Shite in Miniature II

[Split_Pin]

Yes. If anyone cares to make it ten, they get the Hidden Treasures Allegro thrown in too!

 

IMG_4770.jpg

 

WOW! Unbeatable mulitibuy savings!

I have just remembered about this, Conrad I'll happily give you 7 for the MG when Im paid on Fridau if you still have it? I already have an Allegro

[Datsuncog]

^^ That Dinky Princess looks ace, Vulg - initially did a double-take thinking it was a Vanguards 1/43! I've a knackered one somewhere in the shed, really ought to do summat with it...

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I have just remembered about this, Conrad I'll happily give you 7 for the MG when Im paid on Fridau if you still have it? I already have an Allegro

Sure thing!

[Datsuncog]

A few smol Oxfords amongst the chocolate-frenzy debris this evening. The Allegro estate in Citrine was picked up from a market stall on Friday; I'm inordinately fond of it already.

 

[Felly Magic]

This is on it's way from Poland. OVLOVOLOVOLOLOVLOLOV in Swedish Police livery. SVENTASTIC!

 

[Datsuncog]

I have a couple of Corgi Preludes; the blue one was the general release I think, and the white one was supposed to come as part of a set with something else, but I can't remember what.  Corgi made some really nice 1/36 models, at a time when imported cars were becoming more common on UK roads, and their range reflected this trend.

 

Yep, the white Prelude came with a buildable glider inside a trailer, rather impressively! Never remember seeing this on the shelves at the time (1982 catalogue).

 

 

Also came in yellow for 1983 catalogue year, apparently. But not if you happened to be French. Zut alors.

 

 

I happened to find this blue general-release Prelude in good nick in a charity shop a few years back. Doubt I paid more than a pound for it.

 

 

I am still very attracted to this scale of toy - even though they're an arse to display. Corgi did some real crackers in the late 70s/early 80s, while Matchbox were still finding their Superkings feet with inconsistent scales and weird fantasy stuff, and Dinky were going straight down the tubes. I mean - who wouldn't want these fine models in their toybox?

 

 

 

That Opel Senator in particular is one I'd still covet even now... and yes, the red Pug 505. Just gorgeous.

 

 

Added play value with Corgitronics battery-powered shenanigans!

 

 

I had the Maestro, fire tender and police Land Rover, all second-hand.

 

 

Also the Radio Luxembourg van - still have that one, in fact.

 

 

But yeah - some weird choices of model. I mean - Corgi already did a James Bond underwater Lotus Esprit - how hard would it have been to make a roadgoing version of this attractive mid-70s sportscar? But no - Corgi did an Elite instead, which had slightly less dashing lines (other opinions are available). Note also the mystery 'New Saloon Car' trailered, which appears to be the new Renault 11 - I never remember seeing these on the toyshop shelves, sadly - I would have been very interested.

 

 

I still find it hard to understand why both Corgi and Matchbox produced Matra Rancho models in large and small sizes, when they remain a car I never recall seeing on the road. I remember getting quite frustated (as a child!) that the Rancho cropped up again and again in gift packs etc well into the 1990s, because I had no frame of reference for them. They only existed as toys for me, not real cars. I was a weird kid, though.

 

 

The Corgi Junior range never seemed quite as desirable or well-made to me as the larger cars - scales were way off (the Metro dwarfing the SD1, for example) and proportions were quite odd - the Jaguar XJ-S seemed ludicrously wide compared to its length, while the Porsche 911 Carrera appeared strangely dumpy.

 

Interesting also to see a proposed DeLorean DMC-12 in their 1982 catalogue, of which I can find no trace beyond this page.

 

[vulgalour]

OMG I WANT THAT MAESTRO

[Datsuncog]

^^^ I'm still kicking myself that I had a mint & boxed Maestro, and swapped it (and others) for a worthless modern Corgi Classics truck c.1995...

[sierraman]

The Edward Force book is really good in this respect. The DMC 12 never reached production as far as I know.

[Split_Pin]

^^^ I'm still kicking myself that I had a mint & boxed Maestro, and swapped it (and others) for a worthless modern Corgi Classics truck c.1995...

Dont worry I sold my MIB example for a tenner a few years back!

[MorrisItalSLX]

I have that Jimmies Ice Cream van, yours is much nicer than mine as it was not owned by me as a child.

 

I beleive my grandparents bought it for me as it lived at their house, the opening door that made the ice cream man come to serve you was witchcraft to little me.

 

Bloody hell, it makes me feel very young when somthing from my childhood is described as "new".

And found:

 

 

And here is the door detail in detail, closed:

 

 

And opened:

 

 

Dated 2001, so I must have got it when it just came out and when I was older than I first thought.

 

[Spottedlaurel]

Yep, the white Prelude came with a buildable glider inside a trailer, rather impressively! Never remember seeing this on the shelves at the time (1982 catalogue).

 

I saw the glider trailer on its own in a box of odds and ends at last week's toyfair. Not sure why I didn't buy it.

 

Your excellent post has forced me to fire-up the scanner, let's see what Corgi were offering in 1977......

 

 

 

 

Did Kojak really wear that much lipstick?

 

 

That's better, onto the normal stuff now. Not sure what the Polizei were doing on our manor.

 

 

 

Another version of the Mazda which I don't think has been mentioned yet.

 

 

Shame the Rolls Royce and Mercedes have broken-down. I had the red Jaguar as a youngster, for some reason it hasn't survived.

 

 

X1/9 an odd choice of powerboat towcar? I had a slightly earlier gift set with the Daytona and Surtees F1 car on a trailer.

 

 

 

Onto working vehicles now.

 

 

I have the Transcontinental Transporter but in blue.

 

 

There's that Mazda in blue and silver 2-tone.

 

From here it goes onto planes, military and agricultural stuff, then the Junior and Super ranges.

[Split_Pin]

These are fantastic. You can clearly see the transition from 1/43 to 1/36 scale at this point in time.

[sierraman]

I've got the 1/20 scale Marlboro F1 car.

 

Never seen the Pacer in the flesh. I'd love one!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Wow, that catalogue takes me back to the NWeigh brothers toy box of 1977.

We had the Dyane in yellow, Xj-C in red, a silver 240d, the Elite and X1/9 in colours shown , oh and the Pacer .

Seem to remember a Starsky and Hutch Torino too, plus a B1600, thing is in my memory it was blue not silver and blue. Although that could be because our milkman at the time had a solid blue B1600, later swapped for a red B1800 , which he had up until the mid 90's when he sold up and retired.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

These are fantastic. You can clearly see the transition from 1/43 to 1/36 scale at this point in time.

That used to piss me off no end!

I could never play with my two favourite cars together- Dinky Monteverdi and Corgi XJ-C.

[155V6]

Loving the Corgi catalogue scans.I've got a fair few of the 1/36 cars,even after I sold some off earlier on here.The Renault 11 did come out,I've got one 

 

[sierraman]

Mines all in the loft, remember having the Senator when I was a kid.

 

The best was the Sierra 2.3 with its opening tailgate, I've got a bronze one, a beige taxi and a later metallic blue one.

 

Its a shame the Juniors were so cack though, the superfast were much better in that respect.

[bigstraight6]

That Corgi catalogue really takes me back, i had a fair few of those models with favourites being the AMC Pacer and Mack container outfit...

[sierraman]

I remember having the Polo in swiss post livery, quite a rare find now.

 

They used to do a lot of foreign liveries like German and Swiss stuff. Don't know if it was all offered in UK.

[Christine]

 

[Frogchod]

I went to a car show today, sadly there wasn't much in the way of (affordable) old stuff.

I couldn't come away empty handed so picked up these for a tenner each.

[Felly Magic]

That Dacia pickup is on my radar for later in the year

[MarvinsMom]

These are fantastic. You can clearly see the transition from 1/43 to 1/36 scale at this point in time.

does anyone know WHY corgi increased the scale of their cars from 1/43 to 1/36?

 

the 1/43 scale comes from Dinky sizing their toy cars up to suit Hornby 0 gauge trains, so why then did Corgi   (and Dinky too, cos the Princess is scaled out at 1/35?) feel the need to make their cars biggerin in the 1970's?

[Felly Magic]

Was a shame the DMC12 didn't come out back then,but they did do a 1/36 version around the millennium in BTTF guise, and I wonder if they actually used the base tooling for it from the planned realease back then? I remember the Renner 11 being released in that beige colour, this casting was later re-tooled to become the 'A View To A Kill' release as the Paris taxi 

[Mad Cyril]

I've got the Prelude & glider set in the attic.
It's the white one and it's complete, boxed and mint. I don't remember playing with it and didn't remember even having it as a kid until I found it in my parents loft a few years back.
I'll get some pics of it next time I go up there.
(I'm pretty certain I've got that Senator in it's box too but it's a goldy sort of colour with a red interior if I remember rightly)

[egg]

2 more Lesneys in, £9 the pair. Need a driver for the Landy.

 

[egg]

Ooh, and another one I got recently from eBid.

 

[Felly Magic]

I wish I'd the cash & space to go on a Corgi 1/36 scale buying spree, I remember getting a blue mk3 Scrote for my 4th birthday, along with a Matchbox transporter truck in blue, which had a beige mk2 Capri on it, and I had that yellow MG Maestro, you pushed down on the front to work the front lights, and pressed down on the rear to make the back lights come on. I thought it utterly cool at the time, wouldn't mind one again, resprayed black with red bumper inserts

[Felly Magic]

Solido Fester and Pilen Astramax now paid for. Yay, been after one of those Festers for eons.