BABE Of The DAY - ALIONA VILANI...

Those eyes, those lips, that waist, those hips - yup, it's

STRICTLY COME DANCING's ALIONA VILANI.

YIPPEE! KEN REID'S DARE-A-DAY DAVY - PART THREE...

Copyright REBELLION

The mad, mental and manic DARE-A-DAY DAVY returns to entertain you all, in this KEN REID-illustrated strip from POW! #3, cover-dated February 4th 1967.  Who said I never give you anything?  Punch 'em!

LET'S TOUCH BASE - CORGI D.B.5 #271...

In May of 1978, CORGI TOYS issued their third version of JAMES BOND's ASTON MARTIN D.B.5, this time in 1:36 scale.  As you can see, the two zeros of the 007 logo on the base are very roughly finished and, frankly, amateurish in appearance.  That apart, it was a very nice looking car, and is still on sale today at regular intervals.

When production shifted abroad, the 'Made In Gt. Britain' line was removed and, with the reintroduction of the Corgi dog, the logo was moved to where the country of manufacture used to be.  There may have been a version with the '78 Corgi logo still at the top, but with no country of manufacture at all; however, I can't be bothered going through every Aston Martin I've got to check, so we'll forget about that possibility for now.

Back in the mid-'90s, I brought the two inferior zeros to the attention of the then-managing director, CHRIS GUEST, suggesting they should either be re-done or removed.  I guess it was cheaper to remove them, because the next issue of the car looked as you can see in the pic below.

I also pointed out that, as the D.B.5 was the car with which the company was most associated, a little more care should be taken with its production.  At that time, the gap around the roof hatch was very uneven, and the paint finish extremely poor, being more of a pale grey than the traditional silver birch.  I suggested a deluxe version, with richer paint job, wing mirrors, wipers on the windscreen, and spoked wheels with rubber tyres.  And guess what?  The next release of the model looked just like the one below, but with the above base.

I eventually contacted Corgi again (by this time owned by HORNBY), and congratulated them on their much improved product, saying that the only thing requiring amendment was the positioning of the Corgi logo on the base, and suggesting that it would look better occupying the space where the 007 used to be. Imagine my surprise and delight when the very next Aston Martin I purchased had that very change instituted.  Although I suspect Corgi may have arrived at the same conclusion independently as not too much time had elapsed between me making the suggestion and it being implemented.

So there you have it.  My part in Corgi's restoration of its 271 model of James Bond's Aston Martin D.B.5 to its former glory - surpassing it in fact.  And friends - the story is true.  I know, because I was that soldier.