Great doc. I was born in 1960 only 5 miles from the Corgi factory in Swansea, many of my relations and neighbours worked there during the 60's to 80's,which meant I grew up surrounded by Corgi toys still have many in the attic, but they all had a life in the 60's and are not in "showroom condition" but they served my childhood well, Great memories, thanks for taking me back there, keep up the good work 👍👍
That is so cool 😎 you lived next to the factory 🏭 My wife just started collecting VW beetle toys and I just seen our first corgi toy in Michigan and it was cool 😎 because our daughter has a corgi dog and she was overwhelmed when we brought a VW corgi home. Do you have any pics of the factory 🏭?? Any other interesting 🤔 facts about it? Would you have any cool beetle corgi you would sell? I want to get my daughter into finding the actual boxes with corgi on now to get her into collecting I just don't see them in Michigan it's more hotwheels and matchbox
My Auntie Stella lived in Swansea and would send me Corgi Toys cars for Christmas. I wish that I had saved them. I played with them until the tires wore out. Seeing this brought back many happy memories. Thank you
Great presentation. The Corgi toys were some of the best scale replicas that I had as a child. I took very good care of them but lost the entire collection through a divorce.
@@diecastcollector508 they were supposed to be returned, as well as various model railroad equipment that had been collected since I was young. Anything of value ended up in pawn shops
@@bobpaulino4714 that's really sad, and I say so as a serious collector who LOVES his scale models, I feel you Bro 🥺 I have a question please, do you think a Corgi Kenworth Chuck Etchells Kendall GT-1 Kenworth Team Transporter truck model is any good, is it a worthy collectible, and would it increase in value please, thank you very much Bro 🙏🏻
@@diecastcollector508 Sorry, I just saw your inquiry. I'm not familiar with that particular model. Most of my collection was accrued in the 60's, 70's, and early 80's. Then some of the models were displayed and others stayed packed up.
Great video. I can'r believe how many of the models you have shown I bought as a young lad with his Dad on a Saturday lunchtime at Leslie Brown's Toy & Record Shop between 1958 and 1967. My mother gave them all away and threw out the boxes after I left home in 1973.
Excellent summary. I remember the ‘ones with windows’ distinction from Dinky. One question: where does Tramlines and other Corgi tram models fit in the story?
Very well researched video. I collected all kinds of Corgi vehicles from about 1956 to 1965. They joined the Matchbox vehicles on my model railroad streets. I had no interest in the fantasy and film cars that came out in the late 60's. Unfortunately, I didn't snatch up all those weird vehicles back when they were a couple dollars each. I'd have a much more comfortable retirement if I had.
My dad helped me craft a metal case with handle into a Corgi collection storage case. I grew into two of them and that is where they all reside today, waiting for my grandsons to grow up a little more before handing them off to a new generation. Throughout the 60's as I collected Corgis, I longed for Corgi to build models of airplanes. I later discovered they had done a brilliant job of die cast aircraft!
My mum worked in Mettoys, Swansea. I have very fond memories of her occasionally bringing home a sack of diecast cars for me when I was a child. Loved it.
Born in ‘62, so all this was right in my wheelhouse. Hot Wheels, yes - all of it, but to me Corgi cars were always above the rest. Finally got my hands on one of those awesome black & gold John Player Special Indy cars in approx 72, maybe 73…..Man that thing was THE BEST. Loved it.
And not a word about the fact that these were in the 60/70s multi-scale models without indicating the scale? High quality workmanship, approach to modeling, detailing. small inscriptions - all at a high level. But the disregard for the reduction to a single scaling! For example, I really like how Renault16, Mustang Mach 1 are made in an unspecified scale, approximately R16 at 1/46 and Ford at 1/48. In the collection, they and other Corgis are knocked out with their scale from the mass 1/43. "Corgi toys", a fairly large batch was sold in the Soviet Union in the early 80s, but only in a couple of large toy stores in Moscow. The remnants of this "luxury" roam in our russian Internet spaces, changing their owners.
About time Corgi Toys got the recognition it deserves for all the wonderful toys it produced. I’m a collector of corgi toys. Did you know that some of these are now fetching thousands of pounds? I am of course talking about colour trials and promotional items. I was lucky enough to meet the chief designer at Corgi Marcel Van Cleemput now sadly passed away. I said to him thanks for making my childhood so happy. He said a lot people had said that. The work that went into designing,making ,packaging these toys was immense. With Dinky and Matchbox we shall never see their like again. Get the book “The Great Book Of Corgi Toys” by Marcel. Tell you all you need to know about this once great company. Oh and by the way thanks for video more please !
Absolutely. I too met Marcel at the NEC a year or two before he passed, and he was still answering questions about the models that were produced at the Corgi factory back in the day. The Great Book is a fantastic resource; there’s no better source of information anywhere. Recently I sold most of my collection at C&T auctions. There were one or two rarities, and nearly every model was in mint condition, with an original mint box!
I absolutely love Corgi Toys! As a child growing up in the 1950’s they were my favourite die cast models - and still are! The quality & accuracy of their models was exceptional, and when combined with their super attractive boxes made them utterly irresistible to kids like me. Sadly, I have to say that the current incarnation of Corgi model cars are seriously inferior to their distinguished forebears.
Thank you so much for this story! I had no idea that CORGI has such a history. 2 yrs ago I purchased my first CORGI die-cast bus I blown away by the awesome detail it has so I just kept ordering more of them and I ordered some of the trucks too This company is very different die-cast all the way!! Again thank you for this story👍😁❤🙏
As a kid, I grew up with Matchbox cars, and Corgi toys were out of our price range. This is where "you learn something new every day" comes in. I also had a lot of Husky vehicles but did not know they were made by Corgi! I can find a lot of Matchbox cars at antique malls and flea markets, but Husky cars and trucks are extremely difficult to find. I liked a lot of the Husky vehicles.
My dad and grandad worked in the Mettoy factory, we had all the cars shown here, all in one big toy bag at my grans house, yes, opened, played with, damaged, used and eventually binned. Multiples of the same cars, they’d be worth a lot today. All the rare ones and odd ones never produced, given to staff as seconds 🤯
Thank you for your great videos! I still have my Corgi Toys DB5, though it looks a bit the worse for wear now. It was the one you really wanted to have at the time. Corgi Toys (and Matchbox) and the British music of the sixties (The Kinks, Cream, The Stones ...) contributed more to peace in Europe than the EU ever will. When I was young, a lot of what I enjoyed had "made in Great Britain" written on it. Well it still does: Fuller's, Beefeater, Samuel Smith.
Excellent. I have my James Bond DB5, Lotus (Wet Nelly) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Oh, yes Batmobile (first gen -- no hook on the back). Looking forward to Dinky.
12:11 I remember the only Corgi toys I had as a child (growing up in the midwest US) were the Batmobile, and this little Buck Rogers Starfighter. I was hoping it would make an appearance.
Still have in the family the Green hornet, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Monkeemobil, Yellow submarine, My nephew lost the batmobil, James Bond's Amartin and many more:(
@@jondaddy8673 Yep, I had that one (actually still have it somewhere, in a very "weathered" state). I also had a Buick Riviera (with shine through headlights), an Oldsmobile Toronado (with the golden jack wheels) and my favourite, a Lamborghini Miura (with whizz wheels).
Fun fact: I believe I have every singe Corgi single-seater, and even though I am 48 I am going to play with them after this with a giant pot of tea. AT 1:13 your red single-seater looks like the early tin-plate Scalex/Scalextric, I had the BRG one. GREAT video, now I need to find the dragster at 10:14, I have never seen one of those!!
I found the dragster at a thrift store 30 plus years ago, missing one of the mag wheel piece. It's in decent condition. I've found a lot of other Corgis in the '90s shown through out this video and cherish each one! I was born in '56 and feel a kindred spirit with Corgi!
@@GeorgesMiniatureCars You lucky chap. I managed to find my collection in the 1990's. In 2001 I met by chance a Mr Ulrich from East Haddon Northants, and he was one of the designers who painted the boxes and for Matchbox too. I had built a car in 1997 ( life-size KSK 262) which I drove across the Sahara in 1997. I asked Mr Urich/Ulrich... not sure which now, if he could paint me a box as if my car 'The Bellini Special' was also a toy, he said of course, but somehow life got in the way and it didn't happen... My fault entirely as I lost interest with cars at the time on account of meeting an exciting woman (being careful with my words).... which I regret now.... not having the painted box I mean... I don't regret the woman. 😂 Best wishes to you and your collecting
I enjoyed watching this so much and it was nice that Husky & Whizzwheels got mentioned too. I was born '69 and my brother was 10 years older so as well as some 70's Matchbox (including Superkings), I mostly played with the hand me down Corgi, Dinky & Lesney Matchbox cars . Good times 😊
Fascinating video, thank you. As a kid in the 1960s I loved Corgi models but they were relatively expensive. I used to spend hours looking at them in toy shops. I think I only owned one, the James Bond Aston Martin, fabulous!
Grew up in France in the '70s so I had Corgi toys. I was mostly interested in the James Bond stuff, the Batmobile, and a few other movie/TV vehicles. I did have that Fiat X1/9 towing the speedboat.
I hope you’ll do a segment on the Corgi Classics line. There’s so much great stuff there and the art of diecast was in full flourish when that was going on. You can still find examples from that output in great abundance on eBay. So I wonder if the company suffered from a lack of quick sell through on all that. That’s really a history I’d love to see. They made the coolest buses and trucks. There was also a special line sold in France that had French trucks. And also the Heavy Haulage line. So much amazing and well detailed diecast. And beautiful boxes too, at its peak. Fantastic cover art that depicted the vehicle inside that came carefully wrapped in tissue paper. Beautiful! If you haven’t already done so, this would be an interesting history to explore. There seems to be very little to nothing on the details of this period of the company’s history online.
My grandfather was an airline pilot after WWII, and he and his wife (called Granny) traveled overseas a great deal from the US. She bought one of her kids a Corgi London Taxi (425) and it's still in its original box with a price tag that reads £2.75 under the word "Playthings". Copyright 1979 by Mettoy. I had a second example of this when I was a kid and played with it to death (it was a giant killing machine that would destroy my Hot Wheels in my juvenile imagination). Great video sir!
Great video.In the States here I bought my Corgi's at TWO GUYS store.Chipperfield's Circus,Lions of Longleat,Beaufort Rice's Horse trailer and Rover.El Dorado car,Maroon colored Rolls Royce to name a few.Thanx.oh I forgot the lamborghini with the bull figure.
The film and TV tie-in models were popular as Christmas and birthday presents, and most boys had at least one. The last one I can remember being bought was the Green Hornet's "Black Beauty". I also had the Monte Carlo Rally Rover 2000 featured. A model shop with a full range of Corgi, Dinky, Mamod, Keil Kraft, Hornby and Tri-ang was enough to blow a kid's mind!
CORGI TOYS CARS Their best ideas were the car models made after TV series like DAKTRI, BATMAN, THA AVENGERS, THE JAMES BOND CARS, or CHARLIES ANGELS. The last one was a bit phony since I can´t remember a GM Van on that show at all. But still watching more modern TV series like PETROCELLI or VIPER I always must think about the possibiliteis for those cars as models for kids and collectors CORGI TOYS I had always thoutht the companies name was given as a salut to the Queen. After all she is/was ? known for holding Corgi Dogs herself. Here in Germany Corgi Toys Cars had been mostly become known through the ads in all kinds of Comics and Newspaper ads but not so much over Radio or TV. 3:59 Yes, I have one of those hospital cars. They worked with a socalled BABY BATTERY as they were originally called.
I love the older stuff pre whizzwheels I hate whizzwheels even boxed if they was £5 each I wouldn't but them with there silly out of scale wheels on yuk! Great video tho very interesting!!!!😎
I have plenty of corgi toys and my favourites are the corgi junior's. The quality was not as good as matchbox. But still love them all. Thanks for this video.
I loved Corgi cars because many were from Europe and seemed exotic for me n the sixties so much so that the first time I was in London in the nineties I went about taking pictures of old parked cars saying “I used to own one of those”.
My pink 1959 Chevrolet was my favorite; the two '59 Plymouths (one a taxi, the other a two-tone blue sedan) were also good. I still have them somewhere, along with a bunch of other Matchbox and Dinky Toys.
I can understand why some people collect those, they are pure jewels. to stick with the vintage models is brilliant. here in america, we never saw these british vehicles, they look very good and fascinating. there is something about the details and colors, it s like an episode of thunderbirds, dinky was also quite beautiful.
Proustian memories of the James Bond Aston Martin which had revolving numberplates, bullet-proof screen and ejector seat (always lost the little passenger behind the sofa). And the Batmobile, beautifully designed, fired little red missiles that went the same way as the lost passenger.
As a tiny kid I think I had more Matchbox cars than Corgi, until Esso started giving away Corgi cars for every several litres of fuel or vouchers collected or something or other. Not too sure - but was always excited going with my dad to pay for petrol and asked to choose what cars i'd like to have. Good times!
Corgi is now a leader in the diecast aircraft model market! Very high quality! I have numerous Corgi aircraft models, and I’m very happy with their quality!
Hi little car, Having been a long time die-cast collector of one particular British "little car" It's always been very interesting in my mind of history of die-cast in Britain and around the world.More please!!
Great video.I have quite a number of the models featured on this film my favorite being the MG Maestro 1600 wit working head and break lights. Great Stuff. Thank You
Thanks Darren. After doing these two videos I thought of getting models of the cars I've owned over the years, so I could put them behind me for Big Car videos, but it's a lot harder than I thought to get the specific cars (especially in the the right colour).
@@LittleCar Ha Ha. I started collecting and renovating Dinky ,Corgi and Spoton toys a couple of years ago. what started me was renovating a UFO SHADO 2 vehicle. It got to the stage after a couple of years that i bought a display case for them must have about 100 0r so now from James bonds DB5 to Capt Scarlets vehicles. Check out the Spot On brand they are very good long defunct of course . Take care Darren. (:
Wow, a couple of déja-vu experiences there. I always preferred Corgi to Dinky models, although I had both. They also did Lady Penelope's pink Rolls Royce with a rocket launcher behind the Rolls grille. And I had a metallic red Mini Marcos - I assume Corgi sold ten times more Mini Marcoses than Marcos did.
Its amazing how many of the older tooling Corgi models are still being produced although Corgi are starting to replace some of these older tooled models one of which is the VW split screen van in 2020
Thank you so much LC for this. Corgi model cars (especially the TV/Film cars) meant so much to me as a child. When I reached my 30's I re collected many more in their original boxes and as you can imagine they were and are very expensive in great condition. Sadly a few years ago I had to let most of my very rare collection go. This short history may inspire me to do it all again! ..........Whose is the collection featured?
I had the Studebaker, the Vanwall rcer and of course, the 007 BD5, SPV and some of the more standard British cars when I was a kid. I had a Cortina Mk1 but can't remember if it was a Dinky or a corgi. I also had the Bentley and a handful of the classsics including the ModelT with the guy cranking the engine. Mostly I had Matchboxes because they were cheaper.
I collect and restore old Corgis and Dinkys from the 50s and 60s. So strange that a lot of the models that were shown here, I've torn apart countless times and completely renovated them. Did about 4 or 5 Impalas so far to give you an idea...
Jolly interesting. What a shame we Brits gave it all away, *glares at Matchbox in abhorrent disdain* but thank God we haven't got rid of Corgi or Hornby.
Great video! Corgi Toys helped me extend my childhood all the way to retirement! My core collection is still more or less pristine, thanks partly to a pact I had with my brother, under which our kids did not get to wreck our heritage.
A number of mine, Corgi, Dinky and Matchbox models survived due to my younger brother fortunately being more interested in boats. Still have around 20 meters of Scalextric race track and a number of operative slot cars too, but rarely get a chance to set it up and use it. But will never sell, it lives happily in the attic.
Recall Norwegian WRC champion Petter Solberg’s statement on the dangers of rallying: «It’s not the fart that kills, it’s the smell»; in Norwegian ‘fart’ meaning speed and ‘smell’ meaning ‘crash’. His English in the early career used to be rather confused.
The schoolyard earnest discussions in the early sixties was that Corgi were the value desired cars compared to Dinky. The sprung wheels, glazing, interiors, opening features and prismatic headlight system were features that hardly any Dinkys had at the time and at similar or lower prices. Favorite was the advanced looking 1964 Buick Riviera although I also had a soft spot for the local Micromodels FJ Holden and Peters Ice Cream articulated Commer tanker.
I had a Riviera! Our city's main newspaper's weekend comics always contained a small "footer" ad for the latest Corgi issue, and on occasion it would merit a three-mile round bike trip to a Dutch-owned toy store that always stocked the very latest Corgi models. I thought the Buick was a must, and my brother couldn't believe it when a fastback Mustang showed up; he had one in hand after school Monday. I loved working features, and remember a little Hillman with opening hatchback and folding rear seat. Between myself, my brother, and four cousins, we abused a large fleet of Corgis (and Dinkys) playing outdoors all summer. I've often wondered what value my collection might have had, had I not tossed the boxes and headed outside come warm weather!
Corgi Toy cars were a major part of my childhood... loved them.
I agree Malcolm!
I was even impressed with the packaging. Remember the catalogue?
Yes me too.Loved them.Would save my paper route money to buy them.
I have. A big collection all boxed still collect
My first 1770s bond db5. Batman. Starkey hutch a jag coastguard a. Pathfinder fire
1970s sorry
Great doc. I was born in 1960 only 5 miles from the Corgi factory in Swansea, many of my relations and neighbours worked there during the 60's to 80's,which meant I grew up surrounded by Corgi toys still have many in the attic, but they all had a life in the 60's and are not in "showroom condition" but they served my childhood well, Great memories, thanks for taking me back there, keep up the good work 👍👍
That is so cool 😎 you lived next to the factory 🏭
My wife just started collecting VW beetle toys and I just seen our first corgi toy in Michigan and it was cool 😎 because our daughter has a corgi dog and she was overwhelmed when we brought a VW corgi home.
Do you have any pics of the factory 🏭?? Any other interesting 🤔 facts about it?
Would you have any cool beetle corgi you would sell? I want to get my daughter into finding the actual boxes with corgi on now to get her into collecting
I just don't see them in Michigan it's more hotwheels and matchbox
My Auntie Stella lived in Swansea and would send me Corgi Toys cars for Christmas. I wish that I had saved them. I played with them until the tires wore out. Seeing this brought back many happy memories. Thank you
As a pre-Hot Wheels kid, I had lots of fun collecting Corgi and Matchbox. Lost every one except for my 1912 Rolls Royce.
Thank you for sharing. I love old toys, unfortunately I didn't catch them....
My favourite was the Holmes Wrecker,with moving stabilisers, real cables and swing arms that
would actually pick up another toy car. Such joy!
I still have mine!
Great presentation.
The Corgi toys were some of the best scale replicas that I had as a child.
I took very good care of them but lost the entire collection through a divorce.
Your spouse took away your collection??!! 😳🤯
@@diecastcollector508 they were supposed to be returned, as well as various model railroad equipment that had been collected since I was young.
Anything of value ended up in pawn shops
@@bobpaulino4714 that's really sad, and I say so as a serious collector who LOVES his scale models, I feel you Bro 🥺
I have a question please, do you think a Corgi Kenworth Chuck Etchells Kendall GT-1 Kenworth Team Transporter truck model is any good, is it a worthy collectible, and would it increase in value please, thank you very much Bro 🙏🏻
@@bobpaulino4714 sorry but that was truly horrible for your ex to do!! tempted to use the b word lol.
@@diecastcollector508 Sorry, I just saw your inquiry.
I'm not familiar with that particular model. Most of my collection was accrued in the 60's, 70's, and early 80's. Then some of the models were displayed and others stayed packed up.
Thankks much! Still a Corgi fan at 61!
Great video. I can'r believe how many of the models you have shown I bought as a young lad with his Dad on a Saturday lunchtime at Leslie Brown's Toy & Record Shop between 1958 and 1967. My mother gave them all away and threw out the boxes after I left home in 1973.
Excellent summary. I remember the ‘ones with windows’ distinction from Dinky. One question: where does Tramlines and other Corgi tram models fit in the story?
This is getting me all the childhood feels. Well done sir. Great video!
Very well researched video. I collected all kinds of Corgi vehicles from about 1956 to 1965. They joined the Matchbox vehicles on my model railroad streets. I had no interest in the fantasy and film cars that came out in the late 60's. Unfortunately, I didn't snatch up all those weird vehicles back when they were a couple dollars each. I'd have a much more comfortable retirement if I had.
wow what a fantastic collection of vintage cars Gorgi ground gold greetings from Mexico😊
My dad helped me craft a metal case with handle into a Corgi collection storage case. I grew into two of them and that is where they all reside today, waiting for my grandsons to grow up a little more before handing them off to a new generation. Throughout the 60's as I collected Corgis, I longed for Corgi to build models of airplanes. I later discovered they had done a brilliant job of die cast aircraft!
My mum worked in Mettoys, Swansea. I have very fond memories of her occasionally bringing home a sack of diecast cars for me when I was a child. Loved it.
Awesome memory and that your Mom worked there.
My Gran worked at the Fforestfach factory for over 20 years and as a kid of the 70's I received many a car brought home hidden in my Gran's tights :)
@@MrCapacitator lol.nice Gran!
what's Mettoys?
Corgi is what I lusted after but in the States they were pricey and I only got a few pieces, but I loved them!
Born in ‘62, so all this was right in my wheelhouse. Hot Wheels, yes - all of it, but to me Corgi cars were always above the rest. Finally got my hands on one of those awesome black & gold John Player Special Indy cars in approx 72, maybe 73…..Man that thing was THE BEST. Loved it.
And not a word about the fact that these were in the 60/70s multi-scale models without indicating the scale?
High quality workmanship, approach to modeling, detailing. small inscriptions - all at a high level. But the disregard for the reduction to a single scaling!
For example, I really like how Renault16, Mustang Mach 1 are made in an unspecified scale, approximately R16 at 1/46 and Ford at 1/48. In the collection, they and other Corgis are knocked out with their scale from the mass 1/43.
"Corgi toys", a fairly large batch was sold in the Soviet Union in the early 80s, but only in a couple of large toy stores in Moscow. The remnants of this "luxury" roam in our russian Internet spaces, changing their owners.
Thanks for this educational video. 🦘
A canter through my childhood and a stroll down Memory Lane. Thank you.
Eloquently put!
About time Corgi Toys got the recognition it deserves for all the wonderful toys it produced. I’m a collector of corgi toys. Did you know that some of these are now fetching thousands of pounds? I am of course talking about colour trials and promotional items. I was lucky enough to meet the chief designer at Corgi Marcel Van Cleemput now sadly passed away. I said to him thanks for making my childhood so happy. He said a lot people had said that. The work that went into designing,making ,packaging these toys was immense. With Dinky and Matchbox we shall never see their like again. Get the book “The Great Book Of Corgi Toys” by Marcel. Tell you all you need to know about this once great company. Oh and by the way thanks for video more please !
Absolutely. I too met Marcel at the NEC a year or two before he passed, and he was still answering questions about the models that were produced at the Corgi factory back in the day. The Great Book is a fantastic resource; there’s no better source of information anywhere. Recently I sold most of my collection at C&T auctions. There were one or two rarities, and nearly every model was in mint condition, with an
original mint box!
Absolutely these oldies are amazing and awesome
I absolutely love Corgi Toys! As a child growing up in the 1950’s they were my favourite die cast models - and still are! The quality & accuracy of their models was exceptional, and when combined with their super attractive boxes made them utterly irresistible to kids like me.
Sadly, I have to say that the current incarnation of Corgi model cars are seriously inferior to their distinguished forebears.
I loved Husky toys...I still have all my old ones to this day (Yes - I"m 59).
Thank you so much for this story! I had no idea that CORGI has such a history. 2 yrs ago I purchased my first CORGI die-cast bus I blown away by the awesome detail it has so I just kept ordering more of them and I ordered some of the trucks too This company is very different die-cast all the way!! Again thank you for this story👍😁❤🙏
I had the "Chitty Chitty Bang-bang" car. Probably worth MORE today than my current REAL car 😊
As a kid, I grew up with Matchbox cars, and Corgi toys were out of our price range. This is where "you learn something new every day" comes in. I also had a lot of Husky vehicles but did not know they were made by Corgi! I can find a lot of Matchbox cars at antique malls and flea markets, but Husky cars and trucks are extremely difficult to find. I liked a lot of the Husky vehicles.
My dad and grandad worked in the Mettoy factory, we had all the cars shown here, all in one big toy bag at my grans house, yes, opened, played with, damaged, used and eventually binned. Multiples of the same cars, they’d be worth a lot today. All the rare ones and odd ones never produced, given to staff as seconds 🤯
I just Love the Corgi Toys
Corgis, Huskys, diecast makers really liked their dogs back then
Thank you for your great videos!
I still have my Corgi Toys DB5, though it looks a bit the worse for wear now. It was the one you really wanted to have at the time.
Corgi Toys (and Matchbox) and the British music of the sixties (The Kinks, Cream, The Stones ...) contributed more to peace in Europe than the EU ever will. When I was young, a lot of what I enjoyed had "made in Great Britain" written on it. Well it still does: Fuller's, Beefeater, Samuel Smith.
FANTASTIC
Excellent. I have my James Bond DB5, Lotus (Wet Nelly) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Oh, yes Batmobile (first gen -- no hook on the back).
Looking forward to Dinky.
12:11 I remember the only Corgi toys I had as a child (growing up in the midwest US) were the Batmobile, and this little Buck Rogers Starfighter. I was hoping it would make an appearance.
The epitome of Little Car 😃
Another great piece. Well done sir for all the awesome content.
Hands up those who kept watching to see if the video featured a model they owned as a child! I had the Monte Carlo Mini. :)
Yep I had several hand me downs from my brother. I liked The man from Uncle car & the Batmobile best when I was little 😊
I had the Green Hornet.... Amongst others... Loved the gold jack models. Ahhh memories..
Still have in the family the Green hornet, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Monkeemobil, Yellow submarine, My nephew lost the batmobil, James Bond's Amartin and many more:(
Chitty chitty Bang Bang 😊😊😊
@@jondaddy8673 Yep, I had that one (actually still have it somewhere, in a very "weathered" state). I also had a Buick Riviera (with shine through headlights), an Oldsmobile Toronado (with the golden jack wheels) and my favourite, a Lamborghini Miura (with whizz wheels).
Fun fact: I believe I have every singe Corgi single-seater, and even though I am 48 I am going to play with them after this with a giant pot of tea. AT 1:13 your red single-seater looks like the early tin-plate Scalex/Scalextric, I had the BRG one. GREAT video, now I need to find the dragster at 10:14, I have never seen one of those!!
Thanks Nigel. Yes - I was struggling to find some of the early Mettoy models for the video.
I found the dragster at a thrift store 30 plus years ago, missing one of the mag wheel piece. It's in decent condition. I've found a lot of other Corgis in the '90s shown through out this video and cherish each one! I was born in '56 and feel a kindred spirit with Corgi!
@@GeorgesMiniatureCars You lucky chap. I managed to find my collection in the 1990's. In 2001 I met by chance a Mr Ulrich from East Haddon Northants, and he was one of the designers who painted the boxes and for Matchbox too. I had built a car in 1997 ( life-size KSK 262) which I drove across the Sahara in 1997. I asked Mr Urich/Ulrich... not sure which now, if he could paint me a box as if my car 'The Bellini Special' was also a toy, he said of course, but somehow life got in the way and it didn't happen... My fault entirely as I lost interest with cars at the time on account of meeting an exciting woman (being careful with my words).... which I regret now.... not having the painted box I mean... I don't regret the woman. 😂 Best wishes to you and your collecting
@@LittleCar Yes... Mettoy that was the name I couldn't think of, thank you. 👍🏻🇬🇧
Nicely done.
I enjoyed watching this so much and it was nice that Husky & Whizzwheels got mentioned too. I was born '69 and my brother was 10 years older so as well as some 70's Matchbox (including Superkings), I mostly played with the hand me down Corgi, Dinky & Lesney Matchbox cars . Good times 😊
Corgi's were always top of the line for vehicles. My original Batmobile was the Corgi one.
Fascinating video, thank you. As a kid in the 1960s I loved Corgi models but they were relatively expensive. I used to spend hours looking at them in toy shops. I think I only owned one, the James Bond Aston Martin, fabulous!
I’d several, mostly Juniors. My favourites of the big ones were Starsky & Hutch’s Torino & Kojak’s Buick!
Didn’t know I needed to learn about British die-cast toy cars until I watched these 😋
brillant reveiw
We always had corgi cars as kids , I had the mini Monte Carlo my brother chose the rover 2000 tc and the Jensen ff
Great video!
Corgi cars forever❤❤❤❤
My 1st Corgi was the "Bluebird".
Grew up in France in the '70s so I had Corgi toys. I was mostly interested in the James Bond stuff, the Batmobile, and a few other movie/TV vehicles. I did have that Fiat X1/9 towing the speedboat.
Thank you for the video, I love this era of die cast cars.
Thank you. I am thoroughly enjoying this series.
Very informative and fun video of some of my childhood favourites. Thank you.
An enjoyable video, however, one small point; Santa Pod is in Bedfordshire, not Northamptonshire.
I hope you’ll do a segment on the Corgi Classics line. There’s so much great stuff there and the art of diecast was in full flourish when that was going on. You can still find examples from that output in great abundance on eBay. So I wonder if the company suffered from a lack of quick sell through on all that. That’s really a history I’d love to see. They made the coolest buses and trucks. There was also a special line sold in France that had French trucks. And also the Heavy Haulage line. So much amazing and well detailed diecast. And beautiful boxes too, at its peak. Fantastic cover art that depicted the vehicle inside that came carefully wrapped in tissue paper. Beautiful! If you haven’t already done so, this would be an interesting history to explore. There seems to be very little to nothing on the details of this period of the company’s history online.
My grandfather was an airline pilot after WWII, and he and his wife (called Granny) traveled overseas a great deal from the US. She bought one of her kids a Corgi London Taxi (425) and it's still in its original box with a price tag that reads £2.75 under the word "Playthings". Copyright 1979 by Mettoy. I had a second example of this when I was a kid and played with it to death (it was a giant killing machine that would destroy my Hot Wheels in my juvenile imagination). Great video sir!
So, at one time , Mattel owned Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Corgi?
Wow. Did they own any others?
Jeez I had so many of the models you show. Happy times.
Great video.In the States here I bought my Corgi's at TWO GUYS store.Chipperfield's Circus,Lions of Longleat,Beaufort Rice's Horse trailer and Rover.El Dorado car,Maroon colored Rolls Royce to name a few.Thanx.oh I forgot the lamborghini with the bull figure.
The film and TV tie-in models were popular as Christmas and birthday presents, and most boys had at least one. The last one I can remember being bought was the Green Hornet's "Black Beauty". I also had the Monte Carlo Rally Rover 2000 featured. A model shop with a full range of Corgi, Dinky, Mamod, Keil Kraft, Hornby and Tri-ang was enough to blow a kid's mind!
A super little channel!! Thanks loads for all uploads!!!
Corgies were the expensive high-quality models. The had a special display case on the sales counter. I always wanted the space eagle from space 1999.
CORGI TOYS CARS Their best ideas were the car models made after TV series like DAKTRI, BATMAN, THA AVENGERS, THE JAMES BOND CARS, or CHARLIES ANGELS.
The last one was a bit phony since I can´t remember a GM Van on that show at all.
But still watching more modern TV series like PETROCELLI or VIPER I always must think about the possibiliteis for those cars as models for kids and collectors
CORGI TOYS I had always thoutht the companies name was given as a salut to the Queen. After all she is/was ? known for holding Corgi Dogs herself.
Here in Germany Corgi Toys Cars had been mostly become known through the ads in all kinds of Comics and Newspaper ads but not so much over Radio or TV.
3:59 Yes, I have one of those hospital cars. They worked with a socalled BABY BATTERY as they were originally called.
I love the older stuff pre whizzwheels I hate whizzwheels even boxed if they was £5 each I wouldn't but them with there silly out of scale wheels on yuk! Great video tho very interesting!!!!😎
9:05 That P1800 from "The Saint" is pretty damn cool, I loved that show!
Great video again
I have plenty of corgi toys and my favourites are the corgi junior's. The quality was not as good as matchbox. But still love them all. Thanks for this video.
I loved Corgi cars because many were from Europe and seemed exotic for me n the sixties so much so that the first time I was in London in the nineties I went about taking pictures of old parked cars saying “I used to own one of those”.
Bravo, another superb production!!!
Wonderful nostalgia. Wish I still had all my cars. Wish I still had my hair. Though less so.
My pink 1959 Chevrolet was my favorite; the two '59 Plymouths (one a taxi, the other a two-tone blue sedan) were also good. I still have them somewhere, along with a bunch of other Matchbox and Dinky Toys.
3:31 Corgi Toys 50-60s . Look at those details dude, it looks beautiful
I can understand why some people collect those,
they are pure jewels.
to stick with the vintage models is brilliant.
here in america, we never saw these british vehicles,
they look very good and fascinating.
there is something about the details and colors, it s like an episode of thunderbirds,
dinky was also quite beautiful.
Proustian memories of the James Bond Aston Martin which had revolving numberplates, bullet-proof screen and ejector seat (always lost the little passenger behind the sofa). And the Batmobile, beautifully designed, fired little red missiles that went the same way as the lost passenger.
As a tiny kid I think I had more Matchbox cars than Corgi, until Esso started giving away Corgi cars for every several litres of fuel or vouchers collected or something or other. Not too sure - but was always excited going with my dad to pay for petrol and asked to choose what cars i'd like to have. Good times!
7:08 I had that one as a kid.
Corgi is now a leader in the diecast aircraft model market! Very high quality! I have numerous Corgi aircraft models, and I’m very happy with their quality!
Hi little car, Having been a long time die-cast collector of one particular British "little car" It's always been very interesting in my mind of history of die-cast in Britain and around the world.More please!!
Great video.I have quite a number of the models featured on this film my favorite being the MG Maestro 1600 wit working head and break lights.
Great Stuff.
Thank You
Thanks Darren. After doing these two videos I thought of getting models of the cars I've owned over the years, so I could put them behind me for Big Car videos, but it's a lot harder than I thought to get the specific cars (especially in the the right colour).
@@LittleCar Ha Ha. I started collecting and renovating Dinky ,Corgi and Spoton toys a couple of years ago. what started me was renovating a UFO SHADO 2 vehicle. It got to the stage after a couple of years that i bought a display case for them must have about 100 0r so now from James bonds DB5 to Capt Scarlets vehicles.
Check out the Spot On brand they are very good long defunct of course .
Take care
Darren. (:
Nice video. I have that Corgi Rover 3500 with the 1 Triplex sticker on the bonnet seen in the video :) Loved playing with it as a kid.
I believe Huskys were sold in UK under an exclusive deal with Woolworths. I remember seeing them all displayed in there when I was a kid.
Wow, a couple of déja-vu experiences there. I always preferred Corgi to Dinky models, although I had both. They also did Lady Penelope's pink Rolls Royce with a rocket launcher behind the Rolls grille. And I had a metallic red Mini Marcos - I assume Corgi sold ten times more Mini Marcoses than Marcos did.
Thank you for this video.
I love Corgi!!!
Thanks for the video. Still got a few corgis and dinkys in the loft
Erratum: That's Arthur Katz who was a founder of Mettoy, not Arthur Kantz as I said.
Thanks to everyone who pointed that out!
The Goldfinger James Bond DB6 with the pop-out machine guns, ejector seat was their best!
They were more than toys more like pieces of art .
Its amazing how many of the older tooling Corgi models are still being produced although Corgi are starting to replace some of these older tooled models one of which is the VW split screen van in 2020
Thank you so much LC for this. Corgi model cars (especially the TV/Film cars) meant so much to me as a child. When I reached my 30's I re collected many more in their original boxes and as you can imagine they were and are very expensive in great condition. Sadly a few years ago I had to let most of my very rare collection go. This short history may inspire me to do it all again! ..........Whose is the collection featured?
Thanks Neil. No particular collection - they are mainly photos of cars being sold on eBay or similar sites I believe.
I had the Studebaker, the Vanwall rcer and of course, the 007 BD5, SPV and some of the more standard British cars when I was a kid. I had a Cortina Mk1 but can't remember if it was a Dinky or a corgi. I also had the Bentley and a handful of the classsics including the ModelT with the guy cranking the engine. Mostly I had Matchboxes because they were cheaper.
Goddamn, the 50's paintings really get my imagination going!
I collect and restore old Corgis and Dinkys from the 50s and 60s. So strange that a lot of the models that were shown here, I've torn apart countless times and completely renovated them. Did about 4 or 5 Impalas so far to give you an idea...
Again top notch research!! Love both channels!! I still recommend doing a video on Johny lighting toys!!
Thanks - and thanks for the suggestion!
@@LittleCar 😀 you're always welcome, can't wait for the next video!!
Swedish ad at 6:56! :-) Excellent video, Andy!
You're welcome. With all this Swedish content I really should visit the country!
@@LittleCar Come on over! Accomodation is not a problem. :-)
Jolly interesting. What a shame we Brits gave it all away, *glares at Matchbox in abhorrent disdain* but thank God we haven't got rid of Corgi or Hornby.
@paul austin Corgi are not now owned by Mattel....they were owned for a brief time by Mattel in the nineties...
Thank you for all the info! I knew very little about this brand.
Great video! Corgi Toys helped me extend my childhood all the way to retirement! My core collection is still more or less pristine, thanks partly to a pact I had with my brother, under which our kids did not get to wreck our heritage.
A number of mine, Corgi, Dinky and Matchbox models survived due to my younger brother fortunately being more interested in boats. Still have around 20 meters of Scalextric race track and a number of operative slot cars too, but rarely get a chance to set it up and use it. But will never sell, it lives happily in the attic.
I'm mature enough to admit that I got a chuckle out of "Modeller Med Fart" (Norwegian for "Models with Speed")
The ad was actually Swedish, but would read the exact same in Norwegian.
Recall Norwegian WRC champion Petter Solberg’s statement on the dangers of rallying: «It’s not the fart that kills, it’s the smell»; in Norwegian ‘fart’ meaning speed and ‘smell’ meaning ‘crash’. His English in the early career used to be rather confused.
The schoolyard earnest discussions in the early sixties was that Corgi were the value desired cars compared to Dinky. The sprung wheels, glazing, interiors, opening features and prismatic headlight system were features that hardly any Dinkys had at the time and at similar or lower prices. Favorite was the advanced looking 1964 Buick Riviera although I also had a soft spot for the local Micromodels FJ Holden and Peters Ice Cream articulated Commer tanker.
I had a Riviera! Our city's main newspaper's weekend comics always contained a small "footer" ad for the latest Corgi issue, and on occasion it would merit a three-mile round bike trip to a Dutch-owned toy store that always stocked the very latest Corgi models. I thought the Buick was a must, and my brother couldn't believe it when a fastback Mustang showed up; he had one in hand after school Monday. I loved working features, and remember a little Hillman with opening hatchback and folding rear seat. Between myself, my brother, and four cousins, we abused a large fleet of Corgis (and Dinkys) playing outdoors all summer. I've often wondered what value my collection might have had, had I not tossed the boxes and headed outside come warm weather!
Quite informative video, congratulations!!
Love the new channel! Keep up the good work
Thanks Joshua!