On Tuesday 11th September Vectis Auctions offered a Diecast collection of significant historical importance for the toy world. It was consigned to the leading toy auction company by Charles Ullmann, Grandson of the founder of Mettoy Toys, the producer of Corgi models.

When toy cars are discussed, invariably the Corgi make will be mentioned, a brand still producing replica and scale Diecast vehicle models to this day.

Charles’s Grandfather Philipp had been making toys in the Nuremburg area since 1912, progressing to leading his own company Tipp & Co. Reading the changes happening in his country and what possibly lay ahead for Jews living in Germany, Philipp took the decision to leave with his family in 1933, eventually settling in Northampton. Using his skills and experience he began making traditional German style metal toys stamped from brightly coloured lithographed tin sheets. He was soon joined by Arthur Katz, who had worked with Philipp in Germany. The business did well and although the factory was given over to war work, a second premises was sought in 1944 to continue toy production. A site was procured in Swansea, Wales which provided space plus a willing and cheap workforce.

Meccano’s Dinky range had dominated the Diecast model market for over two decades without a serious rival, so it would take some serious business acumen to challenge them. So ingrained was the name Dinky, it was used as a generic term for any diecast car, rather than the brand name in a similar way that the brand ‘Hoover’ was. In 1947, a young designer called Eric Dixon joined the company, eager to introduce his ideas of working with cast metal and plastic and keen to work in a smaller scale. There was another new addition to the Mettoy team, Howard Fairbairn, Head of Planning and Production who could see the potential of Dixon’s concepts. A new range was contemplated which had to be competitively priced but of high quality.

Once ready to be marketed, the selection needed an identity. The name ‘Corgi’ was chosen from a list of over 70, as the toys could be likened to the breed of dog often described as of ‘Sturdy, Welsh origin’, add in the Royal connection and the short, snappy title seemed ideal.

Corgi Toys launched in July 1956 with two collections; the Standard selling over 65,000 models in its first year and the Mechanical (soon dropped due to poorer sales), selling 45,000 models. In the first few years Corgi set a march on its rivals Dinky, who were now also being squeezed by Lesney (Matchbox), by being the first model maker to incorporate windscreens and windows and by 1959 fully fitted interiors.

The explosion of demand in post war Britain resulted in Mettoy (Corgi), being listed as the second most successful company in the UK in 1968.

A large part of this achievement was due to an extremely buoyant export trade. These overseas sales lengthened the buying season by a couple of months, helping to level out the peaks and troughs in the UK toy sales market. This resulted in a dramatic lowering of overheads and avoided the un-festive Christmas redundancies at the factory. Having worked within a German toy industry built on foreign sales, both Ullman and Katz actively marketed overseas, preferring to work directly with retailers than wholesalers or with one distribution outlet per country. In Canada it went one step further setting up its own distribution company to achieve the best coverage.

One of the most iconic Corgi models is the James Bond, all gold Aston Martin DB5, with automatic rams, machine guns, bullet-proof sides and ejector seat. Although it was thought that the model may be popular, the success was stratospheric. Re-leased in the Autumn of 1965, such was the demand that retailer John Lewis’ Oxford Street branch, after selling its allocation, received 2,000 plus enquiries per week in the run up to Christmas. Boots the chemist, was given an allocation of 1,400 of these cars, to avoid ill-feeling, Mettoy decided to hand over the whole consignment to the Nottingham headquarters to distribute among its stores as it saw fit. Unfortunately, the delivery driver, got his instructions wrong and delivered instead to the main Boots store in Nottingham. They sold the whole country’s allowance within 36 hours. It is not known how many of these models were produced but it must be in excess of four million. Even so, a piece in excellent condition in original packaging, sold at 9s 11d each in 1965 would now be worth in excess of £1,000. This sale contains a rare version of this model, one produced for VIP visitors to the factory and plated in real gold. Additionally, this is a 261-issue believed to be one of the first off the production line as the tooling is so exceptional. A rare item indeed.

In the same year and ever aware of the market, Corgi marketed a Mini Copper S only 10 days after the real version won the Monte Carlo Rally.

Corgi will ever be synonymous with TV & Film Toys; over the years producing Batman, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Man From Uncle, Starksy and Hutch and the Chipperfield’s Circus series to highlight just a few. These remain in high demand to this day and there was a good assortment included in the auction.

 

Mettoy peaked in 1978 with a profit of £3.5 million, unfortunately this was short lived. In an attempt to keep up with modern demands of children, investment was placed into a computer range called Dragon, which was not a success. The Board of Directors fought against moving production to the far east, even the manufacture of non- toy items could not save the brand. In October 1983, the Official Receiver was brought in, a similar fate had already recently befallen Dinky and Matchbox (Lesney).

In early 1984, a management buy-out prevented the loss of such a strong name, carrying on with production albeit on a smaller scale. In 1989, the toy powerhouse Mattel purchased Corgi Toys Limited, then eventually moving to the Hornby Group in 2008, who continue to release models and collectables to this day.

Results from this sale can be found on the Auction pages.