are also usually stars on the doors and characters along the sides of the bonnet. These trucks can be quite confusing but I am pretty sure all the #1133 editions will be similar and have the 'closed' type of chassis and stars in the same places. There was a US issue of #1118 which had a star but no indent on the canopy, possibly a star on the bonnet but no characters on the sides of the bonnet.

Next, you'll recognise #1134 as the Mobilgas Tanker with a coat of khaki paint and new transfers. 

Despite the Bedford TK cab now being attached to many similar models, the tanker still retains the old Big Bedford variety with no suspension.

Strangely, however, the last of the January 1965 issues does get the newer cab. It's the #1131 Machinery Carrier from November 1963 with a coat of khaki paint over everything and transfers on the rear axle unit and a star on the cab roof. 

The #1135 can be found with either a red or lemon interior.

Production numbers are really quite small for all nine models but especially for these three Majors.

1133 56000

1134 43000

1135 28000

The lower numbers are similar to the sales of the Corporal Missile or Golden Guinea Gift Set. The higher are similar to the Whizzwheels Rover 2000TC and the Agricultural Set GS5 to give you an idea of how few there are of these that are likely to be still around.

This is an excellent collection to build and good examples always seem to sell for high prices - and the boxes for even more! You may think that there are different shades of khaki when you look at models for sale but this is the result of models being handled a lot. Originally they would have been (and some remain) matt in a lightish shade of khaki. A little oil from one's fingers, however, rapidly turns this to a darker shade and some even appear to be quite shiny too (although that may well be a restored version with the wrong type of paint!) Once darkened they'll not get light again but you will find several of the models available at more reasonable prices as a result.

Corgi Model Club: the HQ Staff arrive at last

Delayed for some time en route from China, presumably with several million TEMI and WISH orders, the US Army HQ Staff Oldsmobile has arrived and what a superb reproduction this is.

In the box you'll find the now familiar chunk of foamy plastic and a tiny piece of very thin wafty material, wrapped around the model's body to protect, I think, the star decals. And, of course, the model and its certificate which tells us that it is "one of the most collectible of the Corgi Oldsmobile 88s due to its low sales".

I always found it odd that the box didn't say it was an Oldsmobile, just an "H.Q. Staff Car".

It did only sell around 120,000 in 1965 when it was issued with a range of other US Army models which is about the same as the sales for the Monte Carlo Citroën and it is quite hard to find now in really nice condition. The aerial will often be missing and the decals worn so it is nice o have a decent-looking edition to look at.

The accuracy of the casting is remarkable. I used to be able to spot differences but I've failed to find anything to report on this time. They have done a smashing job and left me with only the finish and decals to comment on. The finish is more what used to be called vinyl than matt as it has a sort of sheen that the original did not have. Of course, many old model will now have something of a shine after being handled so much but my rather tatty edition has escaped that an, so far, remains nicely matt.

I imagine that to produce a matt finish would be difficult and more expensive but I wish they had tried.

The other comment relates to the decals and is something that applies across all the Model Club issues to date. They are not transfers like the originals but sort of printed on the models. They are excellent but lack that original look.

The Chinese have some wonderful silver paint which really does shine and it is especially effective on this model where the four headlamps are the only place that you'll see any. Now I see that the design of the headlamps is slightly different - or perhaps that is just how the light appears to make a difference in this image of my old one and the Model Club issue.

Just about all of Corgi's aerials become brittle on their original issues and we all know how hard it is to find models now with them intact. I understand that the Model Club have used a different type of plastic which is likely to stand up rather better to being bent around, not that many of us will be around for long enough to test this. Some of their aerials have not looked quite right in the past but this one is fine. Oddly, I was convinced that this model had two aerials at the back and it was not until I got out my old one that I could see that my belief was misplaced.

And is this the only Corgi saloon with four people inside?

So, once more, I am full of praise for the Corgi Model Club people and their work on this one. It was no fault of theirs that this was a bit late arriving and it can be a bit annoying to read grumpy comments from customers on Facebook about this. You'll enjoy yours when it does arrive (if you are collecting these) and do remember to hold one to those two pieces of packing material! Remember how much extra we have to pay now if we want a box and also what will probably be a grubby piece of old corrugated cardboard which may have been wrapped around some model in the old days.

Goodness knows whether these re-issues will be particularly valuable in years to come but we should be a lot wiser now than we were when we had the originals and our children or our children's children may well appreciate those small pieces of plastic in years to come.

 

Creamy stars and window frames. 500 or 357?

I have wondered how to distinguish between a 500 US Army Land Rover and a 357 Land Rover Weapons Carrier for a long time and had almost given up. My research into the 351S models, however, may have provided an answer at last. 

There are three models to collect, the November 1963 issue, all of which are believed to have gone to the States and numbered 500 in no-pictorial boxes and two 357 models from January 1965. The 357 may have either a lemon or red interior.

There are also distinct paints used on the 357 - a light khaki with a matt finish and a deeper shade with a satin, or much more shiny finish. It is always difficult to be sure about the canopies actually issued as they all get swapped around over the years but I believe they all had a similar mid-shade of khaki canopy and not the deep green type which appears to have been transferred rather more recently from a 438 issue with that colour.

The difference would appear to be in the perspex unit used for the windows. On the more recent 357 models it is a smooth unit and so there will be a sort of indent at the rear window.

On the 500, the window unit has a raised section which fits into the space for the rear window making a flush surface at the rear of the cab.

This can also produce a sort of 'frame' in the perspex when viewed from some angles.

The stars also seem to be a much creamier colour, all my 357 models having decidedly white stars.

Until yesterday, I had never taken off the canopies on the two original boxed models that I have had for many years and so had not noticed this difference.

Now, I cannot say that this is a definitive conclusion to the matter. It is possible, perhaps, that this particular type of window unit was being used for early 357 models too. However, models that I have of other Land Rovers, where I can be pretty sure of a purchase date prior to 1965, have the plain unit / indented rear window. The only Land Rover produced at around the same time as the 357 Weapons Carrier would be the 477 Breakdown Truck. Should all these prove to have the later style unit then that would further strengthen the case, as would, indeed, the 417S modes with a type 2 jib, although, with the longer span of production, I guess there may be examples of the 417S with the type 2 jib but early unit. That I shall investigate further but, for now, I am content to use this to distinguish the two.

This is important because if you thought the 351S was rare with its mere 25000 sales then the 500 will be considerably scarcer with just 17000 said to have been sold and most, if not all, of them exported. So if you have a matt, light khaki finish, lemon seats and a frame in the perspex rear window with cream rather than white stars on the bonnet and doors then you're most likely to have a 500.