Corgi 261 Aston Martin DB5 boxed complete car sale

Jason013

I'm new to the site so I apologise up front if this is not the right way to go about things.
My friend has been collecting James Bond cars for some years and has hit hard times, being an ebayer myself I'm selling them off for him. To start with I thought the best one to clear first was the Corgi 261 Aston Martin. It's complete with catalogue, secret instruction and envelope, 2 figures and car plus box and display insert. It also has the stick on lapel, now I've searched the net and this lapel is mint, unused and I've not come across another one like it. Please can you advise, do I sell the lapel separate or keep it with the car ? Obviously I want to achieve the best prices for him but I've no idea what to do about the lapel sticker or a value in it's condition because nothing I can find matches its quality. Any advice will be greatly welcomed. Jason

Gadget Meister

At last someone who knows how to introduce themselves even when they are just selling. Welcome to AJB. -{
I have to say that is a very nice piece in great mint condition. Couple of things though, you may want to change the title to DB5. You have come to one of the better places for advice, which hopefully you may find useful. EBay, as you probably know, can be a little hit or miss often with great pieces going for pennies which is not what you are trying to achieve. Personally I would probably consign the piece to a specialist auctioneers like Vectis for example, here you will get real collectors bidding. I would also wait until they have a specialist Bond auction as well, they come around a couple of times a year. The other point to bear in mind is the majority of us here have very tight purse strings, but if you need a quick sale I'll give you a tenner for it

Jason013

Thanks for the reply, typo now corrected. He's happy with ebay as a market place and I'll probably do the car on a buy it now to cover him. I explained the hidden fees with paypal etc. so that's not a problem as a selling forum. I just didn't know whether to include the lapel badge and make it one complete auction knowing a lot of people already have the car anyway. Or to do the lapel on it's own knowing even if people have the boxed car, they probably don't have the badge, or if they do - one in that condition..... decisions, decisions lol

Gadget Meister wrote:

At last someone who knows how to introduce themselves even when they are just selling. Welcome to AJB. -{
I have to say that is a very nice piece in great mint condition. Couple of things though, you may want to change the title to DB5. You have come to one of the better places for advice, which hopefully you may find useful. EBay, as you probably know, can be a little hit or miss often with great pieces going for pennies which is not what you are trying to achieve. Personally I would probably consign the piece to a specialist auctioneers like Vectis for example, here you will get real collectors bidding. I would also wait until they have a specialist Bond auction as well, they come around a couple of times a year. The other point to bear in mind is the majority of us here have very tight purse strings, but if you need a quick sale I'll give you a tenner for it

Thanks

AdamCarterJones

Yes, welcome to AJB!

As GM noted, I would try Vectis as they do get good prices and you can set your reserve for no extra cost unlike the majority of auction houses.

Other than that, very nice piece!

Higgins

If you have a 270 in the complete bubble packaging for sale, I'd be intersted!

dailo007

I think Rob and Donk need to pass their beady eyes over this but I've never seen that sticker before either, resembles the 270 issue, but I fear it may be a modern twist on the original. If it is an original (which I'm afraid I doubt) avoid putting it on eBay as it's rarity would not be appreciated.

Nice set otherwise.

Rainier Wolfcastle

I wondered what the big deal about this lapel badge was - shouldn't all 261 and even early 270 DB5's come with this style? But now I've taken a closer look, and I have to say: yes, the badge is unusual. This style is supposed to have two separate pieces of cloth for the badge and the instructions, surrounded by a larger piece of brown backing paper:


But: A quick search on ebay showed two items (one current, one completed) with the same kind of badge - it could be that these all are poor repros from the same source, or it could be that this is indeed an until now undocumented variation of the badge.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131136531644
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390761948067
I tend to believe that these are original, a very late variation from late-1967-1968, at the time the Toyota was released. As only the print is different from the Toyota lapel badge but the size and cutting is exactly the same.

That said, I don't think this badge style will bring much more than the usual badge, as there will always be a bit of doubt left. And then, if a regular badge sells for maybe £40, how much would you expect for this one? I guess more than £50 or £60 is not realistic, and price differences of £10 or £20 are commonly seen on items like a mint-boxed 261.



But honestly, I don't think that the 261 is the best item to start selling if your friend needs the money. I also don't think that Vectis would be a better place for an item like this than ebay, especially if the money is needed quickly. Too common items just don't sell there (they have a premium for buyers which limits the price one is willing to pay for a common item). Vectis is a better place for really rare items.

There are dozens of 261 Aston Martins available on ebay or other specialist dealer sites, if one is prepared to spend the money asked. The only way this will sell quickly is putting it on ebay with a low start price and let a real auction run. This will not reach £300 as anyone could just press the buy-it-now button if he wants to spend £300.
Although I have seen many auctions where an item was listed several times with a high starting price, and then after no bidding finally relisted as an auction with a low start - and bidders pushing the price above what was asked before ... 8-)

Better items for a quick sale would be the 270 Aston Martin in the bubble-pack (thats the one Bondtoys was asking for) or the yellow and light blue window box. Or Corgi Rockets and Juniors models from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, if your friend has some of those (in the unopened blisterpack). They regularly sell for much more than a 261 DB5, even if this example is indeed a very nice one.

ACACIA_AVENUE

I have had a look at my Corgi 261 Aston, 336 Toyota and 270 Aston Lapel badges.
261 - Aston

336 Toyota

270 - Aston


Now I have two thoughts - Is it an unusual variation as RW points out or it is reproduction.

My feeling is that it is a reproduction because the typed wording is incorrect and if you look closely at the ampersand on the OP lapel compared to the three I have posted you will find it is different style, also on closer inspection the gun and corgi logo are different.

When you consider these three different labels were produced over a 7-8 year period using the same typeface it just seems odd that this one is different.

ppw3o6r

Like my esteemed fellow AJB007 Corgi enthusiasts for the C261 I have only ever seen or owned the two panel on Avery backing type. I've also checked through various reference literature. I have seen similar to this style before but regrettably said item was reproduction on evilbay.

Donk -{

ppw3o6r

Some topics just won't die!
Just when you think said topic has run its distance an example of the C270 style C261 007 lapel badge surfaced on ebay fresh from a freshly unsealed S679 accessory pack. A spot of Googling located another from a very well respected diecast specialist, found within the Secret Instruction envelope of a very minty/ex-shop stock condition second issue (1966-68) Corgi C261 so like the original alternate store poster for the fabulous Corgi C270 007 Aston Martin DB5 of 1968, perhaps there are still unknown variants of established Corgi 007 items still out there? -{

ebay example variant C261 lapel badge, 38mmx30mm (identical in size & backing type to the later style C270 007 lapel badge)

Specialist Diecast Dealer second issue C261 Secret Instructions envelope example


I should add that I have been driving Acacia_Avenue nuts with questions & theories on the variant item in question for which I humbly acknowledge his contribution & die-hard knowledge -{

ACACIA_AVENUE

Thank you, Donk -{

Just goes to show that there are still unknown variants to be found even after all these years .... Well done on a great bit of research -{

dailo007

Don't you guys think it a little strange that 3 (yes, 3 sightings this month alone) of these so called variants appear within a month, yet I've not seen one previously in the 20+ years I've been collecting, c'mon, seriously!

Sorry but still extremely cynical about their originality!

ppw3o6r

pm sent