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In its 60th Anniversary year, Stingray has been immortalised in diecast by Corgi, costing a whopping £39.99, I assume it's intended for adult collectors and not as a toy for kids - except big kids like me. (Were toys back in the '60s ever priced at what would've been the modern-day equivalent of £40?) It looks a beezer, though I don't like those flat edges at the rear of the torpedo silos - probably necessary to accommodate the torpedoes, but ruins the sleek lines of an otherwise handsome craft. Having said that, can't wait for mine to arrive. Have you ordered yours?
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11 comments:
I'm not sure if your question in brackets was meant to be rhetorical, Kid, but I couldn't help looking into it as the change in prices over the years is something that's always fascinated me. According to the Bank of England's online inflation calculator, £40 today was equivalent to £2.37 in 1964 (that's what they said, anyway - obviously they mean 2 pounds 7 shillings and sixpence). I seem to remember an Action Man was about 1 pound 12 shillings when it first came out, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were indeed a few posh toys that cost over 2 pounds.
£1 and 12 shillings would be worth approximately £33.77 today, which surprises me as I think you can buy a brand-new Action Man for under £30 depending on his outfit. I didn't buy my first brand-new AM (that's Action Man, not you) until 1984 and I got it half-price in a sale for around £7 or so. It's a bit of a shocker to realise just how expensive some toys were back in the '60s, eh? Still, £39.99 certainly isn't what I'd want to spend on a 'pocket-money' toy.
That's a really interesting comparison in costs between the decades. Im amazed that toys that I thought were relatively cheap in 1960s, were in fact costly. Saying that although £40 isn't cheap at today's costs it's not a massive amount , perhaps one to think about before spending though. My pal Alan's mum and dad bought him a Chopper bike around me 1968/9 that must have been a major purchase back then.
The average wage (for men) in the UK was £20 per week back in 1966, McS, which means a few people got more than that and most people got less, so it's quite staggering to realise that the new Corgi Stingray costs about two weeks wages in 1960s terms. Not counting clothes, hankies, etc., I don't think I got items to the value of much more than a pound or so for Christmas back then. My brother got more spent on him than I did, I'm sure, because he was the oldest, but in most cases it wouldn't have been too much more (I hope).
Luckily for my parents I loved things like annuals, comics, matchbox cars, Subutteo football teams etc all about £1 to £1.50 .
I just priced a Barbie Dream House on Amazon and it goes for $369 American dollars today. That converts to almost exactly $40 dollars in 1968. I remember seeing things in the old Sears catalogs that were well out of range of even my most generous dreams.
My tastes were simple and inexpensive in the main, McS, and I was probably easily amused. I'd have loved a Zeroid, but that would've been too expensive I suppose. My brother got a Tommy Gunn figure for Christmas '66, which would've been relatively expensive, but he was the favourite son.
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If the Dream House was available in 1968, RJ, what would it have cost back then? Or was it actually $40 in the '60s? And just who were you thinking (IF you were) of buying a Barbie Dream House for? Girlfriend? Daughter? I know it wouldn't be for yourself.
I think I'll pass on the Stingray, Kid. (I'm assuming that it's not a reissue of a 1960s model?). I did subscribe to the Corgi Collectors club for quite a few months, but it's an expensive hobby to keep buying them.
If the Airfix Stingray was ever re-issued - the one that you had to send tokens and money to Lyons Maid for - then I'd certainly be up for that. My Dad glued and painted it for me; of course, now lost to the mists of time. I think the Airfix model was the most accurate reproduction of the craft.
There was a plastic model kit of Stingray some years back, B, and I seem to recall reading or hearing somewhere that it was a reissue of the Airfix kit, but I couldn't verify it. I actually have that 'reissue' kit, but I haven't built it yet. Apparently Dinky had intended to do a Stingray kit back in the '60s, but never got around to it, so the Corgi one (which is all-new) is sort of compensating for that.
In October the Corgi Model Club are releasing the 2nd edition D.B.5, the silver birch one with revolving number plates and wheel spikes, in its original 'bubble-pack'. I can't wait.
It's LH here. Gone Anonymous again.. Thanks for bringing Stingray to my attention .I had no idea this was being issued. I shall check this out !
It actually looks better than in the photos, LH. It's odd that Corgi's own photos don't really capture its charm.
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