Corgi Toys
Corgi Classics Limited is a British manufacturer of model replicas of automobiles, airplanes and tanks mainly in the scale at 1:43. The company in Germany became known. Mainly through replicas of famous cars from movies and TV series from the Anglo- American world
Corgi Toys
In 1933 founded the German emigrants Philip Ullmann and Arthur Katz Mettoy the company in Northampton, England. Both had worked in the Nuremberg toy company Tipp & Co. together. Finally, in 1956 it became Corgi Toys, which should serve as a competitor to the English brand of toys Dinky. Production started in a larger complex in Swansea, Wales with vehicles in 1:43 scale. The Corgi vehicles stood out by their new innovations such as mobile vehicle doors, headlights and reflective exclusive accessory in the model car market. The dog breed Welsh Corgi served as the name and logo of the donor company.
Models
It began in 1956, first vehicles of British society as among other Rover, Ford, Hillman, Triumph or BMC. Even cars from German manufacturers were produced, including Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen. Later aircraft were added from 1:100 and armored vehicles in scale. From 1964, a Classic Series ( Models of Yesteryear ) was introduced with replicas of classic cars from the beginning of the automotive history. From the mid- 1970s, some vehicles were built at a scale of 1:36, which met little collectors love. Another branch were truck models, but usually based only on English vehicles and here On land aroused little interest.
Film Vehicles
From 1965 Corgi Toys began with a replica of movie vehicles. They took an already -produced model and modified it a little with known elements such as stickers or color of the prototype. The first car was the Volvo P1800 from the series The Saint with Roger Moore. As a second and up to now the best seller of this area, was the same year the Aston Martin DB 5 with special effects from the James Bond movie Goldfinger. This vehicle is still in production today and in 1978 and 2003 technically adjusted and the product range. The 1978 version was the last version with ejector seat, retractable machine guns and rear plate. The vehicle showed clearly the inventive spirit of the company on the smallest scale.
Well-known vehicles from film and television (selection)
- Batmobile from the TV series Batman
- Monkees mobile from the series The Monkees
- John Steed's Bentley and Mrs. Peel's Lotus Elan from The Avengers and melon
- Oldsmobile Super from Solo for O.N.C.E.L.
- Land Rover from Daktari
- Kojak Buick Regal from Kojak - Kojak ( 1:36 )
- Citroën 2CV from James Bond 007 - For Your Eyes ( 1:36 )
- Ford Mustang Match 1 and Moon buggy from Diamonds Are Forever
- Ford Torino from the series Starsky & Hutch ( 1:36 )
- Ford Thunderbird from the series Vegas ( 1:36 )
- Ford Capri from the series The Professionals ( 1:36 )
- Jaguar XJS from the series Simon Templar - A gentleman with a halo
- Lotus Esprit (underwater version ) from The Spy Who Loved Me
- Toyota 2000 from You Only Live Twice
- Black Beauty from the series The Green Hornet
- GMC Van for Superman, Spiderman and Charlie's Angels
- Jeep from Spiderman
- Bell 206 helicopter for The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, Superman and Spiderman
Corgi Juniors
In the 1970s Corgi Toys tried to gain a foothold in the market and 1:60 to make companies like Matchbox with the series Corgi Juniors competition. It was here only to models of the major series on a smaller scale, in the beginning, these were based on Husky models. In Germany Corgi Juniors were, inter alia, be found in the toy department of the coop supermarkets. Many film vehicles were thus also present in smaller scale and had even, as the Aston Martin proved gadgets on.
Corgi Classics Limited
After Matchbox moved early 1980 its production to Asia, broke even in the Corgi Toys a paragraph. They tried to reform the brand as Corgi Toys Limited, with the new logo in 1984 and reduced the production model. Mattel acquired the rights to the company in 1989 and sold it in 1995 to the Hornby group, after which the company since then acts as Corgi Classics Limited. Already in 1995 they produced for the James Bond film GoldenEye the Aston Martin and the Ferrari F355. Around 2000, many old models were re-released or acquired new licenses to accommodate new vehicles in the range. There were cars from Back to the Future, The Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team, Knight Rider or the Aston Martin of the two added. As the 40th anniversary of James Bond in 2002 occurred, many new vehicles from nearly all films were added to the range. Some models had already appeared earlier and were painted with new technology. Also, the Ford Capri from old series like The Professionals experienced a re-issue.