It was December 1970, and I have a feeling it may have been Boxing Day when I bought my original CORGI TOYS CONCORDE. A few shops were sometimes open on Boxing Day depending, perhaps, on what day of the week it fell. If it wasn't Boxing day then it was the day after Boxing Day, and having now said Boxing Day five times, I'll do my best to avoid saying it again. However, I definitely do remember that I got it from R.S. McCOLL's in the main shopping centre of my town. (I also seem to recall watching The 7th VOYAGE Of SINBAD [I think] on TV while handling the model, but that may have been on a later day.)
Corgi still manufacture this model today, though it no longer says 'Corgi Toys' or 'Made In Great Britain' on the underside, sporting instead the Corgi dog symbol and the single word 'Corgi'. I bought another Corgi Concorde in the late '80s or early '90s while it yet sported the original unamended underside and the livery and windows were still adhesive stickers, but another one I purchased a few short years ago has these visual 'features' printed on the actual model itself, and the underside is the amended version. Both have British Airways livery and white nosecones.
However, there's something about the original BOAC livery with the dark nosecone that is extremely attractive, so I managed to track one down on eBay a year or so back and added it to my collection. It's good to have replaced yet another item that conjures up memories of my childhood and makes it seem less far away than the aeons it so often feels it was. If you had this item as a kid, then I'm sure you'll appreciate seeing it again too. (Whenever I find where I've stashed them, I'll add pics of the other two mentioned in the previous paragraph.)
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Incidentally, the rear wheels tended to come off rather easily and this has led to some ignorant or dishonest dealers who sell wheel-less Concordes claiming that the early versions of this model were produced without rear wheels. You can reliably take it from me that this claim is without foundation and, in fact, complete b*ll*cks - they always had rear wheels from day one! In photos I've seen of early models, the front wheels look as if they actually turn (or at least look as though they're separate pieces to the plastic 'undercarriage' they fit onto), but if so, they were soon amended to a one-piece non-turning part, which is the model most people likely remember.
As the actress said to the bishop, how big is it?
ReplyDeleteThe Corgi Concorde is around 7 inches long. No idea what the bishop said to the actress.
ReplyDeleteI had a smaller Concorde, completely white, with a plastic nose and metal body. It may have had BA tail markings, but I'd have loved the BOAC livery one - and still would!
ReplyDeleteActually, that sounds like the Corgi model, OD, as I don't know of any other ones with a plastic nosecone. I actually thought the model was smaller than it was until I measured it in order to answer BS's question. Gemini Jets (I think they're called) did a two Concorde set a few years ago, one with BA livery and the other with BOAC livery. Corgi repackaged them and also sold them under their own name. I have both of them and may add them to the post at some future stage, along with my two other Corgi ones. Yeah, the BOAC livery model's a cracker, ain't it?!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed.
ReplyDeleteOdd that I remember it as smaller. When childhood toys get into adult hands they usually seem smaller than you remember because your hands are bigger, but in this case the reverse seems true. How weird. The Corgi Liberator was tiny!
I think in Concorde's case, OD, it's because our memories tend to stop at the end of the wings when remembering the size, whereas there's another inch-and-a-bit that extends past them. If I didn't have the model to measure, I'd have thought it was smaller than 7 inches - it doesn't really look that size at a casual glance.
ReplyDeleteCannot remember a Corgi Concorde probably because Aeroplanes didnt interest me..Can remember Golden Voyage of Sinbad though...Had good old Dr Who in it as the villain.
ReplyDeleteI've just realised, LH, that it couldn't have been 'Golden Voyage' because that wasn't made until 1973, so it must've been 'Seventh Voyage'. I'll amend the text. I think I probably only bought the Corgi Concorde because there wasn't much of a choice and it was all that I could afford on the day. You know what kids are like with money - gotta spend it.
ReplyDelete