Some pleasant rediscoveries
Voituer
Posts: 483MI6 Agent
Before stuff gets packed back up in boxes I thought I might share a few snaps of some hopefully interesting Bond stuff. I was in the storage looking for a box containing some Corgi mock up boxes ( which I still have not found) and while I had my camera snapped a few bits and pieces.
I had posted a grainy shot of this some time ago but could not resist a better shot, It reminds me years ago ( probably 20) when I used to go to dealers warehouses in the USA and they would have great stuff just stacked up on shelves, those days are probably long gone but it was great to see.
Years ago I was at a toy show and a guy walked in with two trade packs of 6 Corgi 261 Aston Martins. A dealer bought them and to get his cash back broke them open and sold them individually for £110 ! When I first started trade packs were quite common and I remember seeing quite a few although I could not afford to buy them and it always seemed as though they would be around forever, how times change! Not in the same league but whenever I can afford to buy a full carton or even an empty one I do as its a nice link to the toys.
Vintage gum card heaven! When I first started colecting a US friend offered me a complete full counter box of USA Thunderball packs, unopened. I could not afford it and have kicked myself since, luckily I learnt from that and when a UK collection was broken up some years ago and it included UK boxes for OHMSS, YOLT and Goldfinger thank goodness I bought them.
Mexican 007 James Bond toys based on Mattels Big Jim range. I have just added the motorbike set and so it was a good chance to see these items altogether. Unfortunately these were stored in a room with sunlight and some have faded over the years.
best til last? well, maybe or maybe not............ plastic toyota 2000 boxed and unlicenced, plastic Little Nellie friction toy, broken and incomplete and just because it was near a little nellie prototype or test shot from Corgi Juniors
I had posted a grainy shot of this some time ago but could not resist a better shot, It reminds me years ago ( probably 20) when I used to go to dealers warehouses in the USA and they would have great stuff just stacked up on shelves, those days are probably long gone but it was great to see.
Years ago I was at a toy show and a guy walked in with two trade packs of 6 Corgi 261 Aston Martins. A dealer bought them and to get his cash back broke them open and sold them individually for £110 ! When I first started trade packs were quite common and I remember seeing quite a few although I could not afford to buy them and it always seemed as though they would be around forever, how times change! Not in the same league but whenever I can afford to buy a full carton or even an empty one I do as its a nice link to the toys.
Vintage gum card heaven! When I first started colecting a US friend offered me a complete full counter box of USA Thunderball packs, unopened. I could not afford it and have kicked myself since, luckily I learnt from that and when a UK collection was broken up some years ago and it included UK boxes for OHMSS, YOLT and Goldfinger thank goodness I bought them.
Mexican 007 James Bond toys based on Mattels Big Jim range. I have just added the motorbike set and so it was a good chance to see these items altogether. Unfortunately these were stored in a room with sunlight and some have faded over the years.
best til last? well, maybe or maybe not............ plastic toyota 2000 boxed and unlicenced, plastic Little Nellie friction toy, broken and incomplete and just because it was near a little nellie prototype or test shot from Corgi Juniors
Comments
Super stuff...and obviously only scratching the surface -{
Thats some serious stuff there, did I spot a clutch of Corgi 1362 Lotus sets in the first picture?
I really like both those Little Nellie's, do you know where the friction one comes from?.
Cheers Nick -{ thanks for sharing those pics
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
I'll keep digging stuff out that I think will be of interest.
Happy to share images and knowledge - luckily 007 is a never ending quest!!!!
Love that plastic Toyota 2000GT but as I am more focused on Corgi Toys I find the first two pictures the most amazing. All those trade packs and counter display cartons (are they full?
Anyone know the thinking behind the "1x4 Cash & Carry Pack" of four Corgi Junior Aston Martins (lying on the Moonbuggy boxes)?
It seems rather weird to me that Corgi would offer a package of four identical models
Sharp eyes Peter !
Corgi did some more 'weird' stuff concerning Bond, like this one:
A Moonraker picture with the Esprit and the DB5.
Besides that, there's various versions of wheels on the Corgi models and various body colors as well (the Jaws Van in the TSWLM gifset came in grey, but a white version is know to exist as well). And that's probably just scratching the surface...
Same with the white Jaws van or different wheels: They used what was readily available instead of waiting for the proper items to be re-produced or painted in the correct colour. Just to get the products out of the factory quickly.
However, a package of four identical models doesn't make much sense commercially. Not many would have bought such a set except some collectors who collect every variation. But the collector market was still underestimated by the Mettoy management, with the first items aimed at collectors only appearing in 1985 - and then in the form of some vintage cars and lorries; the James Bond Aston Martin was still packaged as any other toy car in the standard box until Mattel's gold-plated 1993 release.
I always assumed these Cash & Carry Packs were intended for the end consumer and wholesalers received their wares in trade packs. But so these 4-packs make more sense. Thanks for clarifying!
Some small shops would not have a Corgi account and buying at wholesalers was the only way to get them, its just the same as getting a 6 pack of something.