Die Cast Corgi Toy Vehicles - a Brief History

By: Janet Ashby

Collecting die cast toys is a popular hobby and many collectors specialise in particular brands. One very popular brand to collect is Corgi. Corgi die cast toy cars were first made in 1956 after some trials and errors to perfect the technique of die casting. They were launched by the company Playcraft, a sister company to Mettoy, on July 9 of that year and given the name Corgi. They were produced at the Swansea factory in Wales and they stood out from their rivals Dinky Toys, by being the first models to have plastic windows. In the first year that they were introduced over 2 million models were sold.

Thousands of models were produced throughout the 1960s many of which have become classics that are collected all over the world. Many models from this era command very high prices, sometimes in the thousands of pounds. Corgi Classics of Veteran and Vintage models were introduced in 1964 to celebrate the company's 30th anniversary. In 1965 the classic James Bond 007 model was produced and in 1968, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang model from the movie of that name. In the same year the very popular Batmobile models were also produced. The National Association of Toy Retailers Highest Standards Award as well as the Queen's Award to Industry were awarded to Corgi during this time.

In the 1970s the company took a downturn which resulted in the factory in Northampton being closed in 1971. Although the company invested more than one million pounds in new buildings, plant and tools during the later 1970s the company was in the hands of receivers by 1983. Management saved the company by buying it out and relaunched as Corgi Toys Limited in 1984. The company now strove to win back their coveted first place in the die cast toy market by producing very high quality toy vehicles. The overseas market was expanded, especially to Australia and the United States. Corgi rapidly took back a large proportion of the market and launched Corgi Collectors Club which was very popular and has members worldwide. In 1987 Corgi Toys Limited was voted British Toy Company of the Year by the National Association of Toy Retailers.

The company was then taken over by Mattel which is based in the US in 1989 who proceeded to produce many classics including Morris minor from from Some Mothers Do Ave Em and the the Inspector Morse Jaguar. It was again returned to private hands in 1995 with another management buyout and is still making die cast model toys to this day.

Article Source: https://www.collectibles-articles.com

For more information on die cast toy collecting and some good deals visit Die Cast Toys or Die Cast Corgi Toy Vehicles

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