 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Scale model |
| Founded | 1995; 30 years ago (1995)[1] |
| Defunct | 2008 (2008) |
| Fate | Acquired byZindart International in 1999,[1][2] then became abrand |
| Headquarters | Leicester, England, United Kingdom |
| Products | Die-castscale modelcars,airplanes, buses,military |
| Brands | Corgi Toys |
| Parent | Hornby (2008–present)[3] |
Corgi Classics Limited was a Britishdie-castscale model manufacturer established as an independent company in 1995,[1] which has its origins in theCorgi Toys brand introduced byMettoy in 1956. It is known for its British and North American vehicle models.
Products manufactured and marketed by Corgi includeddie-castscale modelcars,airplanes, buses, andmilitary.
In 2008 the company was acquired byHornby Railways,[4] who has owned theCorgibrand since then.[3]
"Corgi Toys" was launched in 1956 as a new range ofdie-cast toy model cars byMettoy Playcraft LTD, thetoy car company founded in 1936. These new toy cars were soon a huge hit because at the time they were the only toy cars on the market that included transparent plastic windows, they soon became known as "the ones with the windows".
Although Corgi has had manymodel car competitors ranging fromDinky Toys toLledo, its name is well known to this day. In its first year of trading Corgi sold 2.75 million cars, making it a clear leader of the British toy car industry. In 1966 Corgi won bothThe Queen's Award to Industry and theNational Association of Toy Retailers' Highest Standards Award, two prestigious awards. In March 1969, a year's supply was destroyed in the factory inFforestfach inSwansea by a fire, a major setback, which cut profits tremendously. Despite this, Corgi continued to remain among topcollectables for many years.
Sales increased in the late 1960s and early '70s after theJames BondAston Martin DB5 and theChitty Chitty Bang Bang car was released, but sales were fell sharply after the 1969 fire, which led to substantial ground being lost to its main rival Dinky, but by 1971, the Swansea factory was back to full production again after major repairs costing over £1.3 million. TheQueen's silver jubilee model edition released in 1977 was an instant best-seller, along with another nostalgia model,Edward VII's coronation state coach of 1901. After a rapid decline in sales, in 1983 economic analysts said that decline was inevitable; children and adults had moved on to more sophisticated toys, others however did not agree; they believed if it had not been for the fire there would have been no problem.
Corgi reformed as "Corgi Toys Ltd." in 1984 and turned its attention to regaining the British toy company's confidence. Three years later Corgi turned to the export market for profits, soon distributing in Australia,Continental Europe and the United States. Shortly after this Corgi started theCollectors Club, which quickly gained worldwide membership.
In 1989 the company was taken over byMattel, the worldwide toy manufacturing giant (manufacturer ofBarbie Dolls andHot Wheels cars), and production was moved to Leicester, the Mattel headquarters. Corgi then introduced a new range: Corgi Classics, selling nostalgia cars, vans and trucks from the 1930s, '40s, '50s and '60s, aimed at those who had grown up during that period. At around the same period in the US, Corgi released a new range of trucks, fire tenders and buses based on North American prototypes, though these were not as successful as had been hoped.
In 1995, Corgi regained its independence as a new company, "Corgi Classics Limited", and moved to new premises inLeicester.[1] Corgi Classics turned toBritish television for model ideas, and soon released models such asMr. Bean's Mini,Inspector Morse'sJaguar and later models based onEnid Blyton'sNoddy tales. A variety of firms ranging fromCadbury's chocolate toGuinness beer toEddie Stobart haulage have had Corgi scale models made of their road vehicles. In 1995 Corgi introduced a new range of 1/76th scale UK and Hong Kong bus models under the "Original Omnibus Company" banner; by 2007, the total number of individual model releases in this sub-range had exceeded eight hundred.
In 1999 Corgi Classics Limited was taken over by Zindart,[1][2] an American collectors specialists. By 2000, as in the 1960s, Corgi was once again the top British model maker. That same year, Corgi bought the rights to theLledo name (and many of the moulds), taking over the popularDays Gone series. TheVanguards series was also acquired in the deal. Days Gone and Vanguards models were sold by Corgi under the Lledo moniker until 2004, after which the Lledo name was dropped and the models officially became part of the Corgi Classics line.
In 1999, Corgi debuted the Aviation Archive line of diecast militaryaeroplanes. Beginning with 1/144 scale, Corgi created one of the most expansive and widely collected lines of highly detailed limited edition collectable die-cast metal aircraft. This line has been expanded in successive years to include new moulds and liveries and even new scales, such as the super-detailed 1/32 scale Aviation Archive line. Corgi followed with a new line of 1/50 scalearmoured vehicles ranging fromWorld War II up to through theVietnam War. In 2006, Corgi began selling hand painted, spin-cast metalfigures and soldiers in theForward March series which complements their 1/32 and 1/50 scale lines of vehicles.
In May 2008, international models and collectables groupHornby announced the acquisition of Corgi Classics Limited for£8.3 million.[3][4] Under Hornby ownership the Corgi brand underwent a rebrand in 2012, this saw the introduction of a new logo and style of packaging, however the main element reasoning behind the change was the relaunch of Corgi Toys.
In 2019 a new series was launched called: CORGI CHUNKIES is new range of toys with moving interactive parts, free-rolling, soft-tyred wheels, left and right hand drive and a strong child-proof build. The chunkies models were designed by Hanan Shpetrick.[citation needed]
This is a list of a few of the most famous Corgi Classics limited models:
