CORGI's ASTON MARTIN 270 - IN TRIPLICATE...

Sat on top of my bed, hence being a bit squint

Crivs, if you're around my age, take a wee ponder and say what you regard as the best toy ever produced in the 1960s.  Was it Palitoy's Action Man, Corgi's Aston Martin D.B.5, Batmobile, Dinky's Thunderbird 2, FAB 1, or some other toy entirely?  You can even consider ones I haven't yet listed, like, say, Marx's Johnny West, Bump 'n' Go Daleks, Mattel's Major Matt Mason, and whatever else you can think of  (Ideal's Zeroids even).

One that's certainly a main contender (and probably the greatest diecast toy from that period) was the D.B.5 (261), with its extending overriders and front machine guns, ejector seat, and bulletproof shield, first going on sale in 1965, with an updated, retooled version (270) hitting the shops in 1968.  As well as the original working features, it also had front and rear revolving number plates and rear tyre-slashers, though later releases of this model lacked the latter two additions.  (An even larger version appeared 10 years later.)

Incidentally, all three cars are the same size...

There was only one problem with both incarnations of this model and that was the fact the hatch seldom sat flush with the roof (see fourth photo), often projecting beyond where it should naturally have settled.  Most of the ones you'll see on eBay today have the hatch not quite closed, with a gap where it should meet the roof.  There was no real reason for this, apart from two internal pieces not quite meeting where they were meant to, and could easily have been fixed by Corgi had they been of a mind to.

When the hatch was closed, a downward protruding bar was meant to be held in place by a piece of plastic behind the driver's seat pushing against it, but this had not been executed with the required precision.  Corgi must've addressed this oversight at some stage, as one of my three 270 models has a perfectly flush hatch, another being just about flush.  I acquired my first replacement for the one I had in the early '70s around 35 years ago, though I had to drill out the rivets to make some repairs, before using epoxy steel resin to affix the base back in place, disguised by false rivet heads.

The other two I bought only around a week ago and they're probably two of the finest examples you'll ever see, aside from unopened and unplayed with models that have lingered in a drawer or display cabinet for decades.  The Corgi Model Club recently reissued replicas of the 270, but though it looks nice, it's a poor replacement for the original.  The hatch, which is narrower than it should be, sits flush, but in order to achieve this, the ejector seat doesn't extend as high as it should and the passenger therefore sits lower than his '60s counterpart when the hatch is open.  Lovely to look at in its packaging I suppose, but not such a great plaything when compared to its iconic predecessor.

...it's the perspective which makes them look different

Anyway, with the application of a little clear epoxy resin to the top of the hatch bar to increase its thickness where needed, none of my three original models sport that irritating unclosed hatch, and I can always pick the resin off should I ever want to restore them to their unaltered state.  All CMC had to do with the reissue was make the hatch bar slightly higher and the plastic part that secures it slightly thicker and there'd have been no problem, but it never seemed to occur to them, which makes me wonder why.  After all, it would have been a simple fix and retained the 'reach' of the '60s model's ejector seat.

Originally, the replicas were made in China, but their recent release of the Heinkel Bubble Car was made in Bangladesh, and the suspension doesn't seem to work as it should, with many buyers referring about it on the CMC review page.  The two I received should never have left the factory, and I've been receiving far too many imperfect models over many months so I've resigned from the club.  It seems they've even given up trying to be helpful in such instances so it's 'Adios Amigo' as far as I'm concerned.  Their quality control department appears to be non-existent.

However, never mind all that, just look at these three beauties on display for your appreciation - but remember - they're mine.

Photo borrowed from Internet - note the ill-fitting hatch...

...compared to one of mine.  Superb, eh?